POV: Statera Luotian

An incarnation of mine was touring the Mortal Realm, not long after the three new races were introduced to the Four Realms. Maybe a dozen or so years, and the three new Evolution Beings, as I have taken to calling them (it is not a name I am particularly proud of, but if the shoe fits...), have been growing just as slowly as Sequoia. Over the past hundred thousand years, the situation in the Mortal Realm had progressively worsened, although that was only visible when viewing the hundred thousand years as a whole. Terra and Pyre were taking their time, making sure their roots in their 'empire' were deep and well-placed before they waged war against the Celestial Empress and Gallos Empire, who were merely sitting back like a sleeping giant.

Terra and Pyre severely understimate the Empress. As loathe as I am to admit that anything about the war will be funny, it will be hilarious to watch them prod a sleeping bear. The sleeping bear. The two elementals are top-of-the-line assholes, after all, and as such it will be pleasing to see them get slapped in the face. The fact that they are my children makes no difference in this matter.

My incarnation was merely wandering about, my true body back in my workshop working on creating two new divine beasts, and various other incarnations off doing any number of things. This one was slacking. Because it could.

That is, however, until a particular shout of panic caught my attention.

"STATERA LUOTIAN!" The Mad Scientist shouted from two solar systems away. Each Tree was, in essence, its own galaxy, but only the First Region had reached the size of a true galaxy like the Milky Way as of yet. As such, each Tree had multiple solar systems orbiting them, each with their own miniature sun. Not every solar system held life, either, just like in my old universe. Cultivators could obviously change that however, since Immortals no longer needed something as mundane as oxygen. I turned to peer at the Mad Scientist as she flew every which way, hair a mess and a wild look in her eyes as she shouted my name to the heavesn above.

"Yes? What has you in such a tizzy?" I asked, teleporting by her side and scaring the living daylights out of her. I suppressed a snicker and quietly looked into what she had been doing for the past while, while she lived in the outer Regions of the Four Realms.

The answer was...not much. She'd been experimenting a bit, staying true to her name of Scientist, as well as increasing her cultivation level but nothing overly exciting. Oh, what's this? Seems she found a sweetheart. A shy little Fae that was struggling in his cultivation until the Mad Scientist came along and helped him out. It started off as a master/assisstant relationship, until it evolved into something deeper. How cute.

"YOU-! No, wait, that's not important right now." She shouted, not turning down the volume one level and also losing the pauses in her speech in her panic. "That One is coming. Is here. That One is here, in your realms, and I don't know why." She said gravely.

"You're going to have to explain further that just that. I don't understand what you mean by That One. Are they another Monkey Wrench, like yourself?" I pressed, urging her to explain further. The avian fluttered her wings in agitation, bobbing her head up and down while taking a few deep, calming breaths.

"Yes....they are. They are the...first, Monkey Wrench. I only ever met...them once, very briefly. Words cannot...describe that meeting. They have lived for...countless lifetimes, and countless years...in innumerable universes. Their name is....The First, and they are the...Ultimate Monkey Wrench." The Mad Scientist said slowly, regaining her usual speech pattern. I patted her shoulder, sighing internally and deciding to just take it all in stride.

"Ok, but how can you tell that they are here? I haven't felt anything, and the Four Realms knows the template of Monkey Wrenches because you are here. Well, I haven't specifically been searching for more Monkey Wrenches coming into the Realms though, so maybe it just slipped my attention." I mused, scratching my chin and sinking part of my true body's consciousness into the Four Realms to search for Monkey Wrenches.

There weren't any. Or, well, I say that, but I could clearly feel there was something there, but it wasn'tinor a part of the Four Realms yet. Hmm.

"Monkey Wrenches can at certain...levels, sense another's...presence. Many factors are...involved, but possibly due to the small...size of the Four Realms and The First's strength, I can...feel them now." The Mad Scientist said, shaking her head. "But that is not the biggest...problem. Many times, the First is...accompanied."

"Oh? Accompanied?" I questioned, still probing the presence and trying to figure it out.

"Yes. By The Rival. The only being that is able to contest The First...they almost always accompany one another. Their clashes are...legendary. And destructive." The Mad Scientist begun to wring her hands.

"Do they always accompany each other?" I asked.

"...no, not always. But it is...common." She said. Okay...Mr. Blue Boxes, do you have any advice? ...no? Not even a little statement or warning? Fine then. Thanks for the help.

"Wonderful. As if I need another problem." I muttered, rubbing my temples. "Look, I'll handle this. I don't know how strong you think The First and The Rival are, but when it comes to them versus the destructive might of an entire universe, no matter how small, I'm going to put my money on the universe. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Look on the bright side, me, this could end up being extremely beneficial. But well...in the end, I figure I'll just treat this like I do most everything else, and only take action if it threatens to become too much to handle.

Stretching out one hand, I grasped at one of the many strings of Fate I was beginning to become aware of. Quite a few were being redirected towards The First. Let's just...see where this goes.

POV CHANGE: The First

When I entered the newly made universe, I could only blink in confusion. For one, I was surrounded by Primordial Chaos. Second, I still wasn't a part of the universe. I was still in the processing stage, where my body and family and such would be decided and created. In this stage I could still adjust a little bit of the outcome, such as what race I would end up as, or what gender and whatnot. However here, in this area, I could feel that the chains that normally bound me from completely choosing were a bit...less than normal. Probably due to this universe's young age. Just under three million years...I'd taken a shit which had lasted longer than that.

No joke. And not a story I intend to delve into once again, thank you very much.

"Let's see...a Starman  ?" I questioned, pulling up a "game-screen" that displayed my future race, gender, family, etcetera. It was a lovely ability I picked up for the first time in my twentieth life. That world was a bit too much dark-fantasy for my tastes, though. Too much blood and gore and death, and not enough happy bards and busty tavernmaids that weren't looking to rob you blind and leave you dead in a ditch. Which reflected in the color of the screen, which I occasionally forget to switch from goth black to something cheerier. Like blood red, heartbreak blue, existential-crisis grey, or happy days yellow.

But it was one of the better layouts, so I kept this one instead of switching to other styles. For familiarity's sake.

Name:

The First [Insert secondary name here]

Age:

Race:

Starman   (Unique) (Divine Beast)

Gender:

Undecided

Backstory:

Born from the Primordial Chaos

Family:

Unique in the Four Realms, N/A