When Lukas had awoken, he found that he was back in his room with the Eye still in his hand. He slowly got up to find that his head was still hurting... he looked around his room to find Beth sat in the corner as she stared back up at him. "Wow... I thought you'd be out for longer than that." Beth admitted. "What... happened? Did I win?" Lukas asked whilst holding his head. "Not only did you win... you were amazing! From what I've heard, most Protectors don't even perform that well in battle." Beth replied. "Well you sound impressed... was I really that good? I just did what came into my mind to see if it worked... like you said." Lukas explained. "Come on! Why don't you go for another few rounds against some more holograms?" Beth suggested in the hopes that Lukas would agree. "Well... if I fall unconscious against holograms... then how will I fight any real threats?" Lukas questioned. "If you're anything like me, then that will only happen the first few times you use that kind of power... eventually, your soul will get used to it and it will stop happening." Beth explained. "Well I guess... wait... did the Protectors see me doing that stuff? We were supposed to be keeping this a secret from them especially!" Lukas blurted out suddenly. "Who do you think would bring you back here? Regular civilians have these insane beliefs that the power of the Protector scan be drained through normal people just by touching them... nobody would touch you because they didn't want to ruin your greatness... there's a reason I don't normally like any mortals I meet... because they all normally have stupid beliefs like that... you're the only exception to that so far." Beth told Lukas.
"So they know? What do we do about that? Can we wipe their memories or something?" Lukas asked. "We can... but we shouldn't... we could use this to our advantage." Beth replied. "How so? I overheard a conversation that Dream had with Michael last night... and I think Dream is supposed to be keeping an eye on me for some reason. If we let them know about these powers, Dream will just have more of a reason to spy on us." Lukas explained. "Lukas? Are you awake." Dream's voice said as he knocked on the door which scared Lukas. "You know... you've really got to stop interrupting my conversations at the most inconvenient times." Lukas answered as he opened the door. "Sorry about that. It's kind of hard to tell when you are talking to her... whoever she is." Dream replied. "Lukas... I have to tell you... it's fine if the other Protectors know, but whatever you do, do not let Michael know!" Beth demanded. "What? Why specifically Michael?" Lukas inquired. "Just don't let him know! I'll explain later once we're alone." Beth explained.
"Dream... Michael doesn't know about my powers yet does he?" Lukas asked. "No... not yet... I was on my way to tell him but he's out on a mission. I was planning on checking up on you anyways so I decided to come here whilst I wait for him to come back." Dream explained. "Oh thank goodness! I was hoping that was the case." Lukas sighed out of relief. "Is... is there any particular reason you don't want him to know about you?" Dream questioned. "Apparently there is... but she hasn't told me yet... she said that she will tell me once we're alone." Lukas replied. "Ah... I see... well I'll try and keep the information away from him for as long as possible... but he will eventually find out. I don't think anyone will tell him if I have anything to say about it... but Michael has always been scarily good at gathering information." Dream responded as he began to leave. "Just promise me that you'll tell me everything so it'll all make sense once you figure it out. I have a habit of constantly thinking about stuff that I don't understand." Dream requested. "I promise... as long as you promise to try and keep my secret hidden from Michael for as long as possible." Lukas agreed. "It looks like we've got ourselves a deal." Dream said as he nodded and left the room closing the door behind him.
"So what about Michael? There must be a reason as to why you don't want him to know." Lukas asked a few seconds after Dream had left the room. "Well... I can't explain for... reasons that I have already mentioned such as... Draedon. What I can say is that Michael is hiding something from everyone... I can't tell you what he is hiding... but I can tell you that he is a threat to your very existence... he has been searching for you... but he doesn't even know if you are the one he is searching for." Beth explained. "What do you mean by "He's been searching for me."? Why would he want to search for someone like me? I ended up in this Multiverse and met you purely thanks to a coincidence... I bet that there are tons of people who have ended up in my situation... there is nothing special about me!" Lukas said in confusion of what Beth was saying. "You are special though. Michael is searching for the one who was spoken of in that prophecy you read... the "God in the boy's body". He wants to find them... and destroy them." Beth clarified. "Why? That's the one question I want an answer to! Why does he want to kill me?" Lukas practically begged Beth for an answer. "I'm sorry Lukas... but that is one thing that I cannot tell you about Michael. I'm sorry... I would tell you if I could." Beth admitted. "I'm sorry is this a bad time again?" Dream asked as he opened the door and scared Lukas again. "N-no... I think we were about finished discussing what we wanted to stay classified." Lukas returned as he was still visibly irritated about the lack of information that Beth was allowed to disclose. "I just came to ask you something... it is a very big thing though so you don't have to answer right now. Okay... here I go... do you want to join the Protectors?" Dream asked before Lukas could even respond to the first sentence. "You want me to... wait... what about Michael? How would I join the Protectors without the most powerful and famous Protector of them all knowing about it?" Lukas questioned as this idea seemed to completely contradict the deal that he and Dream had made not more than an hour ago.
