CALAMITY : Legends Of The Chosen

Scene: "Curse of the Champion" — Max's True Awakening

Location: Edge of the mountain plateau.

Time: Just before dawn.

The sky is a violet haze. Max stands alone at the cliff's edge, watching the wind scatter dust into the chasm below.

He clenches his fists, black lightning crackling off his skin in fits. His expression is tight — confused, angry, alone.

Max (muttering):

"Everyone came out different… stronger… evolved. And me? I'm still just the walking nuke."

Suddenly, his heart lurches.

His body jerks forward violently as a deep, burning sigil pulses on his chest — glowing a cruel purple. Veins of dark light thread across his body like cursed vines.

Max (groaning):

"Ah—...nngh... What the hell…?"

His back arches violently. The sound of tearing flesh rips through the air. His shirt shreds.

From beneath his skin, two enormous wings erupt — malformed and skeletal at first, then rapidly coated in obsidian-black feathers. Lightning dances between each feather tip like living veins.

Max (gasping):

"W-What the hell is—AAHH—!"

His eye pupils stretch, the whites of his eyes flushing violet. A curse sigil spreads across his chest, neck, face, and down his arms like ink bleeding through glass.

He collapses to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.

Max (panicking):

"This isn't me… This isn't ME!! Someone make it stop—!!"

Max (panicked):

"This—this isn't mine! I didn't unlock this! I didn't ask for this!!"

He stumbles backward, crashing into a tree. His lightning lashes out instinctively, splitting bark, scorching air.

A warm hand touches his shoulder.

Saria stands there, gentle, ethereal. Eyes glowing faintly, she leans forward and presses her lips against his.

The lightning stops.

The curse marks flicker.

Max blinks. The wings twitch and fold. His pupils shrink, regaining clarity. His breathing slows.

Max (gasping):

"...Saria…?"

Max (half-panicked):

"Did I trigger some kind of death mode?! What the hell is this crap?!"

Max is on one knee, wings twitching, curse sigils glowing across his body.

He's still catching his breath, adrenaline surging.

Max (panicked, voice cracking):

"SARIA! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS—AM I DYING?!"

Saria (deadpan):

"You're not dying. Don't exaggerate."

Max stares, wide-eyed. His new curse wings twitch erratically.

Max (still alarmed):

"My back exploded, I've got demon tattoos, and I'm pretty sure I can smell lightning!"

Saria floats closer. She places a single finger against his forehead.

Saria (dryly):

"Relax. It's just your power-up."

Max stares at her, jaw dropped.

Max:

"...Excuse me?!"

Saria:

"You're my Champion. You died. You came back. That form is yours now. You unlocked it after dying fifty times and syncing with me." This is the result. Curse Mode — bound to your soul."

She steps back and gestures to his arm — now marked by a glowing Senbon Katana sigil wrapping around his veins like a circuit.

She gestures lazily toward his wings and glowing body.

Saria:

"That form? It's the real you now. Faster. Stronger. Meaner. The senbon katana listens to you better like this."

She taps his chest where the curse sigil pulses.

Saria:

"That mark means you're mine. Don't freak out. It won't kill you unless you're an idiot."

Max:

"...I feel like I'm about to explode."

Saria:

"Then don't. Control it. Or someone else will."

She floats up higher, fading into crackling violet mist.

Saria:

"The Senbon Katana responds better when you're like this. It syncs to your cursed state."

Max (slowly realizing):

"So this is… a buff?"

Saria (nodding):

"A very dramatic one. Which you're handling… poorly."

She gives him a withering look.

Saria:

"You're not dying. You're just growing up. Try not to scream next time. It's embarrassing."

Saria (echoing):

"You've got control now. Don't waste it."

Max stands in silence. His wings flick once. He exhales.

Max (dryly):

"Right. Cool. Just… don't scream. Got it."

He glances down at his hands, still glowing.

Max (grinning slightly):

"…Okay, yeah. This is badass."

Saria (voice echoing):

"Congrats. You leveled up. Try not to vaporize your friends."

