CHAPTER 59 - COMPANIONS - PRIYA AND VALCO - NEO-INKTOPIA

Location: Earth

Date: Present Time

Minutes of cycles ensued, until they were mercifully dropped to the ground. When they opened their eyes, the surroundings were marginally damaged by the tornado, where most had taken flight. Priya turned to Valco, "What do you think, big guy?". He pointed to the hills, "Do you see black towers in the distance? The turbulence will continue to spread like cancer. We will have to focus on one malignancy at a time. I think we should search for a source" Valco suggested, and she agreed to the cunning plan. The black towers of Neo-Inktopia inched higher as they walked its woeful streets. Every so often a printer cartridge would float creepily from the window of one skyscraper to another. "They must be hiding inside the buildings," Valco conjectured. Cupping her hands around her mouth, Priya called "Can anyone hear us!", a force against deadly silence that perched all around. Replying to her summons, a group of ten people emerged from the shadows of an alleyway. "It's not safe to be out in the open. We ride in here whenever we have to go outside" they whispered pitifully. In the shadows was a stealthy moped. "Why can't you just leave and go back to Panorama Precinct?" Valco asked. To answer him a siren sounded out from the silence, and swiftly they were pulled into the alleyway. "It's useless, they're cracking down on everyone" one of them pleaded. Far beyond the towers, a siren was ringing. Ditching them to the wolves, the locals retreated into their moped and rode off down the alleyway.

"Let's check everything out" the scientist said, and lifted off the ground, gliding across the ruthlessly somber cityscape. Valco followed behind her. People started to appear in meager bunches. Those that couldn't hide dashed in headlong urgency through the streets. True to form, a troupe of seemingly decent cop-cars approached on their heels. The leader had more signal beacons blaring red than a nerdy teenager with pimples, and fired them off one by one. Priya grabbed Valco close and evaded a beacon missile that detonated on the side of a building. More formed a blockade ahead. Down below, a police department had a sign splayed across its entrance, "Anti-Priya Police". "The people deserve a break. I think we should keep them busy" she stated diligently, and maneuvered so they had to chase. As they turned right, the homing missiles swerved around the bend. Priya turned a hard left and saw them careen away, exploding on the side of a tower. "This isn't your average everyday ink" she observed. "Can you give me a hint before we get there?" Valco demanded, with the heavy knowledge that she had failed to do so before, and it had led to many surprises. "The towers are all made of ink, but it's not man made. It's a natural ink. I think an octopus is hiding in here somewhere" the scientist inferred. "Haha … you must be kidding me. A whole city made of it?" Valco bellowed. Priya hurried as the cars gave no quarter in their hunt. She turned to her companion, who was brisk and full of unrelenting vigor, "The pure chaos of the maelstrom allegiance is all around us. You can see it for yourself". At last they came to the boundary of Neo-Inktopia, where the woods surrounded the clandestine emblem of madness. The purity of nature beckoned to them. Letting their forms drop to earth, they came upon a harmless stream, coursing with unforgettable splendor. A big granite rock trembled as the waters encircled its foundation. Priya put her hand to Valco's chest to still his approach, and looked up at his face. She was beaming with the most handsome smile.

"Come, we know you're here" Valco bellowed. He could see the tip of a tentacle stuck to the side. From underneath the octopus emerged and wiggled over to them. "If you knew how hard it was to hide, you wouldn't be so brash about it … it's really been strange today" it whined. "In case it does turn out that way for good, I promise I will personally find the best hiding spot for you" Priya promised, gaining its trust. "Oh, I get it. You're sweet and he's salty" it joked, slapping a tentacle across his head. "You could say that. I think you'll like it better once we clean up this mess" she added. Shimming over to them, it put a tentacle on each of their shoulders, "New friends, since I feel so comfortable now, will you help me get out of this wrapper?". "Anything for a new friend" Valco replied, "see … I can be sweet too", and elbowed Priya. Turning around, they saw a zipper and underneath the top of its neck the slider. Priya grabbed it and began unzipping him, as her compatriot grabbed the tips of two tentacles. "Let me help you with that, '' she said, grabbing the tips of two others as soon as the zipper had gone as far as it could go. In the opening, she could see underneath a sparkle. Methodically they removed the wrapping, until the octopus was free enough that it wriggled out of the rest. "Goodness!" Priya bellowed, seeing an octopus of pure crystal sparkling in front of them. It lifted off of the ground and hovered before them. "I feel something inside of me … almost like it wants to come out, '' he related, and expelled a cloud of indescribable crystal ink that enveloped the surrounding area. "Fall back, Valco!" Echo ordered, and they did to evade the shimmer. When it dissipated, they looked down at their feet. "Githin?" Valco uttered, seeing the naked man crouched down by their feet, his neck covered by a crystal band of the Wailtu Cult. "My child, you must be so frightened. Do not be. I am here for you" Visioness said, stepping out of her host's body, and leaning over him. "Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked Visioness. "Please ... give him a second chance" she begged, turning around to both Priya and Valco. "Empress, this is not a good course of action ..." he advised. "Enough" she said, holding up a hand, and stared straight into her counterpart's eyes. "Him? I'm giving you a test … of your loyalty". Holding Githin's hand, she led him back, stepping into her host's body and disappearing from sight. "You have a habit of trusting anyone who will betray you" Valco spat, furious at her decision. "Do not worry. This will be good to know if she is truly a part of me" she artfully replied. Her attention pivoted back to their new acquaintance, "Then that means you're the ninth iteration". Around her finger she wove a ring from mirror light, and held it up. The octopus retracted, and was sucked onto the band, becoming the jewel of an engagement ring. "Stand back" she said, lifting her arm up with the ring. Spell symbols and cryptograms danced about, "Delicate Infinity!". A light burst from the ring, casting them away. And in the world of a prism, an audience of skulls were formed, and with the arrows of light they crumbled away and the reality of that mathematical void-space melted away, and they found themselves among the green hills where the city had once stood.

