A soft breeze moved through the dense forest canopy as flickers of light cut through gaps in the leaves. The stillness was unfamiliar. For the first time in what felt like hours or possibly seconds Access Denied breathed in real air.
He was lying on a path next to a village farm, his body partially sprawled against the roots of a thick, moss-covered tree. Nearby, smoke languidly meandered from the chimney of a small farm constructed of gray stone and aged wood. And further ahead, in the valley, stood a village walled with iron and ancient brick, tall towers, flags waving, and a town square visible from even this distance.
The sign over the city gate read Sorahara. Access Denied then sat up slowly, rubbing his neck."Where am I now...?" he muttered, voice flat, but with a strange sort of bored curiosity. His eyes glowed faintly. He starts to think about how he got to this point. He remembers himself fighting with Content Deleted. A voice broke the silence."You alright there, stranger?" A man approached. He was a villager, plain clothes, and he was carrying a basket of firewood. He paused when he got closer, noticing the glitched aura distorting slightly around Access Denied's frame."You're not from around here, are you?" Access Denied blinked slowly. "Not sure where 'here' is."
The villager knelt nearby, setting his basket down. "Well... this is Sorahara. You're lucky to wake up here and not in one of the CT Faction zones." Access Denied tilted his head. "CT Faction?" "Chaotic Faction," the villager explained, voice low. "They enslave entire worlds and erase free will across star systems. Access Denied didn't react. He pulled a twig from his hoodie. Access denied replied inconsiderately," That sounds... annoying."
The villager stared at him. "You've never heard of them? They're led by Karma, the god of chaos himself." Access Denied blinked. "Okay." The villager leaned in, lowering his voice. "His son controls this area. They call him Kaosu the 'Lord of Chaos.' Some call him Chaotic. Just hearing Karma's name makes people scared. But you... you don't seem scared."
Access Denied shrugged, looking at a nearby butterfly. "Scary names don't make someone strong." Before the villagers could respond a distant explosion reverberated across the valley Sorahara. The villager dropped his basket, panic rising. "My family, my wife and daughter, live there!" He bolted towards the burning city. Access Denied stood up slowly, brushing himself off. "Guess I'll check it out."
Sorahara's central plaza was engulfed in a crimson inferno. The explosion had leveled several homes, injuring many people. Cries of terror echoed through broken streets. Rubble blanketed the square, and in its center. The mayor knelt, trembling and standing before him was a figure drenched in chaotic energy.
At the heart of Sorahara, devastation reigned. Cobblestones laid jagged; market stalls splintered. Villagers cowered, clutching one another as a crackling red energy pulsed from a stone dais. There, Kaosu stood, his corrupted veins flickering. At his feet, the mayor kneeling was dragged toward him, convulsing.
Anyone who neared Kaosu writhed in pain, heartache, headaches and even blacking out. The villager collapsed, trembling. The sheer presence of him made people drop.
Literally
The villager who ran ahead now collapsed, clutching his chest. Around him, others fainted, vomited, or screamed, chaos blooming in their bodies like a virus. A few began twitching, foaming at the mouth. Kaosu raised his hand slightly. Another man collapsed. Everyone dropped… except one.
At the edge of the crowd, crouched beside a toppled cart, was Access Denied. He was munching on a burnt fruit bun a villager had dropped in panic. " Mmm this is good, I can't believe someone left this snack here for anyone to get."
In concern for his new friend's wellbeing the villager shouted out," What are you doing, run while you still have the energy!" Access Denied munches on more food unaware of the chaos. Kaosu turned, eyes narrowing. …Hey, Imbecile." Access Denied looked up, still chewing. "Hmmmm?" Kaosu's tone grew sharper. "What's your name and why is my chaotic energy not causing you to faint; are you even human?" Access Denied replied ," are you the person that made this food? It's really good. Kaousu replied" Do I look like a chef to you?"
Replying back confused, Access Denied said," Well I mean—". "Good grief, just forget about it."said kousu. Access Denied tilts his head. Kousu says" I'll say this once more, what's your name, and why is my chaotic energy not causing you to faint and are you even human?" Brushing crumbs from his lap, Access Denied replies,"Hello I'm Access Denied, no, I'm not human and what 's chaotic energy?" The silence was so thick it felt like a glitch had just torn through the sky. Kaosu blinked. "I am Kaosu, son of Karma. I have divine blood, you fool."
Access Denied looked past him. "Is that a goat?" The villager barely able to talk muttered," You've doomed this world. Enraged, Kaosu vanished from sight then appeared midair, his fist already coming down. The shockwave of his punch shattered the air–-a slicing scream that echoed like broken glass, Access Denied was sent hurtling into a distant mountain, slicing it clean in half on impact.
Bizarrely an asteroid fell right on top of him, devastating nearby land. He says," Thank god this isn't the village, they had good bread." Kaosu reappeared above, he delivered an axe kick which sent him straight down onto the mountain. Even though it caved in on itself, a hand pushed through the rubble. Access Denied stood up, coughing dust. Kaosu narrowed his eyes. "You're still standing?" Access Denied looked confused. "I think that goat ran off."
Kaosu's brow twitched; they both dashed forward and somehow Access Denied tripped on a rock. "What, when did that get there?" Kaosu's follow-up combo sent Access Denied crashing through three mountain ranges, each impact snapping the horizon like glass. Access Denied groaned, half-buried in cratered earth, "Ever since I met this guy, my luck's been terrible…" "I haven't been lucky since my prior fight. Does every punch he throw multiply my misfortune?" He blinked. "Wait… Could it be? His punches… are like calamity multipliers. They bring bad luck?"
Access Denied had flung something. A single piece of green bits now lodged into Kaosu's arm causing quantum-level damage. Kaosu's eyes flared. "You dare—?!" Furious, Kaosu vanished and reappeared in seven afterimages, unleashing a flurry of uppercuts that rocketed Access Denied into orbit. He watched the world shrink below as a crater bloomed on the grasslands. The impact left a crater the size of a lake, barely missing the city.
Kaosu materialized above him again, sending him hurtling back toward Erid. Before he could crash, twenty-seven flaming meteors pelted him like a hailstorm all occurring in half a second. When the smoke cleared, Kaosu appeared once more, delivering a crushing blow that sent Access Denied smashing into a lunar fragment, fracturing it.Then Kaosu reappeared. With a barrage of attacks Strike after strike after strike—until he sent Access Denied through the core of a moon. The moon cracked, then shattered.
Access Denied coughed, blood glitching at the edges of his aura. He was actually taking damage. As a last resort Access Denied was ready to activate the system.Suddenly, time felt denser. A figure stepped between them, hand outstretched. Light rippled at his fingertips. And then two fingers caught both of their fists Mid-punch. The figure stood between them, calm, balanced and unmoved. "I see... You've both made quite the mess." He looked at Access Denied, then Kaosu. "My name is aoikishi. And we have a lot to talk about."