An aged man trudged down Seyort's pristine sidewalk on his way to a hospital to see his ailing wife. He began feeling fatigued and vomitous, he had to sit down on a nearby bench as his bone-weary body worsened the further he went on. He started feeling warmed. He continued heating up. He closed his eyes as he laid down on the bus stop's bench. He opened his eyes as he felt his forehead for a fever and above him. He saw an ominous murky gown with a genderless figure with empty grey eyes that glowed in the sudden dimness he found himself inside of.
He heard a woman's voice in his head. He took swift notice that it was his wife reminding him of every terrible act she perpetrated against him in the past. The time he caught her cheating, the words she said when they talked about them kept repeating in his head. The frail and aging man hopped up from the bench but his body had been so weakened that he fell over immediately. He didn't have the strength in his muscles to move nor could he think straight while the poor excuses that his wife made continued repeating in his head. Tears fell and rained on the bench as this moment made him realize how powerless he truly is. Powerless against what was taking his wife. Powerless against the betrayal that lost him his company, as powerless against when his brother went out the same way he almost went out moments ago by a careless driver.
Disembodied hands made of glowing thick white light reached for his face.
"Maybe, I'll see my wife in those welcoming gemstone gates of Sashigyenna?" The aging benched man continually told himself as he laid on the bench waiting for the descending hands. The pair held his hands when they finished descending and feelings of encouragement emerged, he gripped onto the disembodied hand tighter. "Vengeance on Francesca for breaking her vows. Yes. On Pablo Suarez for stealing away our company from me in JinJünye. Yes. Vengeance against Matthew for leaving me alone. Yes. Vengeance against my children for excusing their mother's behavior but on her side against me. Yes." He thought and felt it was necessary as his eyes were shut. The hovering creatures in the gown widely grinned, whilst spreading his influence of Vengeance for all the injustice the man has been through, those around him put him through.
The aging benched man lightly gasped as he suddenly felt hesitant to act on this encouragement. The thoughts vanished and he could move again as suddenly as he felt paralyzed and filled with resentment. The aging man scanned the streets and saw a member of the recently developed Gen-oath defense team he's read about before fighting the ominous gowned creature. The masked Gen-Oath member wrapped a silver tongue that reached down to his toes, fully strangling the gowned creature. It removed the tongue from around its neck with a Scimitar. "Blurs?!" The aged man questioned while he struggled to keep track of the oath officer that he caught a brief sight of before the fight grew more brutal. He noticed a glow of light wrapping around him as he glanced to his right and he was able to see the technologically advanced defender and the gowned creature vividly.
The Gen-oath member fainted and fell as the gowned creature froze, which left the elderly man stuck with fear and confusion. He witnessed a stranger that suddenly appeared in his sight smash the head of the oath officer. "Combining its horrid power with technology. Disgusting." He heard from the short stranger. The citizen was left with wide, unblinking eyes as he fell on his butt. Moments after a glance, the stranger looked up and tossed a glass bottle holding an eerie substance that broke and therefore leading to splashing over the creature's head. It had combusted into darkened flames before releasing a monstrous screech. The citizen heard shivered from the agonizing pain he imagined it going through as its ashes rained down on the road.
This younger stranger shifted his attention onto the elderly citizen and held out his hand to help him and as he didn't know what else to do or how else to react, he took his hand and got off the ground. The Cyan adorn stranger offered to assist the elderly man back on his feet. "The bastard's mark left over this world is still a pain in the ass but he'll be found and dealt with soon enough, with his aid." He kept to himself.
Isaac held a fearful expression on his face as he hesitated to accept the stranger's hand. "d—Did you actually kill both of those things and what's going on!?" He questioned as he crawled away yet he didn't have enough strength to go far.
The cyan adorn stranger gave the elderly citizen a blank stare. "Isaac Bridger. Olympic martial arts gold medalist and descendant of a child of Ohtysius the semi-goddess heroine." He responded before he started walking away to continue what he was doing before the old man caught his attention.
