Okay, here's the second part of my series. This was actually the original concept I started with, but in the process of writing it new ideas came to life, grew too large to contain within a single story, and burst out of the flesh of this one to fully mature into their own existence. Happy Halloween! 🎃
Sovereign: Calamity
"Hail the Sovereign. Glory for Galea." Three figures chanted as they knelt before a shadowed throne. The tallest of them arose, her miniskirt held in a curtsy as she raised her head towards the throne with a beatific smile.
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Purity floated down with a frown as the men in the alley scrambled to get away. Kayden had spotted the group of men gathered around someone lying on the ground and jeering, and while they weren't Asian or Black, those actions had no positive connotations. A quick duck into a neighbouring alleyway to light up as Purity and she was flying over to scare them off. Once they had run out of sight, Purity landed and examined the figure on the ground, which looked to be a teenage girl in a hoodie and dingy jeans.
"Hello there. Are you alright?" There was no response from the girl, so Purity moved to stand over her. "Miss, are you okay? Can you move?" Still nothing. Purity crouched down and gently touched the girl's shoulder. "Sweetie?" she said in a soothing tone as she reduced the intensity of her corona. With her light reduced, Purity could see that the girl was also emitting a slight blue glow from her chest. "A new trigger?" Purity thought to herself, standing up and backing away. She was considering calling someone for help when the girl shifted, her arm moving up to her face. Purity remained standing nearby as the girl pushed herself up and turned to face her.
She was a fairly normal looking girl; she was tall with long and curly hair, with glasses and a wide mouth. However, her shirt had a small circle cut out of it in the upper part of her chest, and in the middle was a glowing blue jewel seemingly embedded in her flesh. Her eyes were also glowing the exact same shade as the jewel. The girl gave Purity an odd smile, and then spoke in a strange, two-toned voice.
"Linker Core Detected."
Purity shivered. The girl's voice was overlaid with a deep, masculine voice that came from the jewel in her chest. Her glow intensifying as she prepared to fly away, Purity was taken off guard by a narrow beam from the jewel that pierced into her own chest. Purity's body immediately went limp and she slumped forward, and the girl had advanced towards her to catch her pliable form. Purity tried to struggle, to take flight, to blast the girl holding her into paste, but all of her actions were locked away. The only thing remaining was her shining corona; Hopefully it would be noticed and alert someone as to her plight.
"Luminescence conspicuous. Relocation to concealed location optimal. Spatial Translocation."
An ornate circle of light appeared beneath their feet, and the area that Purity could see blurred and morphed to a new scene. Instead of the alleyway, the pair was now inside a decrepit metallic room, the only illumination coming from Purity herself.
"Commence installation of template. Enhanced Ordination Procedure"
Purity screamed internally as the girl exploded; light and metal and wires and unrecognizable shapes bursting out to fill the room, the materials passing through Purity's body with painful jolts. The machinery halted at the walls of the room, had a strange twist overtake it, then contracted back to surround her in an unearthly chamber. Volition returned to her body as fluid surged from the walls and needles were shoved into her flesh. Screaming in pain, in horror, in desperation, Purity thrashed her arms and flared her radiance, only to find her precious light was being dimmed by the chamber. She hyperventilated, flashing back to the car crash all those years ago. She was going to die, trapped in a metal coffin, no sun, no air, no….
[CONNEC-...] <Cessation>
Kayden screamed again as her light completely extinguished, leaving absolute blackness, only for her voice to be choked out by a gush of water shooting into her mouth. Her hands and feet were encased in material and pulled back into the wall, spreading her limbs wide, while another hard structure clamped onto her head. In her last moment of consciousness, she felt a sludgy substance flowing and hardening over her entire face before more needles robbed her of her cognition.
