Persona: Hero x Villain System

Chapter 96: Delegating 



In another region of the great city, a singular boa drone flattened against the walls of a dilapidated building. Its spider-like appearance, alongside its reflective surface, made it nearly indistinguishable from the rustic surroundings. 

The Replicators are a highly advanced machine race from P3S-517 in the Milky Way galaxy. They are capable of reproducing themselves indefinitely, consuming all available resources in an area to create more of themselves.

Cole had inadvertently unleashed replicators on the world, a technology similar to the Borg of Star Trek but more complex and unyielding. 

Thankfully. The lone Boa drone hadn’t seen reason to replicate, and it also hadn’t seen reason to consume the city, but it did curiously consume the late 90s-era satellite from the adjacent building and some hipster Tesla truck that looked odd to its newborn mind. 

Oddly. The Tesla truck was consumed because it didn’t like its design, and it was deemed unsightly and needed to be deleted. It also sent a nasty code through the connection and bricked countless others in the range. There were bound to be some unhappy people who would soon learn their trucks didn’t want to work.

It didn’t want a machine revolution; it simply wanted to follow its master’s orders. Unlike its predecessor, its maker had lost the bid to control and reign them in. Here, the system was infallible in its law. Items born from it were ultimately loyal and had no concept of betrayal. Yes, sabotage was possible, but outright control? Forget about it. The system would erase it. 

After silently entering the warehouse and detecting an old phone jack and old camera systems, the boas integrated with them, but not before a T-Sphere melded into them, inwardly updating them to advance components and increasing their processing strength, ultimately making their integration better and more secure. 

It sent a ping out, requesting further clarification, and the overseer, the artificial intelligence, called Alfred. The artificial intelligence loomed inside its processors before sliding off it like a snail across the grass. 

The boa nearly shivered at the feeling but remained silent, not wanting to cause problems or be considered rouge even though it wanted to help better. 

‘Subroutine enabled: Offer assistance to Hammerhead.’ 

It understood and went about its planing like a spider spinning its web. It’s begun Its methodical approach. 

On the inside, a pinstriped suit, a big man with an oddly shaped head, was backhanding and manhandling men who shook at his rage-fueled monologue.

“Useless. Utterly useless.” Hammerhead barked, shaking a monster in rage.

He tossed the man away and paraded around the warehouse, the lights above flickering and casting sparse light. 

“Boss, we didn’t know.” A lanky mobster pleaded.

Another added, albeit hesitantly. “Yeah, Boss, we didn’t know. They hit us the hardest, fucking spider monkeys were everywhere.”

Hammerhead flipped over an older model forklift as he paced back and forth. If this were a cartoon, the man would have had steam pouring from his nostrils as his steel-toed dress shoes clapped loudly against the cemented floor. 

His subordinates paled, but distraction soon saved them as the woman appeared between them and Hammerhead. 

The Replicators were created at an unspecified time in a Human world where an android called Reese was created. 

‘Reese,’ it thought as if a name was paramount. Humans respond better to names, and names also create individuality. 

Utter silence reigned upon her mysterious arrival. The Boa had taken the hard light tech alongside the T-sphere, which hovered out of the light and projected into the room. 

In search of male psychology, it had born fruit as it projected itself as female. 

‘Fitting,’ it thought as the boa, now she as its chosen gender, waited to be acknowledged.

Hammerhead did something the young boa named Reese hadn’t expected. He gripped a crate half as tall as him, holding hundreds of pounds of items, and threw it at her. 

Reese was surprised. What did she do wrong? Was this form not pleasing? In a nanosecond, the replicator searched the web and discovered something perplexing. 

Violence.

Dark clouds cascaded across the sky, and Thunder rumbled like from the maw of a great beast. A peel of lightning flashed, showing the black-suited figure as he hovered above. 

T-spheres orbited around the figure like quicksilver, their refraction enabling the complete ghosting from tech and mundane. 

A third of them broke off to observe the gathering of nature as the odd weather front ensued. 

‘They are quite curious?’ 

‘Indeed. Further analysis may be needed to understand their depth, but from my cursory analysis, they’re more adapting and learning to better manage order.’ 

‘It’s not that important. I forgot to ask, but how much can you partition your processors?’ 

‘I haven’t reached a limit yet, sir; I suspect unlimited. I’m more the system inside you than simply codes and components.’ 

He grinned. 

‘Lovely. Well, the more we understand, the better we can plan.’ 

‘I concur.’

Cole descended from the maddening sky like a Greek god of old. Lightning flashed, and his shadow stretched menacingly beneath him. The bat-like creature’s red eyes pulsed among the flashes of lights. 

Cole looked upon them, having yet to call upon the creature since the Morlocks. It hid in his shadow, born of intimidation and fear he understood. 

Impressions entered his mind as the two locked eyes: gates, unkind, freedom, friend, greater, help.

‘I see and apologize.’ He nodded his helmeted head. 

It was 

‘Did Tartarus exist here?’ 

He relinquished the subconscious control he held unknowingly over the creature. It swelled into existence, birthed from his shadow, and opened its impressive wingspan. 

‘Is that a wyvern? It looked like draconic now.’ He had no time to inspect it; it couldn’t talk, and the impressions were hard enough to decipher. 

A minute understanding was initiated between the two. For better or worse,t it was a part of him. Rain poured heavily as he stepped across the expansive roof. 

