"Hey, you little brat, what the hell are you doing here?" —a nearby black serpent hissed
"Huh? Who are you?" —Naturlog
"I'm the Black Serpent King. Who the fuck are you, daring to step into the territory of the Ancestor?"
'Even though I've never fought before, with the power I have right now… I'm pretty sure I can take this thing down.'
"So what? Kal'z gave me permission to work here."
"Kal'z? Who the hell is that?"
'Hmm… it doesn't know Kal'z?'
The beasts around here are mostly arrogant assholes anyway. They rarely care about others, so they usually only know each other by species name—even though a few of them do have some sense of loyalty.
"If you don't get the hell out of here right now, I'll send you straight to meet your maker."
So they were about to throw down to see who was right… but before anyone could make a move—
"What are you two doing?"
From high up above, Kal'z—who had been playing with a ball of yarn—saw that Thiên Công had finished his part and came down to handle the rest. But it didn't expect to walk into this scene.
"Huh? Cat, you know this little girl?"
"Yeah, what's the problem?"
"Sorry… I thought you were one of those usual idiots. Uh… what's your name anyway?"
"I'm Naturlog."
"Oh, I see…" —Black Serpent
"If you ever run into any trouble in this land, just call me. I'm outta here." —Black Serpent
"Alright then… time for us to finish the remaining part, right?"
Kal'z started spinning in circles in the air, channeling power. The entire city transformed into its own separate space—much bigger on the inside than it looked from outside, more natural, and the gate now served as the entrance to this whole dimension.
"Space Magic!"
A gigantic basic magic circle appeared behind the spinning Kal'z. The sun and moon symbols on it also began to rotate. Five minutes later, Kal'z jumped down.
"And… done!"
"So what do we do next?" —Naturlog
"…" —kal'z
"Of course, now that we have a city… we need citizens for it." —kal'z
"We're gonna find people who are struggling, who've failed, or who've already died. We'll give them a chance to be reborn, start over, or just have fun and relax after a life full of chaos. A second chance."
"So that's one of the reasons you chose me, huh?"
"Yep."
"Now… let's go!"
They blasted off, diving through the multiverse to find universes that needed help. On the way, Thiên Công kept asking questions.
"But according to those criteria… won't we end up helping villains too?"
"Yep. But I still have my own standards: like villains who turned good, started doing heroic stuff, or were heroes in another universe."
'You're just a cat but you have human-level intelligence…' —Naturlog (thinking)
"Hey, I know exactly what you're thinking right now~" —kal'z
"Huh? You can read my mind?"
"Who do you think gave you the power that made you like this?"
"Yeah… true. But can you tell me a bit more?"
"It's a long story… Just know that I used to be a completely normal cat like any other cat. But after I went there, I changed into what I am now."
"But…"-Naturlog
"Oh look, we're here already~" —kal'z
'…Guess we'll talk about it next time.' —Naturlog
After arriving in the multiverse, they chose a universe to help and befriend. They picked one that was currently under attack and invasion by a multiversal villain organization.
—In that universe (Arknights)—
"Who are you, and why are you attacking our universe?" —Amiya
Right now, Terra—and the entire Arknights universe—was on the verge of destruction by these invaders using a piston-like machine powered by the Emerald of Destruction (there are 7 of them in total, each containing chaotic and destructive power. When all 7 are gathered, the user gains insane god-like strength — yeah, I totally stole the idea from Sonic's Chaos Emeralds :)) ). Almost everyone had already been brutally slaughtered.
"You don't need to ask anything, little girl. You're about to disappear too. I'm one of the commanders of the force you're facing. Everything ends here." —Comna
"Your friends, your loved ones—my legion already killed them all. Now it's just you left, little bunny."
"No…" —Amiya (this is still the chubby, baby-faced Babel-era Amiya)
"Ayo chill, slow down there." —kal'z
"Huh…?" —Amiya
"Who the hell are you to interrupt me?" —Comna
"It's not just me~"
"What…?" —Comna
"Hey buddy, time to stop." —Naturlog
"Who do you think you are to challenge me? I am—"
BAM! Naturlog threw one punch. Comna was sent flying kilometers away, crashing through an entire mountain range before face-planting into the mud. His body began to transform—growing huge, muscles bulging, reaching 17 meters tall. He lunged at supersonic speed with one leap, but Thiên Công—who still hadn't fully mastered this power—still managed to match him blow for blow.
"You… I'll kill you!" —Comna
Whoosh "You only got this much?" — Naturlog blocked the punch with one hand. His right hand started glowing bright blue, then he countered with a devastating punch.
"Arghhh, I'm fucking pissed now!" —Comna
They kept trading blows—one attacking, one blocking nonstop. Then Comna opened his massive mouth full of teeth and blood from all the Terra people he'd eaten, and fired a black beam that stunned Thiên Công and tore off a chunk of skin.
"You think that's all I've got? Watch this!" Crack crack His mouth opened even wider. A black hole formed inside it and shot out a 5km-long beam of total destruction that wiped out everything in its path.
'Aiyah… I still haven't figured out how to fully control this power yet, but I think I can still handle him.'
—Meanwhile, back at the original spot—
"Hey little girl, are you done petting me yet?" —kal'z
"But I'm so scared, Mr. Cat… I'm useless. I couldn't do anything to protect them…" —Amiya
"If you want to protect everyone, then come with me. I'll give you the power to take revenge… or to do whatever you want."
"Really?" —Amiya
"Yup. But first, you have to become one of my citizens. How you use the power after that is up to you, cutie."
"But first… sign this contract."
—5 minutes later—
"I'm done signing."
"Alright, time to give you the power."
Kal'z tore open space. A mask made of some unknown alloy appeared—black with golden accents for highlights.
"Here, put this on."
"Okay."
The moment Amiya put on the mask, Kal'z grabbed her hand (just like it did with Naturlog).
—Back to Naturlog fight—
After a few minutes of brutal combat, both were battered. Naturlog had white scars all over (from the leaking power) and his clothes were shredded. The other guy was in the same state, but missing half his right arm.
"You're strong, I'll give you that. But I'm done here for now. Next time we meet, I'll be even stronger." —Comna
"You too." —Naturlog
Comna left to call back his legion. Thiên Công returned to the starting point.
"I'm back!" —Naturlog
"You're back. Alright, let's go—this universe is gonna explode in about 5 minutes." —kal'z
"Okay…" —Amiya
And so the three of them left. Kal'z and Thiên Công had found their first citizen.