Beyond Infinity Chapter 0

**"There's a cosmos out there for us to explore."**

"Kuxaail! We've located the boy..."

An individual, clad in black clothing with a hood over his face, came running into the large hall, his footsteps echoing loudly alongside his voice. The emotions of urgency, fear and excitement flavoured his voice as he approached the throne that seated a shadowy figure, with half of their body concealed by the indoor shade. Only their piercing eyes could be seen from beyond the shadows as they remained seated, leaning back into the chair with both their hands neatly resting on the arms of the throne.

"We've located him finally after all this time!" The hooded man declared, standing upfront not too far from the throne, his arms and legs kept inwards as much as possible.

The being on the seat simply sat there with little to no response, only a disturbing cold silence following after the approached man's claim. His eyes stared menacingly at the hooded figure, looking up and down the individual. A few seconds of bare stillness revolved around the room as the two people there looked at the other.

A sudden door creaking from the other side of the room caught the hooded man off guard, the loud sound echoing louder than the man's footsteps and voice. The hooded individual turned around to see a large door swing open, and from behind a pale-skinned android stepping out into view. His hair was maroon in colour, and his body was dark metallic grey. The most notable thing about him was his eyes, however, as they were a clear representation of his robotic nature on his almost human face. Both his arms looked like gauntlets as they buzzed with energy, pulsating with strange electric zaps that acted almost like an aura around his wrists.

The android simply smiled as he walked into the room and slowly pushed the door shut behind him. "It seems that you are interrupting the Kuxaail's time of meditation. I'm sure you know yourself, a high ranking officer, that to disturb the Kuxaail is a great offence?" he said in a bland, but sinister tone.

The hooded man did nothing but take a step back, his eyes widened with fear from behind his cloaked mask. "Uhm, please excuse my ignorance Master Bidziil, but this is urgent news. The Kuxaail had told me to inform him as soon as we got word of the target's position..." He said, almost pleading with the android as he took a few more steps back.

"Is that so?" The android abruptly interrupted, cutting off the hooded man's reasoning, "Then you have my pardon".

Relieved, the hooded man gave a final bow of respect before taking his leave to the entrance of the hall. The closer he got to the doors, however, the stranger this sensation in his back felt. Granted, it only occurred the second the android allowed him to leave, but it felt as though he has always had this pain in his body. There was something suspicious going on, as the closer he got to the door, it was as if his body was beginning to weigh him down. He felt awkwardly heavier, almost like his mass was increasing the closer he got to the android who waited patiently at the door.

"What's the matter? Something got you down?" Bidziil asked sarcastically before stepping slowly towards the hooded man.

The hooded man was suddenly filled with terror as he realised what was going on with his body. Bidziil was using his Ether Gear, after all these years with the Kuxaail, was granted his own weapon to server him with. And the hooded man would become Bidziil's first victim.

"Wait. Please. Stop." The man pleaded, the increasing weight making it hard to talk. His eyes wanted to be wide open with fright but felt that they were too heavy to even squint. He tried to fight against Bidziil's abilities but realised he couldn't when he was finally brought down to his knees, his legs effortlessly and tirelessly dropping to the cold ground. The hooded man was rendered to a defenceless position, trying desperately hard to spare his life. This was the ruthlessness of the Kuxaail and his minions, picking on each other to prove their might.

"Interrupting the Kuxaail is sacrilege, and is only redeemable with pain," Bidziil warned as he finally took a final step to the hooded man, putting him right in front of his victim. "Your death will not be wasted, however, it has shown me what I am able to do with the great Kuxaail's blessing."

Forming his hand into a finger gun, Bidziil brought the end of the "barrel" to the hooded man's face, holding an intense smile as he looked down upon the helpless victim. Without blinking or reacting humanely, Bidziil released a single shot into the man's head. The gunshot rung throughout the whole room, delivering a loud bang that bounced around everyone's ears. No remorse, no regret, Bidziil had kept the smile on his face throughout the ordeal as the hooded man's body regained normal gravity and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Despite being dressed in black, the man's red blood was soaked into the fabric of his uniform, showing up as a splodge of red on the mask.

Bidziil brought his finger gun to his mouth and blew out the end of the barrel, before opening and resuming the original form of his hand. Turning to the Kuxaail, still on the throne, barely having moved, Bidziil bowed his head in respect, just as the man did to Bidziil and began walking to the entrance.

"He wasn't wrong you know..." the being on the throne said, in a deep, distorted voice. "Even while I'm meditating, I would have rather wanted to know."

Bidziil stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened with shock as he turned back to face Kuxaail still in his seat. Clenching his teeth and gripping his fists tightly, Bidziil rerouted his path to walk back towards Kuxaail. Stepping over the hooded man's corpse that began to drip blood onto the clean, pristine floor. **"So why didn't you stop me?!"** he asked angrily, his voice much more aggressive than the usual bland robotic tone.

The figure on the throne simply remained there on his chair, responding only with silence to Bidziil's question. If there was anyone who was more powerful than Bidziil in that situation, it would have been the Kuxaail, but he continued to watch Bidziil kill the hooded man without remorse and without question. Why only now, after the man's death, did he decide to speak up now.

**"Why didn't you stop me?!"** Bidziil repeated, this time angrier than the last. **"Why do you only regret the man's death after I've delivered his demise?"**

Kuxaail sat there, unnerved and certainly unintimidated by Bidziil's loud approach, before leaning in and pushing his body with his hands on the armrests. One step forward revealed the true face of Kuxaail, as his whole appearance became known to Bidziil. His tanned brown skin, his dark grey hair, and his dark tinted spectacles that hide the bright red eyes that peek from behind. His long hair tied up into a ponytail that hung down the right side of his body, tied with a maroon hair tie. His white attire with large splotches of black shown intricate details of gold and maroon that could be seen if analysed closely. Whilst he may not have looked the part, he certainly had a past of one power-seeking being.

"Do not raise your voice against me boy. Be reminded that I am still your master, the one that had brought life to the circuits that run through your body." Kuxaail declared in a controlled, powerful voice. "Remember who you are potentially dealing with here, so you should know more than why you won't want to stand against me."

TBA...