WebNovels

Chapter 10 - Chapter 9: Man, Machine, Toddler

16 years ago: Lunar of the Phoenix

The night sky hovered over Grazanopolis in sheer and utter beauty. The millions of stars twinkled as if an angel's horn had brought them to life, their colors endless. The blood red crimson moon, its face like that of a demon's smile, intriguing, maybe unsettling. Yet aesthetically pleasing to the eye, it's subtle red light gently laying upon the broad, bustling city below.

Lucanaships cruised along the heights of skyscrapers, cars beeping and honking on the road. People conversing and walking with each other, intoxicated or getting to that point of drunkenness. Simply having a good time, celebrating a holiday of the omiverse, the day of the Phoenix, the day of rebirth and life.

There are twelve months in the year of the omiverse, a total of five-hundred days. And each month, known as Lunar's, are named after twelve clans of Mythics. Starting from the Basem, Dragoon, Tirantils, Zeuds, Jegar, Brazea, Phoenix, Monji, Oizan, Basilisk, Geri, and last, the Kitsune.

While these citizens enjoyed their time on this amazing holiday.

All but one man didn't.

Nebulous smoke trailed from his cigarette, calmly ambling down the teeming, celebratory sidewalks of this city. A tall, rough looking man, around the height of six-three. A mustache and beard of peach-fuzz. Long, wild yet slicked black hair that brushed against his lower neck, a few loose strands falling over his forehead. His sharp, yet lazy and tired eyes are the color of fresh pineapples. His sword-like eyebrows furrowed, easy to tell he was irked of something.

Attired in loosely black coveralls with black boots, one hand in his pocket as the other held the cigarette, taking another drag of it.

"Hey Rust!!" One of the two drunk men had nearly yelled, both chuckling to each other sitting at a nearby table. Multiple bottles of booze open and gone. "Not gambling tonight again??" He asked, his deep, grating voice laced in sarcasm.

Rust took a pause in his steps, looking over to the drunken men, "nah, not tonight. Gotta save up some more cash anyways."

"That would be best," the other replied, grinning, "after all, you COMPLETELY SUCK AT IT!!" The bald pair of men had cackled their asses off, slapping their knees.

Rust frowned, cringing, "yeah-yeah, you two are funny as hell." He lightly snarled, "how 'bout you two drunk retards back off just like your hairlines."

Rust sat his hands in his pockets, stomping off as the men continued to bawl their eyes out. In all honesty, those two men weren't exactly wrong. Rust did suck at gambling. Whether he just didn't have a good strategy, or his luck simply lacks, maybe both. Rust always wondered how he ended up in such a state. Hoping he'll hit it big by gambling.

Rust made a turn down a dark alleyway, looking up to the stars for a short moment, 'look at me, from racing lucanaships and cars… to a simple mechanic with a gambling addiction. This shit sucks ass…'

Rust kept forward, his eyes landing on a strange, small carriage set atop a couple of boxes. Rust shrugged, not caring much about it, until he heard a baby.

Deciding to check, Rust steadily approached it, and turned the carriage to face him, showing a small baby boy. A little bush of crimson hair and big grey eyes, orange pigments on the edges of his eyelids, staring at Rust in pure curiosity.

"What the hell…?" Rust quickly threw his cigarette to the side, stomping it out, and looked back to the baby, "who just leaves a kid here??"

The baby reached his pudgy hand out, holding Rust's finger, gently laughing.

Rust had staggered, '…should…should I even bring this kid back with me?' Rust asked himself, but his thoughts went back to his past. He too was an orphan, never having a parental figure in his own life, until he became a father.

But it was short lived.

 A child dead from sickness and his wife leaving him.

Rust closed his eyes, his lips tighten as he shakes his head, 'screw it… I'll take 'em to an orphanage. It'll be for the best.'

With that, Rust picked the carriage up, leaving.

***

In a small living room, set with a long brown couch and cushioned chair. A few bottles of beer sat on the counter, boots placed by the entrance of the door. A ceiling fan slowly spun over Rust's head as he rubbed his short beard. Along with a flame-headed baby watching a children's show on the large televisor, anchored on the wall, right next to a patio.

