If: Part 2

Manufactured God: Part 3 is the twenty-fifth episode of Tech 10: Star Spirit, and the thirteenth episode of the second season. It is the third and final part of the second season finale.

Episode
[Cut to Sunstone flying through the air towards the city. Before it can try changing its momentum, it slams through several tall buildings, ultimately crash-landing somewhere in the industrial district. Orion lands in the area a few moments later, spotting a massive cloud of dust where Sunstone crash-landed. Before he can do anything, something begins to stir inside the cloud.]

[Orion]: “Hm.”

As the dust cleared, the figure inside the cloud became clearer, being revealed as a tall human with light brown hair wearing what appeared to be a fusion of Theo and Nova’s outfits. The StarTrix symbol was on their chest, the bright blue glow of the faceplate providing a clear contrast to the drab grays and browns of their surroundings. The person cradled their head for a couple moments, apparently somewhat shaken up.

[???]: (Grumpily) “Ugh...I’ve existed for like a minute and already I have one bitch of a headache.”

[Orion]: “Who are you?”

The person looked up at Orion, an expression of annoyance coming across their face.

[???]: “And then there’s this asshole. For the record, it’s, uh...you know what? I’m too lazy to come up with something good right now, so let’s just go with Technova or something, okay?”

[Orion]: (Raises an eyebrow) “Alright then.”

[Technova]: “Now then...”

Technova stood up straight and cracked their back, grabbing onto the hat and cloak they were wearing and tossing them to the ground. They proceeded to perform a few stretches, apparently going through some sort of warmup routine.

[Orion]: “What are you doing?”

[Technova]: (Finishes stretching) “Isn’t it obvious? I’m getting the best range of motion I can to kick your ass.”

[Orion]: “Interesting strategy.”

[Technova]: “I don’t need any sass from you. What the hell are you even doing, anyways? What’s your plan here?”

[Orion]: “Once I’ve eliminated any remaining obstacles, such as you, I shall begin a new era upon the Earth. One of true justice, where no crime goes unpunished, and everyone receives exactly what they deserve.”

[Technova]: “So you’re going to shove a boot up your own ass?”

[Orion]: “I feel like you’re not taking me seriously.”

[Technova]: “Should I? What makes you so qualified to rebuild society?”

[Orion]: “I personally know the terror of injustice and incomplete retribution. Someone like you could not possibly understand my pain.”

Technova suddenly let out a yelp of pain, doubling over and grabbing onto their own wrists.

[Orion]: “What was that?”

[Technova]: “Sorry, it’s just that your speech was so edgy, my wrists ended up cutting themselves as a defense mechanism.”

[Orion]: “Excuse me?”

[Technova]: (Ignoring him) “Now, let’s see. Last time we kicked your ass, it was with Over The Rainbow, if I remember right. Since you’ve sorta gotten a power boost here, I think I’ll try one of my own.”

Technova pressed down on the StarTrix symbol without even looking, transforming into Over The Rainbow, then entered the evolution code. Over The Rainbow’s body grew in size, inverting in color to become a dull white and gaining a more composed, humanoid shape with cloud-like “hair” covering one of its eyes. The exposed eye had a blue mark running from it to the bottom of its chin.

[Ultimate Over The Rainbow]: “Alright, time to kick your ass.”

Watery figures resembling Over The Rainbow’s natural form began emerging from Ultimate Over The Rainbow’s body. There ended up being seven of them in total, each one corresponding to a color of the rainbow.

[U.OTR]: “Meet the new Droplets. Aspects of my own personality given form.”

[Orion]: “What personality?”

[U.OTR]: “So you do have a wit in there.” (To Droplets) “Kick his ass.”

[Droplet Orange]: “You don’t need to tell me twice!”

[Droplet Red]: “Allow me to get this started.”

Iron spikes suddenly exploded out of Orion’s body, cutting him up from the inside out.

[Orion]: “What the-”

[Droplet Red]: “Blood and Iron manipulation make for an interesting mix considering how much iron there is in blood.”

Droplet Indigo suddenly lobbed a ball of water at Orion, hitting him directly in the face and putting him to sleep. Droplet Blue ran towards the knocked-out Orion, grabbing his neck and flash-freezing his body.

