My contribution to shiver's event!

For context this happens just after this rp between me and .shiver. here: imgflip.com/i/7rmmeb

Anyway, onto the story.

Hakai had just left with Astra to find inkmatas, Astra had saved the coordinates of several locations where inkmatas could've gone after her battle with hakai, who confirmed that she did escape before she could be killed.

The first place they checked was where collector had first met her. There was a small camp there with some basic supplies, but no sign of inkmatas.

Astra: I think this is where inky observed the devourer back before it became the limitless devourer.

Hakai: wait, it wasn't always limitless?

Astra: apparently it was gold before, and had four legs instead of six.

Hakai: huh, weird.

They checked a few other obscure places, but eventually went to her home, sure it's kind of an obvious spot but that's why they checked it last.

Surprisingly, there was evidence someone had been there recently.

Using some heat sensors Astra was able to find footprints which lead to a trapdoor under a table.

Upon opening it, they found inkmatas sleeping in a small room. Astra woke her up, at first she saw it as a pleasant surprise, but then she looked slightly to the side and saw hakai. her eyes filled with rage.

The room was filled with green light, then both Astra and hakai were sent flying out of the trapdoor.

Inkmatas climbs up, and begins floating above the ground

Inkmatas: YOU THINK I'M GONNA LET YOU KILL ME? NO. NOT TODAY.

She looks towards Astra with that same look of rage, but slight amount of sadness could also be seen.

Inkmatas: and you... Betraying us? Why? Why must everyone be against us?

Astra struggles to get up and attempts to calm inkmatas down.

Astra: trust me, It's not what it looks like. Just give me a minute to explain and everything will make sense.

After a moment of thought inkmatas stopped floating, and the glow in her eyes went away. But she kept a glowing hand pointed towards hakai just in case she tries to do anything.

Inkmatas: fine. Explain.

Astra told inkmatas about everything that happened while she was gone, omi's death, hakai's change of heart, all of he revivals exotic creator was doing, and how he planned aiko's death to make her into the war machine she is now.

Inkmatas finally calmed down fully after hearing the last part

Inkmatas: so... That's it? Everything I've missed?

Astra: as far as I know, yes.

Inkmatas: hakai... I'm sorry for what he did to you.

Hakai: it's ok. And I understand why you jumped to conclusions after seeing me, Sorry for trying to kill you before.

Inkmatas: ... Now let's make that hunk of junk sorry for what he has done.

Astra: ok then, now that we're all on the same page let's get back to the collector

Inkmatas: wait, shouldn't we tell my family I'm ok?

Astra: well since he's gonna be helping to plan the attack on the inkeverse empire it's probably important to catch up with him first.

Inkmatas: ... You have a point...

They got back to the collector and saw that there were tools everywhere, and several portals were open with robots carrying boxes of parts in and out

Collector: oh, I was hoping I'd be done before you got back. At least you found inkmatas!

Inkmatas: so why was SHE helping Astra look for me?

Collector: ... Oh, right. She wanted to help and I needed to sort through parts before I could work on her upgrades, so I let her tag along.

Inkmatas: upgrades?

Collector: she's gonna help fight EC. I need to get rid of any failsafes he put in so she doesn't just die instantly in the middle of the battle. And it doesn't look like he added any on-board weaponry so I need to add that too.

Collector pulled a pair of small rockets from the box of parts on the table

Collector: ah, these should be the last ones I need.

He put them on the table along with what looks like advanced hydraulic mechanisms and some beam generators

Hakai: do I really need all of that stuff?

Collector: not to be rude, but without your sword all you have is the beam from your forehead. And on top of that it takes a while to build up enough energy to fire, So I'm doing us both a favor here.

Hakai: ... Ok...

Collector: let me clean up a bit, and then just tell me when you're ready. It'll probably take an hour to organize all of these.

Hakai: is it ok if I show Astra part of the inkeverse that ISN'T in the middle of war?

Collector: if you see any soldiers then try not to be seen.

Both: oke

Then this sub-chapter happened
imgflip.com/i/7rn20g
Then hakai returned to the collector, ready for upgrades.

Collector: Astra, did you by chance save an image of those blueprints after you saw them?

Astra: I can look through the memory file

Collector: while Astra is doing that can you take off some of your armor?

Hakai: uhh...

Collector: I know it sounds weird but it's necessary.

