shadow slave: Omnitrix

Falcon Scott was a large settlement, one that had been transformed into a fort by the Awakeneds of the first evacuation army.

Constructs made by mystical aspect abilities, sorcery and even mundane technology made up the city, fusing things like crystal with metal and runes.

The people of Falcon Scott assisted the soldiers in keeping the city running, handling various mundane tasks — cleaning, cooking, managing human resources and extracting soul shards.

During harsh times, people banded together to survive… But those times also brought out the ugly in people, as well.

A scythe flashed in an empty alleyway and blood splattered all over, painting the scene red.

Jet, with a grimace, dismissed her memory and made a quick call on her communicator. Some time later, soldiers came in and picked up the body, putting it in a bag and taking it away before anyone could see it.

The man she had just killed had murdered his friend in a fit of rage and cannibalized the body, shortly after. The man had disposed of the remains silently but unfortunately for him, he had failed to account for diviners.

Some might say he had been under the influence of a nightmare creature, or perhaps he had stared too long at the moon… But in truth the man had simply broke from the stress, such was the nature of humans.

That said, this was an odd task jet had chosen to undertake, after all, she was a colonel and a high ranked government member.

But then again, who better to reap the souls of the guilty than the soul reaper herself?

She reached into her pocket and brought out a cigarette, lighting it and leaning against the wall.

‘What a mess…’

In all her years as a government Awakened, this was by far the darkest one. The Antarctica campaign had caused so much death and suffering, both for the Awakened and the mundane.

And more importantly, their plan, which was to evacuate the people of Antarctica, was flawed and unstable, at its core.

If they somehow managed to evacuate everyone, then what?

Would a new continent pop up out of nowhere, and give them enough space to house all those people?

No… Reality was far harsher. When the people were evacuated, they would be pushed towards the outskirts, and only a lucky few would become legal citizens.

In fact, there was a high chance that new outskirts would start appearing all around the globe in the other quadrants.

Death was probably more preferable than becoming an outskirts resident. She would know that better than most.

There was one saving grace, which was the possibility of evacuating people to the dream realm.

But even that wouldn’t work, as the human colonies there were too underdeveloped to sustain all those people, and more importantly, they would all be thrown in their first nightmare, anyway.

Jet wondered if doing that would be the better option, though.

In the grand scheme of things, putting billions of people into their first nightmare was insane, not to mention far too cruel…

The death tolls would be in the millions…

But the survivors would be more powerful than ever.

Millions of sleepers, who would go on to become Awakened, Masters and even Saints, if they were extraordinary enough, all armed with mystical abilities granted by their aspects, attributes and the spell itself.

How much would humanity progress, if this mad plan worked? Medicine, architecture, agriculture, battle arts, all of it would reach unseen heights if they went through with it.

Jet blinked for a few moments as her cigarette was finished.

‘What in the spell am I thinking…’

She sighed. Such actions were far too cruel, even for the government, and she was in no position to do so in the first place.

Her job was to kill nightmare creatures and evacuate the people, everything afterwards was up to the suits in the government.

Moments later, just as she was about to go about her day, a voice called out from behind:

“Soul reaper.”

It was the voice of a young man she knew all too well. Turning to him, she saw that the young paragon of purity was looking as bland as ever, to no one’s surprise.

She compared his current appearance, that of a hardened soldier, to how he had looked before the Antarctica campaign, and then to how he had looked back when he was a sleeper.

She even recalled how he had looked as a child, when his mother died, but she quickly got that unpleasant memory out of her head.

Still, seeing him in front of her right now made her feel old.

“Morning sunshine, how generous of you to spare little old me the time of day.”

Hugo looked at her with a deadpan expression, then sighed.

“Aren’t you acting too sarcastic, Colonel Jet? Last I heard, being so easy going in front of your subordinate was not good for morale.”

She rolled her eyes and gestured for him to follow her.

Wherever they walked, eyes were drawn to them — and how could they not be? They were both incredibly famous and gorgeous, despite Jet considering herself mediocre among other Ascended.

Most were looking at Hugo, though — men and women alike.

“That dress of yours is certainly boosting morale, though. My my, Hugo, I had no idea you enjoyed the Song clan’s fashion choices.”

He shrugged.

“I don’t really care much about my clothes. Once you’ve eaten enough creatures, been eaten by enough of them, and faced a few gods, your appearance and attire don’t seem as enticing as they once were.”

