"The entity's power spread towards the edges of the Universe. In an instant, it collapsed into a singular point and expanded further beyond the Horizon."

The year is 2045, March 23.

12,004 light-years away from Earth, lies a peculiar planet.

This lonesome place floats adrift in the vastness of space for millennia, perhaps even eons, accompanied only by the presence of two miniature suns.

The skies of this warm world are painted a beautiful crimson red and dotted with vibrant nebula clouds. Its landscape is covered with silver mountains, shady blue plains, red valleys, and crystal clear emerald green rivers.

It used to have forests.

What is the name of this planet? And-

?? "No."

You pondered. You don't have time to recall your planet's name or be admiring its landscape.

You turn your head away from the window and look at an ancient relic lying on The Empress's bed.

Without the slightest sense of fear, you grab it and sprint out of the room as fast as you can, traveling through a metal corridor that has no end in sight.

As you run past countless doors and intersections, a soldier spots you as you flee.

"Hey! Stop right there!"

You pick up your speed, your eyes frantically look around for a means to escape.

The increasing number of footsteps echo closer and closer to you.

"Stop Thief!"

Pew!

A shot of plasma glazes your antenna.

You lose your balance and slip down a secret hatch through sheer luck.

You stand up and survey your surroundings. To your surprise, It seems that you somehow ended up outside The Empress's palace.

You swiftly glance to the side of your waist.

?? "Whew! It's still there."

You turn around and stare at the igneous palace towering over you. Its peak stretches upward and to some say it even reaches space itself. The structure resembles an anthill with many doors and tunnels leading in and out.

?? "See ya later. JERKS!"

Seven long years of painful service have finally passed. You smirk and unbind yourself of your maid apparel. Beneath the false identity lies your true color, a scarlet popped collar tailcoat, and silk jet-black pants.

A badge representing a half-ant and half-dragon creature can be seen on the right side of your coat. This symbol identifies you as the second commander of the rebellion army.

Done with the whole charade, you escape through a network of secret tunnels that your comrades previously dug toward the palace.

Eventually, you reach a floral underground grotto.

?? "The smell of sulfur is strong,"

You thought as you are approaching a rusty old door covered with a mysterious type of blue moss and vines.

Calming your mind, you put your hands, and a single word exits out of your lips.

?? "Estrancedovana."

The door opens and you step inside a pitch-black room.

The entrance behind you closes shut.

You ignore it and proceed toward the center.

There you can see 12 bright blank panels, each emitting a different color glow, hovering over a pedestal. The strangest part of it all is that despite the brightness presented here, the room's walls, floor, and ceiling are completely dark as the void. It's almost as if the place you're in exists outside the boundary of reality.

?? "It's time."

You grab the relic out from your sachet and carefully look at it.

It is about the size of a bowling ball but is light as air. Its form resembles a Red Dodecahedron Dice and different symbols are carved into each of its sides.

Before you could have a chance to examine the symbols, The Dice gravitates violently off your hand and into the pedestal.

"Whoa!"

It spins rapidly and then stops.

With caution, you sneak toward the pedestal... one of the symbols is glowing a brilliant blue.

You lean for a closer look, it depicts a broken crown with three points, surrounded by flashing sparks.

Ding!

The middle panel suddenly renders in a view of a blue/green planet for a few seconds and then switches to a young man sleeping in a comfy ufo-themed bed, he seems to be having some kind of dream.

|You are now the young man.|

Currently, You are having a dream.

A dream you had millions of times before, and always occurring ever since you were young. Flashes of images surge through your translucent mind, you can see...

--11 blurry figures facing off an enormous indescribable monster--

--A large humanoid being holding the universe in the palm of its hand--

--Three pairs of eyes. One pair has star-like pupils and stares to the left. One pair has many other eyes within its pupil and stares to the right. One last pair of eyes has swords for pupils stares directly at you--

--A image of an entity in a suit, wearing a topha-

?? "Wait, what the fuck!"

You shouted within your subconscious.

The entity turns around, tips his hat, and snaps its fingers.

You wake up.

Your body is in a cold sweat, shocked by what you dreamt.

?? "That last image has never moved before."

You muttered. Lifting yourself out of bed, you then quickly scramble toward your drawing board.

Here lie all the theories you conducted up over the years... arranged in a disorganized mess.

You suddenly turn toward the mirror beside the board... yep that is you.

It was 18 years ago that you were given life in Kyushu on the fourth of March and it was 18 years ago that you were given a name, "Kanji Kimura".

