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When I first began as an Alpha Candidate, I always swore to give everything my all... but that was back when my life wasn’t slowly spiraling into the depths of hell.
I look down at my arms, the multi-coloured lightning that once pulsed around them with amazing shows of power now beginning to become feeble sparks. Ever since the vestiges left, my powers have been weakening...
“BRING IT ON, PRIME!!!”
I’m forced to dodge as Xainti attempts to take my head off. I swiftly counter him, doing my best to minimize my movements and conserve my power, not that it's doing all that much. Even just those slight movements have lowered the energy in the bolts of lightning. Secret Force can't hold up for much longer, and that's not even talking about how much damage has been dealt to my body...
You see, when a Primian is born, 98% of them have at least 3 forms. I’m one of the few to have had more than that, and one of only three to have twelve.
But those forms each have a vestige representing them inside their vestige realm. The vestiges aren’t bound to the person they’re born with, and they can very easily be transferred over to someone else if they want to be. The main host has to agree to do it, but since the vestiges can prevent the host from using their forms, it’s better to just agree and coast on the embers.
But the thing is, my vestiges didn’t know about the fact that only embers would be left after they left. I never told them, because I didn’t want them thinking that they needed to stay, rather than going off to their new host to be happy with her forms. They still think that I can power the flames myself, which while true, requires me to use my life force flame, which doesn't go back up over time, and would therefore slowly kill me. Coincidently, I'm the only one who knows about this little fact, in my friend group that is. Nobody knows that, while my forms are living their dream life with their respective lovers, my dreams are slowly dying out because they're not here.
The irony there is, I’m actually in love with the person they transferred to. Not that I've ever told anyone that, originally out of shyness, now because of the fact that all of my friends—and my remaining family for that matter, hate me.
It started back when I was a teenager, and I didn't receive a slice of cake. It sounds weird, I know, but when you understand how my parents operated, it'll make sense.
Xainti throws several more punches that I quickly block and deflect. Our gazes meet, and I can see the same malice that he held the day he killed my parents shining within them. It's hard for me to believe that this insane bastard in front of me is the same one that used to be me and Thomane's best friend.
My parents, they were always very hands-off when it came to raising me and Thomane. They were always there to give us guidance and scold us when we did something outrageously stupid, but it never went beyond that. Whenever me and Thomane did something wrong, they would do something to punish us, like getting rid of desert. The only way we could get it back was by fixing the issue. This forced us to reflect on ourselves a lot, which ended up with me and Thomane growing up to be very well behaved and mature...
...almost anyway...
Two years before my parents died, they put me on one of these punishments. In hindsight, it was obvious what I was doing wrong, but I didn't see it back then. I tried asking my friends, my sister, and even my vestiges for clues, but nothing came of any of it. My parents died before I could improve myself, not that it made any difference, seeing as it took me until, I kid you not, 2 hours ago to figure it out.
The thing was that, I was being self-centred, but I'd blinded myself to it by telling myself that I was doing it for the sake of others. To be someone that they'd want to consider their friend. Someone that they'd want to love and care about. Someone that could stand as the Hyperversal Alpha and be proud of everything they'd accomplished to get there...
...Instead... I just got everyone to walk away from me by being selfish.
Xainti lunges forward again, and I throw several fast and hard punches and kicks to keep him back, but this results in steam beginning to rise from my arm. Terror grips me as I realize just how close to the edge of everything I am. As soon as Secret Force runs out of strength, I'm 100% going to die!
I look back to my frie- companions, because I'm not their friend anymore... Specifically, I look towards Ulusha Franza. Alpha name; Ultima Prima. First Alpha Candidate. Her shiny black scales, brilliant flowing blue hair, her large blue eyes and her absolutely perfect figure. She's the one I love with all my heart, and she's the one holding onto all of my vestiges. The stories I've heard from her tell me that they're all very happy with their respective lovers, and nothing could ever get them to leave...