Jet couldn’t help but smile.

“How lackluster of you. Gods, I don’t think a more boring man could be found even if we turned the entire world — two worlds, even — upside down.”

Hugo chuckled.

“Ah, but that’s the thing about me, Colonel. I’m the most boring guy there is, so it’s no surprise you don’t see me on one of those Awakened commercials.”

Jet suddenly had an idea.

“You know, maybe we should have made you face the Winter Beast instead of Sky Tide. It would’ve killed itself seven times over if it had to spend months with you alone!”

Hugo waved her off.

“Perhaps.”

Soon enough they reached the main government building, and met up with Master Winter and Sunny who were too busy arguing over something.

“But I’m telling you! Mongrel is far more beautiful than Changing Star. Look, kid, I know you’re all lovey dovey with the last daughter of Immortal Flame, but I’m telling you, Mongrel is far better looking, and has bigger boobs, too.”

Sunny’s face visibly twitched at the last remark.

“And I’m telling you, Nephis is far more desirable than… Well, that Mongrel person. We have not seen much of them, anyway, and for your information, the physical proportions of an individual don’t make them more or less desirable!”

“Said no man ever, Master Sunless.”

“What? I’m a man, and I just said it.”

Master winter’s eyes widened in shock and she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

She trembled a little before saying:

“… I thought you were a girl who sounded like a guy because of your flaw!”

“…”

“I mean can you blame me? You have better skincare than most women I’ve met, and your hair is smoother than silk! Say, master sunless, have you ever considered going into the dating market? You can even marry a saint or two with those looks of yours!”

Hugo couldn’t help but form a look of confusion on his face.

Were they comparing Nephis to Mongrel?

‘Wasn’t Mongrel Sunny’s stone saint?’

Speaking of the fearsome onyx saint, she was currently leading the army of minions Hugo had created as she was the only Transcendent among them.

Sunny and Hugo had come up with the plan to mobilize his shadows for better results, and what better way to do that than to have them aid Hugo’s minions?

But that aside, most of the world didn’t know she was Sunny’s shadow. In fact, right now, they would probably assume she was some powerful Saint who had amassed an army of invincible warriors.

‘Isn’t that just wonderful…’

“Ahem ahem.” Jet interrupted the two of them. “For your information, Mongrel is better, but that argument aside, you two really spent all that time arguing?”

Master Winter shrugged and fixed her sunglasses.

“There wasn’t much else to do while waiting for you two. Come on, let’s go in.”

They had decided to form a meeting today to discuss what their plans were.

Most of the Irregular Company captains had died in the war against nightmare creatures, unfortunately, leaving only Jet, Winter, Hugo and Sunny.

The four of them weren’t the only ones powerful awakeneds stationed in Falcon Scott, though, there was the House of Night and the White Feather clan.

Entering the government building, and reaching the top floor, they entered a room with a circular table where the legendary nightwalker, Saint Bloodwave, was waiting for them, alongside Master Roan of the White Feather clan and master neave of the house of night.

The three welcomed the new arrivals and the four captains sat at the table, each with tensed expressions.

They were a formidable team, truly, as they had managed to defeat multiple tyrants and two terrors thanks to their combined efforts.

Hugo was the second most influential member in this little council, naturally, as he had taken down Goliath, the terror of LO49, Malware and more than a few tyrants himself through the entire campaign.

The first was saint bloodwave, who slew dozens of tyrants, one Terror, one fallen Titan who had appeared underwater and even a few great beasts that had emerged from the depths of the ocean.

Still, that did not mean the others held no voice.

Master Roan was the first to speak:

“As you all know, my wife, Saint Tyris, has been battling the Winter Beast for months now, holding off the corrupted Titan on her own. But even with the power of her aspect, she’s still a mere Transcendent beast — and the Winter Beast is a Titan of the same rank… It’s safe to say that we all know she will fall soon.”

Everyone present had grim expressions. They knew too well that Sky Tide was bound to fail, and when she did, the wrath of the Winter Beast would descend upon them.

There wasn’t much they could do at that point, besides waiting for their eventual death.

“Can’t we increase the evacuation efforts, somehow?”

Winter suggested.

Jet shook her head.

“We are already pushing past our limits, evacuating thousands of people a day… But the number of people in falcon Scott here is simply too much. There’s no way to transport all those people at once.”