Currently, you are still here, living with your mom in a peaceful suburban home. In fact, you have never left your home town ever.

You are about 6.5 feet in height and have a fairly fit body. You have sharp messy blue hair and black eyes. You are mostly serious and cautious around other people but are more casual toward friends, family, and acquaintances.

You always wear a grey lab coat, a white t-shirt with an atomic symbol design, and normal murky brown pants.

Fashion isn't your strong suit.

You look back to the scattered papers on the board and rearrange them properly.

In summary, you concluded so far that...

The first image may represent the many theories you created and the giant figure is a metaphor for the meaning of the images.

The second image is simply god him or herself watching over the universe.

The third image is indescribable, you for some reason can't get a grasp of its meaning.

Lastly, You believe the final image that suddenly moved today means something big is happening.

You ~sigh~

Kanji "As if."

You thought as you realize that nothing of importance will ever happen, nor will you ever get the true meaning of these images in your lifetime.

Your attention turns toward the tv in front of your bed.

Kanji "Fuck."

You forgot to turn it off last night.

Kanji "This can't be good."

The TV News broadcasts, show a reporter rambling on about an astonishing scientific invention, "The Teleporter". There are also interviews with angry transport company owners complaining about their sales dropping to zero after the invention got mass-produced.

That's right. You are the creator of said invention.

You are gifted with an abnormal amount of intellect and semi-photographic memory from birth. You graduated from high school at the age of six and you currently have a perfect understanding of Chemistry, all branches of Physics, Robotics, Engineering, Coding, Nanotechnology, and anything to do with energy.

A little on how the teleporter works. It is based on Einstein's rule of general relativity.

You concluded that objects from different points with similar locational properties in space-time can have their distance be temporarily cut using a sufficient amount of energy and project said energy in a certain way, causing one object to move to the other's position. You called it "The Theory of Space Distortion".

You make your way to the other side of your room. A large machine is covered here.

Over the years, you have made insane breakthroughs in coding and nanotechnology, giving birth to this creation.

You unsheathe the thin cloth, revealing your greatest and most catastrophic invention, It is an Atom Fabricator. This machine uses Nano-bots to deconstruct, reconstruct or change an atom's structure. Basically, This allows you to make anything out of nothing.

You get chills just thinking about the outcome to the world's economy and conflicts that would ensue if this were to ever be revealed to the public. So you ultimately destroyed it and its blueprint, knowing the risks outweighed the benefits.

You cover it back up and look at the ceiling. Something's there.

It is one of the highly advanced invisible auto-turrets that you implemented. It can detect and shoot hostiles around the house and emit a transmissive code that prevents spyware from working.

You recall times, those transport company owners actually hired assassins to kill you, so creating these was a sane decision.

As for the transmissive code, it is mostly for the Japanese government just in case. Even though, you are confident that they won't even try to spy on you, especially after helping them with that Event.

You return to your bed, resting your head against your pillow.

You have everything, recognition from the people, immense knowledge, power, and a copious amount of wealth.

However, as you stare at the blank and empty ceiling, you see a reflection of your current self.

You feel trapped... no... empty.

Everyone at one point in their lives has some kind of anomalous crisis in which they try to achieve something to make themselves feel complete or refilled.

Currently, you too fell into this but it is more tragic. You tried lots of things for said fulfillment, but alas nothing worked and you have failed.

You reach out and glance at your hand.

"What do I want?"

With all the wealth and knowledge you have, you feel like these are being given, not earned. Deep down even though you're a man of science, your desires seek the impossibility.

You grab a fantasy adventure manga laying next to you. You feel envious that you can't get such an exciting life where your achievements are earned not given, a life where the knowledge of science is only a short-sighted solution. The thrill of adventure, the heartwarming feeling of companionship, and the euphoric state of completing a journey. The "Teleporter" was your testament in trying to enter such a world.

You stare back to the blank ceiling and envision the vastness of space knowing that maybe...just maybe there might be something out there for you.

Your thoughts wander toward the idea of ending this once and for all.

Ding.

Your head turns to the desk on the left side of your bed. You look at your computer monitor, a program window pops up.

Kanji "Who am I kidding..."

You let out a small chuckle and take a seat in front of the desk.

The program is called "True Friends" and was created by you and your "Soul Mate". It is a personal chatting program for only you and your ten life-long friends to have fun and talk with each other. There are of course a couple of rules for the said program:

-You can't reveal your face yet until everyone decides to meet up one day, but you can reveal your voice and tell features about your appearance.

