Ichor of Tsukuyomi

[DRoddo]

 

The Beginning

 

 

 

There was a time when Tsukuyomi's shrine was a peaceful refuge for her worshippers. A time when followers would gather to offer their obeisance's to her power and to what she represented to mankind.  

 

Now, it is a desecrated mess. The beautiful tapestries were painted with the blood of loyal guardians, who died protecting the shrine. The pristine white floors, littered with the bodies and the weapons of dead soldiers. The carefully crafted wooden rooftops had been crushed through, letting in a cold chill in the air, ebbing out any of the candles and lanterns that provided light to the shrine. Only a faint glimpse of moonlight from the broken rooftop gleamed into the room, providing a small modicum of light to reveal the scenes of catastrophe before Tsukuyomi. 

 

As Tsukuyomi sat peacefully, eyes closed and meditating on her zabuton, automatons and soldiers marched into her regal chambers, pointing weapons. Whichever insolent fool that leads this death march into her holy shrine would face divine punishment by her blade. 

 

And who else could it be, then that bratty Incarnate of Zeus who has failed to realize his place in the world. 

 

Emperor Cole descended into the chambers through the broken rooftop, arms crossed and floating a few feet above Tsukuyomi. "It's over, moon goddess. You shall not resist me" he spoke, his voice reverberating across the shrine.  

 

Tsukuyomi did not look up at the Tyrant "Oh Zeus, ever the petulant little child." 

 

She stood up from her zabuton, and the warriors were quick to raise their weapons. However, the Emperor raised his hand to stop immediately, as Tsukuyomi walked up to grab a teapot to pour some tea.  

 

The eyes beneath the helm began to glow red "If it is not abundantly clear to you, then it should be now. All the gods will falter before my might. I alone can control the direction the people of earth take. I alone can guide humanity to the perfect world order. You will just be one of the many gods that will bend to my will, to serve in glorious Praetoria." 

 

"And you are certain that the other gods will obey you in your mad man's crusade, 'emperor' Cole" Tsukuyomi said, sipping tea from her cup. "Nay, you expect obedience from me, after killing my followers, vandalizing my shrine, and showing nothing but disrespect before my presence?" She gently set her teacup down, and opened her eyes, now staring at the emperor dead in his eyes. "No, you wish to use our powers to fight your battles. To deal with that ticking time bomb you have kept hidden from humanity. You care not about exerting your rule over Earth, you have gotten enough of that. You need to silence the seeds of doubt forming amongst the mortals, isn't it...Marcus Cole?" 

 

The Tyrant was silent for a few moments, the soldiers uneasily shifting around with their weapons, until he started laughing. His baleful laughter echoed through the desecrated shrine, putting the soldiers even more on edge. Tsukuyomi stared on, undeterred. 

 

As his laughter died down, Cole gazed upwards to the broken rooftop.   

 

"Get her." 

 

The Praetorian strike team charged at Tsukuyomi, crying out their war chants for their Emperor.  

 

All of a sudden, the moonlight shining through the broken rooftop illuminated to a fierce degree, instantaneously blinding and stunning the attacking force, including the automatons. A swift dark blur shifted across the room, slicing through the torsos of all that crossed paths with it. Every member of the strike team fell to the floor, as Tsukuyomi gracefully put her blade back into its sheath. Only the Tyrant remained standing, his shadow looming over the corpses of his soldiers.  

 

“Fine, I will take you on. Even the Moon shall bow before me”          

 

Tsukuyomi unsheathed her blade once more.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Fire and smoke...all that was left of the shrine was fire and smoke. The battle that followed between two godlike titans devastated much of surrounding environment. Massive craters of gargantuan lengths scarred the landscape, as if a coalition of giants had stampeded across the area. The blows struck during the battle had caused massive clouds to gather to form a storm. Though the battle was vicious, it was over, as Tsukuyomi lied inside a crater, panting and bleeding from wounds that could not heal.

 

Emperor Cole emerged above the injured moon goddess, equally injured, but in far superior condition. "Your followers have abandoned you. You are no longer the god you think you are. If your pride doesn't allow you to submit to me, then I shall force you to submit."

 

High intensity laser beams seared into Tsukuyomi's chest, making her scream in pain. "With the Well in my control, I possess power that far surpasses the gods."

 

Another round of laser beams incinerated Tsukuyomi's wounded body, the moon goddess trying her best to suppress her whimpers of pain. "I am not just an emperor. I am a force of nature." 

 

Emperor Cole's wrapped one hand around Tsukuyomi's neck and raised her above the ground. She attempted to retaliate, but struggled to get away from his grasp.

 

"I. Am. Absolute."

 

Like a rag doll, he viciously hurled Tsukuyomi's limp body right into the crater, causing the very earth to shake.

 

As Tsukuyomi lay there bleeding, she used her remaining strength to eek out a few meagre words 

 

"You... live a cursed life...Marcus Cole. Pray... you live... the rest... in peace..."

