"King... as in Whiteking... again?"
Bernard Ross, aka Red, Black, Azure, or all the colors in the spectrum King. Aerith had visited many universes during their search for Riley, and in almost all of those versions...
...Bernard was unhinged against other species, and a handful of them could even be considered evil. These Bernards have one thing in common—they all did not have a Hannah Ross by their side; either dead, or does not exist in the first place.
And considering this universe did not seem to have themarians, and therefore no Diana, and therefore no Hannah, it was clear to Aerith what kind of variant of Bernard this world has.
"So, you have heard of the King?" Shehard breathed out, "I do not know where you came from, but the energy I sense from is incredibly massive. Perhaps you can help us?"
"Oh, you are asking help from a stranger?"
And as Riley suddenly sat up from the ground, Shehard and his men all flinched and raised their spears; all of their eyes as wide as they could be.
"You must truly be desperate, or perhaps you have other intentions, Lieutenant Commander Shehard of the Common Alliance?" Riley then casually stood up; the holes across his vanta-black suit, closing as a smile crawled on his face.
"Everyone of us is desperate," Shehard ordered his men to lower their weapons, "The Whiteking's army moves like plague, and perhaps that is what they are. They have enslaved us, tortured us, even those that are far from the war are being brutalized by the humans."
There was a slight shiver in Shehard's voice, reflected only by the trembling of his hand which held his spear.
"The only reason we were able to conquer their home planet is that they have already abandoned it... and we wished to know the secret behind their... abilities."
"Commander, is it alright to tell them...?"
"It is clear they are not humans," Shehard once again ordered his men to stand down, "And if they wished to kill us, we would have already been dead. What we need now are more—Men, ready!"
And before Shehard could finish his words, he abruptly turned around and once again raised his spear; this time, toward the sky. His men followed suit; their obsidian spears, now emitting a laser that passed through the clouds.
Their lasers seemed to have been stopped by something, as a red silhouette of something colossal started to blanket the sky; its shadow, flickering beyond the clouds.
"Release!" Shehard then ordered his men to let go of their spears. And as they did so, the obsidian spears all flew toward the sky; leaving skirts of wind and thunder in their wake. Before their weapons could even reach the clouds, however, a ripple exploded.
The clouds withered away instantly, finally revealing the silhouette hiding behind—a face.
A face of someone familiar to Riley.
"Elder Tedi...?" Riley blinked a couple of times, tilting his head to the side as he looked at what seemed to be Tedi's face. It didn't take long for Riley to realize, however, that something was wrong with her.
Her eyes have always been emotionless, but never dead. But the Tedi overlooking Earth right now... did not even have eyes; her sockets, completely hollow. This Tedi... was just a corpse.
"King!"
"Whiteking...?" Aerith looked at Shehard, before focusing her eyes on Tedi—and there, on her left lower eyelid...
...was an individual wearing a white armor.
"That's... Whiteking?"
The armor of this Whiteking Variant was quite different. He didn't wear a helmet at all, and there his armor was quite bulky; taller, even. The shoulders were exaggeratingly wide, and there was some sort of drone hovering above them on both sides—the drones weren't the only ones hovering, even Whiteking himself was hovering.
His eyes were glowing orange, indicating that had also received the Guardian Force. There seemed to be no need to confirm this, however, as all of the Bernards across the multiverse have all swallowed the mysterious rock.
"But... what's with the mustache?" Aerith raised an eyebrow.
"Men, it is time to die!" Shehard and his men suddenly removed their clothes. One would probably immediately look away, but there was no need this time as their bodies were still completely covered.
Covered with bombs, that is.
"What are you doing, Commander Shehard!?"
"Oh?" And while Aerith seemed concerned, the smile on Riley's face persisted as he looked back and forth between Tedi's corpse and Shehard, "A suicide attack? I have never seen one not being used on me, this should be interesting."
"Commander Shehard, just retreat!" Aerith grabbed Shehard's arm, "There is absolutely no way you could win against... a Norinlad!"
"We know,"
And with those words, Shehard grabbed a knife from his waist; cutting down his own arm without any hesitation before flying straight toward King,
"But even if it is just a fraction of a percent, we need to try. It is for the good of the universe."
"What..." Aerith quickly let go of Shehard's dismembered arm. She was going to follow them, but Riley held her back.
"Let's just watch, Aerith. They are dying on their own terms, most people do not have that luxury."
"They don't have to die today!"
"But they will."
The sky turned dark. The scenery around them, almost drowning as Tedi's hand covered even the horizon.
"Is... Whiteking trying to destroy his own planet. Is he cra—"
And before Aerith could finish her words, Tedi's hand slammed down on Earth—completely obliterating an entire continent like it was a piece of cake, quite literally. Of course, the destruction won't stop there.
As Tedi's hand lifted up, Earth started to very slowly crack. Or in Aerith and Riley's case, it was happening almost instantly.
"What... what is Whiteking doing!?" Aerith emerged from the ground, brushing off all the dirt on her shoulders as she stared at the disappearing hand.
"It would seem Bernard Ross is a menace in this universe, Aerith," Riley also did the same as he emerged from the ground, "It truly makes one so proud."
"That is not something to be proud about," Aerith could really only sigh when she remembered who she was actually talking to, "We need to—"
"What are you?"
"..." Everyone seemed to be interrupting Aerith's words as a voice suddenly whispered from behind them. Riley and Aerith just very slowly turned around, and true enough, King was already hovering behind them.
"The white one seems to be human, but not quite. But you... you're a species I have not seen before."
And now that King was in front of them, one could see the obvious signs of whiting on the sides of his hair. But it was odd—his hair was showing his age, and yet out of all the Bernard Aerith had encountered, this one seemed... youthful. Young, even... 20s, perhaps even younger.
"What have you done to your world, Bernard?"
"Bernard...?" King's eyes started to squint as soon as he heard Aerith's words,
"How do you know my name? Who are—"
And before King could finish his words, a crack suddenly appeared in the air out of nowhere.
"Oh, it would seem we're going home, Aerith."
"No..."
"Hm? I thought you would be glad, Aerith."
And as the hole grew larger, the expression of worry on Aerith's face grew as wide as her eyes, "Whiteking should not—"
And once again, no one seemed to be allowed to finish what they want to say as Aerith and Riley were suddenly sucked in by the portal. As for King, he rushed toward the portal without even thinking. But alas, it already closed down before his hand could even get near it.
"Hm... Did that stranger just call me Whiteking? How odd..." King's eyes once again squinted as he stared at the empty air in front of him. And as the Earth he was hovering on began to completely shatter, only a small grunt escaped his lips.
And then, a boom followed as the entire planet collapsed in itself. King, however, just remained floating there surrounded by its remnants—like he was completely unaffected by everything that was happening around him.
"..." King hovered there without a single word; his eyes, just looking everywhere as he seemed to be thinking of something. And very soon, a small gasp escaped his mouth.
"A different universe," he whispered as his eyes turned wide, "There are other universes out there, a multiverse. A multiverse that sorely needs me...
...Interesting."
