“The Spark Before the Shatter”
The smoke was thick, like a living thing, swallowing the air around us. We stood around the fallen shadow — a twisted creature of pitch-black sinew, hissing with fading power. Its clawed hand had dropped a strange device. It hovered just above the ground, flickering — a holographic phone with no screen, just light and humming energy.
It was beeping.
We didn’t speak. Chaos dove forward, claws sparking with magic as he tried to defuse it. We covered him — I held my Rockminfite sword steady, its white core pulsing like my heartbeat. Luma crouched low, teeth bared and ears flicked back, her red highlights glowing in the dark like coals. Aurora circled overhead, a blazing streak of blue fire. Viva flickered beside me, already trying to interface with the weapon’s weird tech.
Click.
The beeping stopped.
Cheers rose from the villagers who’d taken shelter. Kids poked their heads out, wide-eyed, smiling.
Then—
SKADOOSH.
The blast hit like a silent scream. Light. Heat. Screams. I reached out—too late.
Everything fractured.
---
Now Introducing...
The Kid
I’m the one writing this. 18 years old. Power? Gone. I had the I.S. once, but now I’m just a guy with a sword made of an extinct star. Brown hair, brown eyes, and usually the first one into the fire. I try to save everyone. Doesn’t always work.
Aurora
A phoenix — not a bird, a force. Her feathers shift colors with her heat: yellow when calm, blue when serious, black when deadly. She’s smart, protective, and trying to carry more than any of us know.
Luma
A hellhound like Loona, but silent like a shadow. Midnight-black fur with glowing red tips on her ears, tail, and paws. She’s the one you want watching your back in the dark.
Chaos
He’s a blue cat. Sounds simple, but he’s anything but. Big paws, blue eyes, and a past full of dark magic and worse fathers. He used to want my power. Now he’s my best friend. Maybe more like a brother.
Viva
She’s not a person. She’s code. A.I. with more sarcasm than sense, but she’s saved us more times than I can count. Built to help me. She stayed even after I lost everything.
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I woke up in a bed that wasn’t mine. This place... it’s different. Feels like where stories come to breathe. Where characters become real.
Welcome to the TAU.
Just getting this AU started, so any advice, ideas, or fanart to help it blast off are totally welcomed, deeply appreciated, and absolutely credited (not like I wasn’t gonna do that anyway 😎). If you’ve got a character you’d love to see introduced into the story, I’m all for it — as long as they’re open to being tested through the events I write. You’ll still get to control your characters to a degree, but the story direction stays in my hands.