Chapter 6

Atom didn't so much as feel the impact of something striking his back as he experienced what an absolute change in direction at Mach 8 felt like. He hit the landmass below him like a falling meteorite. His HUD lit up red with internal sensors screaming at him about breached and failed containments. Suppressing the flood before it could get out of hand, he asked Tess to silence the alarms. He pushed himself up off the ground and surveyed the two-kilometer crater his body just made.

Gods I hope nothing was here. Else I’m going to be in trouble.

A grating high pitched female voice from the sky called down to him, "What do we have here? Now this was an unexpected treat. A Council member trapped on this shit hole? It must be my lucky day. He will be very pleased with me. Very pleased indeed."

Atom looked up towards the annoying and familiar voices owner. She slowly drifted down from the sky. There was absolutely nothing notable about the woman. She was athletic-looking but mostly average in every way except for a slightly hooked nose. Her cold dead eyes looked down on him imperiously. Yes, he was familiar with Karen. Her name wasn’t actually Karen but it was something close so he’d intentionally not remembered it deciding Karen was much more fitting. She was one of the Nine. An organization that mirrored the Council on the Enemy's side.

"Look, the manager isn't in right now." Atom said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You always say that." Karen snapped out.

Atom snickered as the woman seethed in confusion at his inside joke. It wasn't his fault they weren't from his world. He checked to see that his suit had sealed the breach, and full containment was reestablished. He relaxed his control allowing the hungry suit to gorge itself once more.

Ignoring the woman's question, he asked his own, "What are you doing here, Karen? A little birdy told me that you got in quite the pickle recently with your master. I could have sworn you lost your place on the Nine."

Karen's face went red in rage, but she took control of herself, then smiled, " That's not my name bastard. And that was a minor and temporary thing."

Atom laughed, "You think losing a high profile target like that was minor?"

He didn't actually know exactly what she had been doing, but Tess had told him that the target had been worth almost starting the war up again. Multiple planar rifts, brute force tears in the Ways that are used gain access to protected planes which don't know the truth. There had also been open use of Icons in a non-magical plane. Atom had gotten a little greedy, sifting through the data, accidentally triggering an air gap failsafe and locked down the information node. The node had interested him for that very reason, though. The mystery. The juicy secrets.

Why would it be so protected, and most of the reports were redacted? He knew that two Council members and two of the Nine had been there. One of the Nine went missing, and Karen was subdued by the Arbitrators with the help of two council members. He only knew about Karen's involvement because it fit with her being captured then her removal shortly afterward from the Nine.

Let's see what she will tell us.

"I can't believe you would actually call losing one of the Nine and being captured by the council a minor thing." He laughed like she had told the greatest joke in the world, completely overdoing the act to insulting proportions.

"I didn't lose one of the Nine you suit wearing freak. She was kidnapped by the…" She shut her mouth as she saw Atom lean in. She glared at him. Taking control of herself, barely, she forced a laugh, "You don't know anything and I'm not about to divulge things above your station. Even if it doesn't matter."

Atom, you almost had her. Why did you have to lean in? Stop being a noob.

Sorry, Tess, I got a little excited.

That's why you don't know the details now. You botched that job thoroughly.

Atom grumbled at her. He knew it was true, but he didn't like his skills getting called into question. "Suit wearing freak? I look freaking amazing in this thing."

"You always have on some type of amplifying armor. You do realize that won't even the playing field against those of us with true power."

"It is what it is. Some are more gifted than others." He said with a laugh.

Have you found him yet, Tess?

Working on it, babe. You know it's hard to do anything in this suit if I don't have full access to the Feed to supplement… Got him. He's concealing himself just outside the crater.

Okay, good. Are you confident that we are at war? I will have to break the rules here, even if it's in self-defense. There is no way the General will let me get away with it.

I'm not recording, so at least try to leave peacefully.

I doubt this hag is going to let us leave peacefully. The crater is enough to tell me that, but I'll try to cover our ass.

"Look Karen. Let's just call it a day and let me be on my way. I'm sure you have better things to do than to pick on little oh me. I just want to leave. Personally I could give two flying craps about this place. I don't want to get involved in whatever you are up to."

"Ohh, but I want you to get involved. I've been dying to see what's under that suit of yours for quite some time now."