Isaac found the strength to return back to his feet with bent knees and dust the ashes away. "The mythology?" He wondered aloud with a confused tone. The cyan adorn youthful stranger placed his hands on his hips and disappointingly shook his head. "Wherever you're going to wound up— descendants of figures of great heroism deserve better than a garbage end to their first chapter, right, Isaac?" He opined and asked the elderly man.
The awe-struck and confused aged citizen eyes dilated as he glanced away. "First chapter?" He questioned with a whisper. The Cyan adorn stranger tossed out his hand with his warmest smile. "Advay Rishi, a pleasure to meet you. Down to consider a deal?" Advay introduced himself and questioned, before pulling out of his pocket, a Teeny model of a building. Isaac found himself amazed while recognizing the miniature building he was being handed as the hospital concurrently treating his ailing wife he was on his way to visit.
-
Isaac felt the worst nausea he can recall and blurred vision which distracted him from noticing that the stranger and himself had instantaneously moved into his wife's current hospital. "Help, a bit of help or assistance or some other synonym, sir?" He solicited as he stepped around the room blindly.
Advay stood over Isaac's unconscious wife. "She's beautiful. The empire that I was raised in, aging was just for beauty standards. Wrinkles and grey hair— an aesthetic akin to makeup today. The appearance of aging was nothing but a mere decision. It's heartbreaking that the world largely lost the authority over this world that the embodiment of entertainment gifted it!" He regaled and opined him while demonstrating his point visually through his lemon chiffon essence, the older man was locked in shock and awe. The older man couldn't say anything, his only reaction was staring in amazement at what he's been told, if he didn't just see him do the impossible, he'd think he's talking about the impossible.
Advay Rishi turned around and pulled out another vial of substance that filled Isaac with unease. "When this kicks, she'll at least have a better shot of recovery though there's zero guarantee." Said the Ambivalent man. Isaac dropped to his wife's bedside with tears raining onto the ground. "Th-Thank you kindly, she's— my world!" He cried out, afterwards, he plopped down in the only chair in the room.
A smile creeped as a thought arose for the ambivalent ancient. "Scratch it, scratch that— there's no need to be stingy with my best." He blurted while disapprovingly waving his arms, "Do not drink this entire pot by yourself— share half of this stuff with Francesca unless you have a death wish." He warned the elderly thankful man.
The older man opened one of the vials as he was curious of what it smelled like, he came the closest to throwing up he ever came to throwing up when he smelled it. "This smells like rotten eggs and fox urine, ugh!" The older man yelled as he covered his nose with his shirt. He looked around realizing there was no reply and the Ambivalent man seemingly vanished with a note left in his place that read: "Generil please!" On the cover. It didn't take numerous warnings for the older man to hold off on drinking the juice the Ambivalent man gave him.
-
The oath's blue-stocking blade snarled as she tossed a handgun away. "Ugh!!" Ember noises. The oath's sanguine marksman disappointingly shook his head as he glanced towards the sky and scratched his head. "Aren't you pointing it and pulling a trigger?" Artus questioned during their training session as she had a glum face, "You have the gist on grip and recoil control but you're lacking the patience that hitting your targets requires." He informed and advised. Ember glanced back towards her gun. "You conjure a firearm and unload a clip from them in seconds, not the hour that you expect for me to wait." She argued with a disappointed tone. Artus conjured a pistol with its muzzle trained in the sky and pressed the magazine from the grip. "I never fire with any urgency unless something is definitely hostile and moving too quickly for me then predicting is what I resort to but it's something that never came easy for me." He explained before holding out, "Understanding the anatomy and basics of the gun will help you. I don't unload clips, we unload magazines in our foes." He finished before vanishing his firearm. Lyle crossed his arms as he stepped closer to his siblings. "Time to introduce our advanced patience training to the blade discipline student." He interrupted the two. The blue-stocking blade released the string of her bow before exhaling. "This is insane and there's zero chance you've learned this from our instructors." Ember opined and argued. The sangfroid paragon nodded slowly. "He's the best of the best for a reason." Lyle replied as he remained leaning on a nearby wall. The sanguine marksman nervously chuckled, fixed his posture and grabbed his wrist as his hands were behind him. "Heh, there's an obvious reason why I made top in the class for so many years, I'm just too amazing!" Artus hesitantly boasted before fixing an apple that lay on top of his head, "I didn't like it and I'd rebuke it to this day but— sometimes. Never mind, we can make ourselves indestructible so draw that arrow and work on your patience." He finished as convincingly as he could reply. The blue-stocking swordsman sighed before accepting his rebuttal and the next half an hour tried her brothers' advice and suggestions. Her failure entertained Lyle while disappointing Artus.