Rust brought the baby back with him.

'I couldn't just leave the kid…and I don't trust any orphanage much either. But what the hell am I 'posed to do??' Rust argued to himself, watching the baby wave his pudgy hands at the screen, staring at some type of hedgehog character running at high speeds, 'I'm already takin' much more than my ass can chew…'

Rust took a seat beside the baby, merely watching the televisor. The child turned to face Rust, his big grey eyes widened a bit, tilting his head.

"What is it squirt, ya hungry?"

The baby suddenly sneezed, shooting out a spark of white flames, right onto Rust's face.

He looked like a piece of charcoal.

The baby laughed, all while Rust squinted his eyes, "happy your entertained…" Rust paused, "now that I think about it, you don't gotta name, don'tcha?"

Rust picked up the baby, the child extended his arms, slapping his hands on Rust's face. Rust didn't mind much, nevertheless, pondering to himself, his eyes studying the toddler.

'Crimson hair…' Rust spoke to himself, and that's when a name came. "Alright," Rust spoke aloud, lifting the child higher, "from now on, your name is gonna be Crim; Crim Magmastiem. How is it kid?"

The baby—Crim, was silent, and suddenly busted into laughter.

Rust smiled, "then it's settled. Welcome to your new home, Crim."

***

Five years had passed since, and Rust was a new father of Crim, playing with the boy as much as he had gambled. Which was quite a lot. But Rust being the responsible adult, decided to put his 'high risk and high reward' down, focusing on Crim. He taught the boy much, potty training, using certain objects and artifacts, interacting with others, and of course, combat.

While in normal circumstances, a parent's primary focus wasn't combat. However, in the omiverse, many things could happen. As people say, as beautiful as the omiverse is, it's a dangerous place. And many threats are always dormant until unleashed.

This was a very normal thing within the omiverse as well, most parents had to teach their children how to fight, whether it was hand-to-hand, weapons, and of course chaos, using chaotic arts and aura. Children had to understand that when the stakes are high and if they're in danger, it was their life, or the enemies. Defeat them in combat without murder, sure, it was a good code. But sometimes, killing would have to be necessary in certain situations. A very grey area, not black or white.

It's been five years since Crim had been under Rust's care.

On a slim road, many objects sat outside, from bikes, hoverboards, wheels, many miscellaneous things from different people lay on the side. Long, high and broad walls of apartments spread on either side.

Crim, now five years old, came in hot, shooting a fiery white punch towards Rust.

Rust merely weaved his head as Crim's fist flew past him and caught his wrist. Crim's lips went straight, his eyes wide in fear, 'crap…!'

Rust pulled his free arm in, and punched Crim right on the gut. Crim's eyes went white, all the air from his lungs sent out like a cannon. The boy looked as if his soul was slowly flying away from him as his body slumped.

Still holding onto Crim's wrist, Rust slowly sat the boy down to the floor as Crim held his stomach, grumbling to himself. Rust smirked, "and…. that's what? Two hundred to zero now? Ya gotta stop running in headfirst squirt, try strategizing too, ya know?" Rust laughed, sitting his hands on his waist, "it's too bad your winning streak isn't as bright as those flames."

"Keep laughin' you old fart!" Crim hopped to his small feet, pointing at Rust, "lucky shot. That's all!"

"Sure bud."

"…" Crim squinted his eyes, "I hope the block on your new project blows…"

"Jokes on you boy, I got a new cylinder head and gaskets."

"Like the other one that's in the junkyard?"

"...It'll have a friend to sit with if he doesn't shut up."

Crim frowned, sticking out his tongue.

Rust chuckled, ruffling Crim's red hair, "now that I think about it, I don't think I showed you the other project I just got, huh?"

Crim quickly looked to his father, "a new one?? Really? Can I see???" Crim asked, gently hopping on his feet as his grey eyes sparkled.

Rust laughed, "sure, c'mon kid."

