Valorverse Gaiden: Heartache & Pain

[True Grave]

Chapter One

Standing on his dead planet, which he destroyed by his own hand, a man consumed by hatred cried tears of loathing. But he didn't loathe others. He loathed himself. From the time of his childhood, he had hated himself. He felt like he was worthless and not like others. That he was born without value, lesser to everyone.

This man, Rain Arcadia, was an Omega-class mutant. His kind were born once every million years and could live to be equally as old. They were the strongest mortals in existence and feared even by the New Gods. Rain didn't know that he was exceptional. His self-hatred was kept in check for as long as his bedridden mother lived. Caring for her made his life different from normal, and it was this gulf between how abnormal his life was compared to others that was the source of his self-hatred and self-loathing.

When his bedridden mother took her last breath, she joined Rain's father, who had committed suicide. No longer bound by a mother whose life he needed to preserve out of love and caring, Rain's self-hatred exploded into hatred of everyone he felt inferior to.

"Mother...You were everything to me. I love you. How will I go on without you...?"

He had no purpose anymore, and so instead, he would be guided only by his feelings, which called for the death of all he could see.

Rain's mutant power was fully unleashed. His purple Soul Energy reached levels far beyond imagining. His hatred grew just as rapidly. With an animalistic scream of pure negative emotion, Rain annihilated all that lived on his home planet. He had ceased to be Rain Arcadia, caregiver. Now he was Hate, the Omega-class mutant whose only desire was to destroy everything.

Hate's Theme

 

[True Grave]

Chapter Two

Omega, the most evil of the Old Gods, had much in common with Hate. He hated all that lived because he preferred the solitude of being alone in endless darkness. His genocidal desires were only held in check by the Divine Edicts, which forbade Gods from directly interfering in the lives of others. A genocidal Omega-class mutant was the perfect tool for Omega.

"A mortal who believed himself inferior since childhood due to not fitting in with others. Over time, the sadness felt from that transformed into an all-consuming hatred."

The Old God of endless darkness laughed in glee.

"Only his mother's love stopped him from unleashing hell on all of those he felt lesser then. He didn't want to hurt her in any way, after all. Now that she is gone, nothing will stop him. Oh, I love it! What a perfect little weapon."

Omega opened a black portal to Earth One. His mind linked to Hate's, the hatred and pain feeling like heaven to him.

"Go through that portal. Kill everyone and destroy everything! Go nuts!"

Hate rushed through it, needing no encouragement to kill that which lived.

 

[True Grave]

Chapter Three

The moment that Hate stepped foot on Earth One, the Divine Edicts were broken. Only one Omega-class mutant was supposed to exist in each dimension. The reason for this was because that clashes between these beings could easily destroy planets. The first to sense his presence was Lithuel.

"Holy shit! That's some serious hatred coming my way."

Even most demons didn't have that much hatred in them. Lithuel used his wings to cross the distance quickly. What he saw was surprising. A young Caucasian man of 5'8", 150 pounds, average build, with brown eyes and brown hair. His appearance was so ordinary, but the fierce purple aura that he was putting out was anything but.

"That power is definitely not normal."

Hate let out a scream that nearly deafened Lithuel and pierced his heart with sadness, of all feelings.

"What the--"

An explosive dome of purple energy rushed at him. It was pure death. Lithuel caught it and started pushing it back, but holy shit was it hard!

"What the fuck is this guy?!"

Lithuel flared up with his combined Angelic and Demonic Soul Aura. It took all of his Soul Energy to dissipate the purple Soul Energy.

"Hey, you fuck! Who are you?!"

Confusion creased his face as he got a better look at Hate's face. Tears were rolling down his cheeks without end, but those eyes were like nothing he had ever seen before, an unusual combination of heartache, emotional pain, and rage.

 

[True Grave]

Hate did not respond, letting out the beginnings of a scream. Lithuel rapidly moved forward and punched him in the solar plexus hard enough to lift him off of the ground. He then grabbed him by the throat with the other hand.

"Who the fuck are you?! What's your beef with Earth One?"

Hate struggled to speak, so Lithuel loosened up.

"Hate...You...Kill...You..."

"What'd I ever do to you? I don't even know you!"

Purple energy suddenly fired from his mouth, forcing Lithuel to move his head to the side just in time. He was then punched in the face with surprising force. Lithuel let go of hate and was forced to raise his arms in defense as Hate blasted him from point blank range with both hands.

Lithuel's arms were smoking and sore. He lowered them and narrowed his eyes at Hate.

"Guess we're done talking."

Shooting forward, he began unloading on Hate with combinations of rapid punching and kicking. Damage was being done but he wouldn't drop. Lithuel had to dodge attacks as the guy attacked back while still being attacked.

