Chains Of Pride (The Ascending)

    Year 3031     “All right you guys, we finally got the chance to act on our own from start to finish, plus they’ve already cleared out the area. Now If we just work together, I’m sure we can take that… monster down.” A red-haired youth stared from a distance at the destruction being wrought while he spoke with his two partners.     One of his teammates looked at him before turning his head to the scene ahead and exclaimed, “Damn right! Now let’s get to it!”     The last of the three took this moment to speak, “Easy there, finesse is key, keep that in mind. We should just keep to our strategy and this should take us 10, maybe 15 mins tops.”     45 mins later…     Boom!!     A building in the middle of the city collapsed while the red-haired youth flew through one side and out the other. He was holding a massive scarlet sword in front of his body, attempting to shield himself from the blow he had received.     In that same instant, a massive beast crawled out from the rubble and eyed the falling youth named Kia with a murderous glint in its eyes. When Kia saw this, he paled instantly.     “Uh-oh… son of a b***h! What, knocking me through a damn building wasn’t enough!?”     Before it could do anything however, a shadow blurred behind it and left 9 deep gashes down to the bone before retreating. The creature released a guttural shriek in pain as even the organs writhing and beating inside were visible.     “How many more times do I need to cut this thing before it goes down!?”     The monster snapped its neck to the rear where there stood a dark handsome youth with a glacial and placid expression.      His hair that was tied up in a ponytail and his clothes were still flapping from the extreme speed he had displayed earlier.     He also possessed chains that ran criss-cross across his chest. In the second between the slashes and the creature’s reaction, he had already retreated over 100 metres away.     “Thanks Gero! I owe ya one!” Kia landed some distance away, although a little worse for wear.     “Don’t thank me yet, we need more firepower! Damn that Lanzo for rushing out like that!! This is all his fault!!”     The cold youth’s expression worsened when he saw the wounds he had inflicted earlier starting to heal. He stared at the pair of weapons that were slightly similar to a pair of bladed tonfas in both his hands.     “Do I really have to use ‘Critical Blur’ on this thing!? I haven’t even mastered it yet, and where the hell did Lanzo run off to!? I swear to God if this thing doesn’t kill him, I will!”     Calling this creature a beast was an understatement. Its shape was barely humanoid, while the skin was a dull grey. Its muscles were abnormally exaggerated as they continuously convulsed.     The mouth that was situated on its chest displayed a world of sharp teeth, placed in no particular order. The head which was obviously devoid of a mouth at this stage was filled with many pulsating veins, akin to snakes slithering under the skin.     Completing the look were two pitch-black eyes that were on the side and lower front of the head, respectively. In truth, this was a beast whose body seemed as if it knew not which path to take.     “Raaargh!!”     It released an ear-splitting roar and then set its sights on the cold Gero, but once again, before it could retaliate, it received a massive blow to the side, its face twisted in pain amplifying its already grotesque appearance.     Boom!     While flying, it received another blow from above creating a massive crater when it met the street below. Both blows felt like the impact from a cannon. However, there were no cannons here. Instead, outside the crater, a muscular, green spiky-haired callow man stood waiting for the dust to settle.     “Hehehe, who did you say you were gonna kill? C’mon Lanzo, you can’t tell me you’re not having the least bit of fun!?” Who could this be but Lanzo who Gero placed all the blame on?     “Shut the f**k up you muscle-bound freak, this is all on you!” Of course, Gero didn’t too kindly to Lanzo’s… impulsiveness     Lanzo looked no older than his companions and wore the same uniform. He, however, donned a pair of powerful metallic gauntlets that encased his arms all the way up to the elbows.     He was trying to see through the haze of dust, however, before it could settle, the creature lunged out of the crater.     Luckily, the green-haired youth had his guard up, and a smile showing his intoxication to fight was plastered on his face before it broke out into ecstatic laughter.     “HAHAHA c’mon, you piece of s**t show me what you got!! Fight me, hit me, let me show you how to do it!”     The muscles on his right arm rippled, and he released another punch that slightly fractured space itself at the point of impact. Any substance that suffered such a blow would be fragmented down to the cellular level.     Yet, the creature was only blasted away once more when Gero from before intercepted once again; he appeared to have flickered for merely a moment, but right after he did, the creature’s body had already separated in 13 pieces.     “Hey! That was my kill, Gero you ass!!” Lanzo didn’t like how Gero practically stole his prey. The monster showed several expressions such as confusion, shock, enlightenment even, however, its eyes dimmed shortly after. Still, its body refused to fall and was desperately trying to reconnect.     “Oh, no ya don’t you stubborn Lanzo look-alike, you’re staying dead!! Scarlet s***h!!”     At that moment in the atmosphere, there was a powerful fluctuation raining down; hence, the senses of Gero from before picked up, and through clenched teeth, he muttered     “Damn it! That asshole, not even a heads up.”     He then cleared a distance of more than a 400 metres, but knowing what was to come, his speed only kicked up further.     “Oi! Who the hell did you say was a look-alike?! Why don’t you just jump up your own ass and die!”     He swiftly found a spot to retreat and erected his defences, obviously aware of what Kia planned to do.     A massive scarlet light was released from above which, when met with the dismembered parts of the creature, unleashed a daunting explosion that destroyed the beast in its entirety.      The shock wave from the blast levelled 5 city blocks, unveiling a scene of destruction when the dust settled.     Kia finally landed and was shortly met up with by Gero who angrily glared at him, irritated at the lack of a warning before the attack.     Some moments later, Lanzo showed up with a slightly ruffled appearance. This showed that he did not successfully avoid the earlier explosion.     “Damn Kia, warn a guy before you bust out the big guns will ya!?” Lanzo jokingly exclaimed as he displayed a sincere expression with a gigantic smile.     Kia sheepishly replied, “Sorry guys, I was in the moment's heat and didn’t hold back, won’t happen again.” Kia also possessed the same chains as Gero, however, the chains were instead wrapped around both his arms in the same criss-cross fashion.     “Humph, haven’t heard that before. Anyway, where did old stone face g-..”     Before they could continue a stern, and severe voice broke the momentum the three had built.     “That was sloppy and disgusting! And who the hell were you calling stone face, huh!? Your ass must be feeling jealous of all the s**t that comes out of your mouth!”     They turned around to see a man in his late 30s approaching them; he wore a pair of black dress pants, a buttoned-up vest that was grey in the front and black at the back and a pair of glasses that did nothing to dim the uncompromising air he gave off.     He stared daggers at them especially Gero but took out a communication device and stated before anything and promptly ordered, “Masking crew move in, ‘evacuation protocol’ should be shifted to ‘temporary relocation protocol’ until the masking team is finished.”     “Estimated repair time is…” he then surveyed the ruination that surrounded him “around 1 ½ week.”     Technological advances across time rendered such reconstruction near painless and incomparably swift. Damage that would take weeks or even months to repair, now only took a fraction of the time.     He then turned to them and ordered: “Come with me so I can tell you everything that you did wrong!”      All three showed downcast expression and followed him. The weapons that they all held mysteriously vanished in a not so bright flash of light.     While they were leaving, several vehicles of varying purposes rushed past them to begin the reclamation.     At Cendo Academy, in a private room, sat three young men staring ahead at their ‘instructor.’      After bringing them here, the stern middle-aged man did not bother to relent in the least and let loose a spiel of problems he found with their performance.     “There was an obvious lack of teamwork that threatened the very cohesiveness of all three of you!” He continued on by saying, “Because of Lanzo’s hot bloodedness and need to rush out ahead of everyone, communication broke down, and you found it hard to get it back and adapt.”     “So you all just decided to beat, s***h and hack away like cavemen until the problem went away. Congratulations Neanderthals, you won!”     His eyes caught Kia once again, who stared back without backing down, his mouth slightly curled up in a smirk, “Still can’t control all that power, huh? You’re coming with me for some special training, and you’re not going back out there until I see some improvement.”     Kia instantly experienced a feeling of dread as cold sweat drenched his back at the thought of the so-called specialised training. The ‘instructor’ was called Hide Takeshi, a ‘Shepherd’ at Cendo Academy. He looked at them one by one and then all together.     Continuing with his lecture, “As Taliums we are the only ones that stand between these lesser humans barely functioning society and complete decimation, we may not all want to, but it’s our responsibility.”     He finally breathed out and said, “Remember where we come from, our origins and what our goals are, hold your lofty ambitions high as they define you.”     After finishing with a partially cryptic conclusion, he left the room, leaving our young protagonists to comprehend and understand their shortcomings so as to grow from it. On his way outside the academy, Hide’s expression worsened as he received a call.     He looked around first and then stroked his earlobe and the small chip embedded within his ear picked up. He listened for some time before finally replying with a simple “yes” after which he ended the call.     ‘Sighs.’      “It seems the other side has really picked up whatever plan it is they have, looks like we’ll need all the help we can get real soon.” He expressionlessly looked back at the academy where he left the three Digiums before he continued on his way.k