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Purity (Suppression) rose out of the conversion chamber and stretched, the fluid rolling off her naked body. Clad only in a choker with an embedded orange jewel, Puri- (Suppression) no -Calamity Witch tried to activate her powers, to release a miniature sun from her body, and grinned as nothing happened. Purity (Suppression) was no-more. Now she was reborn as Calamity Witch, a hero with no previous affiliation. Meeting that girl in the alley who had kidnapped her (Alteration) her new boss (Submit) who had reshaped her powers was fortuitous, she thought with a grin as she summoned a Flare Shooter above her palm to light up the room. Turning back to the conversion chamber, she watched with horror (Alteration) glee as the complex machinery twisted and shifted and retracted back into the (Glorious) form of her employer (Trust). Calamity Witch strode forward and caught her employer (Submit) before she could collapse. "Are you alright?" Calamity Witch asked, a hint of worry in her voice (Trust).
"Adequate." Her employer said, pushing her off and standing up straight. "Mana recovery hindered by environment. Host body suffering slight degeneration. Proceedings require minor rectification."
"What an odd statement," Calamity Witch thought (Disregard). Ehh, she was sure it'd be explained in time. Another thought came to her. "Excuse me, in all the excitement of our meeting and my new powers, I completely forgot to ask your name."
Her employer gave her a cold, stern look. "You may call me your Sovereign. And what is your name?" she said with a strange intensity, eyes glowing.
"Why, Calamity Witch of course!" Calamity Witch chirped. "And you are my leader (Submit), my salvation (Trust), my Sovereign! (Obey) "
A nod. "Correct. That is who you are and that is what I am. Transform now." Calamity Witch gave a jaunty salute, stepped back from her Sovereign (Obey) and mentally activated her Device.
Directly below her, a circular shadow grew wider and wider, bloody red lightning arcing back and forth in the middle. A bolt lanced out and struck her body. There was no pain, and in a flash of the same color, she now had a skimpy pair of panties circling her hips. A second bolt hits her chest; in its wake lies a skin-tight tank top that ends at the level of ribs and left her entire midriff exposed. Two more crackled around the legs before turning into knee-high boots. A fifth flash of lightning created a black miniskirt, the buckle and end of the belt tooled in what appeared to be steel. Three more bolts became a jacket with a ragged hem, the black leather a contrast to the red shirt. The final blast of lightning flew above her and became a dark circle above her head, a triangular tip just visible outside the edge before the entire thing fell on her face and pinched her temples. It was a witch's hat atop her head, along with a masquerade mask made from crimson wirework. She pushed the hat to its proper place on top of her head and stared at the sphere of bright red crystal forming in front of her, before fragments of gunmetal gather around the ball and connected with each other to form a 'U' with uneven ends, the sphere held in place inside the curve by two small struts. Two wide cylinders attach to each other and then the outside of the curve, and then they shot apart to reveal the long pole of a staff. The polished metal at the head gleamed, and she could feel it all but begging to be taken hold of. Well, if it wanted it that badly, she'd be happy to oblige. The instant her hand wrapped around the shaft, the watercolor void was replaced by the original dark room and the sight of her Sovereign (Trust), nodding in approval.
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Calamity Witch laughed as she flew high over the city. Just last week she never would have been this open with her flight, too afraid of Protectorate action or retribution from another gang (to say nothing of Kaiser using it against her), but now she had no history holding her back. She had already saved several people from random street crimes, took down an Empire initiation, and rescued the people of two ABB brothels. She was a hero! And all thanks to Sovereign (Trust). Her eyes caught sight of a plume of dust rising into the air near the docks, so she altered her flight to investigate.
It didn't take long to reach the source of the disturbance. A hideous lovechild of a tank and a train engine was rolling through the ruins of a building on gigantic treads, and the machine guns mounted on the mechanical monstrosity were swiveling and turning to keep firing at a group of PRT agents attempting to retreat from it. Thinking over her available spells, a wide grin stretched across Calamity Witch's face. She spread her arms wide, tilted towards the ground, and canceled her flight spell. Spinning slightly in freefall, Calamity Witch summoned several acid-green orbs that surrounded and followed her on her descent. Moments before impacting the ground, she re-cast her Flight; summoning a Shield to block the gunfire from the PRT agents, and propelled her numerous Rust Shooters at the vehicle. Mentally controlling their flight path, Calamity Witch aimed for the treads and guns first before carving the now-immobile vehicle into pieces like a block of cheese. With the gunfire ceased, Calamity Witch flew closer to the rapidly diminishing vehicle, when an explosion came from the front and an enclosed motorcycle catapulted out from the tank, it's image fading out as Squealer's stealth Tinkertech ensured her escape.
