Shifting into the hallway, Atom took in the smell of freshly waxed wood and a subtle hint of lime in the air. The Masters quarters on campus was a stunning building pack full of decadence and artistry. Walls lined with flowing scrollwork wood.

Walls of flowing scrollwork wood and masterwork paintings lined the lavish hallway. Vestiges of whatever enlightenment the ascendant artist had found during the paintings creation lingered in the air. Giving off a faint spiritual pressure from the pieces. Atom thought it a bit snobbish, but he couldn’t deny the beauty that could be found in the works.

 Confirming that he was alone, he thumbed his nose before straightening his master's robes.

Snorting, he said, “Cheeky shit, she best be thankful I like her.”

He wasn’t expecting to have to part with some of his slush money. As much as Tess claimed to ‘blow credits’ when she was mad at him, it was far from the truth. She could shame good ol’ Ebenezer at times.

They didn’t exactly need credits, but his station required him to play by the rules. He couldn’t go around thieving or magicking up credits from thin air. He’d set up his Ponzi scheme of religion to generate him credits for that very reason. Yet every one of his stinking holders eventually got pissed off at him for ignoring them and decided to go looking for him. He cringed internally the last time they found him.

"Never again," he muttered. 

Regardless his slush fund was hard to keep hidden from Tess, and he loathed to give Layla any of it. He had to give the girl her due, though. She had played her hand well, but so had he. Gaining access to the twins had already been a priority for him. He owed Seth and Trisha that much.

He hadn’t known about their deaths until he reached Nexus, only to find the Aleph family gutted. Gritting his teeth, Atom cursed himself for not keeping up with the few friends he had. He’d spent too many years acting like a hermit. Isolated from people.

It was easy to do when you didn’t have to worry about growing old. The ticking clock of mortality put an urgency in life that just didn’t exist for him anymore. You start thinking in decades instead of days and centuries instead of years.

Atom’s forcefully imposed Mantle sort of threw him into an odd category. Mantles were typically tied to a singular plane. They were a foundational pillar that a plane's reality revolved around. While not all of the Mantles were strictly guardians, they usually served a function. The Mantle of Inspiration, War, and even Magic were some of the most common ones. Not every plane ascended the same way. But as far as he been able to figure out, his Mantle wasn’t tied to anything. It just was.

Since Atom had ascended with a Mantle, there had been no Arbitrators collect him. Which was typical for non-magical planes when they took the final step into Unity. Nope, Atom had just woken up on an ascendant planet and treated the whole ordeal like an adventure.

He’d figured he’d been transmigrated or some such nonsense and rolled with it. The system had been there, and he’d binged enough GameLit to realize that he was either dead or hit the neckbeard lottery.

 Had the feather-brained Angelic’s picked him up like they usually did, he probably wouldn’t have ever gotten on the Council's radar and eventually been forcefully recruited. He sighed as his thoughts drifted to that fiasco but figured it was for the better. The planes were dangerous. Much more than he ever could have imagined.

Giving the thoughts no more time. He quickly strode towards his door. The plushness of the red and gold accented carpet made his footsteps silent. Atom hoped to avoid interacting with his colleagues, so he moved swiftly, but Master Brent crushed those hopes as he exited his own quarters down the hall. Giving the man a nod, he reached for his doorknob.

“Master Neutron, could I have a moment of your time?” Brent inquired. His deep voice open and is inviting as always.

Atom sighed again internally but realized he actually did need to speak to the man.

Putting on a friendly face, he replied, “Of course. What can I help you with?”

Brent made his way over, and they clasped wrists. “I was wondering if you could take physical conditioning in the morning. One of the Masters overseeing our AAC tournament team was called away for some reason and I’m on duty for back up. So I can’t make it.”

Drill sergeant huh, Atom smiled, “Of course. You don’t mind if I uh, deviate a little from the script do you?”

Brent gave Atom a knowing grin, “I’ve seen your results. That disciple of yours has me fired up. I can’t wait to get a weapon in her hands and see if I can’t squeeze some respect out of her.”