[Droplet Red]: “I think that actually might take care of that for now.”

[Droplet Orange]: “Yeah, but we can’t give him the chance to wake up!”

Before any of the other Droplets could reply, Droplet Orange ran up to Orion and melted through a portion of the ice, grabbing on to one of the blood iron spikes sticking out of his body and heating it until it was glowing hot, stabbing it through Orion’s forehead.

[Droplet Red]: “What the hell?”

[Droplet Orange]: “No brain, no waking up. Easy.”

[Droplet Red]: “And maybe if his brain hadn’t been destroyed in this fight and regenerated already, you might have a point.”

[Droplet Orange]: “...Oh.”

Orion’s eyes snapped open, followed shortly by him flexing his body and destroying the rest of the ice. Ultimate Over The Rainbow, recalled the Droplets, shooting Orion a nasty glare.

[Orion]: (Scoffs) “What’s with that look? Surely you could have predicted that.”

[U.OTR]: “Doesn’t make it any less annoying.”

After a few moments of the two glaring warily at each other, the clear sky suddenly became overcast, beginning a sprinkle of rain that swiftly increased in intensity until it was a raging torrent that could barely be seen through.

[Orion]: “...I suppose this is your doing.”

[U.OTR]: (Sardonically) “Maaaaaybe.”

[Orion]: (Narrows his eyes) “What are you planning?”

[U.OTR]: “...Nothiiiiing~”

Orion tried taking a step towards Ultimate Over The Rainbow, but found himself trapped in place by hundreds of small points floating in the air. Upon further examination, he found the points to be droplets of rain, held in place and formation by his opponent’s abilities.

[Orion]: “I must admit, this level of hydrokinesis is rather impressive. Your control over this rain is so firm that they’ve essentially become hundreds of small bullets floating in midair.”

[U.OTR]: “That’s the idea.”

Ultimate Over The Rainbow suddenly clenched their fist, sending the raindrops they were controlling carving through Orion’s body like small pistol rounds. Orion simply smirked at this and healed his wounds, giving his opponent a smug look.

[Orion]: “While I appreciate the effort, I’m afraid anything you try at this point is utterly useless.”

[U.OTR]: “Wow, someone’s a pessimist.”

[Orion]: “Hardly. I’m simply-”

[U.OTR]: “Boring as shit. I swear to god, if you start monologuing one more time, I am going to shove this entire rainstorm right up your ass. Anyways, I just got an idea.”

[Orion]: “Do tell.”

[U.OTR]: “Well, since I’m technically a fusion between Tech and Nova right now, I should be able to use both of their aliens, and any fusions of them I want.”

[Orion]: “What’s your point?”

[U.OTR]: “My point is...”

Ultimate Over The Rainbow slammed down on the StarTrix symbol, reverting to Over The Rainbow and then back to Technova. The rain began to slow down a bit, making it gradually easier to see what they were doing. They attempted to hit the StarTrix symbol again, but were interrupted by Orion suddenly lunging forward and lifting them up by their neck.

[Technova]: (Choking) “Wh-what-”

[Orion]: “I’ve had it with your childish antics. I’m ending this.”

Orion twirled around and threw Technova through one of the abandoned buildings nearby at high speed. Hitting the ground on the other side with a nasty crunch, they barely had time to stand up before Orion teleported over to them and slammed into them with a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of them and launching them backwards a few meters. Yo-Yo A Go-Go! suddenly manifested behind Technova, creating a group of yo-yos and throwing them around nearby light posts, using its own body and the yo-yo strings to bring Technova to a safe stop before dissipating. Technova scrambled to their feet, coughing up some blood.

[Technova]: “Th-the hell was that? I didn’t summon Yo-Yo A Go-Go! manually!”

Before they got the chance to process the entirety of what was going on, they heard the sound of some large object whistling through the air. They turned around to find a massive semi-truck shooting directly towards them at high speeds.

[Technova]: “What the shit?!”

Before they could react, Kugelblitz suddenly appeared in front of them, followed by the StarTrix dial twisting itself to enter the evolutionary code. Kugelblitz’s body became consumed by a blue fire, which faded to reveal a larger, bulkier version of Kugelblitz with much longer fire “hair”, which had become a blue color. Its uniform was slightly modified, with the most notable addition being a metal helmet of some kind on its head.

