Thanks to everyone for reading! Please comment on any characters and universes you’d like to see in the future below the chapters. I can’t guarantee they’ll make it in, but I want to have some fun and fit in the audience's favourites if I can! Thanks again, and a huge thank you to my Patrons! I can’t make this content without support, and I’m super grateful for our supporters! This fanfiction is also available on my Patreon, I’ll always keep it free, so please visit! Our Patrons make this work possible, and if enough patrons want this novel to be a priority, it will be!

 

https://www.patreon.com/maizeblu

 

Now, on to the chapter!

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“What kind of animal is this…” May poked at the rocky ground. The tunnels had given way to a vast cavern, illuminated by deep sheets of mossy fungus. “Its insides are a series of caves… there’s even life!”

 

A ten legged spider scuttled away from their approach, its body an orb with a circular mouth. Dan shuddered. Spiders were abominations, if May didn’t insist otherwise, he would crush every one that invaded his sight. These ones were small, but if they got to cat size, he would take no prisoners.

 

“They scan as silicon based, rock eaters…” Dan pointed to a palm sized craboid, its shell formed from a purple toned crystal. “Even the plants are digesting the stone.”

 

They had trekked through miles of tunnels, an impossible distance for the inside of a creature. The silicon nature of these species poked at a memory in his head, but it wasn’t enough to pry it free. Things from after his birth could be seen in his mind, clear as a mountain lake. Memories from before his rebirth held the hazy quality of humanity.

 

“At least they’re all docile,” May smiled as she offered a small stone to a spider. The creature snatched up the morsel and scurried away. “How much further until we reach Ultron?”

 

“He’s… still about two thousand miles away,” Dan squinted at the display. They had travelled seven thousand miles already, a distance that showed some of the scale of this beast. It was a world all its own, a self contained environment that called to be turned into a base. “We’ll put on a bit more speed and be there in less than an hour, as long as the caves are as big as this one!”

 

---

 

“Heeelp me!!!” 

 

Anakin screamed, heart in his throat as he dashed through a dim lit cavern. His body ached, muscles driven to near exhaustion. The creatures behind him were relentless, yet some new horror lurked at every corner. Blade faced avians with tentacled bodies swooped from above, avoided by the breadth of a hair.

 

The gastropods behind floated closer, suspended in the air with tentacles extended. Even when he used his limited teleportation spell, his greatest treasure taught by his useless Master, these beings continued to hound him. Danger filled the air, hostile intentions that drove him to flee.

 

‘I have to calm down…’

 

A deep breath, followed by a trick from Merlyn, slowed his explosive heart. He visualised a series of runes, seven, all linked in a row.

 

“Take this!”

 

He spun, hand raised. A plume of fire sprang from his palm, folded and beaten into a molten spear. His hand slashed at the legion of terror birds, a lance that burned the air. It pierced the flock at its core, an explosion that charred the beasts to ash. He’d learn this spell in secret, behind his Master's back. Good thing too, or he might be dead.

 

“This way…” 

 

Anakin followed the voice in his soul, what Merlyn called the song of the world and Vergere called the will of the force. He’d heard its call since he opened his eyes, before his first breath of air. It kept him safe, enlightened him to the truths of the world. The path ahead, through a tunnel on the left, led to where he had to be.

 

---

 

“So much for docile…” 

 

Dan huffed as his fist skewered the skull of a blade-faced demon. Three metres at the shoulder and capped with four weathered wings, the beasts extended their pointed tentacles and screamed in rage. May fanned her arms, streams of plasma directed into the horde.

 

“It was true until it wasn't,” May snorted as her symbiote speared a creature that lurked behind. She directed energy to her chest, a lance that pierced a tunnel next to Dan. “There are too many, we need to move out of this cavern!”

 

Dan grunted, but didn’t retreat. His brain kicked into overdrive as he marshled his Ki and channelled it toward his eyes. Red gathered in his pupils, a harsh light that became infused with a gentle blue. His heat vision erupted, an aquamarin fire that swept through the flock above.

 

He dragged his gaze through and around the cavern, a blade that carved the ceiling with a trail of molten light. A grin spread on his lips, the fusion was more successful than he’d imagined. His heat vision was strong, but it drained his reserves. The supplementation of Ki let him cut back on the amount of solar energy he used and boosted the power ten fold!

 

Dan continued until sweat beaded his forehead. Even reduced, heat vision was a waste of power. It was great for mobs, but against a harder target his fists would be far better. He stopped the flow and let the dim glow of molten rock light the scene.

 

“A bit overkill…”

 

“You think!” May punched his arm. “Why didn’t you say you could do that already?”

 

They stared out, over a melted wasteland. The cave had been emptied of life, even the plants and smaller creatures had been turned to charcoal. The terror birds were gone, silence and ashy smoke in their place. A drawn out note filled the void, louder as they paused to listen.

 

“Heeeellllppppp!!!”

 

“Is that…” Dan tilted his head.

 

“It’s Anakin!” May leapt into the air on a burst of plasma, headed toward the cry. “He’s in trouble!”

 

---

 

Death.

 

It nipped at his heels, driven back by his desperate spells. Each cast drew on his stamina, until every step raised the urge to scream. Fire filled his lungs, air useless to fill his body’s needs. He was going to die here, abandoned by his useless Master in the depths of an unknown world.

 

Light spiralled in his vision, blue streamers that lanced into the walls behind. A tumble of stone brought an end to his flight, pursuers sealed beyond the collapse. A familiar face loomed in the tunnel of his eyes, a concerned May, her brows furrowed tight.

 

“Are you ok, Anakin?”

Thanks again, and a huge thank you to my Patrons! I can’t make this content without support, and I’m super grateful to all of my supporters! This fanfiction is also available on my Patreon, I’ll always keep it free, so please visit! The Patrons make this work possible, and if enough patrons want this novel to be a priority, it will be! Updates for this series will be at five a week, a chapter part monday-friday, with bonus chapters whenever I can get them written and edited. 

 

https://www.patreon.com/maizeblu