If the potentials could have seen the Masters discussing the subject, they would have been sweating bullets and questioning what higher power hated them so much.

Atom couldn’t help but laugh. The man had an infectious air about him. Brent was the type of guy that made you want to believe. It didn’t matter what it was or what subject he was talking about. If you spent more than five minutes with the man, then you’d be ripping and roaring and ready to jump into a hell dimension. Armed with broomsticks and only wearing your boxers. Confident you were about to lay waste to anything and everything that stood before you.

“She has plenty of fire to go around. I promise you that. Oh, by the way. I picked up the Aleph twins and the Quillian girl as disciples.”

Brent frowned, “Dammit Neutron, you can’t be stealing all the talent.”

Atom waved his hand in protest, “I’m not. I swear but Layla asked me to intercede on the Quillian girls behalf. What was I supposed to do. I decided to pick them all up since they bonded. I’ll pawn them off on you anytime you like though.”

Brent's eyebrows relaxed, and he nodded in appreciation, “Fine. Good. I may take you up on that. What is the deal with the committee letting that girl in anyway? Smells like politics.” His face scrunching up in disgust.

Atom was wondering the same thing. He speculated about the same and assumed it had something to do with the Council's resident spider spinning her web.

“Who knows these things.” Atom said, shrugging, “I’m going to go try and negotiate with them before they decide to start a multi-planar war or something.”

Brent perked up at the sound of war, “You don’t think that they would go that far do you?” A fire started to burn in the man's eyes as he scratched his chin, “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to stretch my legs. Do you think they will mobilize the Alumni?”

The excitement on Brent's face had Atom concerned. He certainly didn’t want to be involved in a war. This was twice now in a matter of a few weeks that a war might happen. Why did wars all of a sudden want to keep breaking out around him? This was why he stayed in his house. You couldn't start a war if you just stayed home and didn’t speak to anyone. He might need to prioritize going to visit the Quillian Empire.

“Surely that’s over kill don’t you think?” Atom exclaimed.

Brent shrugged as if it didn’t really matter to him, “It hasn’t happened in a while but important kids run away all the time with dreams of power. Still a show of force is sometime the best answer for these situations. We don’t just let anyone in and we aren’t going to let someone come steal a student either. People seem to forget pretty quickly why Arcodawn has persisted for so long. It’s good to give them a reminder every now and then.”

He wasn’t wrong. The sheer number of Ascendants that owed their ascension to Nexus was frightening, to say the least. Dory and the General were both Alumni of NAA. Not to mention the person who created the Ways and the other Wonders credited to the Companions. If even a tenth of the stories about the Companions were true, then calling them gods was not far from off.

Atom didn’t truly consider himself a deity, although that hadn’t always been the case. He’d thought himself a godling for the first few hundred years. That all changed when they decided to step outside the firmament of reality. The spaces in-between the planes for which the Ways traveled. What he’d learned and faced in the Void had shown him just how far he was on the totem pole. He shuddered at the experience. Had his Mantle not decided to awaken out there, he doubted that he would have survived.

Brent gave Atom a pat on the shoulder as he passed by, “I’m off Neutron. Give the kids hell tomorrow.”

The two chuckled before Brent shifted. Atom flexed his Will, and the artfully crafted door to his quarters opened and closed behind him as he stepped through. Mentally pushing out his presence, he scanned the room. The Will and Presence were the more useful abilities you gained once you reached full Ascendant status or the Unity rank.

The Will was a person's physical authority over the surroundings. A person's presence is the ability to sense their surroundings and interact with the ambient anima. Together these two made up an Ascendents domain.

Atom felt through his presence that nothing was amiss in his quarters. His bond with Tess let him know that she was off this plane at the moment.

 He looked at his headset and controller. The pull to just relax and enjoy a pizza while picking up a few matches was strong. The responsibility of all the current projects already weighed on him. Atom didn’t enjoy having this type of responsibility, but he knew that this was a long-term project that would pay dividends if he just stuck to it.

