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Golden Gate Empire [IC / No Longer Accepting / PG - 16]


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What the ever loving funk? The pain in Morgan's head was the last of her worries now, as events went from crazy to batshit and everywhere in between. First it seemed that Gerald had been siphoning their magic. That damned leech. Second apparently Howler's fancy skull thing was completely useless against Gerald's...spell? It certainly seemed like one, so that's what Morgan was gonna go with.THIRD another damn GOD came in to help them and got himself killed. Even worse than that it looked like Gerald had taken some of his power, as they were forced into a rocket-ship-formerly-known-as-arena.

 

The absolute worst part, however, was that she had been forced to the ground. She, Morgan Reaperson, laying prone on this disgusting floor. With a groan she made it back to her feet, glancing around at the skeleton warriors who had luckily survived the journey.

 

However as much as she complained. As much as she tried to write off what happened as an inconvenience. She couldn't hide from a single fact.

 

She was afraid. She didn't want to admit it, but deep down she knew it. This was a fearsome opponent, and she had little to no faith in any of the others to do anything worthwhile. She had cast spell upon spell, many of which she hadn't been able to cast before, to no avail. What were they going to do? What could they do? Even if they killed Gerald, would they just crash into the Earth? Was this really her end?

 

"You don't scare me!"

Morgan whipped her head to the source of the voice. Camille. The weirdo maid boy was standing up, with some kind of blade pointing at Gerald.

 

Camille hadn't anticipated any of what occurred. All of it was far beyond anything he had experienced, far beyond even the video games he had spent so much time playing. And yet, he felt oddly...calm. Gerald was a monster. A complete monster. He killed so many people, in an instant, without batting an eye. He murdered a god right in front of them.
Who cares if he was stronger than them? Who cares if they were flying thousands of feet in the air? Who cared what he threatened to do to them? All of it paled to one simple fact. He had to be stopped. Whatever it took.

And so it was that the boy stood and approached the monster known as Gerald, and stated his lack of fear. "You want to trap me? I've been trapped all my life, and now I finally know how to break free from that trap. I'm going to fight, and fight, even if I can't win. I'm going to keep fighting you until the very end!" Camille extended the blade as it throbbed with energy, and rushed forward, like an arrow, towards the old man.

 

Morgan gave a sigh, and a smile appeared on her face. So that's what it was like, eh? Well... "I'm not gonna let some weirdo show ME up, come on boys, let's see what this old man can do!" She ordered her soldiers forward, to attack Gerald. All 15 skeletons in three groups heading for him, ready to tear their jagged fingers into his flesh. If nothing else, it should give that boy a chance to get through his guard.

Now let's see how THIS aura would react....She still had her magic, and now she'd find the perfect spell to crush Gerald. All she had to do was wait and see.

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That was it...their grande finale of an attack had failed against what he presumed was still Gerald.  However, before the group of contestants could be incinerated by the sweltering heat of a sun like attack, something saved them.  The shape...the definition...it all looked so familiar to him.  It reminded him of...

 

Ilgad!

 

As the being revealed itself, it lowered all the contestants to their knees.  It looked similar to Ilgad, but Elspire was sure that this was not the same deity that he had killed prior.    

 

Elspire looked up to witness Gerald approach the godlike being, a smirk tracing his lips.  

 

"Heh...now that we got a god on our side, your sure as hell toast now Gerald!"  He scratched his head...maybe now wasn't the best time for an apology, but he figured the dude deserved it.  "Oh right...sorry about killing Ilgad and all...no hard feelings right?"  After he concluded his apology, the god was struck down where he stood, his heart missing from the chest cavity that it rightfully called home...and the man...devoured it.  The scene made Elspire sick to his stomach.  Gerald's aura grew stronger...the pressure was immense.  With Alastor's power now gone, he was able to stand up...but his knees were shaking.  

 

However, two made their stand, and Elspire looked towards the shining symbols of courage among them.  Camille, and the witch Morgan.  

 

"You want to trap me? I've been trapped all my life, and now I finally know how to break free from that trap. I'm going to fight, and fight, even if I can't win. I'm going to keep fighting you until the very end!"

 

"I'm not gonna let some weirdo show ME up, come on boys, let's see what this old man can do!"

 

Elspire smiled.  These two sure had guts...more guts than they led on.  They had more guts than the dragon that stood beside them.  They couldn't have all the glory now could they?  Elspire ceased his trembling, and wore a smile once more.  With Arisu right beside him, he gripped her hand tightly with his own.  

 

"We've killed gods before...I'm sure we can do it again.  Together!"  Static grew around Elspire, and danced across to Arisu.  She wouldn't be harmed, rather she'd feel a rush of new found energy surging through her.  "Besides...we still have to leave this place together!"  He said looking to Arisu, a static like glow skipping across his iris.  

 

Zyg had tried his best to bury his head in the rubble by now, but to no avail.  All the loud crashing and intense heat distracted him, this place would be his grave.