She takes off her breastplate and shoulder pads. (She's wearing a tank top underneath so don't even try to 🤨📸 me.)

Hakai: this is pretty much all that comes off easily other than the pants.

Collector: I can just role up your pant-leg if I need access to anything higher than the knee. Astra, do you have those blueprints yet?

Astra: I've got them right here.

A hologram appears above the table. Collector examined it for a moment to determine where the failsafes were installed, and where he could fit upgrade parts

Collector: just as I suspected, the lower body was almost completely replaced while the torso is largely intact.

Hakai: so what do you want me to do?

Collector: lay face down on the table. It looks like it'll be easier to access most of these from the back.

Collector started at hakai's neck where the failsafes related to her neural connections were placed. She was fully conscious but due to it being a mechanical part collector was messing with, hakai barely felt anything.

During most of the process Astra kept hakai occupied by asking her about problems with being a robot to see which ones she could relate to. Mainly to keep her mind off of any pain she COULD feel.

Eventually collector got to actually upgrading her now that the more important failsafes were out of the way. He started by replacing the motors in her legs with advanced hydraulic systems, and adding some rockets so she would have some flight capabilities.

After this he added a third rocket on her back for stability. This one could rotate and retract back inside when not in use.

Collector: ok time for the arms-

As soon as he touched her arm he noticed something was off

Collector: wait... That's not... Silicone?

Hakai: what's the matter?

Collector: the blueprints show your arms getting fully replaced but these seem like your original arms, so unless he's figured out some sort of new skin-like rubber... This is gonna make things FAR more difficult.

Collector ran several x rays on hakai to see if EC changed anything, but it seems that everything from the elbow down was left alone

Collector: *deep sigh* ... I guess we're just gonna have to deal with that forehead beam, unless you're ok with more implants.

Hakai pulled her arm away from the Collector as soon as she heard that

Collector: my intention is not to hurt you, it's to make HIM less capable of hurting you. But, it's still up to you.

Hakai: I'd rather just learn to use my forehead beam more efficiently.

Collector: ok then. Time to start on other upgrades, lay down on your back.

Collector opened up her stomach area to get to another failsafe, it seemed to a be a tracker of some kind.

Collector: well that explains how he found us and sent those "Spartans". But it Doesn't look like it's sent a signal in a while.

Hakai: well that's good.

Collector: yeah but you've definitely been receiving signals, like that dream earlier.

Hakai shook a little bit after thinking of it again, but soon let the collector continue his work.

In the space where the tracker was placed he put in a shield generator, it wouldn't be the most protection, but it would give some defensive capability.

He also opened up her bicep area on each arm, reassuring hakai that it wasn't to put the beam generators in. He removed the motors, and added more advanced hydraulics in their place.

Collector: ok, time for the risky part. I believe that beam only takes a while to charge because of a pre-programmed delay, but because it's so close to your brain I need to be really careful. So hold still.

Collector carefully removed the extension of destruction. (Yes, it was not the actual crystal. Collector has the same thing but for creation.) Upon doing this hakai couldn't move her legs, and could only move her arms from the elbow down. She panicked for a moment but soon calmed down enough for Collector to continue.

After replacing some electronics he was able to put the extension back in, and hakai's upgrades were complete. Now the training could begin.

Collector, hakai, and Astra step outside to begin training.

First collector taught hakai some better mobility, such as flying. Along with some things she could do with her further increased strength.

But now it was time to test her combat capabilities, first collector attempted to teach her to use her "crystal" more properly, such as sending out beams from her hands rather than the crystal itself. Even without actual beam generators installed, it could be possible.

(I'm just gonna call it a crystal from now on because it's easier to type than extension.)

It had... Mixed results.

She was able to generate energy from her hands with enough concentration, but she couldn't fire it at anything before it faded away. This seemed to be a more advanced ability than collector thought it was. Unless destruction simply functions differently than creation.

So, instead it was simple target practice with her forehead beam, although it was still a little slow it still dealt DEVASTATING damage.

Now it was time for close range combat.

Hakai's sword, the universal end, was definitely effected by the crystal's energy, as it glowed purple as soon as hakai picked it up, but glowed blue when the collector did. Perhaps the energy clings to weapons by default.

Collector morphed the blade of the sword of creation to become smaller and lighter. Therefore hakai could actually parry the attacks.