 Looking at his wrist unit, he thought he might have enough time to get in a quick match of Battle Royale. He hadn’t snuffed out any noobs in a few days. That felt wrong to him somehow. What if they forgot they were trash. He had a moral duty to make sure they remembered their place.

He hesitated, “Should I get into a match right now? It would be wrong, right? Like, Tia’s parents could show up guns blazing any moment.”

Staring longingly at the console that any true gamer would slap their beloved grandmother for, he sighed. He had to get his priorities straight. There was no actual decision here.

This is why twenty minutes later, Tess found Atom in his quarters talking smack to a thirteen-year-old girl.

“What are you doing? You freaking re re? Do you even know how to play this game.” Said a high pitch teenage squeal in Atom's headset.

“Best check yourself chunni_rainbow_fairy. I’m not above TK’ing you.”

“Why are you not with us! This is a team match you random. You just got us killed dumpster fart!”

Getting annoyed by the mouthy girl, Atom aimed in on a rainbow-haired digital avatar’s head as it floated down from respawn and pulled the trigger.

“You did not just OMFG UGHHH!!!” She screamed.

“That will teach you to mouth off,” Atom chuckled.

“Moooooom! This creepy old man is asking me where I live and if he can touch me!”

“WHA! Why you little—,”

Atom cut off his statement, and he froze as ominous feelings flooded through his bond. A bond that was way too close. Turning his head towards the kitchen, he found his better half giving him a look that promised death. He should have known she was about to pop in when he felt someone probing his domain a few moments ago.

Misunderstanding Tess’s anger, he blurted, “She’s lying babe. I would never do or say something like that…," he trailed of with an awkward pressured laugh.

The tension of the room increased to palpable levels as Tess raised an eyebrow. Her face on the surface did not reflect the murderous aura flowing through their bond. Had he done something wrong? Tess looked at the console and looked back at Atom.

“Oh…” he gulped. His gaming command center disappeared into his inventory.

He started talking really fast, “Babe I was just waiting on you to get back this isn’t what it looks like I wasn’t….” He trailed off as he could tell it wasn’t helping.

Tess’s face started to turn cold and distant, sparking him to try and speak again. Possibly defend himself from her wrath.

 “Babe. It was just to burn some time…” an imminent feeling of death spike through the bond.

“I’ll just shut up now.” Atom said meekly.

Tess nodded as though it was probably best that he be silent. Atom knew this was going to be another long sad sleep on the couch.

The silence stretched out uncomfortably, making Atom start to squirm under Tess’s heated gaze. She finally broke it, stating, “You were playing video games.”

Every word was followed by increasing jolts of violence conveyed through their bond. He had no idea how she could do that, but he had to admit it was effective.

Atom didn’t say anything. He was at least that intelligent.

“You were playing video games… while I was attempting to prevent a war.”

Atom shrugged before weakly saying, “It was only one match—,” There bond went frigid, and Atom corrected himself, “I-I’m Sorry.” Maybe he wasn't that intelligent. 

She took a deep breath, held it, and closed her eyes. The bond between them flitted through hundreds of emotions so fast that Atom was left in awe and confusion. Then, it calmed to a tranquil stillness that sent him into a panic. The stillness was not a good thing. It was always followed by violence. Tess blew out an exasperated breath before walking towards him.

Standing before Atom, she said, “Dory is waiting for you on the Prime moon in orbit around the Quillian imperial planet. They have already started to mobilize.”

And then she slapped him. Hard. His head jerked back like a first-round TKO. He found himself disoriented, followed by a feeling of falling.

Atom’s face greeted a foreign terrain with his mouth open. He took in more than a mouth full of soft dirt. Spluttering, he slowly picked himself up from the ground to find a purple-black barren lunar landscape before him. He obviously could have avoided landing on his face, but he realized that it was better to just let it happen a long time ago.