"Well... you see... if you said yes, then I was going to plan on having you meet up with other Protectors when Michael is out on missions... and then when Michael is on his break, you could go out and do your own missions. That way, Michael won't know about your powers and you can put those powers of yours to good use. So? Does that sound good?" Dream asked to hopefully entice Lukas to accept. "You should accept that offer! Remember what I said about using the Protectors to our advantage? We could definitely get in some more training by doing this... and it would be pretty fun!" Beth explained. "Sure! I don't see how this can detriment me in any way... as long as you keep your promise for me that is." Lukas replied to Dream. "Of course I will. Now... you won't be able to join immediately... you have to go through some tests but with your power I think you should be fine with that." Dream told Lukas. "Yes! That's totally fine. I'll try my best not to let you down." Lukas said excitedly. "Great. I'll tell you when I've got your first mission... which will most likely be a test... I think the soonest I can make it happen is tomorrow. Most of the Protectors have high expectations for you... so I hope that you won't disappoint. I'll see you then!" Dream explained as he left the room once again.
"I feel exhausted... and I only just woke up." Lukas explained whilst yawning. "Yeah... the eye will do that to you... even if you've had a long rest immediately afterwards, it can tire you out. I'd say you should get some more rest... you're going to need it tomorrow." Beth replied. "Alright... I'll watch out for Nightmare this time." Lukas reassured Beth as he practically fell onto his bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
When Lukas had woke up, he looked around the room to see it was really dark once again. "Wow... I slept until night? I suppose I've got some time to kill." Lukas thought to himself as he picked up the eye... however Bethany did not appear. "Oh no... not this again." Lukas said out loud as he opened the door to check if the darkness was still outside... but to his surprise, it was not. "Nightmare? I know that you're doing this! Could you just show yourself already?" Lukas yelled into the empty hallway. "I'm not hiding, kid. You just didn't look hard enough." Nightmare replied as he tapped Lukas' shoulder and made him jump. "Do... you have to do that?" Lukas asked as he recovered from the shock. "I get my powers from negative emotions kid... I'll take any chance I can to make people feel worse in any way." Nightmare explained. "A-anyways... why did you bring me here again?" Lukas inquired. "That's a simple question... I wish more people were like that... I want to talk kid. Would you mind walking with me for a bit?" Nightmare offered as he started walking away. Lukas silently agreed as he started reluctantly walking behind Nightmare. "So what do you want to talk about?" Lukas asked. "Getting straight to the point? I like that about you. Well... to be completely straight with you...there's some people who want me to keep my eye on you... and these people have the power to kill me... simple as that. So I'm going to do what they want and in return, they'll spare my life." Nightmare clarified.
"Wow... you certainly gave in easily. It's honestly kind of pathetic." Lukas replied. "Kid... they said I had to keep an eye on you... they didn't say I wasn't allowed to kill you if you pissed me off. Maybe you shouldn't insult me when this could be beneficial to you as well." Nightmare retorted as he was clearly irritated by Lukas' words. "How could this help me in any way?" Lukas asked. "Let me put it this way... if you play nice with these people... including myself... maybe they won't want to get in your way as often. Maybe... just as an example... they might want to help you instead of... doing anything that would be a detriment to you?" Nightmare explained. "Fair enough... is that all you wanted to talk about?" Lukas inquired. "That is all I wanted to talk about... but there's someone else in this realm who wants to speak with you. They said that they'll meet you at the training grounds." Nightmare spoke as he turned to face Lukas. The dark aura of the nightmare realm made Nightmare's light blue eye turn darker... and it seemed to effect Lukas in some way as he held his head... but he didn't seem to be in pain. "Kid? What are you doing? Hurry up... we don't have all day... you've got to wake up soon and do your first mission." Nightmare practically started yelling when Lukas stopped moving... almost as if he was afraid of something. "What? What do you mean?" Lukas asked as he quickly stood straight again and acted as if nothing had happened. "What just... you know what... I don't care... just get moving or I'll drag you there myself." Nightmare exclaimed. "Alright I'm going... seriously... calm down." Lukas spoke as he jumped at Nightmare's sudden change in tone.
Lukas quickly walked down to the training grounds with Nightmare following close behind... and as he approached his destination and looked down upon it from the high wall, he could see two figures covered in tattered black clothes and both of them had a red scarf that seemed unscathed. Once Lukas had descended the staircase that lead to the entrance of the training grounds, he could see the two figures a lot clearer... they were wearing masks which looked strange... the masks had a glowing red orb in the middle of them and one of the masks had two spikes coming from the top and bottom that seemed to curve inwards whilst the other had what looked like a set of spiked teeth around the orb. "Wait... those masks... I've seen them before." Lukas spoke as he thought out loud. "I don't care if you've seen them before kid! Get moving! My life is on the line here!" Nightmare practically yelled at Lukas. "Oh...I'll get moving all right." Lukas said in a cold voice as he summoned his weapons and dashed at the strangers with incredible speed. Both of the figures turned to face Lukas as he pulled his blades to his sides and swung forwards as a form of pincer attack. Suddenly, Lukas heard the clash of his weapons as they collided with a metal object... he must have blinked as he didn't even see the enemies summon their weapons and block the incoming attack. The two enemies simultaneously pushed Lukas away and he fell on his back. "Why are you two here?" Lukas asked as he stood back up. As Lukas stood there staring at his opponents, he could see their weapons clearly... the curved masked figure was wielding what seemed to be a golden crossbow with a glowing red bolt loaded into it... and in the other hand, they were holding a golden weapon that Lukas had not seen before... it looked like a crossbow... but it had no string nor did it have an arrow loaded into it... it had a long object that was stuck into the bottom of it with a glowing red line down the centre that was slightly see-through... inside it, there seemed to be many smaller objects that looked like they were meant to be shot out of the small hole in front of the weapon. The other figure seemed to have a much simpler weapon... that being a giant golden battle axe that had a sharp handle that seemed to make it double as a spear or a sword. "I'm glad you recognise us Lukas... from what our dear sister has told us, using the Eye of Extinction occasionally leads to memory loss after the first few times that someone uses it's powers... but you seem fine." The curved mask said, ignoring Lukas' question... interestingly, their voice did not seem muffled despite the presence of the mask.