Ultimate Kugelblitz immediately sprang into action, surrounding its fists in blue fire and punching the incoming truck at high speeds, causing it to break into molten pieces that went flying around Technova as its momentum drove it into the evolved alien’s attack rush.

[Technova]: “I didn’t even get a chance to...” (Realizes something) “Holy shit, I think I’m just summoning these things subconsciously!”

Ultimate Kugelblitz finally destroyed the last chunk of the truck as it flew towards them, but was blindsided by a massive punch from Orion, who had been flying the truck at them the entire time. Doubling over in pain from the attack, Technova thought quickly and had Ultimate Kugelblitz grab Orion’s head, placing its palms over his ears. A thin, clear gas began flowing from its hands, being forced into Orion’s skull.

[Orion]: “What do you think you’re doing?!”

[Technova]: “Filling your head with Chlorine Triflouride!”

[Orion]: (Eyes widen) “You moron! Do you have any idea what that’s going to do?!”

[Technova]: “Why do you think I’m doing it?!”

[Orion]: “You’ll be killing yourself too!”

[Technova]: (Angrily) “That’s fine by me! I’ll be seeing you in hell!”

Orion tried in vain to wrench himself away from Ultimate Kugelblitz’s grasp, but was unable to slip away in time.

The following explosion could be heard for miles.

[Cut to a flower-filled field on a mountaintop nearby. The rainclouds summoned by Ultimate Over The Rainbow are no longer present, leaving the area extremely bright and sunny. After a few moments, Orion and Technova pop into existence, the former flinging the latter a good few meters away. As Technova hit the ground, they ended up rolling a few feet, coughing up blood as the came to a stop.]

[Technova]: “Wh-what the hell?! What just happened?!”

[Orion]: “I attempted to teleport myself out of the explosion. It looks like I dragged you along with me.”

Orion began approaching them, transforming his right forearm into some sort of shotgun.

[Orion]: “To be honest, I’m surprised your insides aren’t already a collection of mush. Granted, maybe they are, and you’re just taking a while to die. Either way, it’s about time I put you out of your misery.”

Technova attempted to get to their feet, suddenly doubling over in pain and falling back to the ground.

[Orion]: (Aims the shotgun at their head) “If it’s any consolation, you won’t feel a thing.”

In response to this, Technova abruptly began laughing. The sound was weak, but it rang through the quiet mountain air like the call of a dying bird.

[Orion]: (Slightly perturbed) “Have you gone mad?”

[Technova]: “Gone mad? Orion, old friend old buddy old pal, I am currently so beyond fucking mad that I’ve just about looped back around to being giddy. It’s honestly kind of impressive. I don’t think I know anyone else that’s ever gotten me this angry.”

Before Orion could reply, Bronzoon suddenly manifested from the StarTrix and slammed him with a barrage of sound waves, slowly tuning the sounds until they hit the precise frequency that they began tearing Orion’s body apart. Momentarily dazed, Orion was unable to do anything but watch as Technova slowly got to their feet, the StarTrix symbol on their chest suddenly switching to a deep blood-red

Black growth began to grow across their body, with the usually blue lights having become the same red as the StarTrix. Technova’s right iris slowly became the same color as the growth moved to their head, covering half of their face with some sort of hardened form of the growth resembling a mask. The white of their right eye became a jet black as long tendrils made of the growth erupted from their back, moving through the air in an oddly rough pattern.

Bronzoon disappeared in a flash of energy, allowing Technova to approach Orion themselves. Before he could react, they suddenly snapped their tendrils forward, merging them into a single drill that slammed through Orion’s torso, lifting him into the air by the hole in his body.

[Technova]: (Dangerously quiet) “I didn’t even know I could do this, you know. You’ve gotten me so pissed off that even the nanomachines flowing through my body are reacting to it.”

[Orion]: “...Pissed off? You’re able to do this because you’re pissed off?”

[Technova]: “That’s the idea.”

[Orion]: (Narrows his eyes) “Then let’s take a moment to remedy that, shall we?”

