Dark Matter Ascension

"Shhiv! I'm home!" Jace got out of the elevator, went through the front door, and began taking off his armor.

Ollie floated next to him, "She's downstairs in Missy's workshop."

"Well, I'll just get a bit more relaxed. You can untether here in Khrox, right?"

"Yup!"

"Then would you mind going down and letting her know I'm up here?"

"No problem." Ollie vanished through the floor.

Jace put all of his armor on a shelf, hopped into the hygiene station, and got into some relaxed 'around the house' clothing. The front door opened, and he turned only to get plowed into by Shhiv, who tackled him in a hug.

"I was so worried! Xera told me that you had duplicates chasing you? And that you were fighting the leader of the Nebula Alliance!"

Jace returned her hug, making sure to keep his strength in check, and pulled away slightly a moment later to give her a deep kiss. "I missed you."

She grinned and just gripped him again, and he felt her sharp, blade-tipped tail thwip against his leg, drawing a little irritation akin to a scratch that the NICIF quickly repaired. "Oh! Great news!"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Greg and Missy are getting married! It's in two days, we're going to go to Earth, to Greg's homeland – this place called England, and do a ceremony there."

Jace smiled but looked past Shhiv to Ollie who was swimming in small, delicate circles, making a figure-eight. "Is that safe?"

"The Star Council controls the world, and Star Father owes us for taking out one of his rivals. Plus, Tyul as the new leader of the Nebula Alliance has already begun to remove some of the more distasteful parts of his faction's business portfolios. We will be safe."

Jace looked back to Shhiv, "I'm guessing you want me to wear something special for the occasion?"

"Oh yeah! But that can wait." She looked at him with a coy smile, her sharp teeth visible as she smiled. "I have not had you in a long time." Grabbing him roughly by the shoulders, he let her pin him against the wall and lost themselves in each other.

"This is really uncomfortable," Jace said as he finished putting on the suit that Shhiv had provided for him. Wanting to keep his Equipment with him, just in case, he had the bracer of his armor on his wrist, and the rest of his armor was stored in the TPSB. He had to admit to himself, he struck a dashing figure. No wonder the corpos dressed up like this, he thought. It's very fancy. But so restrictive.

Shhiv emerged from the restroom wearing a spectacular, ruby-red dress that was quite form-fitting, leaving very little to the imagination. She looked stunning, with a string of black pearls for a necklace a matching one around the wrist. "Missy's business is booming. I wanted to treat myself a bit. Abyss pearls from my home world – very pricy." She grinned as she slipped her arm through the crook of his elbow and they looked at themselves in the mirror. "We look so good together."

Jace nodded and smiled, "Absolutely. Come on, we're probably about out of time to get ready."

They went to the elevator, descended down to the entry hall, and saw that the welcome party was already underway. There were quite a few people present – some that Jace recognized, like Priam, Dee, Quinn, and Quinn's parents. But there were dozens of others that he had no clue about.

Ollie floated just behind him, "Greg had a lot of friends he made during his time in the armed forces, his intelligence service, and his street crew days. It's going to be a packed ceremony!"

Jace and Shhiv went over to his fellow Signers, as they were hugging the outer wall of the room, feeling like they were a bit out of place not knowing anyone. Priam was dressed up similarly to Jace, but his outfit wasn't black, instead being a soft, cream color with an overcoat that looked religious. Dee was dressed in a form-fitting suit like Jace's, whilst Quinn was in a simple, blue dress that she looked like she hated wearing.

Priam was frowning slightly, "I offered to be the one to wed them, but nooo they want this "Catholic" priest from Earth to do it."

Jace chuckled and put his hand onto Priam's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "If I ever get married, you can do the ceremony." He shook his head, scanning the crowd trying to find Greg, "I don't even know why he would stay religious, honestly. I mean, I've fought a god. He helped you kill a god-king."

Dee shrugged, "It's a mystery. But hey, if it gets him through the day. I just can't wait until we get to Earth! Apparently, there's this really tasty food called haggis that is going to be there!"

Quinn let out a brief laugh, "Oh, it'll be surprising, I'm sure."

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"You've had it before?" Dee asked.

"Once. And that was enough," Quinn replied.

The group of Signers looked out at the crowd, and Jace finally spotted Greg. He was beaming with happiness, talking to people from all walks of life and dressed in all manner of attire. "Isn't this really risky?" Jace asked Ollie.

"It is a risk," his Wayfinder replied. "But sometimes the reward is worth the risk. X vetted all the guests beforehand – none of them have had any affiliation with the Black Hole Conclave. And, since the bounties are all gone, we should have no threats. But she is monitoring closely."

Jace nodded and let Shhiv drag him forward, as she said, "Come on! I want to meet some of these people!"

A few hours passed, and the whole congregation was warped at Greg's request to the portal leading to Earth. Going into it, Jace and Shhiv were split off into the black void with the two terminals. Going to the one with destination portals, he punched the button for London, which would be the closest to their destination to the north of that city. The portal opened, and Jace activated Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) [Group] out of habit, covering himself and Shhiv as they emerged back onto Earth.