"You have a nice body but you're a little too homely for my tastes." It just slipped out of Atom's mouth before he could stop himself. He even snorted at how funny he thought it was.

Karen's famed Icon formed into her hand as she visibly shook enraged. The silvery light coalesced into the shape of a three-meter long red-shafted yanyuedao. The blade looked like a void black flame had been blown backward then frozen. It seeped with the pestilence of her twisted paths power. "You talk a lot of shit for a weakling sloth god. I'm going to enjoy this."

I lost him, babe, so watch out.

Atom sighed audibly, "Seriously. Can we please not do this? I really really really just want to leave." Atom tried one last time. He really did just want to go. He'd saved his relic and defeated the bad guys involved. A war breaking out mid-mission was a fluke, and he needed to get back and prepare for how to not be involved in this fiasco.

No matter what, Tess was going to have to do a lot of paperwork because there was no way to untell overwatch they were here. If he got any more involved than this with the dust puss over there, he would be doing said paperwork himself. The council leader and General would supervise it all while they had their feet so far up his ass that he'd be tasting leather and boot polish for the next decade.

A collared dark-robed man appeared beside Atom, swinging a punch for his head, which he leaned back casually and dodged. He grabbed the man by the collar and threw him at Karen. The woman disappeared from the spot as her dog flew through the space she had previously been in. She reappeared behind him, swinging the tasseled end of her yanyuedao, and swept him off his feet. The woman was just as fast as he'd read in reports.

While he was still falling in the air, she swung down with the bladed part of her staff railing him in the gut, making another crater inside the crater. He thought that if they kept this up, they might end up breaking a continental plate if he wasn't careful. Something he most definitely will be blamed for, even if it wasn't his fault.

Tess, is the frost we came in on still up?

Not for long. Their forces will have the shield down pretty soon.

Okay, we need to get over there and fix that issue. I'm about to punt this bitch. Prepare something we can use.

Atom blurred away before Karen could follow up with a downward heel kick. Picking out one of the two moons that orbited the planet. Atom performed the exact sweeping leg action in reverse so she would fall face first then kick the thunder cunt as hard as the suit would allow without breaking containment. Karen basically disappeared as a rather large crater appeared on the surface of the lucky moon.

He threw his hands up and yelled, "And it's good. The crowd goes wild. Ahhh!"

Atom tore off to his only exit. He didn't bother to take care of the Praxis sect members that seemed to be slowly chipping away at the Council's cheap scape bottom of the line shield. He had Tess drop down one that he was pretty sure no one would be able to get through until he could handle ole girl.

Speeding back to the crater site, he found that Karen hadn't made it back from her two-point adventure. She was coming through; he could see her burning form racing through the atmosphere right at him. He bent his legs waiting for her to arrive. She came in at hypersonic speed, yanyuedao leading. Atom was pretty sure she would break the planet's tectonic plates with an Icon powered strike like that. He would not be responsible for that, no sir.

The world slowed to a crawl. Karen inches from him. He pushed her yanyuedao wide, snatching one of her arms, and twisted, redirecting her at a slight, much less dangerous angle. Karen's body impacted the crater's side, creating a small canyon as she bounced like a rag doll for a few kilometers. He hoped there wasn't anything important in that direction. The collared man made an appearance again, throwing a barn size fireball his way. Atom blurred behind the man and snapped his neck. He tossed the body in the explosion of his own flames as he waited on Karen to quit screwing off.

She obliged him as he felt her start drawing in the ambient anima in the area. He didn't feel the first blow, but he did find himself flipping and flopping just like he'd just done to her. She stayed on him, though, kicking, punching, and all-around beating his ass all over the place. He never even had time to react to her attacks. They fell in an unending barrage of blows. The woman was on the Nine, after all. She wasn't some pushover he could splat and move on. The main thing was that he hadn't prepared to face someone this powerful. The suit he was in wasn't designed for it. He could beat on the plebs in this backwater no problem but not someone at Council or the Nine's strength.

She somehow managed to impressively cause his body to create another impact crater in the crater of the crater. It was just getting ridiculous at this point. His suit alarms were going off, and multiple breaches were evident in his HUD display. It was still holding containment together despite the Karen putting it through the wringer.