The two walked towards the large garage door. Rust pulled a small remote from his pocket, pressing the button, letting the door slowly open.

There sat a beautifully lowered, modded car. A coupe, slick; like a smooth rectangle with sharp edges. The paint is a pretty color of emerald. A fat set of chrome wheels with the tires perfectly aligned with the wide fenders. A pair of circular red stoplights on the back. In the front, the carbon fiber hood with two large open shapes of squares to allow air inside, a cowl induction. Which came down at an angle. The headlights are slit like snake eyes, set diagonally, giving a very aggressive look. It was a wonderful car.

But Crim's eyes went to something else, a bit large, covered by a tarp, maybe a hatchback?

Rust swiftly removed it, showing a Lucanaship. It was sleek, clean wouldn't even be the word to describe it. The body style is almost like a sharp oval, nearly. The back wide like a square with round angles, having two rectangular break lights. A small duck lip slightly sat over the stern. Long blacked out windows swept from the sides to the front of the windshield. The front hood of the Lucanaship is narrow, giving it the perfect aerodynamics to even move at such high speeds. Two headlights that sat on either side, vertically. The front grill is wide, which allows the engine to absorb the chaos energy, giving it the power to operate.

"Woahh…" Crim was in a complete trance from this Lucanaship. With his father being a mechanic, and heavily infatuated with motor vehicles in general, it was obvious Crim had seen many types of cars and ships. But this was different. "What type is it??"

Rust grinned, popping the long hood of the ship, the top nearly hitting the ceiling lights above, "this here my boy, is a Zx7. A specialized fifty-speed manual that can push over nine-hundred million miles per hour. Or much faster than the speed of light," Rust lightly chuckled, wiping dust from the large engine, coated in purple paint.

Crim ran over to his dad, looking down in the engine bay, everything Crim stared at was complex, but it intrigued him, "coooool. When did you get it dad?"

"Some old guy didn't want it, so I decided to buy it off his hands." Rust claimed, "It's an older model as you can see, made in the year 2000x, Lunar of the Dragoon. It's got a few hiccups, but with some fixes, new parts and some good tunes, this thing could wipe the floor with even newer models of Lucanaships and other racers called Velociters. This thing here was made for speed kiddo."

Crim eyed Rust, "did you used to be a Velociter dad?"

Reminiscent light had gently crossed through Rust's yellow eyes, "yep. It was fun—no it was amazing. I had a great time back then."

"Why'd ya stop?"

"Meh, got tired of it," Rust waved it off, "wanted to focus on other things. Like the brat standing next to me."

Crim gave an irked squint to Rust, then eyed the ship, "could I learn more about Lucanaships dad?"

"Of course kiddo!" Rust rubbed Crim's head, "I'll teach ya everything I know."

"Awesome! I'm gonna make the build the best Lucanaship when I'm older dad!"

"Can't wait little dude," Rust chuckled, "lets head back out for now, alright? You still got a lot to learn."

"Okay!"

Crim and Rust headed back outside, but Crim was more excited than ever now. Now he can be just like his dad, a genius of mechanics.

****

Crim was now twelve years old, and he's learned a great deal of working on cars and lucanaships from Rust. And it was safe to say that Crim was absorbing every piece of information, every action, every part of working on vehicles exceptionally.

Right now, the two were in the garage of their home, working on the Lucanaship. Both Crim and Rust are individually wrenching on something within the engine bay together. Their palms and fingers had small patches of grease on them, but the two didn't care.

Suddenly, a knock on the front door was heard.

"Keep at it kiddo, I'll be right back."

"Okey!"

Rust quickly made way through his much cleaner apartment, pictures of cars, lucanaships, along with him and Crim on walls or on countertops. Rust opened the door, not coming to see anything, "the hell?"

That was until his yellow eyes shifted down, staring at a simple piece of paper, neatly folded into that of a rectangle. 

Rust picked it up, opening it.

[Your time has now exceeded its limit.]