"I don't care about the Eye of Extinction! Answer my question! Why and how are you here?" Lukas demanded an answer as his anger was building. "I do not see why this aggression is necessary Lukas. Perhaps... there is something about us that has triggered a long forgotten memory?" The curved mask inquired. "I haven't forgotten anything about you! I explained it all to Beth yesterday! You were there when my home was destroyed! I saw you killing everyone who was trying to run away... throwing that blood-red fire at them...turning them into ash immediately... you killed all of them... that's why this aggression is necessary... they deserve vengeance which is what I'm trying to give them now." Lukas explained as he slowly calmed down. "Come on! That's why you attacked us? I thought it would be because we found your hiding spot and reported it back to the one who killed your girlfriend! That reasoning you have is pretty weak! You might as well just contain that anger until we do everything what we have planned for you!" The mask with teeth scoffed at Lukas. "You... did what?" Lukas asked. "See...Clysm... this is why I said you shouldn't speak... you always end up doing this." The curved mask spoke whilst sighing. "So you're the ones who found us! You're the reason that we were split apart from each other... you're the reason why she's dead!" Lukas yelled as he finally began to understand the bigger role that the two people... no... the two creatures in front of him had to play in his story.
Suddenly, Lukas' soul erupted into flames that engulfed his body... the ferocious fire seemed unceasing... but Lukas didn't seem to notice as his rage only escalated with each moment that he looked upon the murderers of his dearly beloved family. "Lukas... please do not try anything... we would hate to see such a talented fighter such as you go to waste. Listen to our reasoning for us being here and we swear we will try and make our presence as unknown as possible throughout your journey." The curved mask spoke calmly which only irritated Lukas more. "Shut up... just shut up!" Lukas yelled as he slowly raised into the air... he seemed calm despite him previously not knowing that he could float by using the powers that the Eye had granted him. The mask with teeth seemed to be getting very excited but once again, this made Lukas' anger rise even more... how could these monsters be happy about what was happening... how could they be happy with anything that has happened in their lives? "It's about time that she was avenged! It's about time that you took your last breaths! If you truly have any regret for your actions... then you'll let me strike you down right here and now!" Lukas shouted as he prepared to attack. The enemies readied their weapons as Lukas flew forwards with incredible speed to the point where he was practically invisible... with this speed, he managed to get behind the enemy and slash at their back... only for it to be effortlessly blocked as they turned around quicker than Lukas had attacked them. "Well... it seems Lukas is ready for a fight... what do you say to that Astro?" The mask with teeth excitedly asked the other. "It seems... it cannot be helped... I am truly sorry for what we are about to do Lukas... but you have forced our hands." The second mask answered. "If you were actually sorry... then you would've stopped a long time ago." Lukas retorted as he prepared to attack with his other weapon.
Lukas' attack was aimed at the being with ranged weapons... but they dodged by bending backwards and underneath the blade... before they threw Lukas' first attack that was blocked earlier off of their weapons and thus threw Lukas onto the ground... but he quickly recovered and was back on his feet in less than a second. "Can I at least learn your names before I strike you down? It would be a shame if I couldn't place a name on my first two kills!" Lukas requested as his rage was blinding him to how the odds were heavily stacked against him in this fight. "I suppose we could spare our names... hopefully being obedient will help you calm down faster as well so I guess I should. I'm Catastrophe and my brother here is Cataclysm." The curved mask responded. "The brothers of Bethany huh? Why did I expect any different? You both give off that same aura as her... that aura that just makes you hate everything that you see." Lukas spoke as he loosened his grip on his weapons slightly. "So are you still planning on killing us here?" Cataclysm asked. "I definitely am... I need to bring justice to all the lives that were lost on that day... and the millions of other lives that you almost certainly took!" Lukas explained as his grip tightened once again. "Well... that's a shame... Clysm... stop talking, you're making things worse." Catastrophe said with a sigh as he raised his crossbow.
Catastrophe pulled the trigger on his crossbow and the blood-red bolt shot forwards with incredible speed... Lukas saw it coming however and simply moved to the side slightly and watched the projectile flypast him before it hit a wall and exploded. The explosion caused the rubble of the wall to fall down upon Lukas who simply slashed through the pieces that were about to crush him. When Lukas turned back to the brothers, Cataclysm was already stood not too far from him and he just started swinging his battle axe. Lukas attempted to block the attack by putting his weapons in front of his body... however the sheer force of the blow launched him away and sent him flying into the fragments of the wall that had landed on the ground... once Lukas had finally landed, he struggled to get back up once again as the rubble he hit along the way had severely injured his legs and his back. "Do you give up yet? I won't blame you... you are facing off against the brothers of the Great Calamity... anyone else would be dead by now... but we still need you to live for at least a few days more." Cataclysm asked to both mock Lukas and to brag about his insane strength. Lukas didn't pay any attention to the words that were just spoken... it wasn't that he didn't hear or that he was ignoring them... his mind just didn't process the information. "Lukas! Can you hear me now?" A feminine voice called out. "Chara? Is that you?" Lukas responded. "What was that? Chara? Is that the girl who we got killed... the one you were hanging out with? Are you feeling sorry for yourself Lukas?" Cataclysm spoke as he was trying to provoke Lukas. Lukas once again did not process the words that Cataclysm had said. "Okay... let me make this quick! We can talk afterwards. You want to avenge me and everyone else right? Well... you're going to die here if you don't do something... and then you won't be able to achieve your goals." Chara explained.