Tess’s improved mood through the bond gave him confirmation on that choice. She really enjoyed being violent at times. He found it disturbingly exciting. Atom was pretty sure he needed to talk to someone about the normality of that feeling.

 Looking up, a blue oceanic planet interspersed with little earthy brown landmasses loomed over him in the sky. A snort of concealed laughter came from his right. He wanted to ignore the woman but knew better. He turned to eye the spider suspiciously. Her eerie mismatched colored gaze was full of mirth.

“This is your fault you know.” Atom finally said, mouth still full of some type of foreign moon dirt. An acidic salty-sour taste mixed with burnt toast assaulted his taste buds.

Dory snorted derisively, “I keep telling you to keep her happy. Alas you persistently keep finding new ways to piss her off.”

She wasn’t wrong. Using his Will to remove the moon dirt from his mouth and clothing, he hrmfpt. 

“You knew I was playing a game and sent her to catch me in the act.”

Dory looked away in fo innocents then shamelessly denied it, “I did no such thing.”

“Lies,” Atom protested, “I felt you scan. You could have at least given me a warning.” The betrayal evident in his voice.

“I tried but I couldn’t get through your warding. It’s your own fault really.”

“Dory, have you ever heard of sending a message?” Atom sighed and accepted that every female in his life was out to get him.

He looked up at the planet again. Monstrous space crafts the size of small island countries back on earth started to lift off the planet's surface. The titanous space crafts were a clear sign of the Quillian Empire war machine spinning up for conflict.

“Isn’t this a little too, uhm, helicopter? I mean the girl is well into her age of majority? Princess or not this just seems like a little too much.” Atom commented as the two watched the Solar destroyers beginning to crest the atmosphere.

“Yes, I believe it is.” Dory concurred. “It’s also against the Accords.”

Atom perked up, “Oh really?”

Dory glanced at him with a playful grin, “A minor violation.” She looked back at the destroyers, “We would normally let it slide since this sort of thing is more posturing than anything else. But I’ve been monitoring the throne room and Tia’s father is set on showing his ass. He’s an idiot of course. Obviously Nexus would never allow such a thing to go unchallenged. To make matters worse the admissions committee is still in session until after the trial. So most of the Alumni would be available.”

Atom nodded in understanding and speculated, “They would see the show of force as a good way to cut loose and have a good time.”

“Exactly. We have been coped up with each other for the past few months. There haven’t been any major conflicts since before your time. I’m positive the Alumni would use this as the perfect opportunity to vent some frustrations. That would not be a positive thing in the current climate with the enemy.”

Dory looked at him, “Are you keeping the girl?”

Atom didn’t look at her as he watched the scene play out from the moon, but he eventually nodded, “Yes… unfortunately. My follower trick— convinced me to intercede on her behalf. She’s in the slice with the Aleph twins getting up to my standards.”

He turned to her with a hurt look on his face, “Why didn’t you tell me about Seth and Trisha.”

Dory winced and looked away from him, “I’m sorry Atom. I know you cared for them. I didn’t know until it was too late to do anything. When I started looking into it….” She trailed off.

He wanted to refute her statement, but he believed her. He was confident that his friends had probably been involved with his current task. There were too many strings leading back to Dory’s investigation. They were the type to get involved in things like that if they saw it. Atom would let it go for now. He would find his own answer there, and then he would deal with those involved, off the books, of course.

Setting aside his feeling on the matter, he watched the first spacecraft finally exit the atmosphere. “You coming with me? It would make things much easier.”

She hesitated as though she might say yes but eventually shook her head in the negative. “I think it’s better if you go down there yourself since you will be responsible for her.”

Cursing internally, he said, “Well how powerful are they? Tier 5 Lords or is it something ridiculous like Transcendants because if they are Tier anything Transcendants you might as well come with me. I’m not going to play nice and I’m not taking the blame.”