Ember threw down her bow after exhaling with her own disappointment. "My eyes and patience are for precision with my swords— not a flying piece of wood or a few swift balls of metal." Ember shouted with low brows. Artus sighed as he rested a hand on his hip. "That's alright, roscoes aren't for everyone." He replied to her declaration, the sanguine marksman smiled gigantically smug. "You'll come to appreciate them someday, Sis." He finished confidently. The blue-stocking blade crossed her arms, puffed her lips and shook her head. "More like someday that'll only happen in one of your dreams, Art." Ember comments.
Artus chuckled to himself before retrieving his bow from the ground. "Ay, Ly, come show why you've always ranked top 5 in the class while she was kicked out!" He encouraged his brother as he glanced toward him. Ember scowled as she stepped towards her chair. "I was not kicked out. They simply saw how Ardent I was and saw my potential so they became driven to draw." She swiftly snapped back. Lyle glanced at his sister and back to his brother. "Always got top 5 because Mentor Conan deserved your trolling." He replied as he walked to his brother to accept the bow. The Trio's communicators abruptly rang. "There're reports of an elderly male and female leaping our building— sending you the rest of the details right now!" They've heard the briefings. Artus sprinted with his siblings. "Wow, that's the kind of love I wanna find one day!" He commented.
-
Isaac glanced over the edge of the roof. "Fran, we appear slow, we're acting slow and leaping from the highest building in Generil is the slowest thing we've done." He commented before backing away. Francesca slowly nodded with an excited grin as she peeked down at the bustling sunset view of the city. "We've survived our slowest moments. Living for one last time with a magical drink doesn't come close to any of our top fifty." She argued while hugging him, Isaac tightly returned the hug before releasing and pondering her words, "You dragged me away from my death bed in Seyort and encouraged me to become a fashion disaster in these clothes. Do you want to be the dork that plays by the rules until you're in the grave or do you want to take my hand and cheat death with me thanks to a mysterious vegetable?" His wife finished with an inspirational tone. Isaac held out his hand after briefly considering her words with high brows. "It— has moved us this far and feeling this healthy for being nearly a century old, I guess, Fran." He replied to his wife uncertainly. Two halves of a whole drove him. The reasonable half that left him hesitantly and the half of him with undying love half, even though he knows she's a bad influence for him, but this moment made him realize maybe that was one reason why he loved her though she had flaws. "She gave me unbelievable flaws, one flaw that I needed most in his life; boldness." He kept to himself. Issac grabbed his wife's hand and together they dropped from one of the highest buildings in Generil and together they fell flat on their face yet realized they recovered with no issue. The pair heard civilians who were previously below screaming in a panick, some thinking it was a suicide attempt, others spectating them believing it was the beginning of an otherworldly event.
A Generil officer was among the many public spectators and he was also one of the many who thought it was a monster attack. He retrieved his standard-issued firearm. "Oh, hell naw!" He shouted with a mortified voice. Francesca allowed him to empty his magazine in her. Isaac watched his wife close the distance between the officer and herself. "Suddenly swifter than a wolf?!" He questioned in his head.
The officer reported the couple to the city's law enforcement headquarters. Francesca looked at her husband then gave him a hair-raising grin before rushing over to the cop and flipping him over her shoulder landing flat on his face. Isaac's face displayed his confusion, then he recollected their talk from moments ago and followed her lead, stomping the officer as he was injured on the ground.