-Showing your real name is optional.

-You can't make any romantic relationship on the program. It's a chatting media, not a dating one.

Your friends know you by the name "Kanji" for a long time, but they don't know your last name. Plainly because you want them to like you for who you are, not for your reputation.

The sad thing about the rules is that you're quite a hypocrite because you broke the last rule. Your soul mate is a girl you met on an online MMO game eight years ago and you both fell madly in love with each other at your voice call. Transitioning from best friends to lovers within several months and have always got each other's back despite being polar opposites.

You both created a separate secret channel in the program, where only the two of you can talk and re-enact lots of romantic scenarios from pop culture to the point of it being too grotesque. You both unanimously agree to take a break from each other.

All of this is one of your reason for living.

?? "Ummm..mm..m. Hi! "

A strange and cheery voice appeared out of nowhere.

Kanji "What the fuck!?"

You jump out of bed and look around. However, there are no signs of movement.

?? "Don't Panic! I'm a friend."

Ka: "Yeah, right!" "If some fluctuating and mysterious voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the comfort of your private bedroom, you would be sane enough to be cautious as well."

?? "Okay, let us calm down. Please give me a chance to explain myself. Please."

You relax and with anticipation give the mysterious voice a chance to speak.

?? "To be short. My name is Anata Zenith, I'm an alien rebel from planet 12,000 lig... I mean 12,004 light-years from Earth and I seek your help."

Kanji "My name is Kanji Kimura and I'm not sure you are an alien."

You cross your arms, suspicious of this so-call "alien".

Kanji "I'm gonna keep proof."

Anata "Well. Have you ever seen or heard of any telepathy-based technology on your lushes green planet?"

Kanji "No, but how do you know Engli-

Anata "Our species have been watching yours for many years now and have been learning your language and culture"

You are shocked but intrigued by what you heard.

Kanji "Ok, I will believe you for now, but tell me more about your goal."

Anata "The rebels' goal is to defeat an Evil Empress who is abusing her power on our planet. For it to succeed, I stole a relic that chooses 12 people on a random planet and gives them unimaginable powers."

Kanji "Let me guess, Earth is chosen and I'm one of 12 people."

Anata "Correcto! And perhaps all of your friends are the others!"

You shake internally with excitement and drop all your skepticism.

This is the life you always wanted, now you are willing to take any chances. Your curiosity grows even more.

Kanji "I will help you but under one condition."

Anata "What is it?"

Kanji "I want to learn more of the world outside my own. What do you look like? What your society is like? Are there other aliens?-

Anata "Ok! Jeez! I'll just give you information throughout your journey. Maybe like one question per day or something. Just please keep it to a minimum. Seriously though, you might get injured or even killed accepting this request. It doesn't seem like a smart decision to blindly accept my request, especially for someone as knowledgeable as you are."

Kanji "Listen. If someone were to come up to you one day and they say they'll give you superpowers and offer you to go on an epic space adventure with them, you would probably say yes. Only boring individuals would decline an invitation of this caliber."

Anata "I..I...I don't what to say, but I'm so glad you'll be willing to help us!"

Kanji "Don't forget about the condition."

Anata "Right. Right. Then let's start activating your powers!"

Anata presses in the relic.

Kanji "Wait...What is the process-"

You levitate off the ground and a wave of power pulses through your body.

Kanji "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!!!!"

Your...RIGHT ARM.....falls off.

Kanji "WHAT THE HELL!?"

|First Person Narrative denied|

Anata cringes and grows worried with guilt.

Anata "Oops. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that every time a wielder's power gets activated, one of their body parts... Ummm...disappears."

Kanji's pain quickly subsides and he falls to the floor.

Kanji "Wow! I feel lighter now! As if I have been stripped from the clutches of something."

Anata "That must be just the rejuvenation perk of being an aspect wielder, meaning you can't age further than 21 years old and you are forever healthy! Plus, you don't need to eat or drink."

He looks at his arm. It is now composed of glowing blue energy.

Kanji "Ok! This is awesome!"

Anata "I know! Buuuut, I would recommend hiding it."

Kanji "Why?"

Anata "The Empress has eyes everywhere."

Kanji understood what Anata was implying and drags out a box from underneath his bed. He pulls out a retractable carbon steel mechanical arm, places it on his right shoulder, and activates it. It expands and envelopes his new arm.

Anata "You look like a cosplayer lmao."

Anata giggles, while staring at his appearance.

Kanji "Haha. Very funny! Is there anything else I need?"

