Dark Matter Ascension

Dee was immediately blown backward by a shockwave of energy that coruscated throughout the room, seemingly emitted from a beacon, a raised pedestal at the center of the room that exuded gravitic waves that were mixed with various elemental energies drawing from the power of the cosmos. What is that? She thought.

Deckard was at the far end of the room, seemingly unaffected and surrounded by dozens of Ascendants who were all layering Skills upon him and themselves. "You really think you can storm my headquarters and survive?"

Dee let out a scream of hatred, "You sold me!" She held a hand up and whispered with a vehement hatred, "Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 38) [Eruption]."

The ground exploded underneath Deckard and his arrayed Ascendants – a mix of blistering cold, acid, and abrading silicate clouds all tore into the group – but went through them. It was then that Dee saw the series of projectors, because the silicate particles caused the images to bounce around their exterior. "He's not here!" she shouted in rage.

Priam looked at the thing in the center of the room, "That thing looks nasty. Jace, did he escape out the top?"

"No," Jace replied tersely, slightly out-of-breath as a clang echoed through the comms – blade striking something that could block it. "No one has gotten past me – I'm halfway down the tower."

"Greg? What about you?" Priam asked.

"Little busy here, but I would've noticed a green slime man!" Greg sounded like he was still holding up just fine – but his voice was slightly tense, and there was a hint of the "I'm over this," feeling coming through his tone.

Dee pointed at the item on the pedestal and used her Demolisher's Devastation at (Rank 1), trying to effect the device. A beam of acid lanced out, was absorbed, and then the pressure that was pushing against them amplified and became caustic. Priam moved back and around the corner as the shields surrounding him and Dee began to melt away.

Dee stood still, not concerned as acid did nothing to her. "It's just absorbing and then emitting whatever energy was put into it," she stated. "Thoughts on how to deal with this?" she asked Priam.

Priam shook his head, "I mean…I could do divine energy? But I don't know what that would do."

Dee raised her hand again, used her go-to Skill at (Rank 1), and focused on tapping into her Nebula Cosmic Power, channeling a cloud of moisture instead of a more harmful manifestation of the cosmic phenomenon. The beam impacted the sphere, and the orb emitted a pressure-laden mist. But, there was no injury, and Priam's barrier remained intact. Dee walked forward, and while each step was harder than the last, she did make it to the item on the pedestal. "How do I disable it?" she asked Miku, her Wayfinder merged with her thanks to Verge Protocol.

Y-y-you n-n-ne-need t-to sh-shat-t-ter it.

Dee looked back at Priam, who had pushed his way forward up to her. "Got anything to smash this with?" she asked.

He shook his head, "But I've got Boons! Let's use an Uncommon (Variable) for a nice, smashy hammer." A glimmer of starlight appeared in his hands, and he was holding a smooth, curved hammer with a head that could amplify the force of the swing. "It looks high-tech," he muttered as he reeled back and swung down.

The object on the pedestal, shrouded by the clouds, shattered and the effect upon the room faded. "Good job!" Dee said, only for a split-second later to realize that they were in the center of the room. A room that was once filled with trophies and collectibles. A very bare room. The doors surrounding them dropped down, and Dee heard Deckard's mocking laugh over some hidden speaker.

"I'll admit, I am a little impressed. But surely you didn't think I had my fortress completely upgraded? Even for a brainless species, you act remarkably dumb."

Dee fired off another Demolisher's Devastation, hitting the doors opposite them – but the acid simply slid down and onto the floor where it bubbled in a pool. Again, that laugh. "You are in the perfect prison, little Plorp. Every door and wall has been treated with multiple coats of substances that are antithetical to acid."

Dee fired off another blast, trying ice instead. But the door simply froze over. "I can't blast us out of here," she said as she felt some anxiety rise in her stomach. Trying again with silicate particles, the doors and walls were simply too strong. What did he do? Use an (Equipment) Boon on the room? Can you even do that?

Y-yes i-if the (Equipment) i-is t-the b-building.

"I'm using my Uncommon (Variable) on Equipment! Get me an explosive charge. The biggest we can get!"

-----

[Using Boon: Uncommon (Equipment).]

[Manifesting.]

-----

A circular, flat object appeared in her hands, and she instantly knew what it was – a shaped plasma charge. If this can't get us out of here, then we are really in trouble. As she sprinted towards the door and let her goop out to melt the ice that she had crusted it with, Priam let out a yelp.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Looking back, she saw that his barrier had popped, and he was clambering up onto the pedestal as liquid pooled on the floor from hidden vents in the walls and ceiling. "It immediately broke my barrier!"

"Yeah, no shit," Greg said over the comms as he grunted in pain. "Feels like my legs were on fire for a second.

Dee frowned and turned back to her task, placing the plasma charge. But she felt a searing, burning heat on her legs, and looking down saw that her goop was being melted away. "It's a super strong base!" she shouted.

"What do you mean?" Priam replied in a panic.

"I'm acid, this is a base. It will melt me!"

"Why am I not redirecting it?" Greg asked through more grunts.

Quinn's voice replied, "That only stops damage that occurs – she is being subjected to a neutralization reaction, which will produce water and salt. It's not really harm that you could suffer, Greg."

Dee felt fear, and she turned back to the plasma charge, punching in the activate command. The entire wall in front of the device glowed with a blinding, white light. The device vanished, and she could feel the immense heat – but the door was still intact. "What's it made of?!"