"You're right... I'm going to die here... I've picked a fight that I can't win... against two gods of destruction... what the hell was I thinking? I'm pathetic." Lukas responded to Chara as he started crying. "No... please don't do that Lukas... you know I hate seeing you like that. How can you get out of this? You must have some trick that you haven't used yet." Chara requested. "No... that's all I've got... even if I could use all of the Eye's powers... these guys are professionals... how would I beat them? I can't Chara... I'm sorry that I've failed you again." Lukas explained as he started trembling. Chara just remained silent as Lukas spoke what he believed to be his last words... as Cataclysm walked back to Catastrophe who was pointing his weapon at Lukas. "No... I can't let it end like this!" Lukas yelled as he sensed a growing power within him. Even though his body was trembling and he knew he was going to die, he felt like he still had to try and win the battle that he had caused. "Wait a minute... this power... Lukas it's the one we read about together! You remember don't you?" Chara asked as the flame around Lukas' soul started burning even brighter than before. "I do... it was one of the highlights of our time together... how could I forget? That night... a few weeks after Cole went missing... we were worried... but we knew he wasn't coming back... that guy... whoever he was... had killed him... we just didn't know where or when. So we decided to try and get our minds off of those thoughts... we spent the whole night looking through your father's old books that he had stored down there... probably to research ways to grant himself more power. I remember... that one in particular that we found interesting... and apparently your father was interested in it as well... he probably even utilised it himself considering how desperate he was." Lukas said with tears still rolling down his face as he recalled the events of them learning of that power. "Yes... that's it. Those were the days... the days where our stress and anxiety levels were flying through the roof. Now tell me smart guy... if you really remember what we found... then tell me the name of that power." Chara requested as she seemed to be enjoying recalling the events with Lukas.
"I remember clearly... the name... "Hysterical Strength"...that was it's name. I have something to do Chara... I'll talk with you again once I'm done." Lukas explained as he got up as if he was not injured in the slightest. "What the hell? How can you be fine after all of that?" Cataclysm asked as he turned around. "Silence Clysm! Don't you see? He really is powerful enough for the task ahead of him!" Catastrophe spoke with joy as he saw the potential that Lukas had. "For those... that could not protect themselves... I will... avenge them. I will not fail!" Lukas yelled as the flame erupted out of his soul and covered his body. Cataclysm held his weapon with both hand once again and held it in front of him. "Don't be so cocky kid! Remember... you're fighting gods! If we want you to die then you will d-" Cataclysm spoke out loud before Lukas suddenly appeared in front of him and slashed at him. Cataclysm attempted to block the attack with his weapon and his lightning-fast reflexes... he did in fact get Lukas to hit his weapon... only for Lukas' blades to slice through it and split it in two. "What? How can yo-" Cataclysm was about to ask before Lukas swung multiple times more... cutting through Cataclysm's clothes and into his skin... blood pouring from the wounds almost as soon as they were made. Lukas raised his weapon for one final attack to finish off this pathetic excuse for a human turned god. "Stop! Please stop!" Catastrophe begged in a panicked voice. Lukas ignored the pleas and continued to bring his weapon down upon the enemy. "Stop it now! I just want him to live!" Catastrophe shouted once again to hopefully get Lukas' attention... which worked... Lukas stopped, lowered his weapon and slowly turned to look back at Catastrophe. "Those words... they're just like the ones I spoke when I... when I failed her for the first time." Lukas thought to himself as he slowly walked away from Cataclysm and Catastrophe rushed to his brother's side.
"What the hell were you thinking Clysm? You know that there's a reason as to why we were told to keep an eye on him! Why would you mock him like that?" Catastrophe asked as he held his brother in his arms. "Look... I know... I messed up. Now would you mind healing my wounds before I bleed to death? That would be such a humiliating death for beings like you and I." Cataclysm requested as he seemed to struggle to breathe. Catastrophe pulled out the weapon that Lukas couldn't identify before and it started glowing a bright green. Catastrophe pointed the weapon at the huge cuts through Cataclysm's body before a thin green laser shot out from the weapon and the wounds seemed to close up rather quickly... although it did seem to cause immense pain for Cataclysm but he tried to hide the fact that he felt the pain... and he also tried to hide the fact that underneath the mask, his face was practically covered in tears however Lukas could hear him crying despite being a fair distance away from him at this point. Lukas wiped away his own tears from his conversation with Chara... before he turned away from the brothers and resumed talking with her. "So how did it feel? I mean... it must have been great to wield all that power and use it on people that you knew had killed a ton of innocent people." Chara asked as Lukas could tell that she was shocked about what just happened... even though he couldn't see her face. "I... I hated it. My rage pushed me to hurt them... and they were ordered to never hurt me in the first place unless it was necessary. Then I used that power... and nearly killed Cataclysm... sure he was being obnoxious and annoying... but I only used that power because I thought that he was going to kill me... which he was ordered specifically not to do... and since he was ordered to keep me alive, that's what he's going to do. I nearly killed somebody who is most likely being forced to do the things he does by someone else... I nearly killed him because he had a part to play in something that happened long ago... something that I had practically left behind and something that I didn't think that anyone was at fault for it happening." Lukas explained as he was disappointed in himself.