Or it would have, had Calamity Witch not seized the small vehicle with Telekinesis the moment it launched. Considering what to do with the invisible and now-silent vehicle, Calamity Witch raised her staff. The prongs on the staff head's flange unscrewed themselves to reveal vents, and planes of orange light slid out from its arms. Blinding beams of light played over the area where her Telekinesis was holding something, and her Device reported that material was being stored in its internal dimension. Eventually, a mostly-dissolved motorcycle and a very startled woman popped back into existence in midair, before the remaining portion of the vehicle faded into nothing.
"My baby! No! You fucking bitch!" screamed Squealer. Calamity Witch recoiled violently at that statement, mentally thrusting the Tinker at the ground. She then took off for the skies without looking back.
Calamity Witch's head was spinning. What had shaken her so badly? It certainly wasn't the first fight she'd been in, even with her new powers.. Was it what Squealer had said? "My baby. (Suppression) My baby? (Suppression) My baby! (Suppr-) ASTER!!!!"
Kayden's concentration shattered and she dropped a few feet before re-engaging her flight and aiming for her apartment. (Disr-) How could she have forgotten about Aster! (Subm-) Was something wrong with her? (Ob-) Maybe her new powers were affecting her mind (Deliberation).
Kayden slowed down and began hovering (Deliberation). She couldn't just go home, Max had likely put surveillance and goons to watch the place, and any connection with her new identity would be problematic (Divulge). No, she should go talk to Sovereign (Trust), explain the situation (Divulge), and make a plan (Accede). Calling up the spell code for Teleportation, she vanished from midair and reappeared inside the room where Sovereign (Trust) and her were living.
Sovereign (Trust) looked up from a holographic screen she was examining. "Calamity Witch. Report."
"My Sovereign (Trust). I…" Kayden began. "Something's wrong with my mind! I completely forgot about my baby! My precious Aster! I think the powers you gave me did something!"
Sovereign (Trust) looked at her with intense glowing eyes. "Baby? Offspring. Forgettance of genetic lineage due to preceding operations not utilizing resource. Calamity Witch, error shall be rectified."
Kayden felt tears of joy slide down her cheeks. "Oh, thank you my Sovereign (Trust)!"
Sovereign nodded to Kayden. "Concerns about powers shall also be corrected. Prepare for modifications." Kayden settled down into the position that she had taken each time her powers had been adjusted (Kneel). She stared into the jewel in her Sovereign's chest as a beam of light shot from it to lance between her eyes (Obey).
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Calamity Witch hummed as she let herself into the darkened apartment, closing the door quietly behind her. Still, a person began stirring from a fitful sleep at the gentle noise.
"Whuah? Who?" a voice wearily asked from the couch.
"Shhh." Calamity Witch hushed as she walked over and adjusted the blankets on the boy. "It's alright. I'm here and I'll deal with everything."
"Oo-ahhh-Ookay. Thanks Kayden." The boy replied sleepily, before dropping back into a contented slumber. Calamity Witch walked down the hall into the main bedroom. In a crib dozed a baby, who Calamity Witch gently picked up. As she cradled the infant to her body, she thought "What a lovely name, Kayden (Deletion). I wonder who she is. She will be so happy her daughter (Deletion) is desired by my Sovereign (Obey) for the Glory of Galea (Alteration)"
Theo awoke the next day to find Aster and Kayden gone, the apartment stripped of all electronics and appliances, and the three "guards" Kaiser had left in the hallway missing their heads. Heart in his throat, he pulled out his phone to call Kaiser, somehow knowing he would never see them again.
I was talking about it getting close to Halloween time, land.