With how things are going, this is probably the last time I'll ever be able to appreciate her beauty, seeing as Xainti is surely going to kill me once Secret Force is gone, assuming that I don't just die as soon as the form stops holding my body together.... but maybe that's for the better. Hindsight is also able to tell me of how uncomfortable Ultima was whenever I looked her over, and now she's the one who hates me the most.
Right beside her is Thomane Doramus. Alpha name; Opthomane Prima, my sister. She's definitely next in line for CEO of 'Hates Opthomas Prime Incorporated', but of course she is, she's the one who had to deal with me and my selfishness the most when we were young. It's no wonder why she's the number two Alpha Candidate, while I'm in last place. It's just saddening, due to the fact that I still have memories of when she was a baby and I would hold her close whenever she would cry...
None of the others are any better. I'm dead to them. Soon to be literally.
I've spent years trying to get my power to a point that I can continue fighting, even when my forms are all gone. Day-after-day of Zenkai boosts, slow progress slowly bringing me within my goals. It's all for nothing now. The whole reason I was doing it doesn't care anymore.
I... Nobody cares about me anymore... not even my once best friend and sister...
...perhaps... perhaps it's for the better that I just... let Opthomas Prime die. The warning example of someone who wanted to be an Alpha, yet lacked the proper attitude and awareness to really be one, resulting in them just dying alone, buried in some shallow grave without so much as a tombstone to mark the place.
...
Yes... It's for the best... No more Alpha dreams, no more pining for what doesn't exist anymore, no more of anything. Just... let everything go, and move on to the next stage of life.
Who knows? Maybe mum will finally let me have that slice of cake...
I turn back to Xainti, just in time for him to launch at me again. This time though, I don't try and minimize my movements. I move as much as is needed, and the result is a full powered punch slamming straight into Xainti's jaw. More steam comes out of my arm, but I force it back down and keep my arm bulked up, because I still need this power to last me!
Xainti's face falls as soon as he regains his balance, probably because I'm now beginning to throw everything I can at him and am no longer holding back to conserve extra power. So, he does something I should've expected as soon as I made this decision.
His body bursts into flames, and those flames begin to form a gigantic version of himself.
V
"A fire goliath?" I questioned him, only a few days after unlocking all the power that ended up ruining my whole life.
"Yeah, it's my response to your new transformations! You'll never be able to keep up with me!" Xainti had been so excited by his new technique. It's hard to believe that this is the same Xainti I'm fighting now.
I'd just smirked at the statement. "Like that'll happen."
^
I'm not even given a moment to think as the new flaming monster throws a kick and hits me directly. I'm only barely able to raise my arms to block some of the hit before I'm sent rocketing backwards and into a wall even further back than my companions. In fact...
As I pull my way out of the wall, I can see my companions looking at me, several of them gasp in shock. One look down tells me all I need to know, my left arm is entirely deflated, and my face is half deflated, leaving me as this extremely disproportionate beast.
I can't help but be a little surprised that even Ultima and Opthomane are watching, looking just as shocked as the others at my appearance. I can't help the sigh that escapes me, this isn't how I wanted them to see me. They already hated me enough, why make them hate the fact that I'm weak too?
I look towards Xainti, and then an idea comes to me. One that'll ensure that my final attack ends Xainti for good.
It looks like Ultima is about to say something, but I don't hear it. Instead, I take a tremendous leap high into the sky, pouring everything I can spare into the right arm, which I promptly use Reality Warping and Toon-Force on to allow it to stretch out and disappear into the clouds. Titanville is already devastated, so what's a little more damage?
Calling upon the embers of every other form, I shove them into every part of my body, allowing for me to overcome the shortfall of not having Secret Force everywhere anymore.
I can see Xainti in the heart of his fire goliath, looking increasing pissed off as the seconds pass. Then he starts shouting at me; "DAMN YOU, PRIME!" he screamed. "YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT! WHY ARE YOU STILL FEEBLY FIGHTING ME?!" He demands.
"Why?" I ask in a low voice, yet I know he can still somehow hear me over the noise. Images of all of my companions flash across my vision, each one bringing out every drop of the remaining embers in my body.
