Reincarnated Into Destiny Universe

 (Day 35)

     Ferra and the others had just returned from the Fallen Stronghold near the EDZ and were celebrating their massive loot haul, after successfully clearing the place out. At a pizza parlor in the Last City, they sat around a table laughing and bragging about their loot and achievements. 

     "Haha, when that Archon Opened fire on me with that Scorch Cannon, I freaked out. I was stuck in that tiny a.s.s hallway, while he was blocking the exit. Before I knew it, I had modified three of my Golden Gun shots to explode like Solar Swarm Grenades and put one center mass, one in his c.h.e.s.t, and the last in his head. 

     "He was pretty obviously dead after that but I had seriously just wasted three Golden Gun shots on a damned Archon. I was so mad at myself I knew if I didn't take it out on the Fallen in the next room I was gonna be mad all day. So anyways, that's why I was screaming and cursing at the Fallen, while slaughtering them like a maniac when you guys caught up to me. I had to get it out of my system. OneShot here even tried to snap me out of it but I wasn't going to stop, until they were all dead." Daniel explained to the others.

     "Damn, three whole Golden Gun shots on a single Archon! I can certainly sympathize with that. I'd probably be pretty pissed to over a goof like that. That being said, OneShot is a pretty cool name for your ghost. It makes me wanna give mine one to. Actually, we should all give our ghosts names. Isaac named his ghost almost immediately after them meeting, if I'm not mistaken. Now that Daniel has named his ghost, doesn't it kinda make it seem like we don't have good relationsh.i.p.s with our ghosts?" Laurel asked.

     "Hmmm...you know what? I think you're right. We should all name our ghosts and I know just the name for mine. Ghost, what do you think of the name Celsia (Sell-see-uh)?" Said Ferra.

     "Hey not bad. That's a name I can definitely live with. From now on I'll be Celsia." Ferra's ghost complied.

     "Nice, Ferra! That was pretty fast. I'm still not sure about mine though. What about you guys? Do have any ideas for your ghost's names?" Laurel asked. 

     "Hmmm...how about Vixtnias (vicks-nee-uhs)?" Koren asked his ghost.

     "Ahhh, a truly fitting name. I accept it gladly." Koren's ghost responded.

     "Oh, I've got one," Bravo interjected. "Whaddya think of Amperion, ghost?"

     "Excellent choice, Bravo! I'll gladly take that name."

     "Well, that just leaves you now, Laurel. How about it?" Ferra asked. 

     "Hmmm...Alright, I've got it now. How about,

Quamesh?" Laurel asked, excitedly.

     "Yes, I love it! Quamesh I shall be!"

     The gang continued eating, talking, and laughing for a few more minutes, before heading to their respective rooms. Before leaving the others, Ferra ensured them that she would speak with Isaac tomorrow, about his abrupt departure during their last mission. 

     Having stuffed themselves full of food and merriment the night before. The gang awoke the next morning ready to train like there was no tomorrow. 

                             (Day 36)

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                             (Day 36)

     Isaac and Polter were on their way to Mars, before the others had even gotten out of bed. Upon arrival, they set down in the Valley of Kings and murdered their way to the Garden's Spire. There were plenty of Cabal around but not as many as yesterday. They took out the Cabal guarding the spire even more easily than Laurel did, as she had already defeated the Commander in that area. The Cabal, not having had enough time to summon reinforcements, were nearly leaderless, at the moment. The few commanders that actually stepped forward were quickly dispatched.

     After a few quick Cabal casualties, Isaac approached the small pillar that granted access to the spire. He placed the Gate Lord's eye within and let Polter do his thing. Polter started up the charging process and Isaac continued trying to teach the unteachable a lesson. The Cabal continued to throw fodder at them, until the eye had been fully charged. 

     Once the eye had been fully charged, they finally made their way into the Black Garden. After scrapping dozens of Vex while working his way through the Black Garden, Isaac found himself at a dead end. Here there was yet another spire that required Polter's unique brand of magic. 

     Less than three minutes later, the surrounding Vex had been cleared, the Conflux Spire had been built, and the Gate Lord's key formed. Isaac and Polter stood in front of a large circular gate and watched as the spire worked it open for them. 

     As the gate opened, Isaac felt a sense of certainty, while looking at the familiar scene. The actual Black Heart was much more intimidating than the one he remembered but Isaac knew that he was ready for this. Initially he had been a bit skittish about the thought of facing even the Hive much less the Black Heart itself. Now, however, he was familiar with the feeling of dying, the feeling of being trapped in a Darkness Zone, and the capabilities of himself and his enemies. 

     Even if this ended up being a difficult battle, Isaac knew he would prevail. He could have relied on his allies in this fight but there was something driving him to prove himself, against this enemy that his much less impressive character in the game had defeated solo. He knew well enough that this wasn't a game but he only had one opportunity to do this solo. If somehow the Vex managed to resurrect the Black Heart, his teammates would already be aware of its existence and they would never let him face it alone. 