"Lukas! I've got a few words for you after what you've done!" Cataclysm yelled as he stood back up and picked up the two halves of his broken weapon. "Oh really? What would those words be?" Lukas asked as he turned around and Cataclysm started approaching him. Cataclysm carried on walking until he was right next to Lukas before he placed the two pieces of his weapon together and the pieces just seemed to snap together as if the weapon was never broken in the first place... Cataclysm then reached out his empty hand before speaking again. "Well fought Lukas. I'm glad that of all the people that I have fought, it is you who gave me a reality check and reminded me that no matter how many people consider me a god, I can still be harmed and killed." Cataclysm admitted as his weapon was engulfed in red flames before disappearing. Lukas seemed confused at first before he dropped his own weapons and shook Cataclysm's hand. "Yes... I know that it must be very heart warming Lukas to know that the people that you originally considered enemies are actually nice people if you look past all the tragedies that they caused... but can we get to the point and explain why I brought him here? While I did enjoy the battle, I did also partially do this because even I was curious as to why you needed to meet Lukas." Nightmare spoke as he seemed to be getting bored. Cataclysm suddenly summoned his weapon again and pointed it at Nightmare. "Let him have this moment! He deserves it after all that he has been through!" Cataclysm shouted as he stepped closer to Nightmare. Nightmare had a frightened look on his face as he took a few steps backwards.
Cataclysm looked back at Lukas... before walking back towards Catastrophe... despite the mask being over Cataclysm's face, Lukas could almost see the smile behind the red glow in the centre of the mask. "Now Lukas... can we finally discuss what we summoned you here to talk about?" Catastrophe asked. "Yes... I'm sorry about that... I just needed to get that anger and frustration out of me. What did you want to talk about?" Lukas replied. "It's simple really... we want to help you survive and in return we only ask that you do small favours for us every now and again... is that fair?" Catastrophe proposed to Lukas. "Hm... I'll do it...it's only fair after what I did to Cataclysm." Lukas explained. "Don't sweat it Lukas! Really... you did me a favour by nearly killing me... I should be the one that's putting in more effort to repay you!" Cataclysm exclaimed as he was trying his best to make Lukas not feel bad. "Oh and one more thing. Nightmare!" Catastrophe yelled as he stared at Nightmare who then immediately looked back. "Yes... what is it?" Nightmare spoke as he was still trying to act tough despite him clearly being scared out of his mind. "You're not allowed to kill Lukas even if he pisses you off... I just thought that I should make that clear." Catastrophe said as Lukas started snickering. "Alright then... if that's all that you wanted to tell him... then can he go now?" Nightmare practically begged as he seemed to be getting more fearful by the second. Catastrophe only nodded back as Nightmare practically started dragging Lukas back to his room.
"What's the matter Nightmare? Are you scared? That's kind of ironic for a guy called Nightma-" Lukas was saying before he got pulled incredibly hard all of a sudden. "Shut up kid... they said I couldn't kill you even if you pissed me off... but if you annoy me enough... then I might just end up breaking the rules." Nightmare explained. "Can I ask you something? Actually, I don't care what you have to say... I'm going to ask you no matter what you say. When you first invaded my mind, why did you say all of that cliché stuff about imaginary creatures not being real in your world?" Lukas asked as he just wanted to make fun of Nightmare more. "Kid... those creatures weren't real in your world... that doesn't mean that they aren't real in any other worlds. You'll find that in worlds where those creatures are real, they actually help to fend off and destroy nightmares... you know... the very things that I use to gain power? I'm basically telling people that know that those creatures exist that there is no hope of them escaping me." Nightmare clarified. "Well then... I didn't believe that those things existed... so why did you tell me that those creatures couldn't help me?" Lukas inquired. "Kid... you believed in gods back then... a unicorn is way more believable than a god is." Nightmare said as he was clearly getting tired of this conversation. "Well... it seems like we're not going to get another chance to talk to each other tonight... I'll see you next time then." Chara spoke as Lukas approached his room once again. Lukas nodded in response as he didn't want Nightmare to hear him saying goodbye.
"Look kid... I'm willing to stop all of this negativity between us... just don't give those guys a reason to kill me... alright?" Nightmare asked in a surprisingly kind tone. "Wow... you really... I mean... sure... I can agree to that proposition." Lukas replied as he was about to make fun of Nightmare again but decided it was best not to this time. "Thanks kid... I mean Lukas. You're doing me a huge favour here... I will return the favour... it might take a while but I promise that when it arrives, it will benefit you a lot." Nightmare explained as he seemed to crack a genuine smile for a second before walking away. "Well... it's time to start mission number one... I hope you'll be at my side at all times. It's time to experience a whole bunch of wondrous things... like seriously... from what I've heard, literally anything could happen out there... are you ready?" Lukas asked Chara as he started waking up again. "I'm ready... I'll be by your side. Always." Chara replied. Lukas smiled as everything started getting brighter once again. "Always... by your side." Another voice said that sounded like Chara... but it was also noticeably different from her voice. "I knew you were here... but I'm sorry to say that I can't remember your name." Lukas subconsciously responded as the light from the real physical world poured in.