Hate's power was increasing. The beating was drawing blood and bruising him. But his consciousness did not flag. Concussions did not affect him the same way. Hate took the beating like it was nothing. Lithuel let his guard down in frustration, and that was right when he ate a monster uppercut.

 

[True Grave]

Lithuel felt his teeth rattle and saw his vision blur. He grinned, having to give him credit for catching him. His wings spread to halt his ascent into the air before he dropped a vertical elbow strike onto Hate's head. He then grabbed Hate by the back of his head and rammed his knee into his nose. Scott had taught him Muay Thai and it usually proved very effective in a fight. This time, unfortunately, it was not doing much.

Hate put both hands to Lithuel's chest and fired energy blasts from point-blank range. Only his supernatural durability protected him from getting gaping holes blown through his chest. The force of the blasts threw him backwards and caused him to bounce multiple times and then barrel roll along the ground before getting to his feet. Summoning his Transforming Sword, he gripped the hilt in both hands. Rushing forward, he swung the sword. Using purple energy emanating from his hands, Hate held back the sword.

Lithuel held steady, not pushing forward.

"Why do you hate me and want to kill me?!"

Hate just looked at him with those unsettling eyes.

"Tell me!"

Slowly, Hate began to speak.

"My name is...Rain Arcadia..."

Lithuel nodded for him to go on.

"I...was born without value..."

The hybrid was confused.

"What do you mean?"

But the emotional pain that speaking these feelings ignited Hate's self-loathing and hatred of others all over again. He screamed and his power became overwhelming, breaking new limits.

"DIE!!!"

A massive purple blast beam was fired from his hands. Lithuel screamed in pain as he was engulfed. When the beam dissipated, Lithuel was gone. Having disintegrated Lithuel, he was now able to unleash a dome of destruction. An entire city in England was wiped out of existence, leading to massive loss of life.

 

[True Grave]

Chapter Four

Firestar creased his brow from his throne in the Realm of Firestar. Lithuel's death, while only temporary, was concerning. For someone to be able to kill Lithuel, they had to be extremely powerful. The massive loss of life in England was unacceptable. It was time for emergency measures. With a telepathic call, he explained Lithuel's temporary death and called the rest of Team Firestar into a meeting at headquarters.

 

[True Grave]

Chapter Five

Scott entered Team Firestar headquarters and proceeded immediately to their first floor meeting room. He had been having lunch at Dino's Deli when the emergency call went out. It was shocking and saddening to him that Lithuel had been temporarily killed. Not just anyone could do that. No further details had been given on the latest planetary threat. He figured that Firestar would wait until they were all gathered together to give them all the details.

Eric walked in, his usual cool exterior failing to hide the sadness in his eyes. Even if he was only dead temporarily, Team Firestar was very close-knit. Nick, ever the hothead, was not taking this well.

"I'll kill the son of a bitch that did that to Lithuel!"

They both took their seats. Lone Wolf appeared soon after, his stoicism not giving away his internal pain.

Marcus was the last to arrive and he had been crying. Out of all of them, he had the deepest reverence for life due to his age and life experience. He was the most devastated next to Scott, who had been crying since he got the news. Scott and Lithuel were best friends and usually fought together against evil. He felt survivor's guilt for not being there to prevent Lithuel's death. While he wasn't going to kill anyone, he was absolutely going to serve justice.

Everyone sat down and Marcus used his reality bending power to allow Firestar to speak with them across dimensions.

"Thank you for gathering so quickly. As you all know, Lithuel has been killed and won't return for twenty-four hours. His killer was an Omega-class mutant, which likely resulted from further interference from Omega. The Rise Incident of last month showed that he will break the Divine Edicts whenever he can."

"Is he as powerful as Rise?" Lone Wolf asked.

"I do not believe so. I don't think he is as powerful as our own Marcus, either. But we are clearly still dealing with an extremely powerful and dangerous enemy. An entire city in England was destroyed right after Lithuel died. I felt the influx of hundreds of thousands of souls enter the Universe of Gods all at once."

Shocked silence spread over Team Firestar.

Scott was the first to recover.

"Did he use a mutant power to do this?"

"I see no evidence of that. I only sensed extraordinarily high levels of Soul Energy."

Scott was perplexed.

"Hard to believe that Lithuel would lose to Soul Energy alone."

"His Soul Energy may not be what we are accustomed to," Marcus replied.

"You think his Soul Energy is his power?" Nick asked.

"Possibly."

Scott clenched his fists.

"I want to confront this guy alone first. Can you guys watch from a distance and back me up?"

The other members looked at each other and nodded, then at Scott and nodded. They knew where Scott was coming from.

"Just know that I won't let him kill anyone else," Marcus replied.

Firestar opened a portal and everyone stood up. They walked through the portal, which would take them to the English countryside. The portal closed behind them, leaving only sadness and resolve lingering in the air.