Jun made his way towards his office. The streets had become quiet, more subdued. People moved hurriedly, carrying tense looks in their eyes, watching anyone and everyone who came too close. Most shops remained open, yet the ones he saw had few patrons if any. He passed a boarded up restaurant, a charred bookstore, a looted clothing shop and an abandoned kiosk where scattered goods lay strewn about. Parts of the city appeared to be turning into warzones.
An armed trio walked by Jun, he kept his eyes down as they passed. He spotted streaks of blood on their weapons. With the police being suppressed by Transformed Umbra Victims, violence was quickly becoming the order of the day. Weak people were being bullied by the vicious and the cruel. He heard a female scream come from somewhere behind several buildings. Jun sighed.
As he was getting closer to his office, he decided to take a closer look at his inner constellation. After Destur's death, some energy, perhaps a portion of Destur's own energy had merged with Jun, causing his constellation size to increase. The energy within him felt natural, the same as it always did, just more of the same. As the size of the constellation represented the 'fuel' for his ability, he realized he could now push his abilities further.
'Does this mean I can get stronger by d-defeating other people? The more I k-kill, the stronger I'll get?'
Jun wasn't sure how to feel about this revelation. He wasn't cruel, nor was he one who liked to hurt other people. Yet, he wouldn't let himself be hurt or killed. If he had to, he would fight, like he had fought Destur. If he had to, Jun would…
The thought refused to form. He didn't want to acknowledge this reality, so Jun shook his head and banished the thoughts away.
As he walked though, he considered 'Is there another way to generate more of the constellation without having to kill people?'
He wasn't sure where it came from initially. It was the amount he had had after he woke up. His eyes widened;
'It had grown! After the first time I used Thousand for One, the constellation grew. Maybe if I just meditate. But, honestly, what is this power? Where did it come from? Why do we have it? Why am I the only telekinetic I've seen so far'
Prior, when he checked social media, he noticed a similarity in the stories of every Umbra Victim; They experienced the event, woke up with a headache that eventually overwhelms them to the point they pass out again, they then wake up with abilities.
'I didn't really pass out though. It was after my first circulation I actually passed out. I had a headache, but I was able to circulate the energy within me… huh?'
Maybe that was an important piece of the puzzle. Jun shrugged. He had no idea and could only guess. Perhaps, in time some expert would be revealed and Jun could ask all the questions he wanted. For now, he decided to get through the work day.
Far away, in a basement hideout.
Lightcore sat on a wooden stool, his chest exposed, bearing open wounds that were healing slowly yet visibly to the naked eye. He allowed a woman dressed in a nurse outfit to clean his wounds with water and a clean rag.
Aside from the nurse were three other members of Lightcore's group. One, a lean lanky man was stitching an open wound across his arm, yet his wounds didn't heal as quickly as Lightcore himself, over his back, torso and arm were black inked, highly detailed tattoos of various beasts striking lifelike poses. Another was a young teenaged looking girl, dressed in goth attire playing a handheld gaming console.
The third was an obese smiling man, almost a meter wide with heavy rolls of fat along his neck, arms, back and ankles. He sat on a simple white plastic chair that in no way could support his weight, yet he seemed rather comfortable on it.
"When is Lady Briner coming?" the obese one complained, "The battle is over, we lost, now I'm hungry!"
"We didn't lose." Argued the goth girl without looking up her console, "We kicked ass, wrecked some shit and got away."
"Yeah, and how many of us made it back eh?" retorted the fatty, "I didn't see Feng come back." He snickered as he added, "or Destur for that matter."
Lightcore waved the nurse away, pulling on his shirt as his remaining wounds continued to closed up. He locked eyes with the fatty as he spoke.
"Those so called heroes are getting more vicious than we expected. Yeah, Feng is dead, Solus is injured, but we-"
"I can still fight." Cut in the lean man who had sewn his open wound shut. "My beast will regenerate in time and I can bring him out again."
The fatty chuckled, "Are you sure you wanna do that, Magicster practically tore that poor thing in half." He placed a thick finger on his lips in a mocking gesture. "I never thought I'd see such a mighty beast, cry so pathetically. Aww."
Solus charged at the fatty, who suddenly grinned, welcoming an attack.
A surge of electricity erupted from the goth girl and struck both fatty and Solus; Solus dropped to the floor, writhing in pain while the fatty chuckled as though he was merely being tickled.
Lightcore nodded at the goth girl "Thanks Zizi." Only then did she relent and the surge ended.
"Awww," cooed the fatty, "that was a pleasant tickle." He laughed some more.
Lightcore cringed inwardly. He hated having to keep his people in line. That was a job he left to Briner, who normally handled it well, but she was still yet to return from searching for their missing members.
Lightcore continued, "It was a stalemate. Like us, they're gathering allies. Whoever has more warriors in this war is sure to come out on top. For now, we lick our wounds."
Fatty turned to Zizi, "I could help with that," he said licking his lips slowly and dramatically with a large toad-like tongue. Zizi flipped him off, but didn't raise her eyes to him. Like most of Lightcore's crew, they were wary of Obon as he called himself.
The door burst open and Briner stepped in. She was the woman who had arrived with Lightcore during the battle. She flipped her feet, tossing her sandals at Obon, he reached for them, but rather than miss, they orbited his large body once before settling into his hands. He took a deep, delighted sniff. Briner jumped forward, towards Obon, whose eyes began to glow shades of black light. Briner had a smile on her face as she floated through the air as though unaffected by gravity. He pushed off the ceiling and sat on Obon's expansive torso, while he used his large hands to cradle her in place.
"Master Lightcore," she said throwing her head back to face Lightcore, "Destur is dead." She faced Obon, both of them making cute faces at each other.
"I don't know how," she added amid her play, "but, he was killed with his own attack. Maybe someone reflected it back at him or forced him to slime his own face. No clue."
For a few seconds, no one spoke, however no one seemed upset. Destur, it seemed was not particularly liked.
"Dear," Obon spoke, making a sad face.
"Oh right! You must be hungry." She turned to face Lightcore, "I told the leader of the tax collectors to be on the lookout for new blood. Zizi, meet with Mr. Han. There was a security camera around where Destur perished. Please get whatever you can from the hard-drives." Zizi gave a thumbs up, but still didn't stop playing. Having given her report, she faced Obon and nodded. "Let's get upstairs. The servants can get us something to eat. Okay," she said nuzzling her face in the many fat folds on Obon's body. "Now let's get upstairs and you can order whatever you want."
Obon began to stroke her face lovingly. He cancelled his ability and his full weight crashed through the plastic chair and dented the floor beneath him. Briner then squatted and picked his massive bulk up, cradling him like he was a dainty little girl. Obon giggled as they moved toward the exit.
None of the others spoke. Even Zizi looked up to watch the several hundred pound man being carried princess-style by the eighty pound woman. Briner initially had some trouble by the doorway, but, Obon's eyes flashed and he floated slightly, allowing her to push him and his fat rolls through the doorway.
"Urgh." Groaned Lightcore, "I need new members."