Anata "Maybe a weapon like a gun or maybe something old fashion like a swor..."

Anata pauses and sees Kanji searching through the box once more. This time, He pulls out a long silver metallic chain.

Kanji "This is a tungsten-infused silver chain and coated with adaptive shock-absorbing nanomachines, perfect for conducting energy, utility, and is quite durable."

Then a thought enters his mind.

Kanji "Wait. What kind of power is this anyway?"

He stares at his right arm.

Anata "You are now the |z| Aspect of Energy |z|"

Kanji "So, how does this work?"

Anata "As an aspect wielder, your skills are relative to your imagination, your understanding of your aspect, and how many anomaly crystals you have to break. You can only conjure up one skill per day."

Kanji "So you're saying I can create any skills relating to ANY form of energy like thermal, radiant, chemical, nuclear, electrical, motion, sound, elastic, gravitational, and dark energy."

Anata "No, sadly. You have a great understanding of each energy, but your skills are heavily restricted to the number of anomaly crystals. There are four in total for each type of aspect and they are on the 4 total planets in the universe that host intelligent life. These planets are Earth, Wal'tera, Granolith Prime, and my planet, "Caverrin"."

Kanji "Damn."

Kanji sits on his bed disappointed. He then asks

Kanji "So, Can you summarize what I'm currently capable of?"

Anata "Right now, I believe you only have access to electrical and thermal energy. Using all of your strength, you can probably destroy an entire village."

"However, If you destroy one crystal, you would gain elastic and sound energy. Your limit will increase to several villages."

"Destroy a second crystal and you'll gain access to radiant and motion energy. Your limit expands to an entire continent."

"Destroy a third and you'll get chemical and nuclear energy. Your limit would be an entire planet."

"Destroy the final and you'll get the remainder and the capability of being able to destroy an entire galaxy using all your strength."

Kanji "Holy, shit! That is beyond what I expected! Wait, let me experiment with something."

Kanji stares at his chain and imagines the concept of "Infusion." His chain quickly lights up with electricity and heat.

Kanji quickly imagines the concept of "Absorption" and it retreats into his arm.

Kanji now knows

|1. Energy infusion and absorption|

Anata "Congratulations! Wow, that somehow counted as one skill. However, I digress as there is a greater problem at hand. It is whether your friends will be joining us on this quest."

Kanji "True. But one step at a time, I must tell them that I'm coming to pick them up."

Kanji goes toward his desk and starts typing on his keyboard. He then looks at his monitor with a smile:

___________________________________________________________

....

: Yo! bro dude bro! Dogs are better than cats (Pepelaugh)

: Are we seriously gonna agree with this clown who uses Twitchnet emotes. Cats are better btw.

: Honestly, this argument isn't edgy enough for me so count me out.

: @EdgyDarkLordGod, Agree We should talk about awesome stuff like cosmic horror...No....Cosmic Horror dog/cat creatures!

: I love both ❤

: Truth to be told, People only like cats most likely due to "Toxoplasma gondii", a type of parasite that lives in cats. So, TEAM DOG for me.

:@AnthropologicPurple, Not true! People even like cats through the internet despite never coming in contact with them, just like me. ☹

: @BookWorms1990 (Kappa)

:)>: Team dog for me cause I have a dog and he is currently wearing a cute little top hat.

: @Elegant Fairy>:) Awwww!!

: Just got back from a meeting. What did I miss?

: @TuxedoSavari Dog vs Cat, you know the usual. I think we should just think of positive things instead of making arguments. 🙂

: Everyone I have an announcement! Today is the day! I coming to pick you guys up one by one.

: Holy Shit! No Way! (Pogchamp)

: Finally getting to meet ya huh boss.

: Omg! ❤❤❤

: This is wonderful, guess I'll wait for your arrival.

: Now this is My Edge 😎

: For fuck sake. Finally!

:)>: Nice, I'll prepare everyone some scrumptious meals!

: Awesome! Can't wait to exchange stories with everyone in person.

: Cool! Guess I'll rearrange my schedule then.

: Cool!!!!

___________________________________________________________

With that, Kanji is ready to leave. He will now ask a few questions that have been bugging his mind.

Kanji "Hey. Why am I chosen as the |z| Aspect of Energy |z| specifically?"

Anata "People who are chosen by this aspect tend to be the one which gathers and connects the friendship within his/her friend group, just like how energy binds everything in the universe together."

Kanji "You said 12 people have to be chosen. Counting me and my friends, it only adds up to 11."