He didn't bother getting up as the woman appeared before him at his feet. He couldn't keep up with her speed anyway. Her brown hair was all messed up, and her face was covered in what he assumed was moon dirt from her little trip upstairs. The woman was breathing in a ragged rage. He thought if just a little dro… never mind, some drool started coming out of the left side of her mouth.

"No one makes a fool at of me! I'm going to tear down every gods damned temple you have in every plane. I'm going to erase you from existence you stupid music playing suit wearing bitch. Then I'm going to find your orange hair slut and have my dog rape her till she dies." She screamed, causing spittle to fly all over him as she drew in and another breath.

Waygo part two it is.

Abso-bucking-lutely not Atom. I don't care what she's saying. Don't get…

Atom stopped listening to his companion as he stood up and started pulling off the tatted remains of his nano-weave coat.

"Oh you going to do something now, suit wearing pansy bitch. Did I upset you? Aww does music man not want his orange pretty broken. Maybe I'll drop her off at one of my temples when my dog is finished with her. So they can keep her warm." Karen laughed maniacally.

He thought he had a good judge of her power level now and figured one arm ought to be enough. He could keep himself in check enough for one arm. He didn't want to burn away the planets atmosphere. He wasn't that angry. He tried to run the script to remove the left sleeve after touching it, but it failed. Tess was blocking him, it seems.

It's too late, Tess. I'm doing this.

Tess screamed back at him, but he didn't listen. He'd made up his mind, and he thought that maybe he would like to see what leather tasted like. He knew the fresh stuff smelled good.

Atom interrupted the dead woman that kept screaming obscenities at him, "You know what I find funny, you sandy cunt. You all seem to assume that I wear this suit to even the playing field. Which is close to the truth. You also incorrectly believe that my path is some form of bardic type. That my Mantle is some type of procrastination and good times emulation of reality. Which is stupid as hell if you thought about it for two seconds. I guess my acting is pretty good though." He chuckled.

"What! What did you just call me?" She frothed out in a seizure-like scream.

He moved. The punch hit her in the stomach, breaking his left gauntlet's containment. He didn't try to fix it. He moved back away from the woman as she tried to catch her breath. It might be a while with the lower right half of her rib cage shattered.

"Don't open your mouth when your betters are speaking to you. Now where was I…"

Hook nose threw up blood and shards of bone, he was pretty sure. He shrugged and continued his mental battle of trying to subvert his fiery Icon's attempt at blocking the removal of his left arm piece. He could shatter it, but he didn't have a replacement on him.

He continued, "Oh yes, so you're in luck. You guys broke the Feed into this plane so no ones around to see me show you. See I actually have a problem. Without this suit I couldn't be around anyone." Karen tried to speed away, but he snatched her arm mid-flight and slammed her back down in front of him. He chopped down with his breached gauntlet and smashed the femur in her right leg. After further consideration, he shattered the fibula and tibia in her left.

"None of that now. Be rude again and I'll break the rest." Atom looked at her like a disapproving father who'd caught his child misbehaving.Not that she saw anything with his helmet on. Karen's anima enforced screams could probably be heard on most of the continent. "Right, so my suit. It doesn't actually protect me. It actually protects you from me. That’s funny right?" He looked down at the screaming woman and kicked her in the shattered right leg. "I said it's funny. RIGHT?" She started nodding emphatically.

He chuckled darkly and then smiled brightly as he continued, "I thought so too, Karen. I thought so, too. The problem I have is that my path and my Mantle synergize too well. You would think that would be a great problem to have but it actually isn't."

He kicked her again when he thought she was spacing out from the pain or trying to speed her healing up. He didn't care. He'd break them again. "Nope it's a shitty problem. See, I can't control it very well. I'm honestly just lazy. I could have mastered it by now if I tried. Anywho, if I go out in public without one of these hungry monsters," He tapped his suit. "My spirit alone would start killing people who weren't in the high Ascendent ranks. I live in a specially designed house on an isolated planet so I don't absentmindedly walk out to the backyard. You know to take a piss, and accidentally kill the neighborhood."

Atom looked up into the sky, feeling wistful. "It's a lonely problem to have. But I'm not alone. I have Tess. She's my better half by far. I loved her something fiercely. Don't you think that's beautiful Karen?" He stomped down on the mostly healed right leg, and she gave a gut-wrenching cry. He decided that she agreed too. "Yes, it's very beautiful. Now, Karen, if you think it's so beautiful then why did you threaten to do such horrible things to my Tess?"