Before Technova could stop him, Orion grabbed onto their head, sending a healing pulse of some kind through their skull. The nanomachine growth suddenly turned blue again, retracting into the StarTrix symbol and reverting Technova’s body to normal.

[Technova]: (Eyes widen) “You...you calmed me down?!”

[Orion]: “Exactly. I’ve observed that you “hero” types become the most dangerous when enraged, and if anything, you just proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Calming you down was the best way to remedy that.”

Orion transformed his right arm into a sharp blade, aiming it at Technova’s forehead.

[Orion]: “Now all I have to do is kill you before you regain that fighting spirit.”

Technova suddenly wrenched themselves free of Orion’s grasp, jumping backwards and transforming into All☆Star, who began absorbing the energy of the sun shining brightly overhead.

[All☆Star]: “Just because I’m calm doesn’t mean I don’t have a survival instinct, you know!”

[Orion]: “But will that be enough to save you?”

All☆Star shot a beam of solar energy towards Orion, who simply began walking through it. Seeing this, they tried to activate the StarTrix’s evolutionary function, but were interrupted by Orion grabbing their arm before they could do so.

[Orion]: “It’s over.”

[All☆Star]: “Are you sure about that? You sure you don’t want to make another clone or something?”

[Orion]: “I don’t need any clones anymore. You’re about to die.”

Before All☆Star could react, Orion threw them into the air and began an attack rush of his own, hitting them with a flurry of massive punches that each hit like a jackhammer backed by a rocket. After a few moments of this, Orion hit them in the gut with one last punch, slamming them into the ground nearby.

[Orion]: “And now, you die.”

Paralyzed by shock after taking that magnitude of an attack, All☆Star’s brain began to shut down. Without any direct fatal wounds to work with, the nanomachines inside the StarTrix could not activate, leaving a Requiem form impossible.

It was the end.

Orion walked over to the unmoving All☆Star and raised a bladed hand into the air, preparing to deal the last blow. Time seemed to slow down for All☆Star, who had all but accepted death, seeing no other options before them.

[All☆Star]: (Thinking) ‘I just wish...I could’ve said...goodbye.’

Even as Orion’s hand swung down towards their head, all All☆Star could focus on was the blue sky above, which, while incredibly sunny, was still dotted by the occasional silver cloud.

[All☆Star]: (Thinking) ‘Blue...and...silver...’

Right as Orion’s hand was about to make contact with All☆Star’s head, an incredibly bright flash of light came from their body, sending Orion reeling for a few moments before his eyesight cleared up. He turned to find All☆Star shakily pulling themselves to their feet, clearly having to use all of their energy to so much as stand in place.

[Orion]: “What are you doing?!”

All☆Star remained silent, staring Orion down as blue and silver armor abruptly began to cover their body. A blue helmet covered their head and face, teal eyes opening into existence from an exposed space on the helmet. A large set of metallic, angel-like wings sprouted from their back as silver braces with eyes on them began orbiting their wrists. Silver flames sprouted from their wrists, ankles, and neck, seemingly unaffected by the rain. As the transformation completed, the new alien rose into the air, seemingly doing so without the need to flap its wings.

[Orion]: (Stepping back) “Wh-what is this?!”

A portal opened up some ways behind the two, out of which stepped Temportal and the rest of the group, arriving just in time to see All☆Star’s transformation complete.

[Pyros]: “What the hell is that?!”

[Herc]: “It looks sort of like a Praesignis, but...really, really different.”

[All☆Star/???]: (In a booming voice) “Orion! It’s time to end this!”

[Orion]: (Annoyed) “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past half an hour!”

[???]: “You are a fool, Orion! Your power does not give you any right to rule over others!”

[Orion]: “My power is used in the name of justice! I will not allow anyone to trap this world in its state of endless sorrow!”

[???]: “Without that sorrow, this world would be nothing! Even you must realize this!”

[Orion]: “Enough! If you think you can stop me, take your best shot! My will is absolute!”

[???]: “We’ll see about that!”

Orion shot a massive beam of twisting energy towards the unnamed alien, who swiftly dodged out of the way and swooped past him, hitting his right arm with a ball of silver fire on the way. Orion turned to shoot another beam at them, but found his right arm abruptly bursting into flames. The flames didn’t burn his flesh, but seemed to burn away at his power instead, leaving him unable to use his right arm to conduct his abilities.