The nearest police cruisers arrived. Five officers exited before retrieving their guns from their holsters while witnessing the couple standing over an unconscious officer. The unconscious officer's backup took swift notice that the elderly couple matched the report. Francesca began ambling towards one of the cops. He was the biggest cop, largest, tallest, and carried the most muscle on him, the bulkhead officer rose his stand issued firearm without furthering refusal. "Ma'am, I will relentlessly open fire if you continue stepping forward, freeze right now!" He warned her with a grim voice yet she continued. She was able to travel a few steps before Isaac noticed the bulkhead officer's terrified mien and delivered on his warnings, sending a hail of bullets her way, each soaring into her gut without a miss. Isaac backed away a step. "The effects of the fruit are legitimate. Most that the bullets accomplished was knock her to the ground but there isn't any blood?" He questioned with a tone of puzzlement.
The cop didn't find it necessary to waste ammo firing more at her, so he waited until she was close enough, when she got close enough, he swung and tried to bash her in the head with the butt of the gun. Full force, she went down, and again with no blood or physical damage, she got off her knees and kicked him right in the groin. He dropped to his knees, holding his groin after he let out a girly shriek of pain. The spectating officers spectated, stunned and frozen after watching her recover with zero consequences of being shot. Francesca threatened the others with a gesture leaving the few terror-stricken and dispersing.
Isaac held a furrowed brow. "The cute little old lady is a late mellow bloomer?" He questioned with a curious tone. Francesca's eyes had an inspired glow that her husband recognized immediately. "How long does the fruit last and how much couch could we achieve before it goes away, I?" She inquired as she flexed her muscles. Isaac shrugged as he licked the top of his lips. "The Gen-oath guys'll probably be here soon, actually." he reminded his wife. Francesca began stretching her hams and shoulders. "Well— fine, what do we do now, mister Bridger?" She asked her husband. Isaac allowed his wife to grab his waist and pull him towards her. "Now we parkour, just... Like when we were jeune, mister Bridger!" He answered.
-
The oath's sangfroid paragon held tightly onto his communicator while sprinting alongside his siblings. "They were last seen near Fraîch and pour toujours street!" Lyle reminded his siblings. The oath's blue-stocking blade separated from the brothers. "I'll take near Pour toujours, fellas!" Ember informed the two over their devices. The oath's sanguine marksman rushed and separated to the left. "I'll take fraîch then!" Artus informed his siblings with a humorless voice. Lyle kept running until he stopped for a moment, he felt unexplainably compelled to look towards the roof tops. He witnessed an elderly couple not exceptionally far though high enough with a fall that it'd prove to be deadly he thought. "They're in line of sight. I'll ping. Make your way to me as soon as possible." He informed His siblings as he began his ascent.
Isaac held his wife's hands as he moved in closer towards her. "Frannie, I'm in disbelief that we haven't leaped in decades but you still have the moves of the woman that I stopped from thieving me." He told his wife as they were in the same pose as earlier, "You know what?" He asked excitedly and rhetorically, "I feel like I'm back in my prime so the city needs to bring us the oath division and close out this deal!" Isaac finished with a blast of confidence as he stared down towards his balled fist near his hip. Francesca deviously smiled as she heard him tell her that. "These few days have been the greatest of my life, I'm so glad I've got to spend it with you, let's show this le Jeune homme how we used to scrap!" She finished with passion that was obvious in her tone. Isaac aligned his back towards his wife's while engaging in a combat ready stance. "Just any minute now, they're probably gonna burst through that door!" He thought as the two faced toward the only way up. Francesca found herself personally surprised with an expression to match the feeling. "This squad isn't as tight as the few in our city." She opined and noted. Isaac eased his muscles slightly. "Are there four on the team for Seyort?" He wondered aloud. Francesca shrugged with an expression of confusion before readying herself as previously. "Do any of the cities have four members actually?!" She questioned with a curious tone.
Lyle strayed from uttering a word as he got in a boxing stance, fired up with an expression that tattled under his helmet. Francesca raised her arms near her chin and raised her shoulders. "I was never much of a martial artist like my husband so prepare for brawling like you've never encountered, young man!" She warned with a glare before raising a brow. The oath's sangfroid paragon refused to answer her question with his voice while gesturing and taunting her, he stood in his stance quietly and patiently waiting.