With that, she turns, vanishing in a flicker of violet mist.

Max stands in stunned silence.

He glances down at his arms — sparking, marked, powerful.

Max (quietly):

"...Well. Damn."

Scene: "Lightning Flicker — First Test"

Location: A high cliffside plateau, wind cutting across the edge. The others are still scattered, recovering or training. Max stands alone near the cliff, eyes narrowed, wings twitching.

Max (muttering to himself):

"Alright… let's see what this body upgrade actually does besides giving me demon cosplay aesthetics."

He breathes in. A faint buzzing sound crackles around his skin. Purple lightning dances along his arms, crawling up his spine and spiraling into his legs.

Max:

"Okay, Max. Don't explode. Don't explode."

He crouches slightly, then pushes forward — disappearing in a jagged burst of purple lightning.

CRACK!

In an instant, he reappears twenty meters away, standing in a crouch with smoke rising off his boots.

Max (blinking):

"…Huh."

He vanishes again — another flicker. This time mid-air, and then again, diagonally upward.

CRACK!

CRACK!

Each jump is near-instantaneous — like a lightning bolt hitting different spots in rapid succession. On the third flicker, he overshoots and lands flat on his back.

Max (groaning):

"Ow. Okay. Still working out the landing part."

He lifts his arm — lightning arcing off his fingertips with instinct now.

Max (smiling):

"I'm not teleporting… I'm redirecting my body like lightning. Following my own electric current."

He gets up again, flexing his fingers.

Max:

"Let's call it—"

He vanishes, reappears on a rock.

Max:

"Lightning Flicker. Trademark pending."

MAX — New Ability Unlocked: Lightning Flicker

Description:

Max moves by accelerating along his own lightning currents, appearing as though he's flickering through space. It's not teleportation — it's instantaneous velocity redirection.

Use:

Ideal for close combat repositioning

Can dodge projectiles mid-flight

Can appear behind enemies with minimal warning

Requires precise control — overuse risks physical disorientation or internal damage

Scene: "Senbon Surge — A Blade That Doesn't Cut"

Location: Near the edge of the plateau. The sky's clouding slightly from residual static. Max stands in front of a tall, ancient tree, its bark thick as stone.

He holds the Senbon Katana in a reverse grip — a slim, needle-thin, almost weightless blade gifted by Saria with crackling purple veins running along the blade.

Max (grinning):

"Alright, fancy toothpick. Let's see if you're just for show."

He flicks the katana once — it hums with charged silence.

Then he vanishes.

Lightning Flicker.

In the next instant, he reappears on the opposite side of the tree — the blade already gone.

He slashes horizontally at the tree.

But instead of cutting…

BZZZ-POP—!!

Dozens of thin purple lightning needles explode into existence where the slash landed. They pierce deep into the trunk, glowing briefly… and then—

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!!

The blade vanishes — exploding into dozens of senbon needles, each made of super-condensed lightning. In a blink, they pierce the tree from every angle like lightning-fast shrapnel.

ZAP-ZAP-ZAP-ZAP-ZAP—

Each needle erupts in a miniature purple thunderstrike, like dozens of localized explosions.

The ground trembles. The tree vanishes in a pillar of purple lightning.

When the smoke clears…

A 100-foot-wide crater gapes where the tree once stood — smoldering, blackened earth. The cliffside behind it is half-melted.

Max (eyes wide):

"…"

He slowly looks down at the katana, which has reformed in his hand with a high-pitched chime of electricity.

Max:

"…Okay. You win."

He lifts the katana to eye level, watching it shimmer.

Max (deadpan):

"Senbon Katana — it doesn't cut. It deletes."

MAX — Weapon: Senbon Katana

Form: A thin, lightning-infused needle-blade

Effect: On contact, the blade disperses into hundreds of senbon-like lightning needles, each one piercing and detonating in a violent arc of purple lightning

Secondary Effect: All senbon needles return to the hilt and reform the blade after each strike

Drawback: Requires precise aim. Overuse can overload local magnetic fields or cause static dissonance in Max's nervous system