Ep. 29 - Taking a Dip, End of a Story?

The next day, I woke up surrounded by Ruby, Yang, and Weiss.

'I don't think I did anything. Right? Right?!' I thought. When checking my memory, I couldn't find anything other than us falling asleep in the living room, me bringing the girls here, then downing a good bottle of booze. 'It doesn't make sense. This is the second time it happens but I shouldn't be able to get drunk.'

Anyway, today I am going to, hopefully, fix this world's greatest problem. Yesterday, everyone expressed their desire, or just straight up threatened me, to come with me to the 'Land of Darkness', so I need to wait for them to actually do anything important. 'I will just go and set my anti-Grimm bomb on the ship, ransack the majority of the booze in Vale, and get some snacks and other food. That should take care of the preparation… Why do I feel that the things to prepare to save the world shouldn't be mainly food and booze? Eh, a feeling is just a feeling.'

I was slipping out of bed when a hand grabbed my arm. It was Weiss, but she was still sleeping. 'Well, guess preparing to save the world can wait, I'll just laze around a bit.' What I didn't see was a satisfied smirk on Weiss' face.

The girls woke up a little over an hour later.

"Good morning, shall we get ready to go?"

"Mh, five more minutes…" muttered Ruby trying to sleep again.

"Well, it looks to me like your preparations are done already. What do you have to get before our departure?" asked Weiss.

"We need to get the bomb in the basement, some booze, and some snacks and food. I don't know how much time it will take for me to purify the core, but I can't have you guys starve to death."

Then Yang latched onto me. "Do you seriously have to go into those pools or whatever? Can't you find another solution?"

I patted her head and said: "I can't find any other way to purify the core other than going myself. But, don't worry too much. This is like the sixth(?) time I save humanity. It's something I do basically every other month back in my universe! Until now nothing could stop a 'me' with enough bullets and it certainly won't happen today. That corrupted core is finished already, though it doesn't know yet."

"Pfft! Confident are you? Well, you better survive this because we still haven't talked about you leaving us for almost a week after what you did to us that night." responded Yang

"A-and you still have to take me on dates and all that!" added Ruby.

I smiled and hugged all three of them.

"Let's go and save the world, then we can go on all the dates you want."

Another hour later, everybody was up and about. I started securing the anti-Grimm bomb to my ship when Qrow came to have a little talk.

"Kid, you sure you can do this?"

"Not going crazy in those pools or the rest of the stuff I need to do? Because the only real problem is not getting corrupted in the pools. I just need time to do the rest."

I then thought for a second, then continued: "Qrow… I will leave MoonRay on the ship. I will set a restriction on my trasmat so that I can't get inside before proving I'm safe to be around. If I do end up going all 'Salem', you take the ship and everyone on board and go as far as possible. MoonRay will help in piloting the ship and finding another hospitable planet or something. If you pack as many people as possible inside, you should be able to save around one hundred people.

I am immortal and too strong. If we end up clashing, I will eventually wipe out everyone. I want you to at least save my friends. Can you do it?" I said, looking directly at his eyes.

He shook a moment, then steadied his gaze and answered: "Don't go crazy kid. But… don't worry about your friends in case things go horribly wrong. You should be careful, otherwise your girlfriends might actually off themselves."

I nodded and continued my preparations. I went to all sorts of stores in Vale to stock up on some fine alcohol and all the highest quality snacks. And food and water. Now, there is enough food to sustain around 100 people for a month or two. It's more than enough for my friends and a decent amount in case the ship has to be used to escape the planet. 'I really hope it doesn't come to that. Partly because 'I' would basically die and partly because I don't even know if there is another hospitable planet in this universe. In the storage area there are some materials and the 'local terraforming devices', but those can't sustain a rising population. Argh, this is putting more pressure on me than any raid I participated in.'

We were ready to go after lunch. Nobody talked during the trip. Some Nevermores tried to stop the ship, but they were cut to pieces with its wings. I stopped on top of the dark lake and, just to make sure, I asked MoonRay: "Hey, you sure you detect the core underneath this lake?"

"Unfortunately, I am. The highest concentration of laws is straight down, but I can��t say how much you'll have to swim. Oh, you're made of metal, so I should say 'fall'. Anyway, yes, the core is here."