Isaac sprinted towards the city's defender and attempted the first swing with his scarred knuckles. "Reflexes reminding me of myself during our prime!" The elderly husband thought to himself as he witnessed Lyle effortlessly roll past and dip through all of his attempts before catching one of his kicks and shoving him on the ground with it before taunting the couple.
Francesca thought it was her turn for glory as she attempted to sneak him with a push kick. "What in the world is this thing— how is it like kicking a wall?!" The elderly wife questioned aloud after becoming infuriated that her kick couldn't make him budge, "Our super strength?!" She asked herself as she began to feel terror, backing up towards her husband. Isaac accepted his wife's assistance making it back on his feet. "We never had super strength, Franny, that stuff made us swifter, more agile, more enduring and durable but it made us nowhere near these guys it seems." He deduced with a disappointed tone. Francesca rolled the oath's sangfroid paragon's hook before a beam blasted from over the elderly wife's shoulder. Isaac stepped away with his stance strong as he witnessed his wife and the oath's sangfroid paragon briefly become a blur. "From God knows where?!" He thought to himself with confusion in his tone.
Lyle's vision returned from the light-filled blast before noticing the criminal's sudden transformation of their appearance. The elderly ferocious pair were given an aching feeling through their bones, shining through their eyes and through their veins as each of those parts of them including their hair had glowed the same color of what they drank, weeks prior.
Isaac slid his fingers through his lengthened illuminated hair. "Oh yeah. This. Feel. Exhilarating!!!" Isaac shouted derangedly with a sonorous and thunderous voice with an emphasis on his final word. Francesca rubbed her cheeks on her husband's pectoral after ripping the rest of his ripped shirt away. "Wait, this something feels addicting, babe!" Said the elderly wife with an emphasis on the second to last word. The elderly exhilarated wife stepped her left foot behind her before launching herself faster than the city's violet clad defender could react as she performed a double backfist sending Lyle almost off the roof leaving him hanging on by a hand.
The oath's sangfroid paragon managed to return both feet on the roof was left dangling on. "Sort of need both of you right now." Lyle reminded his siblings over their comms as he looked up and descried the pair's figures speedily descending, "What the hell am I dealing with?" He questioned with his usual serene voice. Francesca tackled him off the edge he was near and fell with him in her arms, after recovering from the fall resulting in chaotic civilians, she grabbed him by his collar and tossed him towards her husband. Isaac lowered into the setter's stance before sending the violet clad defender back towards his wife. "Easy!" He shouted with a thrill in his voice. Francesca sent him returning to her husband while giggling hysterically. "I'm blessed to have you always thinking about me, baby boy!" She replied afterwards. Lyle instantaneously moved away from being the ball in their game. "Not a fan of this game." Said the defender as he recovered his sense of balance.
Isaac rolled his shoulders before his arm began hanging near the same side's knee. "This game might interest you. Chase us, catch us and if you can we'll cooperate with an arrest!" The elderly thrill addict swiftly replied.
The aged pair dashed off at a pace that Lyle felt confident he could barely manage to match. The couple grabbed each other's hands before skillfully climbing onto the high roof of a local business and performed contrary flips onto many more, almost appearing like they were being lifted by the wind of the city as they soared.
Lyle shrugged then leaped off himself, as he flew like a bird yet realized that he would not safely make it across the final gap like the pair and decided to instantaneously move across the other half of the gap of the building.
Isaac coughed up blood before glancing behind him. "He can keep up but…" he commented before he and his wife sprinted and front flipped off the building, Isaac landed on his face while Francessca landed on her feet but she helped him up while her eyes changed to pale, they terrified more citizens on their way down, Lyle stepped back before he sprinted as fast he could and dived face first down the building. He used his teleportation to land on his knees before he smashed face first into the ground like Isaac.