 

"I don't belong here anyways...I'm a freak of nature!"  In his mind, his memories flashed before him.  The kindness shown to him by humanity...if he were to let Gerald have his way...that kindness would fade away.  He rose from the rubble and towards his fellow contestants.  Three of them stood before Gerald, who was now even more menacing than before.  "No use being in an existential crisis right now!  I....I must assist my....my friends!"  Zyg rushed in line with his fellow contestants, placing himself beside Morgan.  

 

"Sorry for being such a scaredy-dino...but now...I think I'm ready to meet this so called 'fate'!"  Whirring could be heard, as his claws began to super-heat, almost sinking into the ground beneath him.  

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As the contestants began to rally once again to face Gerald, the roars of an unholy engine suddenly sounded from somewhere behind Tyson. "There you are!" Tyson's lips curled into a grin as he jumped high into the air just after Camille rushed towards their opposition. Landing atop Kyng, The Ripper revved the unholy vehicle's engine before drawing his knife and rocketing forward at frightening speed.  

 

Weaving through the horde of skeletons summoned by Morgan, Tyson tightened his grip on Kyng's throttle, causing the demonic steed to roar with glee before gaining even more speed in it's charge towards their target. "Hope you like silver with your god heart, Gerald!" He called out to his target just before they two would have met, roughly steering Kyng to the right and taking a slice at the other man's chest with a super heated blade upon passing him.  

 

Though he wasn't done there. Forcing Kyng to a skidding halt a few meters behind Gerald, Tyson brought his feet up onto the seat of the motorcycle before sliding his blade back onto his belt and grabbing the collar of his trench coat whilst placing his hand on the large pistol that rested in his holster.

 

Recklessly leaping forward from his vehicle, Tyson ripped off his favorite jacket off and tossed it towards Gerald in an attempt to block his vision before drawing his pistol and firing off several flaming rounds through his jacket. "BANG!" Even if he didn't managed to off the bastard, he sure as hell was good at creating openings for the others... 

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"...Well..."

 

Standing at the summit of the existent world, Arisu felt a weird sensation of nostalgia as she overlooked the distant land below. She had never been here before...yet it still felt as if she belonged here. However, as much as she would like to dwell more and research this feeling of nostalgia, there was someone that still need to disappear. Before them was the old man, Gerald, doing one of his monologues. It was cringeworthy at best for Arisu. Talking about that as if he was in any position to judge.

 

"I'm going to trap you.  I'm going to create your own personal worlds where you can watch me kill those you know and love over and over again.  Each and every one of you.

 

And I will leave you there.  Forever."

 

As he said that, Arisu broke out into a laughing fit.

 

"Ha...hah...you're really serious about that? I thought you're going to play GOD or something and do something more impressive, but...this is just lame.

At least think about something that would actually be different from how I'm living my life so far."

 

After absorbing that god...thing earlier, it was clear that Gerald was stronger than before, even if his barrier had disappeared. The pressure he exerted was immense, but for Arisu, there was no reasons to be intimidated. Perhaps it was a side effect of living without having ever to worry about any consequences, but despite the clear gigantic gap of power between the two of them, Arisu kept on laughing, shrugging off the pressure as if it was nothing. Noticing Elspire on her side, she stopped laughing to give him a wide, acknowledging smile. Fate was still there too, tightly clutching her scissors, waiting for the right time to strike.

 

"We've killed gods before...I'm sure we can do it again.  Together!"

 

"No points in doubting that. He's going down, that's for sure." Arisu felt a surge of electricity coming from Elspire. Aside from some tingly sensation, it was immediately turned into more magical energy for her - perfect for what she was intent on doing.

 

"Besides...we still have to leave this place together!"

 

"Oh, don't forget to remind me that we still need to decide how we'll do our wedding. Planning it can take a while, after all.

 

But well, right now...I guess let's deal with this cockblocker first.

 

Though...thinking about it...any ideas on what kind of wedding dress should I wear?"

 


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"I'm not gonna let some weirdo show ME up, come on boys, let's see what this old man can do!"

 

"We've killed gods before...I'm sure we can do it again.  Together!" 

 

"Hope you like silver with your god heart, Gerald!" 

 

"This is just lame.  At least think about something that would actually be different from how I'm living my life so far."

 

"Oh, do you all ever shut up?" Gerald groaned.  "All I'm getting out of you--YOU'RE BEING RUDE!" he roared, as Tyson attempted to cut him open.  The blade that should have struck Gerald went through his body without ever making contact with the surface of his skin, as he turned around to face Tyson.  The man skidded to a halt on his motorcycle and fired a round from his tiny weapon.  

 

"BANG!"

 

As the bullet reached Gerald, he snatched it out of the air, and pointed at Tyson.  "I'm going to put this through your skull!"  Gerald took a short step forward, and vanished from existence, as space seemed to twist around him.  When he appeared again, he was holding the back of Tyson's neck, and craned it backwards so that the hot headed numskull could look him in the face.  "Hope you like the taste of silver," he mocked, holding the bullet inches above Tyson's skull.  But before he could implant the bullet into the base of Tyson's temple, Gerald's arm was hit with a massive burn, as he yanked his arm away from Tyson, and looked up to see a smug smile on Howler's face.  