"So that Elriah can become the powerful Daxian she wants to be!" A blast of pink, grey and yellow lightning slams into his flame goliath's arm, immediately tearing it to shreds. "So Erisha and Zarodaka can their dream family!" The other arm is ripped to shreds by orange, green and violet lightning this time, despite his efforts to push back. "So Thomane and Muralia can finally achieve their dreams!" Both legs are decimated by blue, red, gold, black and white lightning.
"And so..." I dive forward and swing with my free arm to completely decimate the remains of the flame goliath, at which point the rest of my power is drawn away and into my right arm. "...ULUSHA AND THE OTHERS CAN LIVE HAPPILY..."
"When you have the power to do something to save others, you give it your all to do so. You always give everything your best and never give up on defeating the villain in front of you. Go beyond, my son!"
Mom... I wrench my eyes shut and give it everything.
At that moment I throw the punch with my stretched out arm, and a fist the size of a literal mountain comes down from the sky, my life force pouring into my flames, causing them to roar back to life one final time as lightning pouring out of my heart and spirals like a drill around my fist.
"...WITHOUT YOU RUINING EVERYTHING FOR THEM!"
Xainti only stares at me in terror as my fist slams into him, and I call out the cry that I've prepared since childhood...
"UNITED SPIRAL LIGHTNING SMASH!!!"
The fist hits the ground with a massive shock-wave, and the lightning begins bunching up until, just like the cord on a lawnmower, they all yank backwards and begin forming a massive tornado right in the heart of titanville, ripping the destroyed buildings out of the ground and hurling them everywhere. The flames within me finally go out, and my arm deflates back to normal size, leaving me at the mercy of the tornado and all the debris inside of it. Luckily, the tornado doesn't last much longer without the lightning acting as the source of the rotation, and I start falling from the sky only a few moments after losing the embers.
All I can hear is the wind rushing past me as I fall, the smoke from the destroyed buildings slowly coming into view as my vision begins to fade. The last thing I hear is lots of shouting before everything goes dark as I hit the ground.
In what feels like an instant I'm sitting up. Everything around me is dark, without a sign of light in sight. I look around, and immediately find the control panel that my own vestige uses, the screen representing my eyes only showing an error message which means that I'm in my own vestige realm... I slowly turn and look towards my flames, only one is still burning, my life force flame, but even that is looking incredibly weak. I sigh. I'd hoped for so much to happen in my life, but now it's ending before I can even get it truly started.
It's then that another light appears, so bright that I have to shield my eyes from the brightness. When the light finally does dim down enough, I can see my mother standing there, smiling in a way I haven't seen in years.
"Mom?" I say shakily, and she immediately rushes forward and pulls me into a tight hug, catching me off guard, since the last time we'd seen each other, as she was dying, she'd barely even addressed me, instead choosing to focus on Thomane. I know it's because I had only gotten worse than when the punishment started, but still.
It shocks me even more when she suddenly starts crying into my shoulder. "I'm so, so proud of you, Thomas. You've grown so much!" She sobs. I can only sit there in surprise as she speaks to me. "That was the most selfless thing you could have possibly done! Giving your own life since others can live..." but then her sobs start changing from that of a proud parent to straight up sad. "But it cost exactly that, your life, when your life hasn't even began yet!"
After she says that, I look towards my life force flame, which is now even dimmer than before.
"There's nothing we can about it anymore, Mom." I say, as I pull away from her and walk up to the life force flame and place my hand on it. All the power I used in the fight, coupled with my serious injuries, slowly stomping it out. "I made the choices I did, I caused my own fate to be what happened." I let out a sigh. "Besides, it's not like I have anything left out there. Everyone hates me. At least in the afterlife I have you and Dad, and I can finally get that slice of cake." I offer her a small smile, but all it seems to do is make her cry even more.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "YOU'RE LOSING HIM"?" I jump at the sudden shout that rages through the vestige realm. It's a voice I know all too well...