     Brimming with confidence and determination, Isaac stepped through the gate and was once again surrounded by that oppressive atmosphere of darkness. Taking aim at the Vex below with his MIDA Multi-Tool, he began his assault on the Black Garden's Heart.

     Isaac first targeted the Vex Hobgoblins and then laid waste to more than a dozen Goblins. At this point in his development, he was incredibly proficient with his weapons and rarely missed a shot. After clearing out the initial batch of Vex, a couple dozen more were summoned, which met with the exact same fate.

     With two waves of its Vex defenders wiped out, the Black Heart was clearly feeling the heat and decided to get serious. Its normally energetic and random shapeshifting became even more erratic, as it sent out thick tendrils of dark fog to possess the first Vex Minotaur statue on the left. 

     Three statues of Vex Minotaurs stood in front of the massive gate like ring that held the Black Heart. The statue that had been targeted by the tendrils of darkness, a Sol Progeny, was coming to life and breaking out of its shell. Isaac used the various platforms in the area along with his LAMP technique to evade the Sol Progeny's fire. He took out the surrounding small fries and then weaved his way through the Progeny's incoming fire. 

     Isaac landed a combination Kortex Grenade (Kinetic Grenade fused with Void Vortex Grenade) in the Progeny's core. Slipping between its legs he then landed a couple of FOMAs into its back to make sure it couldn't escape. After retreating a few meters, Isaac continued to evading and firing sniper rounds into the Progeny's core. 

     The first Sol Progeny was defeated in less than a minute and the second was now being activated by the Black Heart. Vex were continuously being summoned to the battleground, after the second Sol Progeny started firing. 

     Isaac decided that he would only take out the Hobgoblins when they arrived and ignore the rest. He made effective use of his LAMP technique and continuously evade fire while making his way back to Progeny's location. Another Kortex Grenade and a couple FOMAs later, Isaac retreated once more only to switch focus to the other Vex. He pulled out his Void Flame Blades and began cutting a radiolarian path through the Vex forces. The room was packed with them now and the Progeny couldn't accurately target me without killing his allies. 

     Upon witnessing this situation, the Progeny no longer fired at Isaac and began closing in on his position. After cutting through a few more Vex, Isaac moved backwards in the same direction the Progeny was moving. He summoned a Void Ammo Augment (Grenade's worth of Void Energy fashioned to fit the barrel of a weapon to grant outgoing ammunition additional Void Energy,) pulled out his rocket launcher, and attached the Void Ammo Augment to the barrel. He quickly took aim at the Progeny and sent the augmented tracking rocket into the Progeny's core. 

     The second Progeny was clearly on his last leg and began disregarding his allies and firing nonstop on Isaac's position, while charging at him. Isaac took up his sniper rifle and reinforced his slowly decreasing shields. 'One*bang*... two*bang*... three*bang*... three rounds and the second Progeny is down. Alright, third Progeny let's see if you can do any better than you brothers.' Isaac thought to himself, as he slashed his way through the Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Minotaurs that were still being summoned. 

     Once the third Sol Progeny was activated and was targeting him, Isaac returned his Void Flame Blades to his lower leg armor and once again weaved his way towards the Progeny's location. Having no reason to retire tried and tested techniques he stuck to what he knew would be effective. After seeing the Kortex Grenade in Isaac's hand that was very nearly at his core, the third Sol Progeny spun on a dime to the left, in an attempt to avoid the fate of the other two.

     Isaac, however, had been expecting this, since the first Progeny, and he smiled slightly  as he quickly executed his own midair spin to alter the grenades trajectory using LAMP. With little more effort than it took to ensnare the first two, the third Progeny was now enjoying the glorious experience of having his core and the frame surrounding it slowly shredded and weakened. Isaac didn't hesitate to follow up with his FOMAs, moved back in front of the third Progeny, grabbed its Torch Hammer, jumped upon its shoulder, yanked the Torch Hammer upwards with all his strength, and gave it a mighty twist.

     In almost one fluid movement, Isaac turned to the side, used nearly all his remaining Light to throw one of Ferra's Void Scatter Bombs overhead of the other Vex, continued his turn while moving away from the Progeny, completed his 360 degree turn, and began continuously firing its own weapon into the back of the third Sol Progeny. As Isaac's Scatter Bomb was reigning destruction down on the other Vex, the last Progeny really was quite helpless to avoid dying violently under Isaac's relentless assault.

     The third and final Sol Progeny quickly met the same end as the previous two and Isaac took up a position amongst the remaining Vex that allowed him to keep an eye on the Black Heart. It was clearly not in a good way. It looked as though it would fall to pieces at any moment but yet it still remained. This was slightly disturbing to Isaac seeing as how the Darkness Zone had yet to dissipate. 'If killing those three isn't the trigger to end this, then what is? Shit! This isn't good!' Isaac nervously thought. 

     As he continued slashing his way through the Vex that had still not stopped pouring into the battleground, he addressed Polter. "Say, Polter, do you know more or less how big this thing was, when we first entered? Doesn't it look like the Heart has shrunk quite a bit, since this battle started?"