 

"What in blazes--what did you do!?" Gerald screamed, snarling at Howler.

 

Jackson put his hat back on straight, smiling as he revealed the palm of his right hand.  A series of demonic symbols was drawn on his hand, and smoke billowed from his palm.  "Figured ya would change tactics old timer.  But that's just obvious.  Yer too much of a simple minded, stupid old bastard ta come up wit' anything creative.  First ya negate magic, and ya stand your ground.  Lemme guess.  Stopin' ph--"

 

"Say another word, and I'll rip your tongue out through the back of your skull and choke you with it," Gerald said standing up straight.  

 

Howler laughed, mocking Gerald.  "Ya don't get it, do ya, Gerald!?  From here on out, yer d--d--do-do-done.  These kids . . . are. . . gonna . . ." Howler had stopped speaking, as he felt a pain in the back of his head.  He couldn't move, as all feeling left his body.  The pain subsided quickly, as he began to choke.    If one were to observe Gerald carefully, they would see his left arm was outstretched, but it was missing from his body.  Upon further investigation, it was clear where Gerald's left arm was now:  extending out of the back of Jackson's skull.  

 

"Maybe now you'll shut up," Gerald said as he craned Howler's neck backwards as he earlier did to Tyson, and proceeded to extend his arm further into Howler's skull.  He punched through the man's throat, and grabbed at his tongue.  Gerald pulled as hard as he could, until Jackson's neck could bend no further.  He ripped Jackson's tongue out of his mouth, but to Gerald's dismay, it was not long enough to tie around the man's neck.  Tossing it to the ground, Gerald drew his arm out of Jackson's head, and shoved him forwards, watching him collapse.  Howler's face planted onto the cold hard metal platform, now convulsing violently.  Gerald frowned at the disgusting display, returning his arm to it's place as he walked over to Jackson's corpse.

 

With a swift kick, it lifted lazily into the air, gently floating back towards Earth.  "See you in hell, you annoying prick," Gerald said as he watched Jackson's body float away.  

 

Turning his attention back to the contestants, Gerald cleared his throat.  "Now.  Does anyone else have anything stupid to say?" he asked sarcastically.  Then, trembling behind the contestants, a frightened Steph stood up straight, tears streaming down her face.

 

"You're . . .unbelievable," she declared.

 

Gerald was taken aback.  He threw his arms up in frustration, as he opened a palm to Steph.  "I'm unbelievable?  After everything I've done for you?  Dining at the finest restaurants.  Visiting the most exotic lands.  Exploring things you never thought possible.  Wanting for nothing!  But I'm unbelievable?" he said taking a few steps forward.  Steph quickly scurried backwards, nearly falling again as she hid behind Saul and Elspire.

 

"You're insane, Gerald!!" she screamed.  "I can't believe I ever associated with you!  Let alone loved you!  Was that something you did to me too!?" she said as loudly as she could.

 

Gerald's frown didn't vanish.  He clenched his fists, glaring at Steph through Saul and Elspire.  "If it weren't for me, you'd still be getting raped by your Atlantean King!  Your good for nothing father!  And your brother!  If I hadn't taken you away, you'd still be the ocean's whore, and soon to be inheriting a non existent species!  Is that what you wanted!?  Or was all my hard work for nothing!?"

 

Steph gasped, putting her hand over mouth, as she was insulted by Gerald.  "How dare you!?" she screamed again.  "You . . .you know nothing about me!  My father!  My family!  You--!"

 

"I know your family is dead!  And I know you'll be joining them, if you don't come to your senses!" Gerald roared.  An echo followed his voice, shaking the floating platform.  Steph, who was doing her best to maintain her composure, had finally lost it.  She stood to her feet, as she slipped from beneath Saul and Elspire.  Slowly, she walked forwards, her eyes empty and her expression blank.  "They're. . .dead?  But I just--"

 

"Steph," Gerald said, calming down.  "I'm sorry.  They were collateral damage.  An accident.  I was going to restore--"

 

"Collateral damage!?  An accident!?  You were going to restore them!?  What did you DO!?" she demanded.

 

Gerald shook his head, knowing full well he couldn't explain this clearly enough for Steph.  "It was long before the fight in the Thunderdome," he started.  "The King and I. . .we weren't seeing eye to eye.  So--"

 

"So you killed them?  My family?  My friends?  You just . . killed them?" she asked, stepping forwards again.  Steph was shaking, folding her arms as she approached Gerald.  Now, she was feet away from him, tears rolling down her face.  "You just took it upon yourself. .  .to kill them?  You . . .didn't even consult me?" she asked, speaking softly.

 

"Steph, you wouldn't have understood.  This was a disagreement of business.  Very volatile business.  Business that--"

 

"Was it too hard for me to understand, Gerald?  Am I that stupid?  Or was I just someone you overlooked?  Just like the rest of the world?" she asked.