"Ultima? She's... angry at a doctor because I'm dying?"
"He burned through his life force to launch that final attack, and now there's almost nothing left. Not to mention the severity of his injuries! It's a miracle that the Alpha and CMO got him here at all! If he were anyone else then he would be dead already!" Someone, a doctor I'm assuming, replies in a respectful, yet clearly fearful tone.
"So you mean to tell us that you can't do anything? We're just forced to sit here and watch as my brother DIES in front of us and we never get to reconcile with him?"
"Thomane? She's... sounding worried for me? She hasn't been like this for years!"
"Unless you have someone who is able to, and is willing to bind their life to his, yes, Opthomas Prime is going to pass away here and now." The doctor says, sounding both sorry and afraid.
I let out a sigh and look back to the flames; almost completely out now. I can literally feel the life draining from me. "There's nobody out there who's willing to do that for me. Maybe they don't want me to die, but nobody cares about me that much anymore." I say to nobody in particular. Mom just looks broken up as she looks between me and the screen.
"Get out of my way!" I look up and my mother turns back to the screen as the whole vestige realm begins to lurch and move.
"Ultima...? What is she-"
"Like hell I'm losing you! Not after everything we've been through! Especially not after you've finally figured everything out!" She says in a tone I only rarely hear her speak in. "You're not dying on us!"
As soon as she says that, the vestige realm is overcome by lightning as all the flames begin to roar back to life. Mom just starts laughing joyfully and hugs me again. "Seems we'll have to get a raincheck on that cake. Life is calling you back. Live it well, Thomas!"
And just like that she's gone, and my eyes begin to flutter open and look at the ceiling. "Wha-"
"Thomas?"
I blink a few more times before turning over to the side, finding Ulusha standing at the side of the bed, immediately my eyes begin to trace over her form, but I stop myself before I can even reach her eyes and force myself to sit up, so that I can look down at my lap. The doctors start fussing over me for a few minutes before announcing that I am back to having a complete life-force flame and that my injuries are also significantly lesser thanks to Ultima taking part of it. The doctors then take their leave, saying that I will be able to leave by the end of the day if I have any more questions to let them know...
But only one question is flowing through my mind, and it passes my lips before I can even debate anything myself...
"Why did you save me, Ultima? Why would you bind your life to mine? You hate me, don't you?"
<(>—<)>
When Thomas arrived to the battlefield, I wasn't expecting anything to have changed with him, not after I yelled at him and he seemed to go catatonic. Nor did I expect him to start using Secret Force like he used to. But he did, and Xainti was barely able to do anything to him for the majority of their clash... until Thomas suddenly started going on the defensive for seemingly no reason.
He was constantly looking at his arms, his breathing becoming more and more panicked.
"What's happening?" Thomane asked. She was looking genuinely panicked for the first time I'd seen in years, at least when concerning her brother...
"I have no idea. This hasn't happened before." I heard Seren-Haf, the representative vestige of secret force that Thomas gave me years before. But...
"Seren... Your voice... it sounded normal!" I exclaimed. There was a bunch of muffled chatter, and I looked back to Thomas, only to find him looking back at me with an almost broken gaze. I can feel his eyes trace my form, something he's always done to satiate his obvious romantic feelings for me, and I'd always hated it. It made me feel like I was nothing but a slab of meat to him... yet this one felt different... the look in his eyes seeming to suggest that he was truly appreciating what he was seeing for the first time in ages.
But as quickly as I've noticed it, he's turning back around and slamming his fist straight into Xainti's harder than ever, causing blood to fly. But Xainti responded by activating a massive flame goliath and slamming Thomas into the wall behind us. He pulled himself out of the wall, but we were treated to the sight of Secret Force now only covering half of his body. He looks a little surprised as his gaze passes over me and Thomane, but then he sighs.
"Thomas?! What the hell is happening to you?!" I demanded at the sight of him, but he didn't respond. It didn't even seem like he heard me as he leapt higher than any building, his body completely deflating and his arm disappearing into the clouds.