[Orion]: “What is this?!”

[???]: “This is the power created to stop you! The power able to end your threat once and for all! This is Reset Fire! This is the power of OVER MOUNT ZION!”

[Orion]: (Gritting his teeth) “Damn it! I’ve sacrificed more than you could possibly know to achieve this power! I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE IT FROM ME!”

Orion lunged forward with his left arm, shooting a beam of destructive energy towards Over Mt. Zion with as much power as he could muster.

[Over Mt. Zion]: “I cannot allow that, Orion! RETURN TO HUMANITY!”

Over Mt. Zion countered with a massive stream of Reset Fire, the two energies colliding midair and creating a massive light in between the attacks.

[Pyros]: “...Holy shit.”

[Herc]: “For once...I’m inclined to agree.”

[Reaper]: “Keep at it!”

[Temportal]: “Kick his ass!”

Orion and Silver Mt. Zion’s attacks violently clashed with each other, creating an incredibly tense atmosphere. Slowly, little by little, Orion’s attack began to advance, overpowering Over Mt. Zion’s Reset Fire.

[Orion]: (Laughs) “Your power wasn’t made for destruction! There’s no way you could possibly win!”

Over Mt. Zion was unable to respond, using all of their energy to keep up their end of the attack. With every passing moment, Orion’s energy approached them more and more, eventually coming within a few feet of their face.

[Orion]: “It’s over! I wi-”

Orion was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a gun firing, which was shortly followed by a gunshot wound running through his forehead. The spectating group turned to look at Moranna, who was pocketing her pistol.

[Moranna]: “Sometimes the best solution is the simple one.”

Distracted by the gunshot wound in his head, Orion was momentarily unable to keep up his attack. That moment was all it took for Over Mt. Zion’s Reset Fire to reach him, consuming his body in silver flames. As his wound disappeared, Orion felt his new-found power leaving him, followed shortly by even the power of his hybridization fading away from his body. As the flames consumed his body, Orion was eventually unable to keep conscious, blacking out and falling to the ground, utterly defeated.

[Cut to the inside of Plumber Base UT1. The remaining Alpha Team and Theo are standing in the base’s cell block as Alpha places Orion’s unconscious form in a cell, stepping out of the cell and locking it down behind her.]

[Alpha]: (Sighs) “It took a lot of time and sacrifice, but with this, I think we’ve finally ended the Zodiac Organization. Without any leader or goal, they’ll likely break apart on their own.”

[Reaper]: “I simply wish it hadn’t come at such a high cost.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

[Alpha]: “John’s family has been notified of his death. A memorial service is scheduled next week, if any of you would like to attend.”

Theo abruptly turned and stormed off towards the elevator without any warning, leaving the rest of the group staring after him in confusion. Nova cast a quick glance at Alpha before running after him, jumping onto the elevator right before it closed and began moving. Theo didn’t do anything to acknowledge this, keeping his back to the entrance.

[Nova]: “Theo? What’s going on?”

[Theo]: “...Thirty.”

[Nova]: “What?”

Theo turned to face Nova, revealing his expression to be a mix of depression and fury.

[Theo]: (Shakily) “I have thirty aliens. I can evolve, combine, infuse them with star energy, and even bring those aliens back from the brink of death. But even with all that...I couldn’t prevent any of this.”

[Nova]: “Of course you couldn’t! Nobody could have! Orion had all this planned out from the start!”

[Theo]: “Logically, deep down, I know you’re right. But...I can’t accept it. It feels like...I could have done something more. Every time I arrive on the scene of a disaster, it feels like I could have done something more. Every time Aeron slips away, it feels like I could have done something more.”

[Nova]: “But you couldn’t have!”

[Theo]: “THAT’S THE PROBLEM!”

The elevator fell silent for a few moments.

[Nova]: “Look...it sucks. I know it sucks. I was actually here when it happened, and I couldn’t stop it. It sucks, and it sucks hard. But...letting it grind away at you won’t get you anywhere.”

[Theo]: “I know, I know. I just feel so...useless.”