 

"Steph--" Gerald began.

 

"You know what else I wanna know?" she began, putting a finger in Gerald's face.  "If you've recreated the contestants--these people--over and over again," she said now pointing the same finger at the contestants.  "How many times have you recreated me?" she said now pointing at herself.

 

"Never.  I've wiped your memory.  Many times.  But I've never recreated you.  Not once.  You were too important to me," Gerald said softly.  He tried to take Steph's hands, but she slapped his hands away.  

 

"Don't touch me.  Stay away from me," she declared, now walking around Gerald.  He turned around to face her.  "You have quickly become the most despicable people I've met on the surface world.  And you're still trying to justify your actions," she said backing away.  

 

Gerald stretched out a hand, desperately trying to reason with her.  "Steph, don't do anything rash."

 

"Rash?" she said, shaking her head.  "Look who's talking.  You.  Talking to me.  About 'rash'.  You're a hypocrite too," she said backing further away, until she now stood on the edge of the platform.  

 

"Steph!  Stop!  Don't take another step!  This isn't necessary!  I'm going to fix this!" Gerald cried.

 

Steph shook her head again.  "You're trying to fix it?" she asked, letting her right heel float off the end of the platform.

 

"STEPH!!" Gerald screamed, running towards her.

 

"It was never broken to begin with."  And she fell, quickly falling away from the platform.  Gerald dove after her, breaching the barrier of the platform to chase after her.  But the oxygen was already quickly leaving her lungs, as she gasped for air.  Gerald moved to place his lips to Steph's, to breathe for her and give her oxygen, but she cupped one hand over his mouth, and the other over hers.  Gerald desperately tried to rush back to the platform, but Steph's face was already turning blue.  Her lungs devoid of oxygen, her brain had completely shut down, and she was dead within seconds.

 

And now, Gerald floated there, his voice unable to break the vacuum of space as he screamed.  He scrambled back to the platform, trying to breathe life into Steph's body as he moved.  Crossing back across the barrier, he performed CPR, as fast and as accurately as he could.  "Come on, come on!" he yelled, placing his hands in her chest.  Steph's body being different from humans, when her lungs lost all oxygen, they had begun to fill with water.  Her circulatory system had gone haywire, and her blood quickly thinned.  There was nothing that could be done for her.

 

And now, Gerald foolishly tried to wake her up, punching the platform under his knees, and cracking it.  After many tries to shake Steph awake, he lay her body down before the contestants, in the middle of the platform, as he stood up straight.

 

His eyes dilating, he pointed a finger at the contestants, as he roared.  "You did this!  You spoke out of turn!  You created chaos!  You ruined what was a simple, straight forward plan!  You broke my Steph!  YOU KILLED HER!!" he declared, as his purple aura grew, and grew, until it darkened, slowly, over time.  "If it had not been for your interference, this would've all been over by now!  Steph would still be happy!  You would all still be alive!  But you've ruined it!  You've ruined everything!"  The aura that surrounded him had turned black now,  as the platform beneath his feet began to creak.

 

"You will pay for hurting her!  You will suffer!" he bellowed.  Gerald's aura was now much darker than black.  It was a sickening color, oozing with malicious intent.  The color was almost indescribable, as it seemed to twist Gerald's face and distort it beneath his aura.  He raised both his fists now, and smashed them into the platform.  The near unbreakable metal now cracked perfectly in half, as the contestants were now separated from Gerald.

 

"As long as there is breath in my body," he said standing up straight.  "You will never, know peace, or joy.  Ever again."  Disappearing from the far half of the broken platform away from the contestants, Gerald vanished, as ripples in space opened up all around them.  There were sixteen different space voids, each of them containing a visual of Gerald.  The sixteen of the Gerald's ushered the contestants forwards, taunting them.

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"What. A. Loser." Morgan said, rolling her eyes. Okay so obviously it wasn't the time to go fist to fist with Gerald. How very scary, he stops magic, then he stops physical attacks. Ooooh soooo impressive. This is corny as funk. And then that display? "Look I don't care about your love life, creep, just shut up and let me kill you so I can try and find a way to make this whole thing worthwhile." Many would be impressed by Gerald's rage, and display of power, but Morgan found it heartening. He was even more human than he let on. Getting upset over something like that, and lashing out like a child. Morgan was a fan of throwing around your power to show idiots their place. But because 'boohoo my waifu is dead'? Really?

 

Nonetheless there was a slight problem. She had already used a lot of magic, and now there seemed to be 16 targets. Or, were there? She couldn't quite be sure what this all was, but there was a simple way to get some information. She focused on her 15 skeletons. Specifically on the bits of souls she placed in them. The flames of magic within them expanded. Morgan could feel a tightening sensation in her chest as she expanded the amount of magic she put into these warriors. As she worked she noticed another hairline split appear in her arm, with an orange glow faintly emerging from it. She was beginning to wonder if she was literally leaking magic, but quickly stomped the idea. She was more powerful than ever before, at this moment, there was no way that was the case.