Isaac spat out a large chunk of his blood from his mouth following his wife. "Huh, time's almost up for us and our fun, dear." Isaac said screaming but like he was relieved of something, as he informed his wife his eyes swiftly shifted from brown to pale white. "Yep. Never thought that this mysterious thing would last as long as this gal had dreamt it would. How long?" Francessca commented with contentment in her tone before inquiring, Lyle noticed the adrenaline in their voices diminishing in real time, "Damn it, ten minutes, I think he said that it's because of these silly mortal bodies!" He answered her with disappointment replacing his thrill.
A moment filled with silence came by, but their smile and illumination stayed as they were, the couple turned and gave a grin towards Lyle as you could see what their intention was clear as day. Lyle squared up with a hellish glare. "Not like Artus. Ember would handle this fight better. Definitely were holding back against me so what had I stepped myself into?" He noted and reflected. The couple brawled with the defender. Lyle refused to restrain himself, he began fighting at his best proving his feeling correct when they punched him so hard, his armor had dents in it from their attacks.
Eventually, the elderly couple proved way too strong for him, pinning him down, stomping him, Isaac at one point grabbed him by his shoulders and tossed him toward the building they were fighting in front of like he was as light as a pillow and putting a dent in it, Francesca tossed him around like he was a ragdoll, left and right and up and down. Then they halted after Isaac yelled "It's timmeee!" Still as hyped as before, Francessca ran to his side and the two held onto each other for the final time.
Their eyes lit up brighter than the sun with Pink then began to flicker repeatedly, flashed from black to pink at a noticeable rate then the two slowly broke down into two piles of ash and became scattered as the wind blew them apart but the sun kept brilliantly lucent.
Lyle was heavily injured after his beating but they left him still conscious enough to walk off the pain, after seeing them break down into ash like they did, he hopped off the ground and watched as he stared with uncertainty, unbalanced and addled after seeing what he saw. Artus and Ember finally arrived at their brother's location, but they were befuddled themselves wondering what happened to him, why he was bloodied and his armor ruined. "Bro, I need more cardio, I can't keep up these days!", Lyle stared in his usual silence but in the same direction the couple's ashes flew off and away and he did with widened eyes, "Dude. I might need a hug." Lyle responded giving his siblings concern.
-
While the rain fell above their heads, a gathering of the megalopolis trio's council. Aleph puffed his cigarette before blowing the smoke into shapes. "The mythical sage could very well be our perpetrator behind the nonsense and phenomena." He opined with a tone of skepticism. Alyssa held the papers in her hands with signatures in front of the aged smoker. "The united tribes confirmed while humorlessly swearing to Josue that none of them is behind any of it and after further investigation from myself— I've found no clue that they're behind it either." She informed the silver-haired equal. Aleph crossed his arms with his cherry cigar tight in his mouth as he glanced upwards. "Yep— so, the mythical sage could very well be our perpetrator, Alyssa." He repeated as he rested his hands behind his head. Conyrol finished chewing his peanut butter crackers. "Yo, who is this mythical sage dude again— guys?" He inquired as he made more. Alyssa rubbed her chin while her eyes displayed her revelation. "Huh, You wouldn't know the legends Josue told us about because you've been an heroic eidolon freak for almost a century, would you, Cony?" She commented with a slight whisper. Conyrol had nodded with a beaming grin in response as he finished his following peanut butter snack. Aleph sat up from his seat and began ambling towards wide and lengthy book shelves. "A millennia ago, there existed an incredible and vast kingdom that spanned almost the entirety of Europe. The kingdom held magnificent powers among fantastical creatures. Our own powers would be almost unrestrained with their proficiency and understanding of it. Obviously, you know Josue shared some of his energy to keep us alive this long after cultivating his own but an explorer worked with a freak of nature known as the scholar to discover the true secret to longevity of life. The scholar was mentioned to have never died in the catastrophic event that crumbled his kingdom in the historical accounts." He informed the preserver's wildcard. Conyrol's mien of confusion and piqued interest spoke words for him to the others. Alyssa finished the glass of fine wine that she had been enjoying for half an hour. "Thank the continental council that this place is shielded by foreign energy." She commented as she laid on her long couch.