As the buildings melted into black puddles of ink, the sky around them became clear. "Hmm, Is that what it looks like?" Valco mouthed cautiously. The realm was but a façade for the ghost city ahead of them, the stagnant architectural wonderland of Neo-Panorama. "They must have frittered away all their money" Priya considered, as they graced the streets with their evanescent crystal aura. Indeed they had. Its proponents did not gather enough steam. As a result, the construction did not extend very far past the hills. Its hollow rectangular skeletons were like gateways to the four horizons of the world. "Did you think you could get this far without facing me?" Telenon pried, a frail clone of him hanging overhead. "I thought we were doing kangaroos, Telenon. I knew you were a sucker but … an octopus? Really?" Priya teased, knowing that his antipathy could never stand between her and justice. The man's cheek was red with anger. From his elevation, he drifted closer, enough to meet her gaze, "It's only the first strike, so get your gloves on". Atop his fingers she could see the fine threads of a subtle orange energy. At the twist of a wrist, he could will them in any direction he pleased. It was a clever strategy. Priya narrowed her eyes just as the sight of it materialized. But by that time, it was too late. "Sister, I can't feel my chest," Valco groaned. Looking to the side, the patron saw that her companion had been seized. "A minor battle to test your strength" Telenon answered, stretching the threads to move his new puppet. The realization dawned on her that indeed she would have to face her brother. The big lug himself. After a second of pulling the puppet about like a drunkard, Telenon finally got his bearings. Priya fell back, witnessing in full detail the rippling muscles of his bodybuilder physique. Valco's bald head beamed with newfound reflective light. "Oh shit, this is really going down" Priya thought, biting her lip. The first punch tore a crater into the ground, which she abruptly dodged. With impeccable speed, the beast lunged and was already at her chest. The patron used some fast reflexes, and walked her way back, moving away from each thrust. Around them, the metal framework of the construction site was turned to silverlike powder. "Enough of this, let me use an inter-trans-manifestation on him" the woman thought, and when he was in an open area, charged him. She altered to echoes and went straight through. Priya spun around to see the result. An explosion rushed out of his body, detonating with pristine glory. The flames lapped his greek body, shrouded in smoke. Then … nothing. "Uh, he's too heavy," she complained. Below the clouds, Telenon's laugh could be heard with singular clarity. In the moment after, Valco punched her in the gut, sending her skyward. Priya winced. The man's fist felt like a blunt instrument. Due to the nature of the situation, the patron let her instincts come forth. She parried with her own physical strikes, and the ensuing fight led them on an all-around tour of the once promising city. Now the veins were starting to bulge from his hide, strengthening him, and it was hard to do a lot of damage. "Why so much endurance" Priya thought, sending him to a grave of earth below. Valco did not even budge a second before he tore out of the hole. The girl alighted on the periphery, but then the brute struck fast and sent her careening into a thick, half-finished wall. "I'm glad he's on my side" Priya groaned as she brushed off some brick from her lab coat covered arms. The progress of their struggle sent them from sky to ground, and then back again. As she watched him dance, there was something Priya tried to remember. Something on the tip of her tongue. "Ah yes" she recalled. Unfortunately, the thing about Valco is … he can transform into a spinning ax. The realization came just in time and she moved her head to the left as the weapon rammed into the wall beside her. Priya unsheathed her mirror sword from a summoned mirror and went to work. The two blades met in swift motions, and the woman had to deal with the successive pattern of human and ax. They alighted on a rooftop where her shifting, seraph-like blade met his. The patron brought him to all four corners, then decided to return to the rubble below where there was more surface area. Telenon was incensed. He flung his arm out, causing the behemoth to strike her location with the ax, and induced a growth spurt to the article. Priya was like an ice skater on the ground. It was practically impossible to catch her, even as the giant ax threw up a prodigious circle of damage. They returned to the sky where the patron reformed her mirror sword into that of a battle mace and got a clear shot, sending him pummeling through a trio of buildings. Never a subtle man, Valco returned a second time with the same attack, yet she metamorphosed into echoes to evade its fury. "If you can't kick ass, how are you going to take names?" Telenon shouted behind her. Priya frowned at his unending tenacity. The beast was getting faster despite the blows that she had inflicted. He barreled close and came but an inch to her face with his fist. "Not so fast," she declared. As the larger foe was maneuvering, he