Rust stiffened, his heart dropped like a dumbbell falling from the top of a skyscraper. His greasy hands slightly shivered, fingers nearly twitching.

'It can't…' Rust denied in his thoughts, 'I thought I had more time. How the hell did she even find me…? When is she gonna be he—"

"You okay dad?"

Rust hastily turned around, more like a flinch. Crim stood not far from the doorway, holding a small wrench in his hand, his grey eyes eyeing his father in curiosity.

"Yeah kiddo…" Rust gave a wry chuckle, "everything's all good. Just some mail about a part that might be delayed. Y'know how it is."

"So dumb…" Crim scoffed, "they can send a piece of paper faster than the actual part?"

"The mailing world might be more complex than we think squirt," Rust jested, although one could hear the obvious tension in his voice. "Let's get back to the ship, otherwise we'll be pulling another all-nighter."

"Last time was butt cheeks…"

Rust laughed as he closed the door behind him, heading back to the garage with Crim. But now, Rust had something lingering over his shoulder, a phantom, an impending doom that would show sooner than later.

As days passed, the two kept work with the lucanaship. It was currently night, Rust sat at the patio, smoking a cigarette. Crim was already knocked out in his room, snoring away like some fat animal.

Rust gave a taxing sigh, staring at the display of stars overhead the walls of apartments that stood parallel to him. 'How the hell can I make more money…?' Rust asked himself, taking another hit of his cigarette, letting the smoke drift from his lips, 'fixing cars both at work and as a business is helping a lot…but I guess it's not enough…'

Light knocks could be heard at the door.

Rust paused.

He sat his cigarette into an ashtray and reluctantly went to the door.

Standing before it, Rust felt his throat constrict as if someone was choking him to death. It felt as if he stood at the threshold to hell, then something less…lighthearted, to say the least.

He opened it.

Rust stared down to a woman standing at five-four, hands set behind her back.

Dressed in a red hanfu, having the embroidery of pink cherry blossoms. Wearing a compressed black shirt under. Yet the curves of her wide hips are still distinguishable under the loose clothing. Her long auburn hair is set in two fat, tight buns with golden hairpins. A mask with a singular spiral on the left of her face.

Simplistic, yes. Ominous? Very much so.

Rust began to sweat.

"Rust," her disappointed voice soft, honeyed, yet ethereal from the mask set on her face.

"Ai Ling…"

She shook her head as she entered the small apartment, "Rust. Rust. Rust…" The woman sighed, turning to face him as he closed the door behind them, "do you know how many years it's been?"

Rust merely clicked his tongue, walking past Ai Ling, entering the living room area, coming to a stop. Before he could even answer, Ai Ling slowly lowered her head to the side, slightly, "there's another person here."

"It's my son…he's sleeping."

"Isn't your child already dead?"

Rust gritted his teeth, letting his words slowly roll from his tongue, "he's not my real son… But I'm takin' care of 'em."

Ai Ling eyed a small picture of Crim and Rust, "cute kid." She commented, facing him, "anyways, you know why I'm here, surely?"

"That much is obvious."

"With me being a part of the Preghiere All'Inferno, it hurts my pride…" Ai Ling's voice had softened more, almost like a woman disappointed in her husband, "being played by some retired Velociter—that I've invested so much time and money in. MY time. All for you to decide to run away and move to a different planet. In an entirely different province, at that. A shame. Truly."

"Ai Ling—"

"Ms."

Rust was irked, that much was obvious as he shut his eyes, his lips gone straight, "Ms…Ai Ling. I just need more time. Please, I'm almost there."

Ai Ling raised her hand, inspecting her pretty French-tip nails. She seemed disinterested, "Almost?" Ai Ling questioned with a light scoff, "almost isn't enough Rust. You're in debt for over ten million ruphes. Do you know how ludicrous that is? And I gave you ten whole years exactly. No… Your time is up."

Just as Rust tried to rebut once more, Ai Ling calmy spoke over him, "if you don't pay what's owed, I'll kill you. And that child who's sleeping soundly."