Jace had never been to London, and it rivaled New York City in its impressiveness. He saw the neo-corp style buildings, but interspersed were old, even ancient buildings. Ollie was wrapped around his neck, and pointed ahead, "There is something called a tube network – a type of rail-based transit system – over that way. Head there, and then we go on the line heading north. It'll be about a thirty-minute ride."

Jace followed Ollie's instructions, holding Shhiv closely as his eyes darted around for any sign of danger. "Ollie," he whispered, "Edge's Intuition (Rank 5) [Danger-Sense], can you tune it to anything that comes towards me or Shhiv with hostile intent?"

"On it!" Ollie replied.

Jace felt his awareness expand as he could detect everything within a twenty-five-foot radius – every single speck of dust, every single bit of flaking skin that sloughed off passers-by onto their clothing. And just as suddenly as the awareness happened, it was suppressed. Confident with his defensive measure in place, he and Shhiv boarded the tube-shaped train that arrived at the underground station.

Thirty minutes later they got off the train and headed towards the surface. No longer were they in London, the signs around them showed they had arrived in some place called Edinburgh. They kept walking, and the whole time Jace kept on high-alert, sure that someone would be coming after them. The long, main street was kept clean, and he saw no influence of corpo-tech or construction. Someone must have decided to keep the older style, he thought, some of these buildings look ancient.

"It's okay," Shhiv said softly, rubbing his hand as they walked towards an enormous building made of stone and decorated with enormous glass windows.

"I just don't want anything to happen to us," Jace replied.

"It won't," Shhiv replied with a smile, gripping his arm tightly. "We have lots of strong people around you, and you'll protect me no matter what."

Jericho woke up in blackness. He sucked in a deep breath – or tried to – but his chest barely expanded. Pressing up, he thought, Entropic Touch (Rank 3). The stone lid covering him melted away to dust, and he sat up as he took a deep breath.

"I'm sending you to a corpse underneath a place known as a 'church'" Troxanir had told him not a minute earlier. "There is a group of people gathering – including known servants of X. They are celebrating something they call marriage; a foreign concept to your species. But, they will have their guards lowered. The perfect time to strike."

"How can I possibly harm them, my lord?"

Troxanir had laughed, "I have my ways. I gift you a boon. On that world, this Legendary (Equipment) Boon will be used for something…diabolical. Wait until the ceremony reaches its crescendo – and then activate it."

"Your will be done."

Jericho got out of the coffin he had been laying in. He knew where he was – some type of crypt underneath an ancient building. He had no clue how Troxanir knew about this place, or how he got permission to travel to a corpse on a Star Council controlled world. But, he theorized in his thoughts. I would bet that the Star Council is trying to remove the unknown variable of the Dark Between Stars Signers. It will also stir up conflict between the two factions, since my and the Conclave's role in this will be completely unknown.

The body he was inhabiting was not too old. It was maybe a few decades gone, but it was well-preserved, and he hacked up some type of fluid. Reverse-Entropic Mending (Rank 10), he thought as he fixed the flaws of the body. The Skill he had spent the most level ups on improving, as he wanted to be a support-style Class for his allies. He was scared of fighting, truth be told. But this? This wasn't fighting.

But he needed a way to interface with The Cosmic System. This body had no type of communication equipment he could tap into. Making his way to the stairs, he was able to get out and emerged in a small chamber. A chamber which had a computer that was booted up, and read "Saint Giles' Cathedral – Crypt Database."

What luck! He tapped a button on the keyboard – the long, center bar – and the screen opened without asking for a password. And no passwords? They must be really trusting or naïve. He put his Cosmic Power symbol to the screen, and interfaced with The Cosmic System. "Legendary (Equipment) Boon – activate."

Next to him an enormous cylinder appeared. "And now," he whispered, "I fulfill Troxanir's will."

Jace was seated in the row second-from-the-front with Shhiv, Quinn, Dee, and some other people he really did not know. Greg and Missy were standing up at the altar. Both were exchanging vows, and Jace felt Shhiv squeeze his hand. Tilting his head sideways, she whispered into his ear, "This is so neat! They're dedicating their lives to each other?"

Jace nodded and turned his head to her, whispering in her ear, "Yes."

"So exciting," she replied with a giddy expression. Her hand tightened around his, "Promise me something."

"Anything."

She looked back to the front, "You don't do this for me in some old building. I want it to happen on some high place, looking out over an alien world that looks fantastic."

Jace froze, feeling a sudden rush of blood to his cheeks – well, not blood, but the NICIF – as he blushed. "You…are you asking?"

"I mean we practically are already," she looked to him with a broad smile. "Now shush." She rubbed his hand as she looked back to the front.

Jace was shocked, thrilled, and felt those butterflies in his stomach that he did upon first meeting Shhiv a few months prior. He was about to say something, but his [Danger-Sense] went off as something below them set off his detection. "Void Shield (Rank 6) [Sphere]!" he shouted as he activated the Skill.

Everyone looked at him, and then the world erupted around them.