Close Nemesis

Chapter One: Beneath the Helmet

THREE YEARS LATER:

XALIR:

The lavender skies of Occos II cast a dark shadow upon the wooden towers of Entrek City. Piles of sandsnow line the grey dirt paths that cut between buildings. It's a beautiful sight to behold, especially when the tiny grains of coarse sandsnow reflect the orange sunlight from our star, Occos I. The dazzling reflection will only be temporary, as sandsnow eventually melts, just like ordinary snow.

However, sandsnow will once again rain from the heavens of Occos II, because of course it will. There's always a dusty sandsnow cloud in the sky. Occos has a consistently cool breeze, and the calm serenity of this world makes its cities highly liveable.

Although Entrek City has a lot of residents, there aren't many people out tonight. They're probably having dinner inside, not having a single care in the world about anyone else's business. It's a big galaxy out there, after all. Some people just like the quiet life, especially Laiva Kenelope, my beloved girlfriend of six years—has it really been that long?

My girl loves life on Occos II, mainly because she can come home to our apartment after work and keep her distance from people. She has a really simple life. But I don't care, even though I'm the exact opposite to her. I thrive in society, talking to whoever I can, whenever I can. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I became a hairdresser. It's a talkative profession.

However, despite our differences, Laiva and I still managed to connect with each other in ways we cannot comprehend.

Our love runs deep—deeper than the liquid nitrogen oceans of Kle. And it will always weather the unpredictable tempests of life and death.

Or at least, I hope it will.

Anyway, tonight, Laiva and I are going to be having dinner with my best friend and his family at a popular bistro known as Sandsnowed Inn. It's been weeks since we've seen them, and it should be a fun night. Aacis and his wife Zwartwa are some of the few people that Laiva enjoys talking to besides myself. And I can't say I'm surprised. Aacis is one of my best friends in the whole galaxy. If Laiva likes him, then he must a good fit for me. I don't feel the need to lie to her whenever Aacis and I want to hang out. I always talk it through with her first. I'm pretty honest.

But there is one thing that Aacis and I do together that she absolutely cannot know—for her own safety, of course. If she knew, she would be in terrible danger.

If I could keep Aacis safe, I would, but the thing is, he helped me set up my double life as Rotcetorp, a masked vigilante with superpowers that fights against the evil of Oppugnant. He was there when I received my elemental powers while fishing inside Mount Ezlarz, a volcano located on Wocian, Aacis's islandic homeworld. The volcanoes on this world are filled with water instead of lava, due to the planet's aqua core, and they can leave a deadly wake of destruction during their frequent eruptions.

Aacis's species, the craykello have lived in violent conditions for years, causing them to become fierce, strong-willed hunters. Their wrinkled brownish grey skin, curved yellow teeth that stick out of their jaws, and black watery eyes make them perfect for surviving in their homeworld's frequently perilous conditions.

Anyway, after I received my powers, he built me a suit to help control them. It is made of polished Occosian metal, lined with pure Plassilmavern gold, and perfectly protected against my elemental powers. Aacis also made a curved helmet out of the same black metal as my suit. The suit makes me feel powerful, and it gave me confidence I needed to successfully wield my powers.

Then, when I returned home to Occos, Laiva and I watched news footage featuring a superpowered threat the public had dubbed "Oppugnant". They had attacked a bar at Anthelms, one of the smaller cities located in Occos II's northern hemisphere, in the small region of Terril.