It's then that I heard Xainti start screaming, silencing everything, and everyone, else. "DAMN YOU, PRIME!" he screamed. "YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT! WHY ARE YOU STILL FEEBLY FIGHTING ME?!" He demands.
"Why?" It was so quiet that even with Thomas speaking so quietly, we could still hear him, and he sounds resolute in his words.
"So that Elriah can become the powerful Daxian she wants to be!" A blast of pink, grey and yellow lightning slams into the flame monster's arm, Elriah gasps at the mention and looks ready to start crying. "So Erisha and Zarodaka can their dream family!" The other arm is ripped to shreds by orange, green and violet lightning this time, despite Xainti's efforts to push back, all the while Erisha and Zarodaka don't seem to know what to think. "So Thomane and Muralia can finally achieve their dreams!" Both legs are decimated by blue, red, gold, black and white lightning, Thomane doesn't even hold back her tears as Muralia holds her close.
"And so..." Thomas suddenly dives down, all the forms powering a massive punch that disperses the rest of the flames, leaving Thomas and Xainti face to face as Thomas let's out a massive scream; "...ULUSHA AND THE OTHERS CAN LIVE HAPPILY..."
I can't help the surprised sound that escapes me, the other vestiges all make similar sounds of surprise, and then I feel the reverberations in the flame pits of the vestiges Thomas gave me, as it sounds like flames roaring to life, and lightning bursts out from Thomas, spiraling up his arm... to the literal mountain that his fist has become.
"...WITHOUT YOU RUINING EVERYTHING FOR THEM!"
Xainti doesn't even try moving, he's frozen with terror, life likely flashing before his eyes. Yet all I can really focus on is the final roar that escapes Thomas, shooting forth a name that he's been talking about using ever since we were kids;
"UNITED SPIRAL LIGHTNING SMASH!!!"
The shockwave decimates all of the remaining buildings in the area, and the lightning forms a massive tornado that takes the decimated buildings and lifts them like they don't weigh millions of tons.
And then it's all over.
I look towards the skies, trying to find where Thomas is hovering, only to catch the terrifying sight of his body dropping limply from the sky. We try to reach him, but even with me and Thomane giving it our all, Thomas still slams hard into the ground.
We did everything we could to try and help him, even Erisha was fussing over, yet was unable to do anything to help him. The Alpha and Chief Medical Officer took him to the nearest medical centre in the Alpha Palace, and we went to visit him the next day, when he was allowed visitation, but the situation still wasn't improving. In fact, it was only getting dramatically worse.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "YOU'RE LOSING HIM"?" I scream right into the doctor's face, the only reason I'm not tearing it off being Erisha yanking back on me and gaining leverage thanks to the heels and stupidly large gown I'm wearing... yet Thomas always seemed to like it...
For as scared as the doctor looks, he still responds quickly and steadily. "He burned through almost all of his life-force to launch that final attack, and now he has almost nothing left in him. And that's not even talking about the severity of his injuries dragging him down even further! It's a miracle that the Alpha and CMO were able to get him here alive, anyone else and he'd very likely be waiting in line and be long dead by now! He's easily the most resilient Primian we've ever seen, because any other would've died long before now, even with our work."
I don't say anything, what even is there to say? Thomas is dying and there’s nothing we can do to save him, and just after he’s finally figured out his issues and started becoming the Thomas I love again…
Thomane, who’s been sitting nearby in her own Alpha Dress and getting consoled by Muralia, looks to the doctor as the tears she’s been holding back finally break through.
”So… you’re saying that there’s nothing we can do as my brother lays there dying without us being able to even reconcile with him?” She exclaims, unable to hold herself back as she nearly does the same thing I tried to, only being held back by Muralia.
The doctor just sighs, sounding and looking hopeless. “Unless you can find someone who can, and is willing to life-bond with him, Opthomas Prime’s life is going to unfortunately have to end here.”