Nightwalker stared at Soul Reaper for a while then spoke in a calm voice:

“Can’t we build more ships then?” He turned to Hugo. “I recall that you had a Transformation capable of producing crystals. Can’t you make do with that?”

Hugo shook his head.

“Making a single working ship would take days, and that’s assuming I have the help of engineers and people knowledgeable about ship crafting. Not to mention, I don’t have any alien capable of creating the electrical parts needed to pilot a ship. At best, I could make ships from ancient times — but we both know those primitive vessels won’t be able to cross the ocean of the waking world.”

Even if Hugo utilized his super intelligent forms like Grey Matter and Brainstorm, it still wouldn’t be enough — and it would be too much work for one person.

Hugo was willing to work hard and strain himself beyond his limits, but he knew it would be a waste of time and resources.

They remained silent for a few more minutes, then Sunny suddenly had an idea.

“What if we prepare to kill the Winter Beast?”

They all turned to look at him like he had grown a second head.

After all, he had suggested attempting to kill the very thing they were trying to run from.

Nightwalker scoffed.

“And how would you do that? Even I would not be able to reach its core, and I’m certain the boy can’t, either.”

He was referring to Hugo, who agreed with that statement.

Even if he tried Transcending and becoming Pesky Dust, he wouldn’t be able to reach the heart of the Winter Beast without being devoured by that storm.

Pesky dust was not a combative imprint, after all.

Though Hugo could certainly try attaining new imprints in the third DNA chamber – and he would, after forming his titan core.

Sunny did not change his mind, though.

“That might be true, but you’re looking at it too narrowly, Saint Bloodwave. Me and Hugo happen to be very excellent sorcerers, so if we try really hard, there’s a good chance we could make something capable of weakening the Winter Beast.”

Bloodwave stared at them for a while, then sighed.

“I suppose there’s no harm in trying. It’s a shame though, if clan Valor had bothered to send a few spellsmiths here, then perhaps your chances of succeeding would have doubled.”

‘Our chances would’ve been even better if the King of Swords descended into the waking world himself…’

Hugo thought.

Anvil of Valor could slay the Winter Beast, with relative ease, using his supreme will to rip the titan apart.

He had no doubt about it, as he had seen what supremes were capable of.

Sadly, none of the demigods were willing to help, so they needed to save themselves.

“Any more bright ideas?”

Hugo raised his hand, then coughed.

“This might sound a little egotistical, but I’m the only one who could offer the Winter Beast a fair fight, considering I’m capable of turning into a Titan and i have a few transformations that counters its authority. What I’m trying to say is, I will need soul shards to form my final core.”

Master Roan raised his hand.

“I could transfer you a bunch of high ranked shards from the citadel I’m currently anchored at.”

Winter was the next to volunteer.

“Same here, I’ve had a secret stash for a while, but I guess having a hidden fortune doesn’t matter much when you’re dead.”

Neave also raised a hand.

“I’ll speak with the elders of my clan and see if we can part with more soul shards… But don’t get this wrong, no matter the cause, you will be indebted to the House of Night for this.”

Hugo nodded.

Having so many people helping him… It felt nice, but it was also stressful, as he was receiving a lot of responsibility.

The meeting continued for a little while longer, with them discussing various topics such as the nature of the Winter Beast storm, its authority and how best they could combat it.

Hugo and sunny received a few ideas about what they needed to make to fight the winter beast thanks to the insight the group had offered.

Eventually, everyone split, returning to their duties, leaving Sunny and Hugo alone.

Sunny looked at the blue eyed Shapeshifter and sighed.

“Say, Hugo, you wouldn’t mind doing me a little favor now, would you?”

Hugo raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t really have to ask, but sure, what kind of favor?”

Sunny grinned, which was odd of him, making Hugo feel a little uncomfortable.

‘Why do I hear boss music?’

Everytime the nebulous master had smiled, it usually involved something extremely dangerous.

“Ah, you see! There’s a tiny little devil that’s been stuck in my soul for a while now! Unpleasant fellow, honestly! So I was planning on beating the bastard and taming him, but I’ll need all the help I can get to do that.”

“Oh.”

It seemed the time to conquer the last shadow within the sacred treasure had finally come.

Hugo gulped, remembering how terrifying the White Devil had been in the second nightmare.

The big bastard would undoubtedly have grown more powerful, thanks to his new master.

“Ah, screw it. We are already dead, for all I care, what’s one more death sentence?”