     "I can confirm that that is absolutely the case. Every time it possessed one of those Progeny, it lost some of its mass. It's actually less than half the size it was before the first summoning. It's just hard to tell, because it's constantly changing shape, but it's definitely smaller now. I'm absolutely confident that these Vex are being summoned by the Hearts power and, if it continues summoning them, it will basically kill itself, assuming we don't die first."

     "Right, that sounds about like what I was thinking. This is totally doable. I just have to survive an onslaught of Vex, until the Black Heart timer runs out. Polter, I'm counting on you. If you sense anything that I don't appear to be aware of, let me know."

     "Of course, Isaac, you can count on me."

     Being very close to flat empty on Light Charge, Isaac didn't have enough left for any abilities. The only thing he could use it for was his LAMP and only a for a little while. Pulling out his MIDA Mini-Tool and a single Void Blade in his left hand, Isaac began his war of attrition against the Black Heart and the Vex.

-----

     Isaac placed the muzzle of his Mini-tool into a nearby Goblin's core, shattered it with a quick burst, and immediately spun around to stab a Minotaur that had teleported behind him. Using his blade for leverage, Isaac maneuvered himself onto the Minatuor's shoulders and relieved it of its weapon, as he had done to the Progeny. "Its size has been halved again. Nice! I can do this." Isaac said as he switched to his newly acquired Torch Hammer, because his Mini-tool and his previous Torch Hammer had run out of ammunition.

-----

     Isaac's Kinetic and Elemental Shields were completely depleted, at this point. With no Light to recharge them, once his Light Shields were gone, he would be completely vulnerable. Even with his Custom Armor, it would only last so long against Torch Hammers and Line Rifles. Isaac could see that the Black Heart had used up very nearly all of its power. Its size was barely visible, from where he was fighting. If it weren't for its constantly shifting form, which made it look bigger than it was, he probably wouldn't be able to see it at all. 

     Isaac had a Torch Hammer in one hand and a Line Rifle in the other. Using the Line Rifle he would take out Harpies and Hobgoblins, at a distance. Using his Torch Hammer, he would close in on Goblins and Minotaurs and blast them to pieces at medium to close range. 

     As he was blindly firing his Torch Hammer while targeting a handful of recently summoned Harpies and Hobgoblins, Isaac saw a flash of light in his periphery. It came from the direction of the Black Heart and he just knew it was the signaling of the end.

     "That's it! The last of the Black Heart's energy has been depleted! Just clear out this trash and we're home free!" Polter confirmed the Black Heart's status for Isaac.

     Isaac didn't bother responding he just did his best to ignore his overwhelming fatigue and his aching muscles. He focused intently on the positioning of every last enemy in the area. They were no longer being summoned but there were nearly a hundred of them left. Calling upon all the training he had received from every class and all the innovations he and his teammates had made he plotted his course through the battlefield in an instant and executed it without hesitation. 

     Isaac slashed, stabbed, shot, and blasted his way through the remaining Vex. He used them as shields when possible and pushed them into their allies fire at every opportunity. Nearly ten minutes later Isaac closed in on a Minatuor, while firing his Torch Hammer at it. He placed final shot in its face and threw away the Torch Hammer, as he continued forward and thrust his Void Blade towards the Minatuor's core. The Minatuor teleported forward and past Isaac but Isaac was as always prepared for this pitiful tactic. He spun to the left, grabbed the Minatuor on his side, and spun again bringing his blade around and into its core. As Isaac stabbed it repeatedly, the Minatuor used the last of its strength to bring its arms down smashing onto Isaac's head.

     Isaac and the Minatuor both fell to the ground, as the oppressive veil of darkness was finally lifted and the connection to the Light was reestablished. Polter had been waiting anxiously for this moment and worked as fast as he could to capture all the Light before it dispersed and used it to heal Isaac's body.

     "Hang in there Isaac! The veil of darkness is gone but you don't have to die here. Just hang on a little longer." Polter said as he drew in the Light and guided it into Isaac's body healing his injuries. 

----- Six Hours Later

     "Uughhh...what…" Isaac g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he opened his eyes. "What happened?" Isaac asked as he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings and didn't immediately recognize it. 

     "Haha, we won! That's what happened! You destroyed the Black Garden's Heart and now Light can return to the Traveler! That last blow hit you pretty hard though and you've been unconscious for six hours. How do you feel?"

     "Oh, that's right the Black Heart! Damn, that thing really threw me for a loop, with all those damn Vex it summoned. Oh well, I guess there's no use complaining about it now, since we won. I'm still pretty tired and kinda sore so, even though we should probably be celebrating right now, all I wanna do is go home, eat, and sleep."

     "Haha, don't even worry about it. Our sh.i.p.s right overhead and it'll be here in no time. I'll make sure everyone knows not to disturb you, until you've had your rest. You really did an amazing job today and you totally deserve it."

     As soon as Isaac's ship arrived, Polter transmated him up and they went straight back to the Tower for some hard earned R&R.