 

The blood from her chest seeped into the soil, spreading across the earth.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Nova Praetoria, 24 December 20XX

 

You have (48) mails

--------------------------

Missed Bill Payment: Dear Callikan...

Missed Bill Payment: Dear Callikan...

Missed Bill Payment: Dear Callikan...

Re: Rent: Hey Cal, you've been holding out on me on the...

Missed Bill Payment: Dear Callikan...

Missed Bill Payment: Dear Callikan...

Power Division Recruitment Drive: Emperor Cole wants YOU...

 

Cal put his phone into his pocket and sighed as he walked around the mall. The new job in Nova Praetoria was supposed to help him out with his money problems. Living in such a gold studded city only drove up the living expenses. At the rate he's being paid, he wonders if living in the sewers would serve as a cheaper alternative. Might even solve the food problem too, the sewer rats were essentially free meat. 

 

He shook his head and chuckled "Gross"

 

He wasn't going to live in the sewers. Hell no. Not while he had one rambunctious little 5 year old sitting on his shoulder, playing with his hair. At such a young age, Skyla was already a talker, and far more of a smart-ass than Cal himself. "If you live in the sewer, you're gonna turn into a rat! Do you want to be a rat? Rats are gross. You are gross!" Cal can imagine her daughter saying that to tease him. He grinned.

 

"What are you smiling for, daddy?" the tiny voice above his head inquired curiously.

 

Cal shook his head "Nothing, kiddo. Don't worry about it. By the way, you made the grocery list. You sure you covered everything?" 

 

Skyla pouted "I am sure I did. I've been making this list in consideration of our budget! "

 

"Woah kiddo, those are some big words coming from you. You doing more reading than me?"

 

"Hehehe. Anyways, We got eggs, milk, butter, chicken..."

 

"I didn't see no chicken"

 

"There was chicken!"

 

"Nuh uh"

 

"Ah ah!"

 

"You're lying!" she cried, as she bonked Cal's head with her tiny fists.

 

"Ow!" Cal reeled, it was a pretty hard bonk. "Jesus, you hit hard"

 

She stuck her tongue out and gave Cal a raspberry. "That's what you get!"

 

Cal gently dropped Skyla from her shoulder. "Why you!" he laughed, as he picked her up with one arm, and started tickling the little runt. "Stop it aaaah stop!" The two of them giggled as they played around.  When they were finally done playing around, Cal set Skyla down to walk and stretched. "My shoulders are tired sweety. You're gonna have to walk those little legs of yours."

 

She rolled her eyes "Laaaazy!" As she did so, the corners of her eyes caught a glimpse of something bright and pink gleaming from the shop window. It was a stuffed teddy bear, almost 2 feet tall and very rotund. It's appearance was rather exaggerated for a teddy bear, but it captured Skyla's attention for a while.

 

"Oi, what's the matter Skyla?" Cal asked, his eyes darting around until he saw what had Skyla smitten. "Aaah, that teddy bear"

 

She seemed excited at first, but was quick to suppress it. She clearly wants that teddy bear.

 

Cal kneeled down to match Skyla's eye-level "Well, it is Christmas eve."

 

Skyla shook her head, a look of concern forming in her face "But dad, your... will you be able to..."

 

Skyla's sharp. She knows Cal's having a rough time paying for things. This teddy bear's got a hefty pricetag from the looks of it. Could be problematic for next month's rent...Nothing that maybe a few hours of overtime won't fix.

 

Cal put his hands on her shoulder and smiled "We're getting you that teddy bear."

 

"Are you sure, dad?"

 

"Look, if you're not getting it, I'll get it for myself. I'll call it, Charles"

 

Skyla giggled and smiled. This definitely made the overtime worth it.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

As the two walked from the mall, they bickered endlessly over the matter of naming the new teddy bear that would occupy the Fox household. While Cal proposed to have it called Sir Charles de Montebal esq, Skyla insisted to name it called Jingles, clearly a far inferior name. 

 

"Jingles is so much better!" 

 

"Sir Charles, end of discussion."

 

"It doesn't even make sense."

 

As they walked, Cal took note of how much Skyla was enjoying the pure rotundness of the teddy bear. She was hugging it, shaking it, spinning it around, even trying to get it to bounce on the floor like some kind of ball. Cal had to tell her to stop it from touching the pavement, otherwise it could get dirty before it even reached home.

 

Suddenly, there was an explosion behind the father-daughter duo that shook the ground beneath them. Cal turned to see the source of it. Civilians were running away from the scenes of action where Praetorian Clockwork and the PPD were fighting off leather-clad Resistance members with guns. The battle was starting to heat up, as more and more robots were flying in to deal with the Resistance.

 

"Come on Skyla, time to go home" Cal urgently said, grabbing his daughter and carrying her away. As he walked hurriedly, he saw the robots flying in getting bigger and bigger. This was churning out to be some serious battle. The smell of gun powder permeated the air around. 