"Who was that? Lukas are you there?" Beth's voice called out as Lukas woke up. "Yeah... I'm here... what's happening?" Lukas asked as he sat up in his bed. "Who was that girl you were talking to?" Bethany questioned Lukas. "Oh... you mean Chara? I guess you didn't really hear her speak when you came to us... so I don't blame you for not knowing who she was." Lukas explained. "No... I don't mean her... there was somebody else... somebody who you said you didn't know the name of... oh and before you ask... I only heard what you were saying when you were regaining consciousness... I didn't hear anything else." Beth clarified. "What? The only girl I talked to in there was Chara... are you sure you're okay?" Lukas requested. "I think I should be asking that question Lukas... you can't just... whatever. I need to tell you that Dream apparently met Draedon... I know this because Dream came in here and spoke specifically to me when he found that you were still asleep... he said that Draedon told him that he could speak to me and though he can not hear me, I can hear him." Beth explained. "Well... I guess that's one of the ways that Draedon would help out like he said... but that didn't help us all that much... clearly he's got to have something else up his sleeve." Lukas replied. "It doesn't matter if he has or not... you should probably hurry up considering the fact that you overslept or you're going to be late for your first mission... and that wouldn't be a good first impression would it?" Beth asked as she seemed more focused on the future despite everything that was happening in the present. "Oh yeah... I was in that nightmare realm for a while... Nightmare sure does know how to waste people's time." Lukas spoke as he got out of bed and rushed to the door. "Wait... what about Nightmare?" Bethany inquired as Lukas running with the Eye was causing her to be practically dragged along with him. "I'll explain along the way! Right now we have to rush." Lukas yelled back as he ran along the corridors.
"Do you even know where we're going?" Beth asked as she flew faster to catch up with Lukas. "Not a clue! Would you mind explaining where I'm going?" Lukas requested. "Go back to where you met Zemeer... Dream told me about them so I'll know when we're there." Bethany explained. "Where I met Zemeer... got it... that will be easy." Lukas explained whilst making a sudden turn. "That's it right there isn't it?" Beth asked as she pointed forwards to a statue with flowers at the base of it. "Yes... that's it! That was easier than I thoug-" Lukas spoke before he tripped and dropped the Eye and spectators gasped and tried to help him up quickly. Nothing else mattered to Lukas in that moment other than the Eye as he tried searching for it whilst others rushed to his side... he spotted it amongst the crowd rolling away from him... Lukas then quickly ran towards it as it was picked up by someone else who was wearing a white cloak. "Excuse me Mister Protector... but I think you dropped this." The figure said whilst holding the Eye out towards Lukas... their cloak covering their hands so Lukas couldn't even see what they looked like... although Lukas already knew who it was. "Thank you Draedon! You really are a lifesaver!" Lukas spoke as he took the orb from Draedon's hand. "Be careful next time Lukas... or I might not be the one to pick it up for you." Draedon yelled at Lukas as he started dashing back towards the statue. "You've got to be more careful than that if you're going to be a Protector! What good will all this training be if you make clumsy mistakes like that all of the time?" Beth inquired as Lukas stopped at his destination.
"It's about time that you showed up... you're late on the first day? It's clear to me that you might not be that good of a Protector after all... not to mention the fact that you were damaging the Core just by you being in it's presence... I think Dream needs to remind me why we are letting you become one of us." A voice spoke from up above. Lukas looked up to a person standing atop the statue who was wearing black and white clothes... their eyes were dark except for two small dots in each one... one dot was glowing white whilst the other was red. "Wait a minute... I remember you... you're Cross... right? I saw you at the Core." Lukas said as he was thinking out loud. "Correct... well at least you're good at remembering... I could hardly remember your name until Dream started talking about you randomly." Cross explained as he dropped down from the statue. "Huh... you know... I've only just realised something... you and Dream... and even Nightmare... you all look relatively similar... the only difference being that you and Dream wear different clothes and Nightmare is covered in that black... stuff... whatever it is." Lukas spoke as he only just realised how everyone who he had met looked practically the same. "Yes... that is true. Dream will answer any questions you ask him... if he has the answers to them... so maybe you shouldn't talk to me about this stuff... people say I always come off as passive-aggressive so it might be better if you asked anyone but me." Cross explained as he started walking as if he was leading Lukas somewhere.
"So what's my first mission?" Lukas asked impatiently as he followed behind Cross. "What did I say about your questions? Don't be asking me about anything, ask Dream instead." Cross replied. Lukas just stayed silent the rest of the way to... wherever he was going... he certainly had no idea... he did occasionally look around him and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Signus watching him silently from a corner... Lukas simply held his hand up to let Signus know that he had been acknowledged. As Lukas turned back to Cross, he almost walked into the sharp metal object that had appeared in front of him... Lukas looked up only to find that this object was in fact a giant knife that Cross was holding and pointing at Lukas. "Never let your guard down... if my training has taught me anything... then you can not afford to trust anyone completely." Cross explained as he lowered his weapon. "W-well... you're a Protector... you wouldn't hurt anyone innocent... so I trusted you to... not shove weapons in front of my face when I've turned away from you." Lukas spoke as he wasn't sure of Cross' intentions. "Even though I am a Protector, that doesn't mean anything. Protectors have turned into Destroyers before... for all you know I could just be ready to snap... and you just might end up being the only person who passes by me in an otherwise empty hallway." Cross said in a cold voice that made Lukas' skin crawl. Cross' weapon suddenly vanished into a white light and Cross continued walking as if nothing had happened... Lukas followed behind him but slower than before as he was now cautious of every move that Cross had made.