"I… See. MoonRay, once I get outside, block all trasmat attempts from me. You should be able to monitor my condition. If something seems fishy, get the hell out of here. I give partial authority over you and the ship to Qrow. If I am confirmed corrupted, give him full authority. Now, I should say something to the others. See you, MoonRay."

"Good luck, Guardian. You'll need it this time."

"So, I'm going. There is food, water, places to sleep, and everything you need to live on the ship. That there-" I said pointing to a display, "- displays my condition. If anything fishy happens, MoonRay has the order to take you guys far from here. Qrow knows the rest. See you later, for a real party."

Without giving them time to answer or protest about anything, I trasmated on top of my ship.

'This might be the single most dangerous thing I did lately. Hm… Yep, let's do this.'

I ran on the wing of my ship and jumped down into the dark lake. While falling, I started flooding my body with light, and covering it with Arc, Solar, and Void energies, in order to protect me from the liquid.

It was viscous, slimy. It felt like used motor oil, a not so great feeling overall. It started seeping inside my armor and I got worried. I don't know how Salem got corrupted, but I am pretty sure that she was directly in contact with the liquid. I was falling, deeper and deeper, though I couldn't see anything. I tried any setting with my Exo eyes, but nothing worked.

To expel the liquid from my armor, I tried deploying a 'Ward of Dawn' from inside my body to the outside, just enough to cover my body. That seemed to work and the liquid was ejected.

I checked the timer I had set up on my HUD, and barely two minutes had passed since I jumped. 'I am feeling fine for now, though being surrounded by darkness is already getting annoying. I don't know how some people stay sane in complete darkness. All those fanfics are bullshit! I'm already freaking out after less than five minutes! How would someone even survive years in complete darkness?!'

Great. After two hours I am still 'falling' in the liquid. I know I am falling since I set an altitude meter zeroed on my ship. I kind of expected to stay hours if not days inside the lake. The real problem is that something is battering my 'Ward of Dawn', which requires my constant attention to keep up. I can't see due to the darkness surrounding me, but I am almost sure that whatever is attacking me is the thing that corrupted Salem. At least, that should be how the process began. I already tried pushing myself with the Light or swimming, but nothing seemed to actually get me closer to the bottom. 'Do I even have to reach the bottom of the lake? I know the core is somewhere down here, but where?'

A day passed, and I am still falling. Whatever was battering my shield, it stopped a few hours ago. It didn't show up on my threat detector, so I couldn't even try to attack it. I started fearing I'd never reach the core, but my altitude meter kept moving. 'Is this how the corruption begins? It failed to attack me, so the will is making me lose my mind? Then maybe it implants itself after the person has lost consciousness or the will to fight? That seems plausible.'

Second day. I found that there is some kind of surface at the bottom of the lake. I also remembered that I have a communicator, so I sent a few messages.

To the gang: "Miss me? I reached the bottom. Searching for the core now. Still alive, though being surrounded by darkness is awful. Catch you later!"

To Weiss: "Hello there! This place makes me have second thoughts about jumping. Miss you. I will try to find the core quickly. Love you!"

To Yang: "Hey there! Blown something up? Reached the bottom, searching for the core now. Don't worry. Love you!"

To Ruby: "This place is boring! Don't worry about me. Searching for the core. Love you!"

They are all repetitive, but I just wanted to send something personal to my girlfriends. 'Huh, I feel better now. I guess this place was really sending me nuts. Better find the core quickly!'

I started running on this surface I fell on. I stumbled after a few steps because I am still in that viscous liquid, so it's hard moving. I regained my balance and tried moving slowly. That worked, so I guess I am stuck with walking around.

Third day. I found some kind of door, more like an enormous gate. I have been trying to open it for a couple of hours. Not having a source of light makes it very difficult.

'Since my threat detector doesn't work here, I have no way to know if there's something around me. Maybe I can do something like a sonar with the Light. I don't want to use aura. If it is a manifestation of the soul, this liquid can probably corrupt me by latching onto my aura.'

