Eleven Years Ago: Lunar Brazea.
Planet Unknown.
The silver moon glowed beautifully in the dead of night.
Stars dancing and flickered in the distance. The calm winds cooed with a sense of serenity. In the distance, the broad city was alive, commotion of lucanaships and mechanical movements could be heard.
But all was not as pleasant as it seemed.
Branches cracked, leaves shriveled and quietly screeched as small boots crushed them with quick steps. A little boy with platinum blonde hair and green eyes dressed in rags dashed through the trees, huffing and puffing, "…no, no, no!"
Howls of beasts in the distance could be heard. Each second they grew closer. Hunger enhanced as their beady white eyes watched the child struggle to get away with every passing step they took.
"Mama…dad… please!!" The boy whimpered.
A wide creek slowly revealed itself, long and broad, splitting the boy off from his escape.
He came to a stop, eyeing the distance. 'Can I make this??' He asked himself. The boy was fatigued, nearly out of breath. His legs throbbing from the constant running. Being chased by hungered wolves for over an hour, and he was reaching his limit.
Another desperate howl was heard.
The hair on the boys' neck raised.
He doesn't have a choice now, unless he wants to be nutrition.
The boy readied himself and leapt, harshly grunting as he forced himself off the ground. Arms extended to their fullest, fingers reaching out to grab the cliff. The boy was right there!! His escape was so close!!
Two fingers clenched onto the cliff.
Slip.
The child fell straight into the shallow creek. His little head smacked a rock. The boy groaned as he covered the back, his sight bouncing around like some intoxicated person. His fingers could feel blood from where he had fell on.
'I'm…gonna die…' Realization crept into the boy's eyes as he looked up, coming to see the hungry wolves staring down at him. Those jagged teeth brandished, their pupils latched onto him like a snake watching its prey struggle after they've been hit with venom.
"…I don't wanna die…"
A wolf was taken down, blood spurting onto the others.
Then the next.
The silhouette of a man was moving at high speeds, taking each predator down with ease. One attack and they were killed off in that very second.
There was only silence.
The boy kept quiet, scared.
"Are you alright, boy?" A man's voice asked, "they're gone."
The boy slowly stood, eyeing the vicinity, making sure they were dead. Which they were. Bodies of the beasts splayed across the area. Blood on the trees and grass. Then the boys' green eyes flicked onto the man. Tall, covered in crimson. Merely gazing at him with a hardened stare of nothingness. Not a shred of emotion.
The boy himself was surprised, climbing out of the creek like some little animal. He bowed, "than…thank you…"
"Where are your parents?"
"Dead…from the fellen woman…"
"Ai Ling," The man growled, veins hardening on his forehead. One could hear his voice seething in venom, "so she took your family as well?"
"Yes…" The boy quietly replied.
This planet was supposed to be a vacation for him and his parents. But the situation had exploded into something much more chaotic.
Debt.
That came with an exchange of life, and the child was spared.
The man took a knee, "I am Greyvus, Greyvus Further. You are, lad?"
"Morlis Helman."
"Well then, Morlis Helman," Greyvus replied, raising a hand to Morlis, "do you want to grow stronger? Avenge your family? Make that disgusting fellens bone break in every inch of her body?"
The boy paused, thinking of everything he witnessed. Experienced. His family murdered before his eyes. Watching their blood splatter onto the floor. His father trying to protect them. Dropped dead. Hearing his mother's cries before her head was taken off.
A fire lit under the boys eyes.
"Yes…!"
Greyvus stood, "come with me. I shall teach you the ways of Shang Fu. MY Shang Fu. We shall make the sinful demon face retribution." Greyvus walked off, Morlis quickly followed behind.
***
On a different world, trees grow over five-hundred feet tall. The yellow grass is short. A multitude of floating rocks and islands coasting under the clouds. The sky broad, a pretty tone of orange as birds cawed and flew.
"FASTER!!"
"YES MASTER!!"
A small pair of fists covered in bloody bandages was striking the humungous body of a tree. Creating multiple dents in a second. Morlis, dressed in a black cheongsam, sweating, continuing with his training. It has been a year since he met Greyvus, learning under his wing.
It was safe to say that Greyvus was demanding, strict. Greyvus trained Morlis to the bitter end until the boy could no longer stand.