"Oh... there he is... he must have come searching considering the fact that we took so long... go on... I'm sure you can walk that far without me right? I've got my own duties to attend to." Cross explained as Dream was clearly visible right next to a staircase. "Can you stop rubbing that in? So what if I'm late? I had somethings I needed to get sorted out before I came here." Lukas groaned as he started walking towards Dream. When Lukas turned around to look at Cross, he found nothing but empty space... as if Cross had never been there at all... Lukas wasn't surprised by people being able to do this anymore. Lukas began to walk onwards again before he stubbed his toe on something that definitely wasn't there before... when Lukas looked down at the object that he had hit, he found a metal box that seemed to be heavily reinforced that had a note on top of it... with a sigh, Lukas attempted to ignore the pain and he looked at what the note said. "Hey Lukas! I've been looking everywhere for you! What's that you've got there?" Dream yelled from down the hall... however, Lukas ignored him and tried to quickly finish reading the note in case it was something that nobody else should know about. "Lukas, take this with you and only open it when you're going to get into battle... I made this for you because I observed you and whilst you are powerful, you are not all that durable. The code is 20563... oh and I'm sorry about your foot. Signed Draedon." Lukas thought as he read the note in his head... although he was mad at Draedon for what he just did, Lukas couldn't help but smile at the note's last sentence. "Draedon thinks he's so funny. Whilst that may not be true, I can't disagree with the fact that the things he is able to invent are quite useful if you use them in the way that he intends them to be used." Beth spoke as she put her hand to her face when Lukas read the last sentence.
"What is that Lukas?" Dream asked as he finally reached Lukas. "Something you're not supposed to know about... the person who gave me this isn't dangerous unless you intentionally make yourself his enemy." Lukas explained in an attempt to calm Dream in case he had any fears. "Oh... okay then. Could you just... come with me then. I'll tell you what your first mission is on the way there." Dream requested. Lukas picked up the box that was surprisingly light before he started walking with Dream. "Why do you all look the same?" Lukas questioned Dream to hopefully get an answer this time. "Huh? Oh you mean the Protectors. Well... it's quite simple really. All of the Universes out there in The Multiverse are all home to different creatures... for some reason, there are a few specific creatures in each Universe that exist in all Universes only with slight... or sometimes major changes. There's a specific creature in each Universe that always names itself Sans... that one being is abnormally powerful in almost every single Universe... all of the beings that you see that look like me were once given the name Sans in our own Universes. Thanks to the incredible strength held within a Sans, they find it easier to escape a collapsing Universe... so that's why most of the people you'll see outside of a Universe will look practically identical... because at one point, they were a Sans." Dream explained. "Oh... that does make sense... quite a lot more sense than what I was thinking." Lukas replied.
"So what's my mission? It's going to be something simple right?" Lukas asked as his excitement was growing. "You have two missions Lukas... one is to test your strength against a real Destroyer... and your other mission is one that the Core specifically requested." Dream explained as he was finding excitement of his own just by witnessing how Lukas was acting. "Two? I guess I'm fine with fighting... I've already proven how good I am at that. What's the other mission?" Lukas questioned Dream as he was surprised to be given more than one mission. "The Core has given you a Universe that you need to watch over... they see potential within you... they said that you must attempt to eliminate any and all threats that appear in that Universe and you must keep one being in particular safe. They told me that the one you must keep safe is called "The Messiah" I think... and I just want to clarify that this is something that you must do daily... for at least half of the time that you spend working, you must be watching over this Universe and assisting The Messiah, whether that be through direct communication or any other means, and lead them towards their end goal." Dream replied to Lukas. "Okay... that sounds fair to me. Now... can I know the name of the Destroyer that I'll be fighting?" Lukas inquired. "Well... I would tell you... but the truth is... nobody knows who this Destroyer is. We just sense their presence and we sense them causing chaos... but by the time somebody gets there, the aggressor has already finished their attack and left to... a place that we can't find." Dream answered Lukas.
"Perfect! I've always liked a challenge. Don't worry, I won't get too reckless." Lukas reassured Dream. "Alright... follow me." Dream requested as he flew up into the air once he had reached the edge of The Sanctuary. "How am I supposed to follow you exactly?" Lukas asked as he watched Dream slowly fly away. "Are you telling me that you can control all of that power but you can't figure out how to fly?" Dream said in disbelief as he looked down at Lukas. "Come on... it's easy! Just do what you did when you were fighting... you know... just think of it and it'll most likely happen." Bethany explained. "Oh... it's that easy? I thought that rule only applied to physical things." Lukas spoke out loud as he started floating just like Beth told him. "Well then... are you ready? It doesn't matter if you are or not because Michael should be coming back any second now... so just try to keep up... I'm sure you can find your way back here if you lose me." Dream told Lukas as he seemed to be preparing to leave. "Well... I can't be certain that I'll be able to keep up... but I'll try my best. It may be my first time doing this but I think I'll be fine." Lukas spoke as he was both trying to bring Dream's and his own hopes up. Dream smiled... before he suddenly just shot out of sight and incredibly far into the distance.