I tried sending short bursts of Light around me until I found that 'sweet spot' that allowed me to imitate a sonar. Finally seeing the gate, I was pretty stunned. If someone tried asking me what the door to hell looks like, I'd describe this. No doubt. The frame is made of bones, the door depicts Humanity's suffering and any possible torture method I could think about. Actually, there are some I couldn't even think about before. The bottom of the door shows piles of dead human bodies. The top has several eyes, which I bet my ass are red like Grimm's eyes, though I can't make sure of it. I still couldn't find a way to open this gate, so I tried blasting it apart. I coated my weapons in Light and all three energies, just to make sure that the liquid wouldn't damage them. Well, they will still be damaged after a long time, but I should be able to blast the door before that happens.

I took my 'Gjallarhorn' and started firing from a safe distance. I went through probably hundreds of rockets before even checking the point of impact. 'This shit is tough. Didn't even dent it.' Seeing as that was not working, I tried with the 'Colony' grenade launcher. I fired hundreds of rounds, concentrating them all in the middle of the gate. If it works like a normal gate, that should be the best way to blast it open. I moved a safe distance away then detonated the charges. The blast actually reached me and the momentary void created pulled me back towards the door.

I hit my head on the door, but it gave way. 'It worked? It worked!' Well, it didn't exactly work. The blast loosened the gate and my, totally planned, headbutt opened it a bit. The interesting thing was that the black liquid stopped at the gate, while the other side had a white and grey area. I couldn't see more due to the door being too tight. I tried giving a Sparta kick to the door and it swung right open, probably because it had already partially opened before.

At any rate, before entering the new area I sent a new message to my friends: "Probably found the core. Any news on the Grimm?"

I soon got my answer: "Good job! About time you found it! The Grimm have all stopped to look in a single direction. Directly here, to be precise. Maybe the thing is testing you? Something like: 'Show me your valor, mortal!' or something."

That was actually the best explanation I could give as well, so let's go with that. I sent another message saying I was going further and that I'd contact them later.

I took a step into the white area and found that it was nothing more than an optical illusion. In reality, it was a funnel-like corridor which led to a secondary area, a smaller, rocky area. In there, I saw something that looked like the 'Black Heart' from the Destiny universe, but it was much bigger and continuously releasing that black liquid as it formed rivers that flowed against gravity and rose to what I guess is the surface of the 'Land of Darkness'. 'That must be the core.'

By the way, I was recording everything, so that I could show it to my friends later or to the world.

I tried using the Light to power my jumps, and it worked. 'I don't know if there was a restriction in the liquid or what, but this works better for me.'

I started levitating towards the core and then laid a hand on it. It tried covering me in black liquid, but I channeled Light into it. A loud, ear-piercing even, screech resounded in the entire world. The core started writhing around and I heard it talk, maybe to me or maybe to the entire world again: "Mortal! How dare you! You will never defeat me! I refuse! I WILL wipe out humanity, whether you like it or not-"

"Shut up and let me purify you! God, you're loud. Give it up, I won! You think I didn't come here with a way to get rid of you? Take a look!" I said, interrupting it and taking out the will's seed.

"No… No, no, nonono! How did you get that?! I should have been the only one!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I suggest you give up. I will get rid of your curse, whether YOU like it or not!" I said, as I pushed more light inside the core, along with the seed.

It started shining, as well as all that black liquid. I was also told that all the Grimm in the world were shining. Must have been quite the experience for those that didn't know what was going on.

I stayed with my hands on the core for hours, maybe days, I don't know. If I tried removing my hands, the black part would start spreading again, so I needed to completely purify the core in one go. It required a lot of concentration and effort, therefore I wasn't able to check my HUD for the time.

The core was screeching all the time while being purified, but that changed when only the last speck of black remained.

"Mortal, I admit defeat. However, don't think that humanity will be saved with just this!"

"Oh, you're finally speaking! To be honest, I defeated you the moment I didn't go crazy in that black liquid. Fuck you, by the way, it took a shit-ton of effort to get you purified! As for humanity being saved, it is for now. If in a few hundred years something happens, it's not my problem, but something for the humans of that time to deal with. And I bet that, in a little while, you'll be the first wanting to save humanity." With that said, I finished purifying the core.