Rexian Rumble

Even field. Where four had stood against one, now only two people remained. The universe in their eyes and time at their fingertips, The Reaper took a step back. Lore had never had this many voices in their head. A jumble of the strongest attributes of each of them rumbled through their mind as they tried to develop a strategy to use against The Rexian. Calm came when The Reaper emitted a harrowing, siren like roar; the shriek pierced the eardrums of almost all that heard it and even went so far as to crack the windows of the nearby shops but as it fell silent so did everything else. The barriers were broken and the hordes unleashed. The Rexian took a step back as his army washed over him and charged at The Reaper. They stood almost completely still, each blow making contact but doing little to hurt them. The Reaper simply waited. After a minute, The Rexian’s forces had realised their current tactic was ineffective so slowed their attacks while rethinking their plans. The Reaper took this opportunity to reach at their belt. It wasn’t there. The staff that would be their scythe was missing. Lore panicked for a moment before a voice echoed in the back of their head. They closed their eyes and outstretched their arms. The guttering of a nearby building flew into their left hand and some copper drainage piping flew into their right. The two metals liquified in their hands; it was an unexpected sensation as the room temperature liquid in their left hand travelled across their body and into their right. The metals came together to become something new. They danced and swirled, spiralling until they formed a replica of the missing staff. The Reaper opened their eyes and marvelled at their creation. They spun it before slamming one end into the floor. As they did, it grew. Now taller than them, they focussed their energy and the blade appeared; at the same time, so did a smile on their face. The Rexian’s forces hesitated for a moment but the fire in their eyes continued to burn still. The Reaper lifted themselves a foot from the floor and held up their left hand. A green disc formed. They grabbed at it before it could grow larger. They spun the disc in an anti-clockwise direction and with it, The Rexian’s army began to retreat. With adequate breathing room created, they let go of the disc and time resumed in its normal direction. The first wave simply charged and were swept away with ease, the second tried to delay the inevitable but in doing so, left themselves open to attack. There weren’t many left, but those who were proved a greater challenge than the people who came before them. Their scythe was a slow and sometimes ineffective weapon but it did the job, taking the enemies numbers from the low fifties to the tens with ease. Two remained, not counting The Rexian himself, on the street now carpeted with incapacitated locals. Trying to hit them was like trying to swat a fly with a boulder; if their attack connected, it would work but trying to get that connection was the issue. Lore’s hands were taken from the steering wheel and The Reaper’s external form changed. Now appearing more like one of Space’s Paragons, The Reaper’s scythe melted. Lore watched from the back of The Reaper’s mind as the liquid metal poured between The Reaper’s hands like a floating whip. The liquid went from a brassy bronze to cherry red to a near white shade of pink. The Reaper took it into his hand, cracking it towards the closest of the two remaining assailants. The metal froze in time after it wrapped around the space between the Rexian thrall’s upper and lower arms causing her to scream out in pain. The Reaper then pulled the still frozen ring, cutting her in two. Lore wrestled their way back into control as The Reaper did the same to the final attacker. With only The Rexian left, The Reaper returned to their normal appearance.
“I’m sorry.” They said. “I didn’t want to kill them… It was out of my control.” If Lore could have cried then The Reaper would have too.
“I believe you…” The Rexian seemed confused. “A human Paragon who cares… never thought I’d see the day. Chaos and Famine either used their powers to end the misery of the oppressed or to destroy the planets of the stupid. Arrogant and short sighted. But you, you seem to genuinely want to help.” He shook his head. “What’s that human phrase, ‘one bad apple spoils the bunch’? Shame.” His eyes blazed blue as energy crackled around him. His skin lit up as he too began to levitate. “One good apple cannot undo the damage of the bad.” A black cloud followed him as he charged at The Reaper.
The universe slowed as The Rexian started. The Reaper backed away and like a child learning to swim, clung to the wall behind them. They pushed off with their elbow covering their face. As it collided with The Rexian’s face, time resumed. He was sent flying backwards, crashing through the divider that separated his landing pad from the street, causing debris to litter his shuttle. Black blood oozed from his nose and eyes, surfacing from his dented skull. He spluttered as he began his second running attack. Lore realised they had a choice to make, save or spare. They held an internal vote as he ran at them. They needed a decider. The Reaper reached for the puddle of metal that had been their staff, they had reached a consensus. Waving the sheet like a matador’s cape, they taunted him. He charged, the metal melted and it was over. The cooling alloy fused his four arms behind his back causing him to stumble and collide with a nearby wall. Unconscious, The Reaper took the chance to reinforce his shackles by drawing more metal from the immediate area. His prison was built around him, a tailor made cage just for him. Not even the powers Death had imbued him with would allow his escape and while half of The Reaper’s occupants had disagreed, the fight was over.
“You chose to let him live. Why? He was ready to murder his entire species, more than that, he was ready to wipe the entire system clear and you let him live.” Durien flamed at Lore. “Weakness.” He scowled.
“No. Not weakness. Punishment.” Lore spoke with a level head. “He will watch as we cure this plague and undo his work. He will watch as we continue to help his people and he will watch as everything he said turns out to be wrong. And hopefully, he will learn something.” Lore wrapped their arm around Char. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have something we need to do.” And with that, they formed The Reaper one more time and vanished into the space above.
“Ah, there you are. We were beginning to think you were never going to signal us. I assume it’s done then.”
“The Rexian is secure. We’ll begin bringing things back. You go ahead and start with the cure.” The Reaper smiled. They formed a green disc and aimed it at the closest orbital lab’s debris cloud. Turning the disc resulted in a flash of amber and red as the explosion was undone. The station intact, they froze it. Moving in closer, they removed the explosive before unfreezing and moving on to the next. It took an hour or so but their half of the job was over. They returned to the Rexel Five base to find that Brian and Alodrass had finished too. Things were finally coming to a head. Closing time.