Once the cruiser lands, the doors open and a flight of stairs extends out from the doorway onto the ground outside. Before Tom exits the cruiser, he pulls The Holy Omniverse Transcript out from under his cloak and hands it to you.
" Here, Donny. You might wanna hold onto this. I'll store it in my robes again when we get back if you don't wanna constantly carry it after I'm done with these two. "
He says as you take it from him. You nod your head and look down at the book before he walks off towards the doorway with Roary and Gareth. As the three of them exit the cruiser, you fiddle with the lock and try to open the book but it doesn't budge.
Tom was right. The book isn't wanting to open after I used it to defeat the Valghul.
Once Tom, Gareth and Roary all exit the cruiser, the stairs retract and the doors seal shut. The cruiser then slowly begins ascending into the air, which causes you and Mimi to both look around puzzled as to why the cruiser is leaving.
One of Gareth's clones sees your confusion, so he enters the room and speaks up to you as he approaches.
" Relax, Abbadon. I've programmed the cruiser to hover at a safe distance so that we don't unintentionally damage our only ride to Voldoor. "
The floor of the cruiser then becomes translucent and you can see the three of them below you all walking out into the ruined main plaza of the abandoned village. You notice that Mimi looks anxious, so you ask her a question.
" What's wrong, Mimi? "
Mimi looks back at you with nervous eyes as she responds.
" I don't want anybody to get hurt… "
You smile gently as you reassure her.
" Don't worry, Tom's incredibly strong and he's more than capable of keeping everyone safe. Would you like to come sit with me? "
Mimi nods before she gets up and sits next to you on the couch. As you both look down at the crumbled buildings throughout the village, the cruiser automatically zooms in on the three of them and hones in on the ground level audio frequencies so you can see and hear them perfectly from above. Tom is standing by his lonesome on one side of the square with Roary and Gareth standing on the opposite side.
" Alright! The platter is right here in my left hand! "
Tom says as he holds it up, showing it to them.
" Whenever you guys are ready, feel free to- "
Roary cuts off Tom by immediately kneeling down and putting his hand on the ground, casting a powerful spell that causes the entire square to erupt into a spout of magma that bursts upwards from underneath Tom, violently shooting into the air. The ground all around Tom crumbles into a pool of lava, but Tom immediately reacts by simply levitating in the air as he siphons the Light from the magma and rocks that get too close to him. The lava and rocks that would've damaged the platter all disappear in an instant, and Gareth immediately participates by firing a barrage of red bullets with his Eviscerators at Tom. As the bullets explode through the magma and rocks that are mid-air, lava gets flung out and shot in every direction. Tom simply holds out his glowing green hand as he's levitating and siphons the Light from the bullets as well before they reach him while the entire village catches fire from the lava spewing everywhere and the ruined buildings begin to crumble even more.
Seeing that Tom is simply dematerializing everything that's being thrown at him, Roary complains in an irritated demeanor.
" That's bullshit! I thought you were holding back? "
Tom laughs as he responds.
" I am holding back. You don't like it when I use my powers? "
" It's not fair if you can just undo everything that we throw at you!! "
Roary yells before spinning around and casting another spell, causing a giant tornado of fire to take shape and immediately pursue Tom. The tornado picks up chunks of lava and molten rock in the air as it barrels towards Tom, but Tom simply brings his hand down in a chopping motion and cuts the tornado in half which dispels it before it reaches him.
Tom speaks back to Roary in a playful tone.
" Alright, I won't use my gimmick to make things disappear. How about that? "
" Good!! "
Roary says as he puts his hand into the air and casts yet another spell which makes all of the flames across the entire village grow dramatically in size before converging on where Tom is floating in the air, but before the flames can reach him, Tom smirks before he disappears.
You look over at Gareth to see that he's more observing than he is fighting.
Tom was absolutely right about Gareth using Roary's ego to get more information. Thanks to his manipulation, he has a front row seat at witnessing what Tom is capable of.
" What?! Are you running away now?! "
Roary growls aggressively as he looks around.
" Behind you. "
Tom says after he appears and bonks Roary on the head with the platter. Roary, getting even more frustrated, screams at Tom as he turns around.
" Dodge this!! "
Roary shouts as he materializes an ethereal flail with jagged edges in his hand before swinging it down where Tom is floating, but Tom easily catches the head of the flail with his free hand and holds the platter with a firm grip in his other hand. The force from the flail explodes upon impact with Tom's hand and the ground all around Tom crumbles into a crater beneath him from the force of the swing, but Tom doesn't look to be hurt or fazed at all. He makes a calm remark to Roary as he's holding the head of the flail above him.