"Analysis inconclusive," Quinn replied – and her voice was tinged with concern. "You have to get out of there."

"Jace! Greg! We're in trouble!" Priam yelled into the comms.

"Quinn," Jace answered, "I can't get down there – but I can cut them a hole. Where are they compared to me in the tower?"

"Below and five feet to your right. Boon incoming."

Jace's voice came back, sure and confident. "Priam, fly up, grab Dee, and get to the edge of the room. Give me the go ahead when you're ready."

Priam activated his Heavenly Smite (Rank 3) for thirty seconds of flight, zipped over, grabbed Dee, and lifted her up to the side of the room out of the rapidly-expanding liquid. "Ready!"

Dee blinked – only blinked for a split second. But in that blink, something bored a hole through the ceiling above, disintegrating the ceiling, and boring down through the strong base, the floor below, and going even deeper. "How deep did you shoot?" she asked as Priam flew them to the floor up above – safe out of the caustic base.

"Ollie? Wait, what?!" Jace's voice was filled with panic. "I've never shot down like that before. Shit!"

"What's going on?"

"Core instability," Xera replied with an irritated tone. "Jace just shot a fifty-inch diameter hole through the whole planet. The tunnel will collapse under gravitic pressure, and there might be some minor quakes, tremors, and a little bit of volcanic activity near the surface – you might want to clear out if it gets too hot."

Dee froze in shock, still in Priam's arms. What? How can he do something so good! So much destruction! I want that!

"Any sign of Deckard?" Quinn asked.

Jace dropped down next to them, "Not from up above," Jace replied. He sounded melancholic, filled with regret or remorse. "He's gotta be deeper."

Quinn's voice came back, "I did some digging with Xera's help – Deckard used a Legendary (Equipment) Boon to make the tower. But you just bored a hole through it that is going to let the gravitic pressure crush the exterior due to the loss of structural integrity. Just get out, and if Deckard is still inside, he'll be crushed to death."

Jace looked at Priam, "Mind carrying me, too? Since you can fly and all."

Priam nodded, grabbed Jace, and whispered to Dee, "Hold onto me," as he flew up. Through the narrow hole thanks to the spectral wings not actually taking up space, and they emerged on the lobby floor. There was chaos outside – a battlefield where everyone was focused on a single target.

Greg was rushing around, slashing left, right, and center; suffering hits but almost lost in a battle frenzy. Not a berserker rage like what Dee had heard Jace could do – but a joyous, almost rapturous state. I'm not going to be outdone, she thought. I might not get to kill Deckard right now – but I can wipe out all of these people.

She raised her hand, knowing that thanks to Artillerist's Discipline, she could ignore affecting Greg. "Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 38) [Broadside]." She poured all but the littlest bit of energy she had into the blast, and almost immediately she collapsed, still holding onto Priam.

The battlefield in front of them, the whole park that this tower stood in the center of, out to a mile away, was covered in flying, acidic spheres that tracked their targets. Every opponent on the battlefield was impacted, let out screams and shouts of panic, and most melted away in part or whole.

A few were unaffected, and Greg moved to engage some of them. Jace ran off to the other side, replicating the actions of Greg, but Dee stayed with Priam in the lobby. He held her, "Good job taking out those meanies," he said.

She would've let out a laugh, but she was too tired.

Then, Deckard's voice came from speakers inside the tower. "You really think that I would stay in a giant tower marked as my property? You really are dumb. Enjoy orbital lasers."

Deckard strolled across the bridge of his enormous battleship. He had used an Artifact (Equipment) Boon to acquire it that same day, the moment that Deasyl was seen crossing the few-mile-wide park. He knew that she was a capable offensive combatant, and with her new companions giving her protection and taking hits for her – she was part of a formidable group.

That instant she arrived, he had left via the roof, used a shuttle to travel to orbit, and used that Equipment to create this enormous, mobile headquarters for his Nebula Alliance. He planned to return to his tower and lift it up with the massive tractor beam – but something was happening in the base of the spire that messed with the gravitic tractor beam.

Oh, now that is an idea, he thought as he considered using the tractor beam on the entire park. He could lift everyone up into orbit and let them suffocate. Well, most of them would. But he also really wanted to try out these orbital lasers.

The sensors were able to spot Deasyl and the Pulsar Priest, Priam inside the building. He also saw Greg; another person he had a bounty on. But there was another person there. Someone in black armor, with Black Hole and Supermassive symbols on their hand. Who are you? he asked himself. Another Signer for the Dark Between Stars, I would wager.

The figure raised an arm towards the sensors, and Deckard chuckled. "Yes, I can see you, litt-"

Warning sirens went off, and he wheeled to his autopilot station. "What?" he was shocked. He had just suffered a massive hit – a hole had been bored right through the underside of the ship. The momentary venting of atmosphere caused the ship to tilt slightly, and then the bulkheads sealed.

"Run a report!" he shouted as he moved his mass into the pilot seat of the one-person battlecruiser that should be unparalleled, since the world of origin was a Tier 9 technology world. The readout that he saw just infuriated and confused him. Nothing had hit his ship. Nothing had tore through it. The sensors, the replay – there was no trace of anything.

"What is this?!" he shrieked. Immediately, all thoughts of using the orbital lasers left his mind, and he activated the tractor beam. "I'll just suck you into orbit! Then, the lasers."