Dory hummed to herself for a moment in thought before she spoke, “No they aren’t that powerful else you would know about them. Emperor Roland has reached True Lord. He’s been hovering in the peak of Tier 1, the Terra rank. He’s been there for the last thousand or so years. Our predictive model doesn’t give him favorable odds of breaking through anytime soon. It’s common for those who choose the Lord path to bottle neck in this area without some fringe understanding of a Law.”

Atom gave a sound of agreement. Once a person achieved Unity, it was commonly thought to be the end. Little did they know that it was only the beginning. The mortal realm was best known as the foundation step.

Then there was the Mage realm. It was honestly the most exciting realm, at least his inner nerd thought so. Once you entered the Mage ranks, you could start using skills or spells. So in a sense, you were actually a Mage by Earth's standards. It was only a pseudo step, though. And the largest bottleneck area for those trying to Ascend. Then after that, you had Unity, the true first Ascendant rank. Where a person achieves Unity with their chosen path. Things bifurcated after Unity.

The Lord's path was based on the accumulation of power and authority in their domain. The Sage path was based on their understanding of reality. To make a good comparison. The Lord is the path of the warrior, while the Sage is the path of the scholar. Both paths had their perks and drawbacks.

The problem is that if you kept climbing, you eventually come back to the Sage path if you ever want to break out of the True ranks and into the Transcendent ranks. Each rank had a tier system that the Council used, but there were more common names for the sub ranks like Terra, Heavenly, Lunar, Solar, etc. 

“Empress Victoria is a Tier nine True Sage in the peak Stellar rank. She follows the path of Clockwork Serenity. She could break the threshold of Transcendence at anytime if she wanted to. The Council suspects that she will not move past this rank unless her husband can join her. Publicly she has mastery of three Laws along with several Ideal’s on the verge of becoming Laws. Unofficially she has mastered five Law’s, two of which are Primal, and dozens of Ideal’s. Victoria is very dangerous.”

Dangerous wouldn’t be the word Atom would use. Two primal Law’s was a scary achievement for anyone not in the late Tiers of Transcendent ranks. She was more like a walking talking planar Calamity. It was no wonder the Council allowed them control of two planes. Atom felt a pressure building behind his eyes. The tail tail sign of a migraine coming in hot and stabby. This was going to be more annoying than he initially believed.

He almost opened the slice and just threw the girl at her parent's feet right then and there. It wasn’t really worth it, but Atom had given his word to Layla. Not keeping that would cross a line for him. You had to have some type of principles, even if his were tar-black and smelt of sulfur. His family and followers were on that line.

“What approach do you want me to take?”

Dory began to state her thoughts allowed, a habit he'd noticed about her, “The Quillian’s are one of the more positive forces in the planes. Their business tactics are beyond ruthless and bordering on tyrannical. But in exchange for this they have overall improved the lives of all the planes the Council govern. I know them both. Victoria is a brilliant inventor thanks to her path and a pleasant woman to converse with. Roland is an ass on the surface and doting family man behind closed doors.” Dory paused for a moment and continued her humming.

 Atom waited quietly for her to finish her thinking. He watched the oddly angled crafts begin to align into a formation above the planet. Spaceships were a big letdown for him. They looked nothing like what he imagined they would. There were very few sleek aerodynamic “treky” style crafts, at least in the larger ones. They were more artistically inspired. These destroyers’ shapes, for instance, were that of a circular ball with oddly shaped spikes jutting out. It looked like the Death Star if it were a pin cushion. He was sure they had a purpose for looking that way, but he couldn't see it.

Weird.

“How is your Law mastery these days?” Dory inquired. It was so innocent. So casual and so smoothly asked that Atom almost answered her truthfully. He looked at the woman incredulously.  

The slightly upward tick of her mouth let him know that she was aware of how close she had gotten. The woman really was good. He shook his head before snorting. He would have to lock down the empire before meeting with the Quillian’s. Keeping the file Dory had on him abnormally thin was a top priority. He figured if he could access the file, anyone could, so the less the Council had on him, the better. There was trust, and then there was stupidity.