Morlis had come to a stop, sweat dripping from his fists. His attire nearly covered in moisture. He was tired. Drained.
"Who said you could stop?" Greyvus growled. "Is THIS all you have for yourself?? Huh??! IS THIS ALL YOU'LL DO WHEN YOU FACE YOUR ENEMY??!!"
"No master I—"
Greyvus grabbed Morlis' collar, lifting him, "I don't want to hear an excuse, boy! I want to see action. Demonstrate your anger, rage, YOUR FURY!! Are you happy with that woman killing your family??!!"
"No SIR!!"
"THEN PROVE IT!!!" Greyvus shoved Morlis down and looked at another tree. "Prove your worth. Show me that I didn't make a mistake!!" Greyvus sliced his hand forward, hewing down the entire tree in one fell swoop. "SHOW ME YOUR RESOLVE!!"
Morlis gritted his teeth, aura billowing from his body. Morlis screamed in rage, punching the trunk of the tree. Wood broke and cracked, the tree slightly uplifted as it was destroyed, falling to the ground as grass and leaves danced into the air. Morlis was breathing heavily, staring at the damage he created.
Greyvus sat a hand on Morlis' shoulders, "good. With this, you will grow. Do not let your rage disappear. As the plan to take out that woman's family will soon come. Then after I take out that damned child. We will destroy the one who created her."
"Yes, Master Greyvus."
"Continue."
Morlis clenched his fists and lunged to the next tree.
***
Present: Lunar of Zeuds.
Morlis took a few steps back as Crim stood, watching those white flames flicker and dance from his body.
Morlis scoffed at himself, 'that fire is troublesome. I need to find a way to incapacitate those flames…'
Crim smiled, "flicker."
Morlis raised a brow in puzzlement, but an explosion cracked, shooting him back!
Morlis quickly flipped, slamming his feet into the ground, breaking the momentum. 'How the hell did he do that??' Morlis asked himself, arms raised, his senses on the highest setting.
Crim chuckled, walking forward, stretching his arms, cracking his bones, "got a lotta moves under my sleeves, bud. You think I don't learn as I fight?"
"So what??!" Morlis yelled, "It'll be the same outcome, either way! Me standing over you!!"
Crim waved it off, "yeah—yeah. Anyways…" He raised his hand to Morlis, "burn."
Crim's body fulminated into a physique of flames, and a humungous tornado of fire spiraled to Morlis!!
Morlis crossed his arms and wrenched them back, "Crane: Wandering Winds!!!" Morlis spun at high speeds, creating his own powerful gusts of winds like a tornado, blocking off the massive blast of fire.
Crim emerged from the flames and slammed a hook straight to Morlis' cheek, sending the man flying into the air.
But Crim didn't waste a second, trailing behind, preparing for his next attack.
"No…" Morlis gritted his teeth, "not yet!! Tiger: Jagged Palm!!" Morlis slammed his feet into the ground, shredding every piece of brick and rock as he regained his balance. He pulled both arms back, firing a dual palm attack!
Crim dispersed into small strings of fire just as Morlis' hands connected.
"What the—"
Crim was already behind, spinning, shooting a round house kick onto Morlis' back, knocking him into the sky. In a split second, Crim was above Morlis. Crim raised his arms, clenching his hands together, and hammered Morlis, crashing into the floor below. Debris covered the air, a hole deep under, anything near the area of destruction was pushed away.
Morlis stood, creeping from the crater, coughing, "how…how is he controlling the battle so perfectly…??"
Flames roared and sparked away from Morlis. Crim materialized from the fire like a phoenix, rolling his shoulders, "…you think I'd fight at full strength, right away? I'm not that dumb, dude," Crim laughed, shrugging "I dunno what other tricks ya got."
"Silence, you fool," Morlis glowered, his fists balled to the point blood spilled from his palms. "This is only the beginning."
"That old idiot doesn't care about you, man. You're nothing but a tool for his plans. Just like those two fighting my friends right now..."
Memories of Morlis' childhood had flashed before his eyes. The blood on his fists, knuckles aching, bones breaking from countless attacks. The sweat that seemed to never wash away from his body. It was all for a purpose, and to avenge those he lost, Morlis would do anything necessary to avenge them.