She spewed out her words like a violent case of diarrhea. "I didn't mean it, I di di didn't mean it. I I I'm sorry…" Atom placed a finger over her lips to quiet her and started stroking her hair. "I appreciate that apology Karen. I really do. People make mistakes…" He gestured like it was no big deal as he continued to stroke her hair. "I'll tell you what. Since you apologized I won't tear your arms and legs off and watch you bleed out. Doesn't that sound great?" She nodded emphatically.

Do it in space, and I'll stop fighting you. I know you're going to do it either way. What you said was sweet. I love you too… asshole.

He sent his love back to his cyberpunk queen and looked Karen in the eyes. He put on a bright smile. "I feel so close to you right now. I think I can share my secret with you. Would you like that?" Karen nodded that she absolutely wanted to know. He even thought it was genuine. "I have a theory. The reason I probably couldn't get around my Mantle when I ascended is because the two ideals refused to separate when they came in contact with each other. The path of Stellar Might meets the Mantle of Endless Nova. The two just constantly feed off each other. It's a bit much, to be honest. I shine like a… well, without my containment lets just say I twinkle ever so brightly. I've been told it's beautiful. You think it's beautiful too don't you, Karen." He reached down and squeezed her left shin, cracking the bones again. "Ohhh gods! Yes, very beautiful!" Karen half groaned and screamed out.

He clapped his hands together like he was excited about something. Then started stroking her hair again. "Oh, I have an idea. Why don't I show you my light show. You would like that wouldn't you, Karen?" She nodded emphatically that she would like to see his light show. He was sure she would agree with anything at this point if he didn't miss his guess.

"Excellent, well let's go." He paused, then called out, "Layla, don't move from this area. We have to leave after this." He heard a loud squeak and the sound of rocks sliding as someone fell over behind him.

She could have promise. Especially if she was able to break my own barrier. That was no easy feat. I might put a little effort into her… maybe. I’ll put it on the to-do list.

"Oh o Okay. I'll be here." She said from the pile of rubble she'd been eavesdropping from.

~~~~

Layla watched as the deity flew off. The glowing barrier had given her a front row seat to a display of power beyond anything she had ever seen. That included holo films. It was one thing to know powers like this existed and another to see them in action.

Slipping her spare key back in the pocket of her cloak, she looked around at the devastation. The pulsing light of the crystal shard pulled her attention away for the moment. She rolled the shard back and forth between her fingers. She wasn’t sure what happened but the thing was glowing now. Layla thought it started doing that right after—no she couldn’t think about it. Her legs started getting weak.

The dusky sky white super white. So white that the world looked strange. Vivid, too vivid. Her eyes started burning as the light became too much for her and she closed them. Shielding them with her hand. Then a wave of heat. She’d never felt so much heat. She thought her skin might catch fire. It abruptly disappeared.

Risking a look she saw that everything was back to normal. She looked up into the night sky and saw one of the two moons… she wasn’t sure. Burnt maybe. Yes, she was sure. The silver orb was blacked around the edges. She was confident that she absolutely did not want to see Atom’s light show.

A thump off to the left let her know that Atom had made it back down to the ground. She stiffened her resolve. She would need to grieve but not now. Layla moved out from the pile of rubble and hesitantly made her way over to the man in dark armor. His face was hidden by his helmet. Only blazing red swooshes for eyes looked back at her. She thought he looked like some type of shinobi mech lord. It was both menacing and ridiculous.

"Well, are you ready to go kiddo? This planet isn't safe for us anymore." She nodded. She didn't mind him calling her kid. His presence made her feel safe and, honestly, kind of like a child. She thought it was strange, but she had called out to him, and he came. A true blue deity answered her cry for help.

"Any more family we might need to grab before we go?" She shook her head. He had done something with Jogen’s body but she assumed he had it. Who knew what gods were capable of.

He looked off for a second, then nodded like he was answering someone. "I guess you’re with me until I can figure something out." She shrugged in that ‘if you say so’ kinda way.

The warm feeling of his power enveloped her. The events of the day finally took their toll on her. His power was so soothing. Layla started drifting off as they left the ground.