Once you reached a certain level of power, your mastery of Laws was all that mattered in a battle between Ascendants. If someone knew what laws you had mastered, then, theoretically, they knew your weaknesses. Thus it was a very personal subject that was not shared. Not even when you became a Council member.

All members of the Council were of the True Sage rank, personal power-wise. The Council would not allow a Mantle to be given to anyone less. One of the requirements to break into True Sage ranks was a rudimentary mastery of a single Law.

“I know a few,” Atom said. His smirk was dry and unamused. He’d been letting his guard slip around her too often. 

She looked at him and made a gesture. He felt a pulse pass through him before he could block it, and she began to read something in the air only she could see.

“Did you just use a skill on me? Rude.” He complained. His offended words brought a smile to Dory’s face.

“Of course. Ah here we are….” She chuckled before dismissing whatever window she had open. “You really should change that to something aside from ‘I know a few,’ I’m not the only person with skills like this. Being able to change that is more telling than you realize. At least put an obvious one like the Law of Fire or something generic like that. It would draw less attention.” She scolded him before shaking her head in a disappointed fashion, “What is it you says… Stop being a noob, I believe.”

Atom flushed at the rebuke. It had been more of a joke placeholder when he was constructing the Neutrons persona. He’d forgotten to adjust it.  

Shaking her head, she continued, “Go down there as Master Neutron. Inform them that you have taken their daughter as a disciple. Assure them that she is safe and will continue to be so on NAA campus.”

Atom shook his head, “You know that’s not going to work.”

She reached over and gave him a pat on the shoulder, “It will be fine. Go down there and be assertive.” She changed her voice to that of a motivational manager, “I believe in you. You can do it.”

Atom rolled his eyes, “Why are you making me do this? I know you let her in for a reason. I just don’t know what that reason is?”

He looked over at Dory. Trying to get a read on her. The hair on the back of Atoms arms raised at the sight of her expression. Her look held the endless wisdom and the untold secrets of an ancient primal monster.

“My reasons are my own. Atom. Though," Dory gave him a wink that stiffened his spine, "I’d be willing to trade, if you’d like. Secrets for secrets. They’re juicy, I promise.”

Shanking off the feeling of unease, he scoffed at the offer, then ignored her. He knew better than to play at intrigue with the woman. She always got the upper hand, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. She was an unfathomable monster. He couldn’t sense her rank at all. He was also positive now that she’d touch him that he was just speaking to an avatar and not the real deal. Another scary fact that Atom did not want to think about.

Instead of answering the honeyed words, Atom finished breaking the wards around the throne room and shifted inside the doors.

The Emperor and Empress were seated on a dais speaking to a group of generals standing around a table. Roland and Victoria were the pictures of nobility, as far as Atom could tell. Roland was a powerfully built man with a tight-fitting suit of black that made him look both regal and dangerous. Tia's mother was a mature version of the girl with long ink-black hair, full pink lips, a button nose, and pale flawless skin. A little thin in Atom’s opinion but still gorgeous.

“Emperor I advice against this action. We should reach out to the Nexus Ascendant Academy and simply ask for Princess Tatiana to be returned. The empire does not want to go to war with the Nexus.” Said a light brown-skinned man with meadow green eyes.

“No Tomon, they have went to far this time. They play these games across the planes time and time again. Nexus did not ask our permission to take our daughter. I won’t stand for it.” Roland said, almost screaming at the end.

His wife said nothing as the man continued to rant and rave about the audacity of the Academies. Atom thought that she didn’t seem to feel the same as her husband but wasn’t going to stop his actions either. She probably wasn’t happy about NAA not informing them about the acceptance.

He hated politics, but he did understand the situation. Tia was their only child. Why they had never had a child until Tia was a mystery. Possibly they were too consumed by their own personal aspirations. Again with no clock ticking and anima perfecting your body to the point that a female Ascendant wouldn’t ovulate unless they chose to, you had all the time you wanted.