" Uhmm… you're supposed to be going for the platter. "
Roary glares at Tom with a look of disbelief.
" Did you just catch that?! "
Roary asks as he pulls himself into Tom using the chain of the flail and spin kicks Tom in the face, causing another loud explosion as his shin connects. Tom looks at Roary after being kicked in the face with a blank stare as if it didn't do anything.
" Platter? Remember? "
Tom says as he closes his hand and crushes the flail, dispelling it. Roary then backs away and casts another spell as his fists and feet sink into the ground and he pulls them out covered in lava. Roary then throws several punches and kicks at the platter in an attempt to melt it but Tom dodges and blocks them all with his free arm no problem.
Suddenly, you see Gareth point his Eviscerators at both Tom and Roary as they're focused on one another and he fires a flurry of bullets at both of them. Tom instantly acknowledges that Roary is in danger and distracted by the fight, so he pushes Roary out of the trajectory of the bullets which causes Roary to slide away on his feet. Tom quickly sidesteps the bullets, and you see the bullets absolutely annihilate the ruined buildings that were behind him into a powdered smoke as the bullets explode upon impact with the stone.
Tom then disappears and instantly reappears closer to Gareth as he holds the platter up like a target for Gareth to shoot. Gareth smiles and lets loose with his Eviscerators as he fires a hellfire of bullets at the platter, but Tom simply puts his empty bare hand in front of the bullets to block each of them. As you're watching the bullets bounce off of Tom's hand, Gareth's clone that's watching alongside you in the cruiser makes a remark as if he's flabbergasted.
" Tom is very strong indeed. Normally a single bullet from my gun would turn an entire group of humans into pink mist, but he's blocking every single bullet effortlessly. His speed and power are incredible. "
You can tell that Roary is tired from all of the powerful spells that he's cast as he drops down to his knees in exhaustion. As he breathes heavily, you see him watching Tom and Gareth from a distance. It's apparent that Roary's done fighting.
Tom blocks the last of Gareth's bullets as his Eviscerators run out of ammo, which causes Gareth to immediately holster them and close the distance, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks without missing a beat at the platter just like Roary did. You can see a significant difference of power and speed between the strikes of Gareth and Roary as you look at Gareth's bionic body move at a superhuman level. Each consecutive strike is perfectly precise and calculated while also being faster than a normal human eye can track. Still, Tom dodges and blocks each strike no problem with his empty arm despite standing right in front of him.
Seeing that Gareth isn't tiring because of his artificial body, Tom disappears again and reappears in the air above Gareth. Gareth's holsters have already reloaded his Eviscerators and he goes to draw them, but before he can pull them out, Tom uses his telekinesis to hold Gareth in place, effectively immobilizing him. Gareth tries to fight against Tom's telekinetic grasp on him, but it's to no avail. Tom then holds up the platter and presents it still in pristine condition as he makes a closing remark to both of them.
" Looks like I won. "
Tom says as he descends back down to where Gareth is frozen still.
Gareth looks at Tom with intrigue as he admits defeat.
" That, you did. It was a good show from up in the cruiser as well. "
As Tom lets Gareth go, Roary exhaustedly carries himself over to where they're standing. He puts his hand on Tom's shoulder and speaks tiredly.
" Otherlanders like you truly are as remarkable as they say. Thank you for taking my challenge seriously and showing me your power firsthand. I hope that there are no hard feelings about what I said earlier. "
Tom smiles gently as he responds to Roary.
" None at all. You fought well and your abilities are very impressive. I understand now why the King favors you so much. "
The cruiser descends back down into the now burning plaza as the sun begins to set and the three of them board together. Tom hands the platter back to one of Gareth's clones as he walks past and the clone cleans up the mess of broken glass from the platter being dropped in the first place. You and Mimi both stand up and look at each other as they meet you in the middle of the room. Mimi pulls herself closer to you and you gently hold her next to you with one arm.
" See? I told you they were gonna be fine. "
You say to Mimi as the cruiser doors shut again. The cruiser then takes off and continues on its course to Voldoor, and Tom speaks to everyone while you're all standing together in the middle of the room.
" Well, it's almost nightfall. I think now's a good time for us to get some rest. "
Roary throws himself onto one of the couches and stretches loudly before agreeing.
" Yeah! You don't gotta tell me twice. "