Skybound Odyssey – Chapter 21: Prototype vs. Perfection
In the heart of the vault, time seemed to slow.
Ryo stood at the center of the storm, facing the floating figure known only as Omega. Around them, lightning danced in geometric patterns, as if obeying commands written into the air.
Omega slowly descended until his bare feet touched the metal floor. His eyes glowed—a calm, eerie silver, unblinking.
"You were made to spark," he said in a voice that was both human and something else entirely. "I was made to burn."
Ryo clenched his fists, stormlight gathering in his palms. "You're not just a weapon… you're the fail-safe."
"I am balance," Omega replied. "When order collapses, I rise. The Empire is falling. My awakening is necessary."
"No," Ryo growled. "Your awakening was forced. By a tyrant trying to control what he never understood."
The room lit up with swirling currents.
And then—Omega attacked.
He moved faster than lightning—his first strike nearly shattered Ryo's guard. The second launched him into a wall, sparks flying.
But Ryo was already charging back.
They clashed mid-air, fists slamming into fists, storm against storm. The force bent the walls, cracked the vault's foundation.
Ryo grit his teeth. "I won't lose to a machine pretending to be perfect!"
Omega tilted his head, almost curious. "I'm not pretending."
With a flick of his wrist, Omega launched a pulse of stormlight that knocked Ryo to the ground.
"Your heart is fractured," Omega said calmly. "You are chaos. I am clarity."
And then—Omega did something unexpected.
He showed Ryo a memory.
Not a projection. Not a vision. A real, stored memory from the archives of the Stormheart Project.
In a flash, Ryo was standing in a cold lab. Scientists in skysteel robes stood over a glowing chamber. Inside, a child—him—was sleeping.
A voice echoed:
> "Subject Zero displays independent will. Prototype unusable for full compliance. Terminate and move to Phase Omega."
Another voice—soft, pained. A woman's voice.
> "No. He's alive. He's not a weapon—he's a child."
Omega's voice cut through. "You were meant to be erased. But someone spared you."
Ryo's fists trembled. "Who? Who was she?"
But Omega offered no answer.
"None of it matters now. You are unstable. You must be contained."
"No," Ryo whispered. "I'm free."
His stormlight flared—not as raw power, but something sharper. Controlled. Balanced. His own.
He launched upward, lightning wreathing his body like armor.
CRACK—BOOM!
His punch hit Omega's chest—sending the perfect prototype skidding backward for the first time.
---
Above in Skyspire…
Lyra and Sena watched the vault from above.
Juno's voice crackled through the comms: "Vault output's spiking. You've got seconds before that place either explodes or ascends into godhood!"
Sena narrowed her eyes. "Then it's now or never."
---
Back in the Vault
Ryo stood across from Omega, battered but standing tall.
"You're not the end," Ryo said. "You're the last mistake they made."
Omega's calm wavered. "If I fall, so does Skyspire."
Ryo's eyes sparked. "Then I'll catch it myself."
And he charged—one final strike—storm and soul in perfect harmony.