 

When she finished with her spell, which has transformed each skeleton into a miniature magical bomb, she sent them in the direction of as many portals they could, one for each, and if they made it inside, of it Gerald attempted to grab them, they would detonate.


Cam's attack halted as he saw what happened to Tyson and Howler. His blade wouldn't do any good if he couldn't touch the man. Damn it! As the frustration went through his body, the weapon flickered and suddenly faded. Leaving Camille back to the base form. What had Gerald done? He seemed to be playing with ever more chaotic forces, and Camille was struggling to keep up. He only had so many different ways to attack, and it took time to acquire the data needed.

Gerald's anger at the loss of someone he loved had really screwed with Cam's thoughts. Gerald was a monster, but one that loved? What was this, how was he supposed to deal with this information? Camille found himself heading towards Nero. He didn't know entirely what prompted this but as he looked at the man it felt right. There had to have been a reason Nero didn't attack. He must know something, right?

"N-Nero?" Cam asked, hesitating. This still was the man who killed him, and who Cam almost killed himself, after all. Camille's throat clenched with nervousness, but he coughed and cleared his throat. All this was, was a co-op game. Nothing different from making plans over the headset. "You have abilities. Otherworldly abilities, do you have any idea what we should do? I only have so much data inside me, anything you can say to add to that would be appreciated." Camille blushed, realizing how professional and uptight he sounded. "A-also. Sorry for....trying to kill you. Er, not that anything's wrong with that, since, you did the same to me...well, I guess something is wrong with that. But, you had reasons, I think, and....m-maybe I should focus on the guy trying to kill us."

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The scene that unfurled before them was quite the display.  Everything that he had just witnessed was increasingly surprising, from Howlers death to Steph's as well.  

 

"You did this!  You spoke out of turn!  You created chaos!  You ruined what was a simple, straight forward plan!  You broke my Steph!  YOU KILLED HER!!" 

 

Elspire pointed at Gerald, his eyes flaring with power.  

 

"We didn't do anything of the sort you old coot!  If anything, we freed her from the monstrosity that you had become!"  His pointed finger balled into a fist.  "And if you're as powerful as you say you are, you could have saved her as easy as you've been tearing this plane of existence apart!  You could have stopped this, and her death could've been prevented.  Her robot blood is on your hands..."  He probably could've phrased that a little better...it sounded a little harsh, but the boy meant well.  His grip on Arisu's hand grew tighter as Gerald split into different portal like entities.  The Gerald reflections that beckoned them forth seemed to indicate something...was this all a trap?  

 

"We'll have to think about the wedding later Arisu...but I'm thinking something with wings would suit you."  He looked towards the other contestants, as Morgan launched her legion of bones towards the distortions in space.  Elspire opened his mouth, and a beam of electricity soared at a portal that was in front of him.

 

"Roar of the True Lightning Dragon!"  

 

He would have to see how the beam affected whatever Gerald had become.  

 

Meanwhile, Zyg had no inkling of a clue what was going on in this battle...all of these emotions he was feeling right now...they made him want to act out against this tyrant in front of him.  Zyg wouldn't let the crazy man destroy everything he knew...he was lucky enough to be alive as it was!  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dirk pulled out his last cigarette, lit it, and took a long drag as the drama ensued around him.

 

"See, the thing is," Dirk said, exhaling a large cloud of smoke in Gerald's direction. "If there's one thing I know 'bout women, it's that there's nobody you can blame but yourself."

 

Dirk looked back at the sun, and felt the light and warmth wash over him.

 

"Hell, wouldya believe the lead doctor that got me all jacked up for this was a woman? Crazy world we live in, but I said yes to the surgery, so I only got myself to blame."

 

Dirk focused on the sheer, background energy around him and used his typical power to bring the light together to form solid objects. Except, this time it was different. Dirk was able to form together a full suit of armor out of the light; all of it a brilliant, opaque, white colour as it lit the platform even more. He held up his trusted cannon, the Dust Rider, and focused on it. The gun itself got surrounded by a large construct, taking the shape of what appeared to be some bastardized cross between a hunting rifle and a shotgun. It was still the same old Dust Rider in there, but anyone that knew any better could guess that this would mean something else for the gun.

 

"Huh," Dirk said with a small chuckle. "I think I'll call this sucker the Light Rider. Anyways, I'd love to chat some more 'bout your personal problems, but I think it's time we... lighten the mood a little."

 

Dirk aimed the Light Rider at Gerald and squeezed the trigger once. Inside the gun's construct, the Dust Rider fired, but the 15 mm rocket-propelled bullet took on a brilliant red coating; bursting from the wide barrel of the gun a loud bang and bright flash; a red beam tracing its way right at Gerald's heart. Of course, in the wake of the light-gun firing, the entire front-half of the light-rifle had completely disappeared from the burst of energy.

 

 

Saul stood with a wholly disinterested expression on his face. Somehow, he couldn't feel surprised at the events that transpired. He felt he should be, but the feeling wasn't there even if he could force it. Gerald continued to rant, oh dear gods did he rant. He raged at the death of his lover and swore eternal suffering on them all for what had just happened. Saul simply rolled his eyes.