Rust had come to a full stop, his skin nearly pale hearing that. He quickly fell to his knees, prostrating to Ai Ling, "don't hurt him…please. Just kill me instead." Rust raised his head, looking dead into that spiraled eye of Ai Ling's mask, "let that boy live."

Ai Ling tilted her head, pondering, "well…" Ai Ling slowly flexed her fingers back and forth, "it makes sense for a parent to die before their own child. I'll make the exception."

Rust stood, bowing, "thank you…"

"Yes—Yes, I'm on a tight schedule, so let's make this quick."

While this wasn't the best outcome, it was better than Crim being dragged into it. There was obviously a huge difference in power between Rust and Ai Ling, that much was evident. And fighting her would cause more harm than done, especially to Crim.

This was the only thing Rust could do to save his son.

Rust quickly raised his hands, "please, could I just get a few minutes at least?"

"Just make it quick."

Rust hastily yet quietly made way through the apartment. After gathering a few things, Rust made a note on a piece of paper, set with a grey headscarf. Something that Rust always wore during his time as a Velociter. A piece of memory that he'd never forget.

Rust looked back to the dark room Crim was sleeping in. Rust approached the doorway, eyeing Crim sleeping sideways on his bed, snoring. Rust's expression was unreadable. This was the last time he'd see Crim, ever. Indefinitely. And this was his final goodbye.

Soon, outside, somewhere far from Grazanopolis. Rust stood in a dry, clay colored hill, surrounded by nothing but rocks. A sign sitting not far from him.

[Perick's Stoop]

Ai Ling hovered above Rust, her pinky aimed at him, "well, Rust, my dearest old friend and partner, it has surely been an unfortunate pleasure."

"Yep…"

Rust stared out to the stars above, his thoughts on nothing but Crim. All the time they spent together, twelve years. Teaching him to handle himself, building his passions, his dreams.

His heart.

Rust only wished he could spend more time with his son, even give him one last hug…

'The stars huh…' Rust chuckled in his head, 'that's where ya came from son, somewhere out there.'

'Maybe that's why you're so special…' Even through all of this, Rust made a gentle smile. Though this was his end, it wasn't Crim's. His boy would be alive and well, and he knew that flame-headed kid could handle himself. Much better than Rust did at his age.

'I'm sorry for being such a bastard, my boy. I love you…'

Rust felt that heavy weight of gravity shift, closing on him like a black hole. But he kept that smile on his face. He took the pain. Even as his entire body was being erased from existence…

***

In what seemed to be a hot spring, a woman with golden hair bundled in a loose bun, had raised her head, looking up from sitting in the water. Her violet eyes shifting right where she felt a pulse of power.

It was Valentine.

'That chaotic energy…Ai Ling? What's she doing here…?' Valentine asked herself, tensing a bit. Valentine felt an itch to at least check on what was going on. She had a feeling that whatever it was, Ai Ling killed someone. But she merely sighed, shaking her head.

'As long as it's not affecting me, I got nothing to do with it.'

***

The next morning back at the apartment, Crim left his room. "Dad?" The boy called out.

No response.

Crim checked Rust's room, the bathroom, closet, garage, everywhere. Until his grey eyes noticed a note and head band on the table.

"What's this?" Crim asked, picking up the note to read it.

[Hey squirt, something came up…Let's just say I won't be back. I left my banking info in my drawer in my room, lotta money saved up for ya. Be wise with it, and don't do anything stupid boy. You've learned a lot son, and I'm proud of you. Make the best Lucanaship ever Crim, go beyond the stars. I love you, son.]

Tears had hit the note, Crim sniffled as he read everything. "That…asshole…"

Crim eyed the headband, picking it up, tying it around his head, a fire lit even brighter, hotter than before.

"I'll build something alright, outta this entire omiverse. And when I find you, I'm gonna kick your ass, dad…"

****

Present Time: Year 2018X; Lunar of Basem.

Crim eyed the empty launch pad of where his Lucanaship sat, his fathers. His teeth grounded, fists clinched, he was seething, "mother fuckers…"

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