Just a random Chapter of the Voyager...but don't get your hopes up!

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Previously, before she became a Reapress, Jean would use simulations from her Purifier data net to estimate her CAS value. That became a lot more difficult after she mastered the Power of Death. For now, Jean didn't know what exactly her CAS was, but she looked forward to finding out after she returned to Engulfer’s Bay, the City of the Voyagers, or any other base of operation. 

Whatever the statistics were, power was power, and every strand of power gained made Jean a little more...impressed.

Of course, Jean wasn’t satisfied. No...Jean would never be satisfied, not when she became powerful enough to destroy the World of Starcraft in one strike, not when she became a Reapress, and not when she killed the Octopus. Perhaps when she was standing at the top of the food chain in the Infinite Realms, she would finally find a moment of rest. 

Perhaps…

More and more of the Chaos Domain fell to the Protectors. As numberless beings died with every passing second, Jean’s power jumped. As a matter of fact, Jean would’ve loved to stay in the Chaos Domain forever. The environment here was practically built for someone like her. Unfortunately, the will of the Protector Corps wouldn’t shift at her demand, and Jean knew that, soon, the Protectors forces would pull out of the Chaos Domain, with the entire Domain destroyed right after. 

Jean lusted for power, but despite being a Reapress and being able to gain strength from almost all kinds of death, the one type of demise she couldn’t use was her own. 

The Chaos Domain was Jean’s 5th mission. After she was done here, she would be of quite the seniority even in the Voyager Corps. 

It was hard to believe a few months ago, she just finished her recruit mission at the World of Starcraft and arrived at the City of the Voyagers. Now, her Wardens and Purifiers were turned into constructs ten times the prowess, and individually, she could kill Amon with a single move. 

In fact, even the octopus she killed could’ve killed Amon in a single strike. Well, maybe not one strike given Amon’s nature as a Xel’naga, but Amon would definitely have lost in the end.

This was the sixth day since the march into the Chaos Domain. This time tomorrow, Jean knew she would be gone from this realm and sent into another world on another mission. 

In other words, she needed to get as much done today as possible. 

The bodies kept on piling up, but most of them were just ordinary kills. That was when Jean ran into something interesting. 

Rather, someone else ran into something interesting, and that someone else was… 

“This is Voyager Blaire of the 301st Voyager Legion to all Protector-aligned units in proximity! I require aid at once!” 

The emergency message reached Jean Turner through her Voyager Watch. Along with the message was the coordinates of where the Voyager that sent this message was. Jean could tell it wasn’t exactly right next to her, but it shouldn’t be anywhere an F-1 Warden Starfighter couldn’t bring her to. 

The question was, should she go? Of course, but whether she would actually try to help was another matter.

As Jean made her way toward the set of coordinates, she quickly realized she wasn’t the only one with doubts, and rightfully so. Voyagers weren’t philanthropists, nor were they heroes who would dive into danger head-on just to help a fellow comrade. Already, questions were arriving. 

“Voyager Blaire, what is the situation there?”

Another Voyager demanded. If there was a Tier 5 Entity on the other end of the communications that the Protectors somehow missed, he would be an idiot to go there. 

Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case. 

“I am in gridlock against a Tier 3 Chaos Descendant! I can hold out for a while, but I still need help! I am willing to split the gains with anyone that offers me assistance!”

“Affirmative. Voyager Terror of the 101st Voyager Legion, approaching.” 

“Voyager Leopard of the 101st Voyager Legion, en route. You better not be lying, Blaire, or we will gladly leave you to die! And even if you live, I’ll kill you myself!” 

A few other Voyagers called out. Jean thought about it briefly before adding to the replies.

“This is Voyager Jean Turner of the 43rd Voyager Legion. I am closing in on your location. ETA 2 minutes.”

---

The F-1 carried Jean as fast as structurally possible. Finally, when Jean arrived at the coordinates, she was joined by five other Voyagers across multiple different Voyager Legions.

Voyager Terror stood over two meters tall. His entire body was hidden behind a set of prestigious silver armor different from the standard Voyager armor. He carried a giant blade that, even as it was held in his hand, reeked of danger. It was a weapon that had feasted on the blood of gods. 

Voyager Leopard was the typical Voyager, clad in black Voyager armor. What made him stand out? Maybe the giant battlefleet in the air. He was a summoner, similar to Jean before she became a Reapress. On first glance, the fleet he commanded looked even larger than Katie's Purifier fleet.

Voyager Sara was the only member of the 43rd Voyager Legion aside from Jean. A short woman with short blonde hair, Sara appeared innocent and harmless, but if anything, it only made the others more cautious around her.

Voyager Derek and Voyager Brandon didn't quite have any distinguishing features. The one thing for sure was that they were definitely not pushovers. 

As of now, Voyager Terror seemed to be the strongest on the surface, so he took over the temporary command of this make-shift squad of Voyagers. Of course, being a squad leader might be one of the most dangerous positions a Voyager could be in. Most people, like Jean, preferred to stay in the shadows, pretend to be nice and innocent, and then suddenly reveal themselves and backstab others.

“Where is Voyager Blaire?” Terror looked around, not seeing the very Voyager who called in for help in the first place. “There doesn’t seem to be any marks of combat around here.”

“You think he lied? Maybe it’s a trap?” Brandon looked around in alertness, a flicker of light in his eyes as he saw through everything in the proximity. No luck. “Everything seems clear.” 

“I can commence an orbital bombardment of everything around here. Wipe the floor and expose whatever trap that may be out there.” Leopard offered. 

Jean looked around the plain as well. Nothing was special. Well, at least not special for the Chaos Domain. Aside from the volatile energy and the countless pieces of fragmented souls, everything was nice and cherry. 

