"We meet again, sword of light. Soon enough, on Cray's battlefields as well."
“Meet again? What do you mean? I haven’t seen a Unit like yourself before.”
starhulkruler:
legend-blaster-exceed:
starhulkruler:
Brandt looked upon him with a mildly confused expression. This was one of several beings that contributed towards the Wandering Star Brandt being forcibly assimilated with Cray as a whole, and one of the beings who made it experience loss for the first time in as long it could remember. From its perspective, with the battle between worlds that they had before, it felt almost impossible that the sword of light would have no memory of who it was.
…It was not completely impossible, however. The three crystals on its head started to softly and suddenly glow… as it had a most interesting idea as to how to proceed.
“Hm. Are you certain you have no memory of me whatsoever?”
Hearing the question presented to him caused the paladin to think once more. The way the other asked him seemed to hint at something. Was he really certain that he did not have a memory of this being? No, it should not be possible. In his mind, there was no event that seemed familiar enough to associate this being with.
Think! This one knows you somehow. There has to be a possibility that you know them!
He looked up at the being, trying to recall if there was an event in which the two met. Nothing seemed to come to mind of the Supreme Grandmaster… Until he noticed the marks on the being’s forehead. He had seen that mark before. That was one thing the Unit was certain of.
“I wouldn’t say that I have no memory of you. As much as I recall, I have never met a Unit like you. But the mark on your forehead is familiar to me. I could be wrong as there was only one time I saw that mark in my entire life. It was during the time of Reverse, the time I was a Gold Paladin known as a Liberator. Could it be that you were there during the time of Reverse?”
A thought flashed through its mind for a moment, upon receiving the answer that it did. Reverse? When it waged war on Cray last, the only definition of “reverse” that it knew had to do with his personal abilities. Whatever happened on Cray prior to its appearance almost seemed to imply something… different. If anything, the answer it was expecting was along the line of at least knowing the Deletors… but they truly were conversing as if it never descended from its planet in the first place.
“Reverse, you say…? No, I was not there during a time like that. If anything, you could say that I’ve somewhat recently arrived on this planet as a whole.”
The glow from the crystal marks faded for a moment, its eyes gazing around the area it was in while it spoke. Was it possible that it was currently on an entirely different Cray at the moment? A discrepancy in memories between the two of them this large seemed to suggest that as a high potential, even if it was a dangerous assumption to make right out the gate. While the planet looked very much the same as it experienced before, very little about this situation was leading Brandt to believe its true nature had been exposed yet. At the same time, he’d seen the markings on its forehead before… that kind of claim could not be ignored.
With those thoughts in mind, the Starhulk Ruler decided that wouldn’t hurt to keep a neutral impression for the moment. If it turned out that its thoughts were correct, then it could proceed from there. Brandt’s eyes met again with the paladin’s own, its expression a simpering smile as it spoke once more.
“You should simply call me Brandt. A whim of destiny must have allowed us to meet… since I’ve seen you before in my memories.”
So it seemed that the Unit wasn’t around during that time. Which meant it wasn’t part of the force of Star-vaders that attacked the two planets. A new Unit not known… Was it a Unit from the past? Or maybe from the future? From what the warrior knew, this being didn’t seem to have the power a Stride Unit would have.
It was only after hearing the Unit telling the paladin what to call it that he tensed up.
Brandt? That can’t be. That planet was accepted by the Messiah, was it not? Why is a Unit of that name here?
He stared at the hulking being before him once more. He was bewildered at hearing the Unit’s name. There was no mistaking it. That was the name of the planet which tried to destroy Cray and Earth! His expression turned serious before speaking.
“Brandt… I do recognize that name. It’s the name of a planet that attacked both Cray and Earth using the Units known as Deletors. But you don’t seem to look like or be a Deletor Unit. Who or what are you really?”
Not just that, but the fact that Brandt said that it has seen Blaster Blade before in its memories… Could it be that this Unit met him in a different time?
“You claim to have met me before… Yet I have no memory of meeting a Unit named Brandt. The only thing that could explain this contradiction is that you are from a different time, no, a different universe. Am I wrong?”
“…”
So the invasion had already begun in this time… and likely failed, at that. Was it done too quickly in this time? It would put a wrench into the overall plan, if not entirely overhaul the possibility, but there was still something to salvage from this. Information. There was not much left to hide for the moment with what the paladin knew, but there was still just enough of the upper hand left to be patient. There was no point in mentioning any trace of the Starhulks yet, either.
Without warning, Brandt’s red flaming hair grew intensely vibrant, and it began walking closer, the simpering smile that was once on its face replaced with a slight grimace.
“Oh? You know more than I imagined you did. The Planet Brandt is under my rule…”
There was every odd that Messianic Lord Blaster existed here, as well… but from the get-go, the movements were to show that it was not afraid of doing battle if necessary. Regardless of whether this Cray or another accepted their planet, Brandt itself could not accept the planet having lost with only the Deletors as the main force. It was nowhere near the true power that the planet had in battle, let alone a full-scale war…
It stopped when it was close enough to be in range for either of them to attack, but still far enough away to dodge an attack if things suddenly turned for the worse, considering the current situation.
“A different time, a different universe, perhaps even both. Now, I have a question for you, Blaster Blade. Were you the one to defeat my Deletors?”
What? The planet Brandt was under this Unit’s rule? That’s something he never encountered during the time of the Messiah Scramble, nor was there any information about this Unit at all. He noticed the being walk towards him only to stand within range of a potential attack. What was this Unit thinking?
“I didn’t know the planet had a ruler at all. We thought it was an independent planet who would absorb planetary bodies...”
That was new information. Information that could not be obtained during the Messiah Scramble. Perhaps information that Takuto Tatsunagi never had along with Ultra Rare. But if this Unit really came from another universe, it would be true in that area of spacetime. That’s what the paladin believed. Though when the one known as Brandt asked him that question, he sighed.
“No, I was not the one who did so. My Vanguard used the power of the creator, the Messiah to stop the Deletors. None of my troop had that kind of strength either.”
He knew during that time, he didn’t have the power to do so. How could he have done so anyway? He only had the power of Legion on his side. That wouldn’t have been able to counter the power of Deletion. However, why ask a question regarding himself defeating the Deletors? Could it be that his other self in that universe Brandt was from had the power to do so? If so, what was it?
“If you’re asking me a question like that, are you saying that myself in the universe you came from defeated your Deletors?”
