Schala Zeal
@Ver @Yun Lee @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Crow @Hahli Nuva @Donder172 @Gummi Bunnies @Cromartous
@Marian-Jiren
Jiren's questions themselves hit Schala hard... She was tired... Exhausted physically, but yet... Mentally, she strove to fight on... To survive despite the odds.
"If the roles were reversed... If it was your world to be destroyed... To make way for mine... It wouldn't be my place to betray my friends..." She said, her expression neutral for a change... Calm, despite the situation.
Her eyes closed as if she was in some deep state of meditation.
"If it means preserving the future of my friends... All their hopes... All their dreams... Perhaps... Their eternal peace... I'll gladly forfeit my own ambitions... My own desires... For their sake..." Her eyes finally opened, a look of pure determination on her face as she struggled to stay conscious... Stay strong... Despite the strain on her body.
The best she could do was concentrate was on Toppo and Jiren's conversation; the two that had once been so close... Had been torn apart by their own beliefs, their own ideals.
Perhaps it was the nature of this kind of freedom... This kind of 'color' in the multiverse.
Even as she searched for the answers she still had for Jiren's words, she took note of what Toppo said; Jiren was vulnerable to her dark magic, the very thing that had once driven her mother to insanity.
It was almost ironic that this kind of magic... Would be her last hope to save the multiverse.
Her body was battered and sore, her magic reserves at their limit, but she had just enough magical energy within her to unleash one last... Devastating attack; dark matter.
Keeping her eyes open this time... Focusing on Jiren, she tried to muster up what little strength she had, in order to accelerate the casting process... She didn't care if this attack sapped everything she had left... If it meant Toppo and the others had a chance... To her... It was worth it.
Though, just before enough magical energy amassed in her body, she could feel herself losing consciousness... Her vision slowly beginning to blur, and fade.
Despite her efforts to hang on, the toll her exertions had taken on her body was too much. Everything went dark, and her senses were beginning to fail her.
It was like... The void all over again.
She could barely even feel anything as she collapsed to the ground, closing her eyes.
...
Then suddenly... Something pierced through the darkness that enveloped her mind... Despite the fatigue that wracked her body; memories... Countless, memories.
The Ocean Palace incident... Lavos... The Time Eater... Emnity... The Coalition.
Thousands upon thousands of voices... Laughing... Crying... Screaming...
And then... She could feel it... She could hear it...
Everyone's hearts... Throughout the entire multiverse, beating in unison.
Fighting to survive... To preserve their future...
Good... Evil... And all that lay in between.
It...
Was their future...
...
Suddenly... Despite her body having reached its limits... Despite it being seemingly impossible to fight on, let alone even open her eyes... She could feel something stirring within her.
A burning feeling within her heart, swelling within her.
Remembering what Marian was doing with Sorey, all the while she was holding Jiren at bay... The feeling grew stronger, and stronger... Filling her tired body with strength she never thought she had...
And then, despite all logic or reason, her eyes opened.
Somehow, her body felt different... She experienced no physical change so to speak, but... Despite that, she somehow felt... Stronger, like her body had found another power source.
As she slowly began to take in her surroundings... Struggling to stand, she saw those around her begin to develop strange powers... Even Jiren took on a new form of his own, becoming even stronger than he was before.
Then, it hit her; looking at Ben, who was still valiantly fighting, her eyes widened as she slowly put two and two together.
"The Omnitrix..." She whispered, recalling Jiren's blows on the device just before her series of dark bombs had gone off.
It seemed that Ben figured out what was going on too, but also seemed to be aware of what powers she had gained from the Omnitrix, something she still wasn't quite sure of. Just that... She was feeling a little stronger right now. Strong enough at least... To remain standing, even as countless blasts rushed towards her, which she barely managed to avoid, strangely enough, not feeling the fatigue she should have been from using haste with such depleted magic reserves.
As Ben lent her some of the energy he had taken from Jiren... Schala managed a smile, the color returning to her face... As she was beginning to feel strength welling up within her again.
"I'll try my best..." She said, before her attention turned to her surroundings.
Her gaze flitting from Sorey... Who Marian seemed to be using as some kind of puppet... To Jiren, who had become a hulking, golden creature...
It looks like both groups here had their work cut out for them... But now that she had a chance to help again... She seemed more confident in her words and actions, the look of sheer determination she had before returning to her face, as she held onto her feelings that had brought her back to consciousness... Coupled with the powers she had gotten from the Omnitrix.
Now that she at least somewhat understood how they worked, she might just have a chance, if she could just catch Jiren's next wave of attacks.
"Jiren! Stop!" She shouted, both in another attempt to get through to him... In his power-crazed state, and to allow some time for her to figure out how she was going to catch his energy attacks.
It was a little... Different than handling magical energy to say the least, but... Perhaps with her new powers, it might work to her advantage.
"Your power... Your ambition... It's going to destroy us all...!" Even though she was in part doing this to buy some time... Her pleas came from the bottom of her heart...
In this moment, seeing Jiren's wild state... She was reminded of her mother.
Watching the one who had raised her descend into madness took such a toll on her mind... That she had rolled over and allowed her own powers to be exploited. Now that she was witnessing someone else undergo a similar bout of insanity, she was determined to halt the process before it was too late... One way or another...