Suddenly, all six Voyagers heard a voice calling out from just behind them. Startled, they snapped around, and immediately, all of their eyes widened. 

“Aunts and uncles...will you come to play with us?”

In front of the Voyagers, stood a dozen or so boys and girls. They were young, no more than 10 years old of age, or so they seemed. But none of the Voyagers let their guards down. First, this was the Chaos Domain. Second, they were Voyagers! Each of them has survived countless assassinations and ambushes! No ordinary child could sneak up on them like this! 

What they didn't realize was that as soon as they turned around, space itself transformed around them, and the next second, the Voyagers were in a whole different dimension. 

Well, technically, they were still in the Chaos Domain. They were simply in a pocket dimension. And a damn weird one. 

“What in the bloody hell…” Terror looked around. His eyes quickly deviated from the children to the realm around him, and for once, there was utter horror in his eyes. The same thing was happening across the rest of the Voyagers. The only one who could remain calm was Jean. 

The battle-hardened, brutal killers were terrified, and for the right reason. 

The sky was literally a picture. Yes. On a piece of paper. With crayons. By artists that felt like children. In fact, even as the Voyagers looked around, they realized the sky was hardly special around here. The sky was filled with stars, except those stars were literally five-pointed stars that looked like cheap stickers. And the trees and rockets and grass fields all around them...they looked no different than cheap cartoon figures! 

What world were they in? What was going on? 

Many of the Voyagers have seen special worlds, but never have they ever seen something like this! Were they in some sort of painting? But…

Jean was the first to recover. As she turned back to the children, her eyes suddenly landed on the hands of one of the boys, and as soon as she saw what he was holding, she took a step back and summoned every single drop of Power of Death in her body and readied for war. 

As the other Voyagers turned back and saw the same thing, Jean could sense them taking steps back in fear. 

In the boy’s hand...was a puppet, except that puppet was a black armored Voyager. Somehow, he was turned into a tiny figure barely larger than the palm of a child. The boy’s hand reached into his body from a giant tear at his bottoms, and even now, there were blood and pieces of flesh and guts pouring out of the opening. The Voyager’s helmet was off, revealing a face twisted in excruciating pain. 

“Will you come to play with us?” The boy repeated. “Like this uncle here?” 

He moved his hand, and the puppet said something. 

“Welcome, brothers and sisters...welcome to the playground!”

“Fuck!” The Voyagers immediately realized this Voyager was the same one who called for their aid in the first place. The one by the name of Blaire. They didn't know if his cry for help itself was a trap, nor did they care. The terrifying fate of a comrade was irrelevant as long as that same fate wouldn’t befall all of them. 

“We need to get out of here!” Terror, as the leader, practically screamed as the children started approaching. “Who’s got a lead?”

“I am a Phase Smith!” Brandon was the first to speak up, his eyes glaring once again. “Cover me! Buy me some time!” 

“Affirmative!” Terror turned to the others. “Hold your ground! We’re all in this together! We live together or we die together!”

The other Voyagers nodded and turned their attention to the encroaching kids. In this foreign, twisted world, they had no choice but to put aside their personal intentions and trust their lives to each other. 

Terror laid the charge, raising his sword high above his head. When it came down, everything in its path would perish. A warcry left his mouth as he tossed all his fear and dread aside and focused all his might in that single charge. Even gods couldn't survive a single strike from the beast that was Terror.  

It appeared like he was unstoppable. That was what prompted the rest of the Voyagers to follow him tightly. 

And then, he was stopped. The unstoppable Voyager was stopped right in his tracks. 

One of the boys, seeing Terror approaching, opened his arms as if ready for a hug. Terror didn't flinch as he brought the blade down with the intention of slicing the boy to half diagonally, except that never happened. His legendary sword literally hit the boy’s arm and broke into a million different pieces with contact. 

Before Terror could stop himself, he ran right into the boy’s arms. 

“Uncle...you want a hug?” The boy smiled innocently. “I love hugs!”

And then, he wrapped his arms around Terror and started squeezing him. A crunching sound filled the field as the Voyager’s Voyager Armor gave away. The Yellow Crystal serving as the power source flickered only briefly before collapsing, followed by the Armor itself. With the layer of protection gone, Terror found himself facing the brunt of the boy’s strength, and he didn't last very long…

He resisted as much as he could, but whatever attacks or spells he unleashed at the boy, they all faded into nothing. 

“Help…” With the last of his strength, Terror turned to the rest of the Voyager’s hoping for some aid from them. When he saw them fleeing in the opposite direction at full speed,  he couldn’t say he was too surprised or disappointed.

Finally, when the boy let go, the Tier 3 Voyager was no more than a twisted sack of meat and bone. 

“Hmmm…” One of the girls looked at the five fleeing Voyagers who, upon seeing Terror’s fate, didn't even try to stand and fight. “why are they running from us?”

“Maybe they want to play tag?” Another boy shrugged. 

“I love tag!” 

“Tag? How do you know it’s not hide and seek?” Another girl challenged. “I like hide and seek a lot more!” 

“Hide and seek is stupid!”

“You’re stupid!”

“Ok, ok.” Finally, the first boy cut in. He was the one with the puppet of Voyager Blaire on his hand. Even as he spoke, he moved his fingers inside Blaire’s body, an innocent move that led to more and more of his insides falling out. “How about this? We let them run for sixty seconds, and once the time’s up, we go find them and chase them down.”

“And when we catch them…” The boy suddenly smiled warmly. “we can play with them however we want!”

“Yay!”

The children all cheered. Next to them lay the battered body of Voyager Terror, a veteran Voyager who has passed five missions, personally destroyed three planets, and slew billions of innocent. 

A fitting fate indeed.