[Nova]: “We saved the world today! How is that useless?!”

[Theo]: “It’s not. I know it’s not, but I can’t just flip a switch and change how I feel about it.”

Nova gave Theo a sympathetic look. After a few moments, she suddenly grabbed onto him, pulling him into a hug. After recovering from the initial surprise, Theodore relaxed and returned the embrace.

[Cut to later that night in the cell block of Plumber Base UT1. Orion has woken up, sitting up in his cell and turning on the light to examine his surroundings. Realizing his current situation, he sighs and slumps over, accepting defeat. After a few minutes, the sound of footsteps suddenly appears. A humanoid figure cloaked in darkness begins approaching Orion’s cell.]

[Orion]: (Snapping to attention) “Who’s there?”

[???]: “Orion, relax. It’s just me.”

[Orion]: “Who? Your voice is familiar, granted, but I can’t quite place it.”

[???]: (Mockingly gasps) “Well now I’m just insulted. How could you forget about me?”

The figure stepped into the light provided by the inside of Orion’s cell. The light revealed him to be a human male around Orion’s age, albeit with a much more average height and a somewhat skinny stature. Orion’s eyes widened as he recognized the person, his face taking on an expression of horror.

[Orion]: “Impossible! You-you died in the raider attack!”

[???]: “Now why would you assume that? Just because you thought the raiders would burn my body like everyone else’s?”

[Orion]: “You have to admit, it’s a fair assumption to make.”

[???]: “Come on, I never knew you thought so little of me. Who do you think arranged their little visit in the first place?”

[Orion]: (Eyes widen) “What did you just say?”

[???]: “Oh, nothing important. Look, I’m just here not to worry, the Zodiac Organization is still a thing. It’s just under new, and by new I mean my, management.”

[Orion]: “How did you-”

[???]: “It was fairly easy after I told them about you appointing me as your replacement right before your oh-so-tragic suicide done once your life’s plans fell apart.”

[Orion]: (Narrowing his eyes) “...Do you plan on killing me?”

[???]: “What? No, no, you’ve got the wrong idea. I’d never do something like that to you, ol’ pal!”

The unknown man pulled a pistol out of his pocket and sent it through the one-way delivery compartment leading into Orion’s cell. The man’s eyes flashed for a moment, and the next thing Orion knew, he had picked up the gun and was holding it to his head, about to pull the trigger.

[???]: “You’re going to do it yourself.”

The unknown man turned away from the cell. After hearing the unmistakable sound of a pistol going off and ripping through human flesh, he turned back to look at what had happened.

[???]: “Oh, that’s nasty. Looks like he tried to resist at the last second. Still breathing, it looks like, but I don’t think he’ll be waking up soon. Or ever.”

The unknown man laughed and began walking away from the scene.

[???]: “Now to see what I can figure out about this “Tech” character that lives somewhere in town. It sounds like he might be good for a few laughs.”

Major Events

 * Technova makes their debut.
 * Ultimate Over The Rainbow makes its debut.
 * Ultimate Kugelblitz makes its Star Spirit debut.
 * The StarTrix is revealed to have connected to its user's subconscious, enabling them to summon and control aliens without actively thinking about it.
 * The nanomachines in the StarTrix are revealed to have an Attack Mode that activates when the user's mental state degrades.
 * Over Mt. Zion makes its debut.
 * Orion is defeated by Over Mt. Zion, who uses their Reset Fire to remove his abilities.
 * An unknown antagonist makes his debut, attempting to assassinate Orion and putting his sights on Theo.

Protagonists

 * Theodore Logical
 * Nova Eldridge
 * Isaac Logical
 * Moranna Ceres
 * Napoleon Eldridge
 * Herc
 * Pyros
 * Reaper

Antagonists

 * Orion

StarTrix Aliens

 * Over The Rainbow
 * Ultimate Over The Rainbow (Debut)
 * Yo-Yo A Go-Go!
 * Kugelblitz
 * Ultimate Kugelblitz (Star Spirit Debut)
 * Bronzoon
 * All☆Star

StarTrix/Swarm 2 Fusions

 * Over Mt. Zion

SpecTrix Aliens

 * Temportal