 

"You say all of this like my life has been nothing but peace and happiness until this tournament," Saul scoffed. "Yet here you are, breaking down before our eyes because you lost one person. With all the power in the world, it's a wonder that you still manage to remain so weak."

 

Saul gripped his sword, yet stood his ground. Howler mentioned that Gerald was protecting against different attacks this time, yet physical attacks may be a quick assumption to make. For now, Saul decided that it may be best to wait and see what happened after the first round of attacks.

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"We'll have to think about the wedding later Arisu...but I'm thinking something with wings would suit you."

 

"E-eh? I might have the look of one, but I'm no angel. But I'll take that as suggestion. It'd look good on me, perhaps. Maybe something purely white? Blue looks pretty nice with white, thinking about it.

 

Just a normal tux would fit you well, unless you have anything else in mind."

 

Arisu smiled at Elspire as she heard about his reply, before returning her own focus towards Gerald, who had disappeared into several void portals, sixteen of them if Arisu counted it right. It followed the old man's breakdown after he had to kill Steph, his beloved doll. Normally Arisu would comment at how plain pathetic he was really being by blaming it all on everyone present, but at this point wasting breath on that since he wouldn't listen anyway would not do any good thing. From now onwards, if she wanted to make her point clear, she probably need to bash his head in to get it across.

 

"Roar of the True Lightning Dragon!"  

 

Elspire fired his lightning vortex towards one of the voids, while the young witch of earlier now tried to unload her boners into the portals too. The gunner fired his rounds into the Geralds too, now looking different than before, all while the others were getting ready to face whatever he was throwing at them next. Arisu, in the meantime, recited her spell as she clutched the red stone she had close to her chest.

 

Queen's Glass Game, the perpetual engine that powered her fantasy. Her power had been so far defined as being creating illusions within a certain bound of area near her. Being Alice, it was appropriately called wonderland, but in the end it's really just that, an illusion waiting to be broken. While her ability to turn parts of the illusion to be temporarily physical was really probably just a form of her infusing magic to create solid platforms fitting the illusion. That was just it, nothing really special about it.

 

"The story will go on forever.
As long as the slender fingers return to the first page,
As if picking up the next volume.
Once again denying reality to the reader."
 
Was it really that though? Her illusion was not just optical tricks trying to fool the senses of others. What she created were specters - things that should be there, but weren't. Rather than being trapped inside of their own mind, others would see that their world had turned into fantasy itself with Alice's power. Why was it important, though? Wouldn't it just still be illusions, just in a different flavor?
 
"Unknown Illusions
Mirages are just silhouetted apparitions
Aykroyd in Acrylic
Artistic Sadistic
Birds are just bird, people are just people"
 
Well, it's simple. Her true magic is bringing her personal wonderland into reality. That's pretty much it. Turning her fantasy into reality. Within the bound of her sphere, she manifested several rifles like the ones Alice was going to use against Elspire back during their round. It was mainly just a test on how much could she push this power now, so she refrained herself from imagining something bigger. It's pretty taxing already, so wasting too much of her own energy to attack something uncertain would be just silly.
 
"Welcome to Alice's tea party."
 
The rifles turned from just shades into the actual thing. Being someone that had been lovingly used them for quite a while, Alice was aware of its inner working enough to recreate functional copies of it in her wonderland. The rifles then turned themselves towards the void gaps on the air, and started firing in a series of barrage as Arisu continued to focus her mind. So far her physical projection was a success, but she could not be fully sure yet whether it would be something that could last throughout the battle or not. She couldn't care less of whether her attack was effective or not, as it was just a test.
 
"Alright Gerald, here it is. I'll let you listen to this story. A story just for you to help you sleep."
 

 
"You have abilities. Otherworldly abilities, do you have any idea what we should do? I only have so much data inside me, anything you can say to add to that would be appreciated."
 
"Hm?"
 
"A-also. Sorry for....trying to kill you. Er, not that anything's wrong with that, since, you did the same to me...well, I guess something is wrong with that. But, you had reasons, I think, and....m-maybe I should focus on the guy trying to kill us."
 
"Don't apologize to me in that manner. You're not even being yourself properly earlier."
 
With the development on things, Nero stood up, somewhat looking tired, but it was perhaps only mentally instead of physically. He was not even looking at Cam as he did so and readied his sword just like some others did, including the titan. Gerald had disappeared into many voids, and perhaps now was just a game of whack a mole or something similar, but hitting the old man was not something on Nero's mind right now.
 
"Subservience out of fear. Blaming others for their own issues, for their own mistakes. Humans really are disgusting, thinking about it.
 
Though, I don't really care. I'm no God, I'm not here to judge. Humans can achieve so many things, and that's what I wanted to see. Seeing the myriads of human spirit was why I'm here, but while I barely was interested in most of the people I face, some did interest me in different ways. Whether through their bravery and spirit, foolish as it could be, or something else."
 