“Sire please listen to me. If we jump our destroyers to Nexus this is going to end poorly for us. I was there the last—” the now-named Tomon pleaded with emperor Roland again.

Roland raised his hand and cut his general off, “I know you were and I don’t care Tomon. They have my baby girl and I’m going to show them they can’t just do whatever they want without repercussions.”

“Sire she has reached her age of majority. This is probably just a miscommunication. If you would just let—,”

“Enough Tomon. We have heard you. Prepare to depart within the hour. That is all.” The emperor stated flatly, broking no more argument from his subject.

Atom felt terrible for the man as he bowed in acceptance to his liege's command. He was the only one speaking sense in the room, yet that sense was falling on deaf ears, it seemed. The poor man was just trying to do his job.

He wasn’t sure how he wanted to play this. He had a multitude of characters he could draw on. There was a strong urge to channel Darth Sidious for some reason. He’d always wanted to use the ‘unlimited power line’ with someone. Of course, Atom didn’t believe that claiming to be a Sith Lord would go over well. They wouldn’t get it anyway.

He eventually decided to wing it. He began walking towards the group of soldiers while dropping wards to obscure any outside peeking. Once the last officers shifted away, he enforced a phase lock, effectively sealing the area from shifting.

The Imperial couple finally took notice of him when the lock went into place. He couldn’t hide something like that. It was too noisy of a thing for the two high-level Ascendants not to notice. Whether they had figured out what he’d done was is yet to be seen.

“Who are you?” The Empress spoke for the first time since he’d popped in. Her voice was more profound than he expected for a petite framed woman but still very feminine.  

Atom gave a little wave and strode forward. His flowing black robes and white haori were motionless as he approached. The couple didn’t seem worried. Roland looked annoyed, but Tia’s mother looked interested. Confident, aren’t they? Well, we will feel them out. 

Atom stopped in front of their dais and gave a slight bow. Neither respectful nor disrespectful. “My name is Master Neutron. I’m here on behalf of Nexus Ascendant Academy. I’d like to discuss your daughters future.”

The emperor made to speak, but the Empress waved him down. The man slumped into his throne sullenly. Smart man.

“I wasn’t aware that Nexus had any interest in our daughter.” said the Empress.

“I’ve been here for a while.” Atom said politely. “I’d say you are very aware. So if we could skip the verbal dancing that would be nice.”

She put on a pouty face, “I rarely get to play at being Empress. You could have at least indulged me for a bit.”

“I’m sorry Empress. I am just too brutish and pragmatic, I’m afraid.”

“My love, let us do away with this trash and go and get our sweet little girl.” Emperor Roland urged. The man was quite rude in Atom’s opinion.

The Empress ignored the man, though, and continued, “Yes, I can see that. Well out with it then. You are aware of our little runaway. Her father would like her returned. We are not pleased about this… situation.”

So only daddy wants her back. Isn’t the mom supposed to be the helicopter? Odd.  

“Well Empress unfortunately that will not be possible. She has requested sanctuary from you as well as discipleship from me. A discipleship that I have excepted. I came here to let you know personally that she is in the best hands possible.”

Emperor Roland surged to his feet. His face was beet red. “You will bring my daughter to me this instant or—,”

Yeah no. “I will not.”

A surge of power came from the man. “Then burn.” He said.

Atom felt the Ideal of Fire take hold around him, turning the marble tile in a two-meter floor radius to molten slag in an instant. The Ideal tried to burn him to ashes but lacked the power to do so. But Atom had a flair for the dramatic, so he raised his arms and gesticulated wildly while screaming to let the man vent his rage. When the murderhobo didn’t let up, Atom shrugged and walked out of the firestorm perfectly unharmed. People always complained about this trope back on earth, but the fact of the matter was when you had the power to break reality with a thought, it was elementary to deal with your problems that way. People were either too sheltered or gave humans too much credit. No one wanted to really consider they lived in a bubble. Plus, Atom broke into his home. He was surprised the man took so long to attack him. 