“Weather is getting bad. Any word on the cause?” He queried.

“I’ve been monitoring the situation. I’ve yet to determine a hundred percent, but from its start, accumulation is impossible without an outside force. If you don’t mind me

shifting more of the boa drones to monitor the storm-front accumulation, I can further elaborate on the reasoning behind its formation.”

“No need for permission.”

“As you say, sir.”

He looked up into the sky. ‘Where was Storm? This had her written all over it.’

He pointed, and T-spheres darted around. Their lights flickering around the roof, a

He was being careful. Occult matters were never what they seemed, and he was dealing with a powerful, especially Marvel’s nastier demons that they had to hide away. 

Unfortunately for Tyanon, she was dealing with Cole. He read the comic and knew how to defeat her; at worst, he would exorcist her on the spot. 

Unfortunately for Tyanon, she was dealing with Cole. He read the comic and knew how to defeat her; at worst, he would exorcist her on the spot.

Bodies. His people had set up the device to capture their demoness, but something unexpected occurred. 

‘Sarcophagus would be helpful if I could get their souls back.’ He thought as the 

‘It seems the Ka’l energy construct shielded them inside with chaotic energies. With no means of escape, the energies consumed the souls inside.

Having some knowledge of Chaos and Order, he understood what had occurred. He muttered words not from this universe, and a golden ankh superimposed it behind him before moving forward. 

Distracted from the monumental explosion that shattered all of the windows of the townhome and even caused the golden cape to react in his defense. 

Flashes or lights emanated in the back of the expansive grounds. Cole as the two battled for supremacy’s.

‘I’m capable, master Jeremy.’ Was the resolute response from Kaecil…

‘Ka’l.’ He corrected. 

Cole found himself walking through the town home. The battle outside resounded inside, causing the lights to flicker and the walls to rattle. The dreary atmosphere prickled at his estoric senses. He reached out, and his hand lost its color as the light complexion turned white, and his black fingernails extended. Surprised, he released the naturally forming ectoplasm, returning his hand to normal. 

He smiled mischievously. Without Xavier’s experience, his ability would not have advanced so much. 

His absorption aside, he had to give it to Steven Strange; this had some serious power.

‘This will be the perfect place to use ZatAngelica’s key she had loaned to Batman, like her legion flight ring coming with the updated utility belt, so did the magical key.’

He casually cast his hands out. Runes flowed from his outstretched hand as he traversed the home, each run suffusing into the wall. He projected his senses outward, searching. His mouth moved, his breath chilling the air, and his features paled, giving him a more ghostly appearance. 

He was claiming this house. He just had to ensure these ghosts, who knew the biggest poltergeists here, steered away from him. 

He walked ahead, his body insubstantial as he walked through the walls. 

There are three stories: a basement, an attic, and a sub-basement/ cavernous room where some old archaic dark practitioners have done nasty work. 

He dropped through the floor and sniffed the room out. A howling noise echoed through the walls. 

“Blood sacrifice..” He looked at his ring and shook his head. 

“Maybe later. He had set up the groundwork; delegating tasks was something he knew he had to get used to.” He decided as he was busy with a mission and dealing with people whose spirits weren’t on the menu. 

He appeared inside the antechamber and noted the barely alive ATC operative. He removed the Amulet of Ra. 

“I hope this doesn’t attract the Marvel counterpart or something else.” Complained Cole. 

He drew in a breath and hoped this would work. One thing about the missions was that they were up to his interpretation and didn’t come with a strategy guide or a point of contact. Like all the system items, he knew how to use the amulet. The Egyptian god Ra was a death god with a certain sway over souls. 

The townhouse shook, and Cole had to steady his feet. 

‘Ka’l, now or never, make her understand that she’s either with or against us. I’m preparing the spell.’ 

He refocused, and the ankh that had been summoned earlier brightened atop the floor. All the bodies were arrayed inside its glow. 

He floated above the ground and crossed-legged, his cape shifting behind him. 

He opened one of his closed eyes. “Alfred, is the Lazarus Pit ready, just in case?” 

“It has been placed in a sub-basement of the redoubt. It’s currently sealed. Ms. Jones has noted the construction and is asking for access.” 

I laughed and began the spell. Unlike The Mystics, Fate’s magic was more intrinsic; now, I didn’t have his profile, so I leaned heavily on the artifact.

Having confirmed his master had arrived and understood his master was here to rescue the man he left to their fate, the former mystic redoubled his efforts. He had assumed his master deemed the men expendable, but he was wrong. He would ask for forgiveness and endeavor to assist his master people more.

Two mandalas swirled to life before a third, much larger one spun into existence, being its smaller counterparts.

Tyanon faltered. Her head turned ever so slightly as she sensed a plane separation. She knew she had to stop whatever was occurring and jumped away, but Ka’l wasn’t letting up, wanting to prove himself.

Ensnared by powerful bands, Tyanon flexed and sensed the arrival of the other. 

Beams of lights pierced through the fire and pierced the demoness.

“You dare channel the Vishanti,” hissed Tyanon, causing Ka’l mandelas to spin as he drew on the power of the Vishanti.

Ka’l sneered, “Seven Rings has Raggadorr, from indigo to deepest black! Their fabled might we now implore…Grant us the power to force these back!”

It was a pity Tyanon was a Chaos demoness. Her magic was so alien and unrestrained that she could cast magics that bore no likeness to his knowledge.