He huffed a bit, stopping to assess the situation.
 
"I once fancied myself as a sort of guardian angel for humans, but that's just pretty pretentious of me. I'm nothing but an old man, and I'm here standing at the same ground as you and others. It's not my right to just decide that humanity was irredeemable or not, or whether they had gone complacent. They could change with their own will, and as an old man, seeing the youngsters shape the world is a joy in itself.
 
Before all of that though, now it is the time for us to show yet another old man that he has no rights to act as if he reigned above all of us. I don't care if he's a God or not, but seeing someone that was immature enough to blame his own actions and downfall on others like that made me want to puke.
 
Let's go, Camille. Continue fighting. You're a free man, so fight for yourself this time, not just for the sake of your father's or anyone else's will."
 

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"Do you think they'll notice?"

 

"No.  Even if you turned your back, they would just keep on swinging.  And I grow tired.  Weary.  With all this power, there's nothing we can do to prevent the future.  It's already written."

 

"Is that what he told you?"

 

"No.  It's just something I know."

 

Gerald caught Dirk's bullet, crushing it in his hands as it exploded in his face, and he stood still, unimpressed.  He frowned, as Arisu unleashed a hail of bullets into the air, piercing his portals.  They bombarded the portals one by one, distorting the realities and closing some of them immediately.  Ten portals remained, the Geralds inside of them remaining still, almost lifeless.  Then, out of the ten remaining portals floating over the heads of the contestants, each Gerald extended a hand, reaching out to the broken space that had been manipulated by him.  What should have been an average, human sized hand, exploded out of the ten portals, one by one, enlarged, and big enough to grab each and every contestant by their waists.  One by one, they were separated.

 

Saul.  Dirk.  Arisu.  Nero.  Elspire.  Morgan.  Camille.  Tyson.  Kokoro.  Zyg.

 

Each of them were being pulled into a separate reality where they would fight Gerald by their lonesome.  And while they remained in space, the portal behind them was closed, as Gerald stood opposite them in silence.  Nothing else, however, had changed.  With no allies and no one to fall back to, these ten were alone to face Gerald, which would satisfy both parties.  The difference between these spaces in which the contestants were pulled, was that there was no sound in any of them.  There was clearly still a barrier around themselves and the platform on which they stood.  However, neither they nor Gerald could hear anything outside of their thoughts.

 

Not the swing of a sword.  Not the roar of a motorcycle.  Not the screech of an angry beast.  No sound could enter into this space in which the survivors had been separated.  And as Gerald stood before them, his hands behind his back, he waited.  Knowing full well the limits of his strength, he would have to alleviate certain advantages from his arsenal in order to cover such a great span of space.  

 

"Damn you Alastor," Gerald thought in the back of his mind.  "You knew this would happen."  In each separate space, Gerald opened his right palm, a different weapon forming against each individual contestant.  

 

What Saul saw was an exact replica of his sword, but in a much more deathly shade of black.

 

What Dirk saw was an exact replica of his guns, but seeping with a deep purple energy that seemed to drip from the weapons themselves.

 

What Arisu saw was Gerald holding a copy of the Philosopher's Stone, it's magic now pouring through his veins.

 

What Nero saw was his demonic sword, sitting idly in Gerald's hand, responding subtly to the old man's touch.

 

What Elspire saw was a series of scales beginning to climb up through Gerald's hand, through his arm, and beginning to cover his entire body.

 

What Morgan saw was an array of magical symbols floating softly upwards from Gerald's hands.  These were runic symbols created and perfected by her father.

 

What Camille saw was Gerald's arm transforming into an exact replica of his buster arm, the cannon slowly powering up with dark energies.

 

What Tyson saw was an exact replica of Mephisto's chain, wrapping itself around Gerald's arm, as a large gun appeared in his palm.

 

What Kokoro saw was Gerald's palm begin to pulsate, as his nails expanded into powerful claws, and large wings expanded from his back.

 

What Zyg saw was Gerald adapting mechanical changes to his arms and feet.  Exact replicas of Zyg's own claws and talons appeared on Gerald's hands and feet.

 

And now, Gerald began to march forwards, slowly, but steadily increasing his speed.  His right arm raised against the contestants, he prepared to use their own weapons against them.  Their magic.  Their guns.  Their roars and cries.  Their demonic tools.  And he had already perfected them.

 

Gerald used Saul's sword, igniting it with flame, as he unleashed a flurry of pillars of great magical flame at the Titan.  Gerald flipped backwards three times, unleashing ten pillars of fire each time he rotated, nearly completely engulfing the entire platform in fire.

 

Gerald used Dirk's gun's to pull in blackness from all directions, before firing five, three shot bursts of his rocket propelled bullets.  

 

Arisu would look to the open air above her, to witness a powerful spacial storm, slowly gathering above herself and Gerald.  It was brimming with magic, being festered by Gerald as he extended his palm upwards and fed the storm.  A bright series of vivid colors and lightning strikes presented a violent but beautiful scene, to prepare for tragedy.