“You are a brave bastard aren’t you. Do that again and I’ll show you real fire.” Atom promised.

“Calm yourself Roland. Do try not to embarrass us.”

Roland seemed to not hear the woman by the facial expressions he was aiming his way, but he didn’t say anything either. So Atom continued.  

“As I was saying. I can assure you that your daughter is in the best of hands.”

The Empress pursed her lips before asking, “And how do we know this is true. We do not know you. I’ve never even heard your name before and I know anyone worth knowing with power. We are not happy about this unknown acceptance. The board should have let us know. It feels like a slight to our family and our power.”

Atom gave her a nod of understanding but then shrugged, “I’m not here to play politics. What Nexus and the admission board did or did not due doesn’t matter to me. I’ve taken your daughter on as a disciple. Nothing else matters now. She will stay with me until she reaches the Mage ranks.”

“You must be confused. Master Neutron. I don’t know you. I've never even heard of you. That means you don't matter. I will not be trusting you, a nobody, with my daughter.” The Empress proclaimed authoritatively. 

Atom put on his best arrogant master's face, "I didn't even know your names until about twenty minutes ago. Which means you aren't relevant." He chuckled.

“Again, I’m just here letting you know that your daughter is my disciple. Something I did not need to do but did. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. But if you would like to break out the measuring sticks….” He left the rest unsaid as he held out his hands in invitation.

She obviously got his meaning as two authorities in the True ranks slammed into him. Their power trying to grind him and his soul into infinitesimal dust. If someone was to walk in and see this display of power, they would see a high-stakes staring match. The Imperial couple would be viewed as looking down on a man straining as hard as they could. As though the two were constipated and trying to squeeze out a big fat log. Veins pulsing on the sides of their heads and all.

Atom could feel the hidden servants in the room start to pass out, so he flexed his own power out. His eyes turned black, and twin ice-blue stars blazed in his eyes. An outward sign of his path, Stellar Might. Instantly suppressing the couple before they could harm their own people. He was a colossal prick, but he wouldn’t allow any innocents to be hurt if he had the power to prevent it. Atom had plenty of power. Way too much, really, but his new handy dandy little bracelet helped with that.

The imperial couple slammed back into their thrones. Thin hairline fractures running through the stone at the force. A look of fear painted their face. Atom let the strength of his power grow... and grow... and grow. Terror replaced the fear in their eyes as he let them feel how much of a difference there was between them. He allowed them to fully appreciate the gap. These noble types needed to fully understand that he could protect their daughter, even from them. Else they’d keep annoying him. 

Satisfied they were aware that the measuring contest had been won, he dialed it down. He had a thought of getting Dory something nice for this little volume knob before he remembered she was using him as a foot scrubber currently. 

“Well that was unpleasant,” he lied cheerfully. “Whatever games NAA are playing do not concern me. I’ll be at the Academy for a time. She will train and she will learn while she’s there. Once she becomes an Initiate, I’ll allow you to come see her but I will not force her to see you.”

The Empress recovered quickly, “Y-you can't do this. This is breaking the Accords. The Council will hear of this.”

Atom laughed, “Victoria, who do you think requested that I come and speak with you. This was a show of respect to you as well as to prevent any unneeded conflict between you and the Academy. Now, are we at an understanding? I do have other things to do besides bully my grown adult disciples parents." He gave them a look that let them know what he thought of their feelings on the matter. 

Atom put on a softer expression, "Don't worry though. Your daughter will become powerful. That I can promise you." 

He turned and started walking out of the throne room but paused and glanced back. "If I have to come back here. I will break lots and lots of things. You wouldn't be the first empire I've snuffed out of existence." 

He reached out and grabbed a thread of time and used it to repair the damage from the firestorm the emperor had used. The beautiful tile was unmarked and perfect. No signs of the molten crater of slag could be seen. 

The Empress gasped at his casual use of the Law of Time. 

"And I doubt you will be the last," and he blinked away. 

Playing the old monster was much more satisfying than being heroic.