She did rather well, eventually collector realized this training didn't do much. So he morphed his blade back to it's original size to teach hakai to fight an opponent she can't block as easily.

It took... Many... MANY rounds of fighting for her to win just once. But, this was an essential skill to learn if she's fighting the exotic creator, who is nearly double her size, Possibly even more than that with his new form.

This whole time Astra was cheering her on in the background, even though she knew the battle ahead would challenge her further than the collector had the will to.

Collector: do you need a break? You look tired.

Hakai: no, let's keep going.

Collector could tell she wasn't saying this by her own will.

Collector: I can tell you're only saying that because I'm your idol. I won't be disappointed, you're more human than me after all.

Hakai gave him a confused stare

Hakai: but YOU still have your whole body.

Collector: trust me, I'm not even sure what I am anymore.

Hakai: ... One more round.

Collector: alright then.

Hakai attempted to get the first strike, she leaped into the air and tried to slash downward, but collector blocked it with the blunt side of his sword, and knocked her backwards

But this was exactly what she wanted

While collector was swinging his sword to knock her back, she activated the rocket on her back to get to the ground early, then rushed forward and cut the collector's side

He was surprised to see such an attack from her, but she is learning from (one of) the best after all.

He quickly spun his sword to the sharp side, then managed to cut her shoulder, and knock off that piece of her armor.

She was unphased by this, and activated the rocket again to get a slight bit of distance

Collector: you're doing pretty good this round, but let's see how you handle THIS.

Collector launched himself towards hakai, and tried to hit her with a downward swing, but she dodged and cut his arm and leg in one swing

Collector: 0_0 two in a row?

He was confused, but kept going. He turned his sword to the sharp side again, and tried to hit hakai with an upward swing, but she leaped upward, and used the height to hit collector with a downward strike.

And it worked

She had nearly gotten a killing blow, but collector blocked it with telekinetic abilities since this was merely training.

Collector: impressive, you might be ready to fight EC sooner than I thought!

Astra stared in awe from the background after seeing hakai nearly get a killing blow in just one training session, she might have some things to learn from her

😳

This is really good!

thanks!

John: Oh hey collector, thanks for helping us, i hope you've been studying the Aetherium, i theorised that it might be a key element to perfect the power of Infinity

I don't think it can be replicated, even with the power you have, and if it was possible i think it would be very hard

So if ya ever need more Aetherium, just ask!

So anyways, how are the studies going? You still acknowledge the fact that the Power of Infinity is enough to destroy anyone right?

If you want I'll use the power of infinity >:)

The power of Infinity can destroy even gods

Of course when there is infinity there is negative infinity too

Power of Infinity is the "positive"
The "negative" can be created but is too unstable to be kept

Collector: I'd rather only have ONE infinity, and that one is already in your star. Speaking of which, the core is doing rather well to heal it, it's color is looking better and it's magnetic field is looking more normal for a star of it's composition

John: Oh i didn't mean the infinity I meant the Aetherium, you can only produce one Infinity, but i didn't come here for this

I-I have to tell you something, the Empire of Aurelia may be smaller than others, but the core concept of why they wanted me to harness the power of Infinity was to create a weapon, powerful enough to conquer planets

*He grabs some blueprints and shows them to Collector, they show blueprints for a Infinity Sword*

Collector: you really think I'm letting you harness infinity for conquest? You're lucky I'm not taking that core out of your star this instant.

John: No no no! I don't want to make this weapon, i want to make a container, strong enough to never be opened or broken

But first, i need to know the power of it, so

*He grabs a vial he has and it has a small piece of Aetherium*

John: If you don't mind, i will try to fuse Aetherium with the power of Infinity, i did collect a piece of it

*collector is still skeptical of John*

Collector: I don't see how you'll do that if it's inside a star.

John: Who told you we didn't risk 147 lives including mine to get this!

*He showed collector a small vial containing a filament of Infinity*

*He grabbed the filament with tweezers and let it float in the air*

*Then he grabbed the Aetherium piece and prepared to make it touch the filament*

John: This may result in a success, or in a complete destruction of the universe as we know it

Collector: *snatches the infinity and aetherium*

If we're doing this, it's getting done in a pocket universe, with machines so no one is at risk.

John: :I ok

On their journey the see Goober just sitting

Very good!!!

Glad you like it

Np!