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!" Morlis had screamed, "I am a disciple of Greyvus, a Shang Fu Master!!" He lowered his stance, "strength and victory are what makes a true warrior, in this Omiverse! All those who fail…ARE NOT WORTHY!!!"
"HIDDEN FORM: TENSIONS RISE!!!!" Aura pulsed from Morlis' body, growing stronger, denser, much more powerful. The very ground pushed downwards as wind stirred and howled around the entire vicinity.
Morlis took a step forward, creating steep fissures from under that hissed like vicious snakes slithering from their slumber.
Crim raised a brow, genuinely impressed, 'damn, his power boosted like those guys me and Sin fought back home… Guess I better go all out too...' Crim took a deep breath, flames danced and roared, shrouding his entire body.
Crim raised his hand, "bleach…"
Four balls of fire had materialized around Morlis.
They all flickered twice and blasted into a powerful pillar of flames!
Morlis shouted, breaking free from the colossal tower of fire, lunging to Crim. "Tiger: Raging Strike!!"
Crim swung his arm back, creating a giant vortex of flames from his hand and went in head on. Their fists roared like godly beasts as their attacks collided, the ground uplifted like monsters rising from the underworld. City blocks crumbled like a child's playset. The thunderous noise shook the air!!
Crim and Morlis were going at it, unleashing nothing but raw power, attacks flying faster than the eye could track. Blurs and flames flashed as they covered the entire area in a split second, causing nothing but utter destruction as their battle waged on!
The two crashed and slid across the debris-covered floor, smoking trailing behind as they paced each other. Crim raised his hand, shooting bullets of flames. Morlis flipped, twisted and quickly rushed around, leaping before Crim, "Mantis: GREEN BULLET!!!"
Green aura exploded from Morlis' body as he became a beam of light, sending himself to Crim at rapid speeds.
Crim blocked it.
Morlis was sent back into the air.
A slight pause.
And they went right back at it!!
"Snake: Vipers Venom!" Morlis threw two fingers right at Crim's eyes.
Crim bobbed past them and kicked himself from Morlis' chest, flipping back. In air, he swiped his hand forward, a crescent of flames sliced straight.
Morlis stomped his leg down, slapping the crescent down with no problems. He streaked ahead, spinning into helicopter kick!
Crim blocked the first strike, stumbled on the second and was knocked back from the third, sent crashing through the ground.
Crim grunted as he picked himself up, the upper area of his overalls gone, black shirt still in place.
Morlis, however, scoffed, slowly walking towards him, "didn't I tell you, or are you dumb? You can't best me in hand-to-hand combat. You will lose, it's inevitable."
Crim grinned, "you're looking a bit brighter than usual."
Morlis raised a brow, "what?" He hastily looked down, noticing strange white hues all over his body. Arms, legs, chest, stomach, everywhere! That's when Morlis started to feel hot, extremely. The adrenaline, the technique he used to boost his power, had numbed him to a certain degree. Morlis didn't notice until now, "what did you do?"
Crim raised his arms, shrugging, "I know I can't beat you in straight combat alone. So you could say I planted some very… impactful presents on ya while we fought the entire time."
Morlis paused, thinking back.
Crim wasn't just using his flames as an enhancement to fight back. Crim applied small, microscopic balls into Morlis body with each attack that connected. Or in simpler terms, Crim practically turned Morlis into a living bomb!
Crim grinned, "sorry but your plans coming to an end."—Crim gently poked the temple of his head— "all it took was a little bit of creativity…"
The realization hit Morlis like a truck. He gritted his teeth, seething with fury. "You little—"
Crim snapped his finger.
Morlis' body had detonated like fireworks, turning into a beacon of searing white rays. Lighting the entire city, the clouds above folded and took shape of the tower of flames.
Then silence.
Crim stood before a huge, deepened crater of where Morlis stood. Crim took a knee, "damn…if I didn't come up with that on the fly…that would've been my ass."
Tremors shook the ground below, explosions roared, the battle wasn't finished by a long shot.
"Mei…" Crim murmured, looking deeper into the city. He glanced to where the guild sat in the distance, "Sin can handle 'em, they'll be fine."
Crim stood, and ran towards Ai Mei's direction, "just keep steady, Mei."