"What are you waiting for? Go after him!" Beth yelled as she hoped that speaking louder would get Lukas to act quicker. Lukas panicked for a second before he just stared in the general direction of where Dream had flown off to and before he knew it, Lukas had done the same as Dream... and it was unlike anything that he had seen. The amount of Universes that Lukas passed on his way to catch up with Dream was unbelievable to Lukas... he knew that there were a ton of different Universes... but he didn't expect to see so many in such a short amount of time. "I can sense his presence! We're getting closer!" Beth explained excitedly. Suddenly, Lukas got the sudden urge to stop moving... he tried to ignore it but the feeling just kept growing within his soul... and so he did stop... then his attention was caught by something that he wouldn't have seen if he kept going. "What are you doing? If we stop now then we're going to lose Dream! I bet that you won't be able to find your way back home at this rate!" Bethany tried telling Lukas... but he seemed totally mesmerised by what he had just randomly stumbled upon. "Don't you see Beth? I don't need to find my way home because... now I am home once again. This... is what remains of my home." Lukas spoke as he slowly floated towards a large cluster of small glittering particles. "So you noticed? I was sort of hoping that you wouldn't... being here is just going to bring back bad memories and once you've unlocked the Eye's main powers, you don't need to experience horrible events like that again." Beth clarified as she watched Lukas wander around the cluster in awe.
Eventually, Lukas stopped in front of an orb that was around twice the size of the Eye... but it was glowing red. "What is this? It's amazing." Lukas asked in amazement. "I... don't know. I've never seen anything like that before. This is very interesting... it's not often that I find things that I don't know about." Beth admitted as she too was curious about the object. "What do you think would happen... if I touched it?" Lukas inquired as he started reaching out to the orb. "Wait! Don't touch it! We don't know what that thing does!" Bethany shouted... but she was too late... Lukas' palm touched the strange object. It felt strange... it felt like it was made of glass and it was cold to the touch. Suddenly, the orb emitted a soft white glow... before it quickly grew brighter and exploded... and at that moment, Lukas heard two voices that seemed very familiar and yet Lukas knew that he hadn't heard them before. He also had a vision that felt more like a dream or a memory... he was laying down on something and staring at the ceiling of a house... and he saw another person that was sat in a seat by his side... Lukas couldn't make out many of their features other than their purple hair and skin along with their glowing yellow eyes... they seemed to be asleep as well.
"Creo! Where is ________?" Another person yelled as they entered the room... Lukas saw their mouth move but instead of a name, he heard a noise that sounded like static. The new person was strange... they also had purple hair and skin... but their eyes were black with glowing purple irises. As the new person shouted, the being that was sat down next to Lukas... Creo was their name if the other person was to be believed, they woke up and looked back at them. "Nuos... are you worried about her again? She just likes to go out by herself every once in a while... can't you just let her have that time to herself?" Creo asked. "No! You know as much as me that she's in danger out there! After what happened to___, I can't afford to lose anyone else!" Nuos explained as Lukas once again only heard static when a name was mentioned. "Wait! That wasn't a dream? What happened with ___ and _____ all of that... all of it actually happened?" Lukas asked as he shot up from his bed... once again, he was unable to hear the names that even he said. "Oh thank god you're awake ______! Wait... yeah sorry about that... I forgot... it's Lukas right?" Creo spoke as he practically jumped out his seat and held Lukas' shoulders. "Where is she? I need to find her!" Lukas yelled as he attempted to stand up before Creo stopped him. "You should rest... after what happened yesterday... I was worried that you were never going to wakeup. Nuos will search for ________ and I'll stay here with you. I will not let you out of this house until you are better... okay?" Creo asked as he slowly pushed Lukas back onto what he was laid on. All of a sudden, everything that Lukas was seeing started going blurry and the voices became muffled to the point where Lukas could not understand them... finally, Lukas saw a light... and he heard Bethany calling out to him once again.
"Subject X-TMA Examination File
Subject X-TMA is a replica that appears to take on the appearance of a featureless glowing blue human that was brought into existence by the almighty god of creation. Abilities include: teleportation, multiple variations of energy blasts, able to summon seemingly unbreakable chains made from pure light, mimicry, extreme regeneration, Doomsday (read below). This creature was created with the express purpose of causing immense pain and suffering to one being in particular before destroying it's target once they have reached a point where they can no longer feel emotional or physical pain... the being that is being targeted is unclear. Subject X-TMA has been observed travelling to different Multiverses before it destroys one of the Universes within and it takes on the appearance of the strongest living being it can find that existed within the Universe it eliminates.
Doomsday
The strongest ability that Subject X-TMA has in it's arsenal is known as Doomsday. Doomsday is an ability that only Subject X-TMA is known to have and it is incredibly destructive. When Subject X-TMA uses Doomsday, it will gather energy from every single non-sentient object around it (including Multiverses) and it will proceed to sprout giant glowing wings that resemble those of a butterfly before it releases all of the energy that it gathers into a giant energy wave that has enough power to the point where other god-like entities could die from this one blast of energy.
Conclusion
It is incredibly difficult to track Subject X-TMA once it has taken the form of another being as it also tends to only use abilities that the being it is pretending to be could use. If any being is found to have an extreme amount of similarities to Subject X-TMA, report this information to Taen or Reukra immediately. Avoid all possible hostile interactions with Subject X-TMA. Do not attempt to lure Subject X-TMA towards any hostile units. If any Multiverse has energy readings that are consistent with Subject X-TMA charging Doomsday, inform all units within the vicinity and evacuate immediately."