ALL NOVEL CHAPTER TEN: PORTAL.
CHAPTER TEN: PORTAL.
The escape pod control panel began to emit emergency alarms, and blinking lights appeared from time to time on one of the screens. 'As expected,' Kevin thought as he removed a sizeable power core, no bigger than a man’s fist, and inserted it into the power core port, replacing the former power core. Escape pods in the prison facility were designed for inspectors and visiting plumbers in the case where a 'Fate and Khan' incident happened. They were not designed for light-speed travel in case a criminal managed to hijack one and didn’t want to be seen. As for the fortitude and integrity of the pod, Kevin easily used his Technomorph transformation to quickly use other parts from different escape pods to fortify his pod in the event of crossfire and its initial purpose—going light speed. He began to see just how easy and, most importantly, how quickly his Technomorph transformation assembles and modifies any technological contraption. He could have done it himself, but not in the same time frame as his transformation.
'Thank goodness I didn’t remove its DNA and traits,' Kevin thought to himself as he took a deep sigh, and then, minutes later, after sitting, let out a scream. Throughout his whole escape, he was at the mercy of Fate and Khan. If they had decided to take his life, there was very little he could do about it. They moved as if he was in a constant state of slow motion, their casual attacks threatened the integrity of the entire prison structure, and they could kill all the inmates as easily as swatting a fly. Well, except for one overly dexterous fly in the One Punch Man Verse. Kevin had this feeling that Fate was still alive. He quickly shook off that thought and accessed the pod's control panel to check the camera feed at the prison.
“Finally, the orb is mine!” Khan exclaimed in joy as he reached for a white horn with purple intricate lines on it in the same room. He blew into the horn first and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, all the automatons that were still intact began to rush to the nearest escape pods to leave the facility. Moments later, the entire special dimension hidden in the null void began to shake as if there were a skyquake. Shockwaves ran through the atmosphere as the storms in the special dimension became more violent, and the thunderstrikes began destroying the prison facility. At that point, the orb broke free by itself from the container and simply hovered.
“HAHAHA! The time has come. This universe has served its purpose in my existence; it is time for me to leave, explore, and conquer a new universe,” Khan said to himself proudly as he too hovered in the air, unbothered by the violent storm that had just destroyed his footing on the ceiling above him. Ancient and special treasures all around him dispersed in the dimension; Khan paid them no heed since they were of no use to him.
“Ha! Did I just hear you jabber about conquering another universe when you’ve hardly conquered this one?” Fate's figure suddenly appeared in view as if her voice was trying to keep up with her body. She had minor and superficial burn marks on her body from the thunderstorms that kept increasing their intensity slowly but seemingly infinitely.
“You, you should have left with those tin cans. Why hasten your death?” Khan sounded irritated but didn’t even spare Fate a glance as his back was shown to her.
“Big words for someone about to lose his head.” Fate said as her figure remained where it was initially, but she had already moved to cut Khan's head from behind with her axe leaving behind an afterimage. With the white horn in his right hand and the orb he held in his left hand, he attempted to block her attack with the orb without even turning. The block was successful, and Fate, along with her axe, floated in the red-coloured atmosphere with her hands on her head.
“Be grateful I didn’t just toss the orb to you, for you would have been struck with infinite madness and died in a few seconds or minutes depending on your vitality. Even beings whose minds can be scaled to be on a universal level would have a hard time resisting its inevitable mind corrosion and death.” Khan turned to explain to Fate who was now in a fetal position; Khan then kicked her as she flew for a few hundred meters. Fate didn’t even have the time to comprehend the pain from Khan's attack as she was still dealing with her battle for survival in her mind.
“Only those who have the ‘Horn of Beginnings’ can resist its effects. Brings a new meaning to ‘those who know have power,’ right?” Khan said as he turned back and joined the orb and horn together.
“And now, 'a drop of essence from the soul that wishes to explore unknown lands, waters, and skies,' according to the lost text in ‘MANN DER TAT’S pyramid.” Khan said as he used the claw from his thumb on his right hand to draw blood from his index finger.
Drops of blood fell on the two objects that were placed together. The three substances; blood, The Philosopher's Orb, and The Horn of Beginnings began to spin with incredible speeds that it looked like they were spinning in reverse order until a white portal suddenly opened, and an eerie calm came upon the special dimension. Khan sighed deeply and let his body phase in through the portal as it closed the exact second every part of his body was inside. As calm as it was a second earlier, chaos ensued as voids opened in various parts of the special dimension and began destroying it. Fate who just recovered from Khan's earlier attack looked in horror at the scene before her, it was just seconds until the dimension would collapse in itself as she looked around for any available teleportation pod that was still intact. But to her horror, none remained since the thunderstorms destroyed anything that didn’t have the fortitude of Khan or Fate's body.
“Haha.” Fate gave a weak laugh as she shrugged.
“AHHHH!” Fate's agonized scream echoed as she summoned her axe. Despite the injuries inflicted upon her body, including some damaged organs from Khan's recent attack, she mustered every ounce of energy within her to tear open the fabric of space before her.
NEXT CHAPTER: PLANET SYLVIE.
Author's thoughts: I liked this chapter, especially the art about Khan finally getting all he needed for his end goal. What do you think?
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