I immediately turn and look at Thomas’s body, which is now beginning to lose colour…
“It’s now or Never, Ulusha…” a tense Seren-Haf says to me from the vestige realm. I focus in on Thomas again…
…my body moves on its own.
“Get out of my way!” I exclaim, shoving anyone dumb enough to get in my way aside. As soon as I’m close enough I grab ahold of him and pull him close so that our chests are meeting.
”Like hell I’m losing you! Not after everything we’ve been through! Not after you’ve just figured it everything out!” A few tears leak from my eyes, despite the fact that I have them wrenched completely shut. “You’re not dying on us!”
After a few seconds of nothing happening, I feel a warm feeling begin overcoming me. The result is lightning beginning to jump between our chests, promptly returning all the colour back to Thomas’s body, and as soon as that happens, I can feel his heartbeat begin reverberating within me as everything comes together.
I gently lay him back down, expecting him to be asleep for another while, only for him to start waking up as soon as I step back from him. His eyes flutter open and he looks extremely confused. "Wha-"
"Thomas?" I can't help but speak at the sight of him, relief rushing through me at the sight of him awake and alive.
He blinks a few more times before looking over at me, taking a few seconds to focus on me, and then I feel his eyes begin to trace me, and it actually feels right for once… except... he doesn't even meet my eyes before he looks down at the bed. I can't help but be surprised, he's never looked away before! He so often has his gaze glued to me that he doesn't even know what's being talked about... yet now he's seeming to flip that whole concept on its head!
The doctors begin fussing over Thomas, and despite his gaze staying firmly glued to the bed, he's obviously listening intently to what's being said, further adding to a complete flip in his normal attitude. It's announced that his life-force flame is full restored, his injuries are reduced thanks to me taking part of them, and he'll be able to leave by the end of the day. They also say that if he has any questions then to just call for them and they'll answer them.
He doesn't say anything to them, but makes his acknowledgement of their words known through a uncharacteristically solemn nod. They leave, and I try to come up with something to say, but Thomas apparently did have something to ask, just not to the doctors... but me...
"Why did you save me, Ultima? Why would you bind your life to mine? You hate me, don't you?"
I can't believe what I'm hearing! It doesn't even sound ungrateful, just extremely confused. "What do you mean, "Why", Thomas? Isn't it obvious that I care about you?!" I exclaim. "And what could possibly make you think that I hate you?" The only moment I said anything remotely negative was when I blew up on him just before the final battle, and even then I never even suggested that I hated him.
"Really? You saw me at my absolute worst! Anyone in their right mind would hate me! How could you not?" His voice... it sounds so broken... does he really think all of these things?
“Thomas…” I trail off, he’s not even looking at me… did he notice how uncomfortable I was? Is that why he’s forcing himself not to look? Was… Was he really this fragile all along? Was he really this close to breaking down all along?
Any further thought on this is prevented by Thomane suddenly getting up, and proceeding to go around the opposite side of the bed to me, where she then throws herself onto him and proceeds to finally break down sobbing. It breaks the floodgates on me too, and I dive onto him as well.
He doesn’t move. He doesn’t raise an arm to comfort Thomane, or grab onto either of our hands, like he might’ve years ago.
”Ultima-“ I flinch at the name, cringing as I remember that I was the one who insisted on him calling us by our Alpha aliases, rather than our actual names. “-you could’ve gone on to live a happy life, with someone you love with all your heart… why would you waste that to save my life?”
”Thomas…” I settle back and grab ahold of his hand, “who ever said that I wasn’t going to have a happy life? Who said that I don’t have the one I love right here?” I wait for him to look at me, and he starts to, only to force his gaze back down to the bed.
I try to hold it back, but a pained whine escapes me. “Damn it Thomas, just look at me!” He blinks a few times, and then, finally, turns his head to meet my gaze, but he’s still not scanning me… why? He’s grown so much, surely he realizes that! And I’ve literally tied my life to his own! Looking me over and preventing others from doing so is quite literally part of his duty as a mate!