had failed to see the two cottony clouds trailing behind him. Each of them shot out a sizzling bolt of mirror lighting, taking hold of each arm. "If the first attack won't do the trick, then lightning probably won't either, but I can use it for this" she reflected. A series of fast punches. She departed inches from the ground and cocked her knee into a vice-like position. Releasing it, a forceful kick sent him backwards. Lawlessly, the beast was sent faster than a blink of an eye to a distant hill at the boundary. The ground formed a cave on his arrival. She stood there for a minute while the boulders atop the pile shifted in their position. A roar freed itself from his lungs as the behemoth shot forward, out of the fragmented ground. Priya could see what she had wrought as a reddish bruise spread across his chest. Priya watched as his barefoot feet touched the grass. The endurance of her brother would continue. Muscles pulsed like their combat had been a workout, and the blemish faded. Thick veins glowed red in his bicep. Sweating like a lion. "Your long-range attacks are not operational yet, what are you going to do?" Telenon bantered laughingly. "Will you shut up!" she countered. Valco heaved into the air and spun around with that slick bald head of his. He transformed into a miniature volcano and shot a burst of lava that sculpted itself into that of an arm with a fist, and it careened into the ground, creating a fiery impact crater. More of them were to come. Priya was starting to get tired of the fireworks. It wasn't new years and she wasn't celebrating. Boiling hot lava splattered off the side of the impact crater and almost touched her lab coat as she circled around it. "Get her!" Telenon shouted with abandon. Priya sent a vertical burst of mirror lightning up to shatter the volcano, and it liberated the occupant. At that, the encounter continued with the prior arrangement of sword and ax, until the beast at last mustered a spell of his own. Priya craned her neck as four portals appeared in the sky. Then there were giant hammers that spun in the delicate air. Priya assumed that it would be an easy endeavor to miss them as they fell to the ground. But she was wrong. At the ends of each of the hammers, the technology within began to activate. Inside the hollow tubes, thin tendrils of electricity flickered. Hot red flames erupted from the ends, and rocket engines awoke. The spinning became seamless, and they were flowing like a single geometric form. Priya was forced to become a string of mirror lightning to evade the attack, and it cracked half the landform along with the city. "Hahaha. Right on the … what!" Telenon grunted as he realized what happened. The pale, cheerful orange of the puppet threads appeared in her vision. They dangled from the puppet, who could not move a muscle without permission. Priya retreated a yard as her feet slid across the grass. A few resonant breaths from deep below quieted her mind. The lab coat upon her back waved as the carefree air uplifted it. She felt a glint in her eye as the zeal returned. The rules of the game were becoming clear. "I need to take care of those strings," she murmured to herself. Ahead, Valco was preparing for his final attack. He wiped bloody sweat from his face with one arm. The magnitude of his strength was becoming clear. "Sister, don't let him win" he pleaded, telepathically as the spell weakened. In one daring jump, he altered again to the giant ax, but set himself alight, becoming a wheel of blade and flame. Priya knew Telenon was dreading a mighty spell in kind. But she gave him what he wanted, and merely lifted her sword before her face. The whole universe seemed to teem with crimson as the weight of it touched down. Through endless revolutions, the wheel sharpened her instrument. Feet pressed into the ground. Like a true grinding, sparks flew off in their myriad directions. With one eye the patron looked past the flawless diagonal shaft of her sword. A red flame diabolical wheel. "This is it. I'll just adjust the angle a little" she thought. As it happened, the orientation of the ax went from vertical to horizontal, and in one motion the threads were cut clean through. Valco, a helpless brother, fell into her waiting arms. "That was not nice, Telenon!" she exclaimed, the bald head resting against her bosom. Priya transferred some energy and healing to Telenon, and in time he came around.

"Do you like having your head up in the clouds, my friend?" Priya taunted as soon as she reached his level. "Far better than your thoughtlessness" he answered, "That's too bad. If we weren't fighting over destiny, we really could have had a good talk" she stated smirking, and pointed to the cloud behind him. It rang out with thunder and lightning, then dropped away from its peers, and shrunk, forming into something like a white casket. Valco looked up and saw it open its door, and inside it was lined with white spikes. "A cloud iron maiden" he gasped. Stealthily it slid up to the clone from behind, slamming its door to a scream of gruesome pain. Priya sighed with relief, watching rivulets of blood drain from the cracks in the cloud iron maiden, then returned back down to the ground where her friend stood.