 

"We'll take the alley, come on" he took a quick left turn, the alley should get them home quickly.

 

Two huge robots thudded into the alleyway, impeding their tracks. Cal knows these big guys. They're Dismantlers. 

 

As the two Dismantlers approached, they pointed their weapons at them. Skyla dug her face deep into Cal's shoulders, shaking. 

 

"Woah there big guy, easy" Cal said, dropping his grocery bags and holding onto Skyla tightly. "I'm a civvy, see? Not resistance. Lemme go, I don't want no trouble"

 

The Dismantlers soul-less eyes stared into Cal and the curious package he was carrying. They did not budge. 

 

"Daddy?"

 

"Shh Skyla, don't worry we're going home. Listen, please, just let me go...or let my daughter go okay? Nice and easy"

 

They still did not step aside. Cal wasn't sure what they wanted from him. Perhaps they wanted him to raise his hands? Or let Skyla down? What's their deal? 

 

Cal raised his hands to signify he was surrendering

 

The heads of the Dismantlers caught onto the motion of Cal's hands and started whirring up their robotic hands. Just when Cal thought he was home-free, something from the shoulders of these robots came out, and fired a red hot laser beam.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Cal was knocked back by the force of something that hit him like a truck. He was on the ground, his vision was blurry, and his mind was spinning like crazy. He could've sworn he saw something bright and red whiz past him. It should've hit him in all honesty. So where did it go.

 

Whimpering. He heard whimpering.

 

Cal tried to force himself off the floor to see the source of whimpering. Something was not right.

 

His vision was too blurry. He hit his head too hard. There was a sharp pain in his left shoulder. He could not co-ordinate himself properly. Cal had to drag himself to that sound.

 

As he got closer, the whimpering got clearer. He prayed it wasn't from who he thought it was. There was a teddy bear Cal stumbled across, which had blotches of red staining its bright pink fur.

 

"Please, please"

 

Skyla was lying down in a pool of blood. She was breathing heavily, tears were falling pouring from her eyes, mixing with the blood.

 

"Daddy, it hurts. Please daddy make the pain stop"  she cried in pain

 

Cal shook his head in disbelief "No. No no no." 

 

The robots started walking closer. Cal could hear the whirring of gears. He wrapped his arms around Skyla's body to stop them from doing anything to her.

 

"It's okay baby girl. Dad's gonna protect you. Please please please" 

 

"Daddy, it hurts so much..." Skyla meagerly eeked out, looking into her father's eyes one last time, before the light in her eyes disappeared.

 

Cal put his hand around her cheek "Skyla? Skyla? Wake up baby girl. Daddy's here...Skyla. SKYLA?!"

 

'Do you hear me'

'Let me reach out to you'

'Let me help you forget the pain'

'I know your pain.'

'It's okay.'

'Open yourself unto me.'

'They will pay'

 

"YOU'RE DONE"

 

A burst of dark energy erupted from the ground below. He soon felt his body getting covered by a viscous black goo, which slowly formed into a thick bulky armor. He felt a black sword form into his left hand and, from it, he felt the energies of a seemingly higher entity entangle his body. Cal was not sure what was happening, but he knew one thing, something needed to be dead.

 

The Dismantlers fired their lasers at the new armored assailant. But it simply absorbed the attacks. In a blink, Cal rushed through one Dismantler and sliced off it's torso clean. The other attempted to swing it's hefty robotic arm at Cal's position, but he blinked again, right above the Dismantler. From skies, Cal drove his sword straight into the Dismantler's face, causing it to combust near instantaneously.

 

As the Clockwork exploded, the resulting fire covered Cal's entire body. He was entirely unbothered by the flames spreading on his armour. 

 

PPD and Clockwork forces arrived, pointing their weapons at Cal. The commander at the scene, terrified by the presence of this new threat, immediately ordered everyone to open fire.

 

The armor soaked up every bullet and laser fired. 

 

"You will all die today" a metallic voice from within the armor intoned, as it rushed into battle.

 

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The ravaged clockwork, with only it's torso, it's head, and one arm, attempted to drag itself away from the alley. It did not understand why it wanted to run away, it wasn't programmed to ever run away from a task. However, with the sheer level of violence it witnessed, a new initiative formed within the clockwork...it needed to flee.

 

Heavy footsteps were approaching it. The clockwork was a mere cleaning unit, not designed to deal with the threat present. It attempted to scurry away faster.

 

A sword was impaled into the floor, it scrapped loudly, like nails on a board. The one armed moved even faster. Maybe it could make it to the sewer hole nearby. Just a tiny bit closer...

 

The katana sliced through it's head...it fell limp

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Rain started to pour, tapping heavily against the armor. It washed away the blood and debris of the battle that followed into a nearby sewer.

 

Cal fell to his knees and dropped his sword. He felt nothing but pure emptiness. He doesn't understand what just happened...but all he wanted to do now was cry.

 

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by DRoddo