”What’s wrong now? I’m looking at you, aren’t I?” Right… he’s meeting my gaze now, and he hasn’t lost his touch at reading me. If anyone was going to notice something was wrong just through my eyes, it would be Thomas…
”Why can’t you accept that I love you, Thomas? You’ve always looked at me, why won’t you do it now? You literally have every right to…” He lets out a sigh and, much to my sadness, looks back down at the bed. But then he says something that I never could’ve expected…
”Opthomas Prime is dead.”
<(>—<)>
The look on their faces isn’t surprising, who wouldn’t be confused when the name used to refer to the person sitting in front of you is said to be dead.
”How is he dead?” Ultima asks. “You’re sitting right in front of us…” It’s the obvious question, yet it’s simultaneously the most important one. I sigh and look to the ceiling, a simple change of position them, a symbolic movement to me.
”Do any of you remember when I first started calling myself “Opthomas Prime”?” There’s a moment of silence as I’m guessing that they look at one another to try and answer this question.
It’s only after a solid 30 seconds of this that Thomane lets out a noise of realization. “Wasn’t it the day that you Unlocked Secret Force? And your punishment from Mom and Dad started?” I slowly nod.
”Opthomas Prime was born when I, Thomas Doramus, gained the power to do things worthy of being admired. Gained the power to be worthy of receiving the kind of love that Ultima-“ I don’t miss how she flinches at her Alpha title being used, “-is currently trying to give me.”
There’s a beat of silence, before Ultima gasps in realization. “Thomas! You don’t mean that… that…” I look at her out of the corner of my eye, and she’s trembling.
”It’s not just Secret Force. Aura, Armour, Spino-Charge, Fire, Hyper, Ninja, Lightning, Berserker Mode, Hyper Atomic Instinct, Unhingement, and Spiral are all gone too. That’s why my power usage has been so low over the past few years, I was trying to build up my power so I could still be worthy of your love. Since I couldn’t use Potential or UrZaka boosts, I had to relegate myself to powering up through Zenkai’s. It wasn’t enough, and now I only have 5% of what was once 1 Trillion Percent. Albeit, what was 1 Trillion Percent four years ago is now about 180% of the current 5%. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things," I explain, feeling more and more depressed the further I go.
"Simply put; Opthomas Prime died with his strength, and Thomas Doramus isn't worthy of any of the things he was."
Things go silent, and I let my gaze fall back to the bed. Maybe they'll finally see things and realize that they're making a mistake.
”Idiot…” I blink a few times as I process what Ultima said. “If Opthomas Prime was really as amazing as you say he is, then why is he not the one I chose to life-bond with? Why is Thomas Doramus the one I love?” I swear sparks must’ve flown out of my head after she said that.
”Opthomas Prime was the one who couldn’t see past his own mistakes, cared only about himself, and left everything for Thomas Doramus to clean up. And you did an excellent job cleaning up that mess.” Thomane grabs my hand and forces me to look at her. “I don’t care how powerful he was. You’re my brother, not him. You’re a good person, and strength has nothing to do with that.”
The others all go on to voice similar opinions, and I’m left speechless afterwards. All of the work I put in to match my previous strength… to stay on the same level… to have a chance at becoming the Alpha so that they’d care about me again… when in reality, they cared all along…?
”You mean that-“ “That I love you, Thomas? Yes, yes I do. Now hurry up and accept that love, because you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life, and I fully intend on making the best of an already great situation.”
The flames of our shared life pulse within me, and I can’t help but start crying. “Everyone…” I choke up, but I’m smiling so widely it actually hurts, “thank you, for always believing in me.”
Ultima giggles and smirks, “Always will.” She then pulls me up out of the bed and links her arm with mine. “Now come on, I have a warm bed at home, and you need to get some proper rest. The sooner you do, the sooner the girls can get back to you and get those forms back up and running.” She doesn’t give me time to respond and simply starts pulling me along, the look on her face suggesting there’s more to her little plan than she’s letting on, but I’ll let you come to your own conclusions on that one. All you need to know is this;
That night was the best sleep I’ve ever gotten.