Anata "The last person will mostly like be the *Aspect of Fate*. Someone who isn't in the friend group, but you will meet along your journey."

Anata then adds on.

"...Extra fact is that the leader of the 12 wielders tends to be the one possessing the most active aspect "Energy" or the one possessing the most passive aspect "Fate". Active meaning the one that can cause the most physical effect and Passive means the least physical effect."

Kanji "Ah, I see. That's cleared up a few holes but left new ones. But I won't pester you about that now. Here is my next question, what is the name of your species?"

Anata "We are called Castastrians."

Kanji "Ok, This may be awkward.... but what is your sex?"

Anata blushes up like a tomato, but answers anyway,

Anata "I'm a-a-a Tripalian."

Kanji "A What?!"

Anata "It's....It's the third and rarest sex of my species. The first two are male and female which for some reason is a universal constant."

Kanji "Tell me more about your appearance, I just want to know for science."

Anata "Ok. Males and females of my species look like humanoid ants with plum-colored carapaces covering every part of our body except our hands, feet, and face which instead have reddish skin. Our fingers and toes are constructed of sharp talon-like claws which we can control freely. Our faces are just like humans, but we have sharp keratin-based teeth and two antennas on our heads that act as ears and a form of communication. Also, some of us have large mandibles sticking out our mouths."

Kanji "Do you have hair?"

Anata "We have something called, "Scalp formations", which consist of spiky shell-protrusions or hair-like materials called "kerahairs". You can see or call them as hair as you like, but unlike human hair, they are fixed in place. My scalp formation consists of two long straight frontal horns and short kerahair around the horn..."

Anata nervously adds

"... Males and Females have the same differences as humans, but their genitals are slightly different. I WILL NOT GET INTO THAT!"

Kanji "Ok, That's fair. But what about you?"

Anata "Oh, I'm a bit different. You may assume me to be male at a distance, but you tend to notice some feminine features close up. My voice fluctuates between male and female with every word. Overall, I'm neither and the way I reproduce is different as well, I can breed with anything."

Kanji "I was about to ask about the voice thing next. But excuse me, WHAT?!"

Calmly, Anata explains.

Anata "When it is time to breed, I will unveil three tentacles from my back. The middle large tentacle creates a massive floating bubble with an embryo inside. The other two tentacles have suckers that can grab any object and put it into the bubble, thus fusing it with the embryo. The Empire has long been seeking someone like me to obtain total universal conquest. In ancient times, it is foretold that with enough things fused with the embryo, You can create a monster that can devour the Universe itself."

Kanji "Then, why didn't you rebels use this to your advantage?"

Anata "It is too risky for the rebellion, as the creature would be aggressive towards everything and you can't command it even if you're its parent. However, It will do anything to protect its parent, even trapping them for all of eternity to keep them safe. The Empire can take control by simply taking me hostage before it is even born."

Kanji "Don't worry!"

He raises his right arm.

Kanji "I'll make sure that won't happen!"

This made Anata smile with relief and comfort like hearing the words of a comrade back when they were all happy which Anata haven't felt for quite a while.

AN "You can call me AN for short."

Kanji "Sure AN, Let us go!"

AN "Ok!"

Kanji grabs his backpack and puts in a couple of devices and heads downstair.

The smell of freshly cooked ramen fills his nostrils. There in the kitchen, he sees his mother smile at him.

"Good morning Sweetie!"

Kanji "Good morning, Mom!"

She turns back and continues cleaning the dishes. Kanji can't help but feel guilty.

Underneath her wholesome expression, he knows the bitter truth that she is unhappy and her smile was just an act. His mother has always been sad ever since Kanji was known to the world as a genius. She never had the chance or time to fulfill her passion as a mother, it hurts her to no end not being able to see him have a normal childhood.

Kanji knows this, that is why he had never moved out and stays here spending time with his mother. The first 6 years of his life are very precious memories to him. She is another reason to continue living.

He then sadly tells his mother.

Kanji "Mom, I'm going to go meet all my friends. I might be gone for a long time."

She is shocked, then she begins to smile and cry. Her smile is the most genuine one he has ever seen. To Kanji this is a surprising outcome, It is almost like she is saying:

"My son is normal. My son is normal!"

Kanji and his mom hug it out, he eats his ramen, wears a pair of sandals, and heads out the front door.

Kanji stares back toward his mother who is still going at it in the kitchen.

Kanji "Goodbye... Mom."

He feels like it is going to be a very very long day.