A very spawn of Plex, genuinely part of him, and yet, not connected to him at all. Would killing him weaken Plex? Yes, a little. It would not be enough to give them an advantage against him, but every little bit helped. This spawn could be defeated.
"You... Challenge me?"
The boy started laughing. When he laughed, his voice was not deep, but that of a child's. He looked up at the challengers and stopped, as if he was picking up on something. He could feel death around them, but it was not there own death. It was Anarchy's death, or at least the death of his body that had occurred in the Chaotic Canyons less than half an hour before.
Then, he was angry. The boy jumped forward, pure rage on his face as a darkness surrounded him, some sort of cloak very similar to Anarchy's red aura. He was not going to sit idly by. Had these people... HAD THEY DONE WHAT HE THOUGHT THEY HAD!?!?!?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The darkness around him started rebelling, expanding out like it was trying to reach out at Jay. Hundreds of spikes of black ice shot out from the darkness towards the group, and a sound of cracking could be heard as the shackles literally began to break apart. They pissed off the wrong spawn of Plex.
"Hey, freak!"
Several kids were gathered around the young boy, who sat in the corner, glaring at them with his sad eyes.
"Why don't you just scram!?"
The boy looked at the faces of all the kids. They were mocking him. Their eyes were as equally unkind as his. They hated him because he was different... Because he was not the same as them. Who would want to be?
They didn't understand what he had to go through. They didn't understand all the hate and darkness he could see. They didn't understand all the emotion that flowed within him. He was different, yes. He had to bear the pain...
...of being able to see the darkness within everyone.
"Leave me alone," the boy ordered.
"Make me," a kid replied, leaning up to the boy and spitting in his face.
The boy did not lash out at them or try to hurt them. He saw enough of the darkness. He did not want to cause it. He did not want to hurt people. That did not mean that he couldn't.
No, instead of lashing out, he... He cried.
"Ahaha! Look at this little cry baby!" one of the bullies yelled out. The kids were all laughing at him...
So many kids yelling so many hurtful things... And then, another voice spoke up from amongst them, scratchy and deep.
"So many kids... Who know only darkness."
All the kids were shocked to see the form of a man with long, silver hair and a large sword which was glowing with red energy amongst them. They took off screaming and running. All of them, that is, except the little boy.
"Especially you... Darkness. It is your destiny."
"Wh-what do you mean!?" the boy replied.
"You will find out, my son. The darkness is within you. Yet you are not within the darkness. Not yet, anyway," Anarchy replied.
"What... What is my destiny!?"
"I don't know... But I'm willing to help you find out."
"HALT!" a voice yelled out, "You are an intruder of the Dimensional Guardian HQ!"
"Gotta split, kid. You sticking here or are you coming with me? Don't worry. You won't get hurt with me. Think of me as your personal general."
"Yeah... I'm with you."
Before the guardian could react, a red energy surrounded the two, and they were gone.
As Plex began his little rampage, K2323 was slowly waking up. He was still very weak, but he was conscious enough to realize some of what was going on. He peaked his eyes opened and looked up to Jay, staring him in the eyes as he attempted to speak.
"He's not the real Plex. He's... A fragment."
K2323 knew very well what his robot clone counterpart, C2323, had gone through, along with Koty, Hikaru, and Gaserlake. They had fought one of these spawns of Plex. If he remembered right, it caused the Era Valley to nearly completely decay, and destroyed an Aralang dimension. His counterpart stayed behind while everyone else evacuated the dimension. He was probably long dead now.
...wait. He had to focus. He could feel the difference in time. The Era Village, the place that the Keeper Palace was inside, had a very distinct feel to it reminiscent of the feeling he felt when he was inside the heart of time unsealing Lady Asura's powers. It was between the time lines. It was also removed from space.
They were here to find the Midas Core of Genesis, the first of five fragments. He knew that much. Still, his knowledge that he had when he was merged with Fatet was quickly fading. He knew that there was a core here, but he didn't know what else to expect. He just hoped they could make it through.
No, he knew they could make it through. He had to make it through if he ever loved her. She had died because of him, hadn't she? Had he been the one responsible for his wife's death? He had tried countless times to convince himself that it wasn't true.
"Let me up."
Julia... I love you.
The two had been making out for half an hour now. Really, you couldn't stop love. The two had just gotten done with their second date, and they were already head over heals for each other. Tonight, K2323 had taken her for a flight above the Era Valley where they landed for a picnic.
"Someday, I want to build a house here," she had said, admiring the valley for what it was, "Away from the bustle of Eta City."
"You know," he had said, "I spent a lot of time here as a child."
"Really? Me too, but I hardly ever saw anyone else here... I used to come here all the time... I remember one time when I was about thirteen, I came here after a recital. I... I came here to relax. I thought I was alone, so I sat down, but then... I heard a boy crying.
"I looked into his eyes, just like I'm looking into yours now... I could tell that he had been separated from his family. I could see the sadness within his eyes, and in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to love him with every fiber in my body, to tell him that it would be okay."
K2323 smiled, recollecting the memory as well. He had, after all, been there, crying on that fateful night, but he was just now learning of what Julia was saying. He had thought that he was alone all those years ago.
"You still have the chance," K2323 replied, earning a wide smile from her.
Which led them here, on Julia's front porch swing, where they had been for half an hour. To feel her sweet lips crashing on his, the heat of her body radiating onto his cold skin, and the scent of her perfume, it made his entire body shudder. He could have stayed out with her like this all night, and he wanted that so badly, but he knew it was a dream.
"Ahem," a voice said, from the doorway of the house as Julia's father watched the two. They quickly broke apart, blushing, and stood from the swing.
"Good night," K2323 said, smiling at Julia.
"Good night," she replied, smiling back.
"Good night, sir," K2323 said, shaking her father's hand with a firm grasp before walking away. He smiled as he heard her father's shushed voice.
"He really has numbers in his name?"
K2323 didn't know what love was, but as the two nineteen year olds went on with their night, he couldn't help but think that this was pretty close. He had just met her a few weeks ago. That didn't matter to him. She was... Everything to him.
"Hey, Plex. Take this," K2323 said out loud, now on his feet. He raised his hand up and a ball of light appeared in his hand which he tossed at the black ice with the intent of obliterating it.
He wasn't messing around anymore. It was time to get serious.