 

Nero's sword glowed in Gerald's hand, suddenly burning with a powerful black flame, dancing along the blade.  Gerald gripped it tightly, before raising it, and pointing it at Nero.  Now around the Crimson Phantom, nine identical burning black flame swords appeared in a circle, prepared to pierce him like a hog.

 

Before Elspire, Gerald had completed his transformation.  Covered in black scales, he sprouted large wings, a powerful black aura radiating from his body.  And behind Gerald, an ethereal black dragon that resembled Elspire's mother raised it's head, roaring into the air, but emitting only silence.  

 

Morgan would see four burning balls of black energy around Gerald, swirling him constantly.  In addition, at the silent snap of his fingers, bones began to rain from space, piling themselves into the center of the platform between Gerald and Morgan.  Between the two of them now, powerful magic swirled out of the gaps of the bones, as they began to rise, slowly, one at a time.  And one by one, six, ten foot tall replicas of Morgan's skeleton friends began to build themselves, passing each other their own skulls to right on their heads.  And behind Gerald, something bigger was building itself up.

 

If Camille carefully observed Gerald's forming buster arm, he would notice the gears continuing to turn, even as the cannon was completed.  It expanded, still growing in size.  New components that Camille could not identify were sprouting along Gerald's cannon, including a full targeting system, and several miniature missile pod launchers.  Gerald raised his arm, as the cannon glowed with dark purple energies, and pointed it straight at Camille.

 

Black flames now engulfed Gerald, as he stood before Tyson.  His entire body was covered head to toe, giving him a rather strange appearance.  Now, whipping forth the Mephisto Chain, Gerald slammed it to the ground, stretching it outwards as it reached to Tyson's feet.  Slowly, the chain was also covered in black flame.

 

Kokoro's ordeal was much more simple than the others.  Gerald was taking advantage of his own age, fully transforming into an elder vampire.  From top to bottom, Gerald's body took drastic change as he adapted to Kokoro.

 

Zyg would witness Gerald's claws and talons glowing, darkening until they had gone from silver to black.  Tapping his foot lightly on the platform, Gerald watched his talon immediately melt the surface, and pierce through the platform.  Now admiring his new handiwork, Gerald pointed a claw at Zyg, and lunged forwards.

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  • 2 weeks later...

“Well this sucks, no more audience I guess.” Morgan sulked for a moment, as she realized what Gerald had done. The fact she was on her own against Gerald didn’t really bother her. The others were basically useless anyway, so it didn’t make much of a difference.
It just frustrated her that no one would get to see her at her strongest.

Morgan glared as she saw Gerald’s magic. The damn ripoff artist, Morgan was sure he must be one of those people who got rich from other people’s ideas.

But the magic was no joke. He instantly created a small army, much to Morgan’s chagrin. Fine, if that’s how it’s gonna be...

Morgan whipped up her own magic, the strange orange aura flaring up stronger than before as roots took form in midair, wrapping themselves around the skeletons as they built themselves. She just needed to keep them out of the way for...THIS

Morgan slashed her hand across the sky, forming runes in midair, which flared into life. She had to stop whatever Gerald was planning, and stop it fast. With a final flourish, Morgan stuck her hand through the flaming runes. Morgan gritted her teeth, as pain went through her body, as if she was being burned alive.
However the spell was working, she could feel it. It wasn’t something she particularly was fond of, but her father had learned many kinds of magic, and somehow...Morgan knew it too.

The rune appeared above Gerald’s head, as a massive beam of light suddenly crashed from the sky towards the man. Morgan screamed, silently, as the holy magic seemed to clash with her very nature, threatening to smite her even as she directed it at Gerald.



Camille looked around in a panic. He had just been talking with Nero, just about to try and work out a joint attack, and suddenly...this?
The fight continued to get farther and farther from the reality Camille knew. It was almost crushing how much of the world Cam had no knowledge of. He had thought video games were unusual but none of them prepared him for this...

There would be no words, Camille realized. He had nothing more to say to this “man” anyway. He had to fight, and he had to win. There was no backup, no extra lives. All or nothing, this was it.

Camille was disgusted by the monstrosity that Gerald was creating. It was like a twisted mockery of his own weaponry. Something his father would never have created, impractical, in most cases. But one on one like this...it would be deadly.

He raised his arm quickly, knowing exactly what to use in this situation. “Weapon Change: Gaea Shield”. Forming from the cannon was a large, almost stone-looking, shield with flashing orbs buried within it.
The blast hit the shield, and Camille could feel the power behind it. Focusing hard, Camille detached the shield from himself as he dove to the side. The shield would be destroyed but he’d have one shot at this...

As soon as his body cleared the blast radius he moved, closing in on Gerald and thrusting his left palm up for a Force Palm blast. He activated the energy sword from before, extending from his right hand. If Gerald dodged, he’d give chase. If Gerald attacked, he’d be met with a sword slash. Either way Cam was intent on cutting through this man. He was putting his all into this, cycling through weapon programs at a rapid rate, adrenaline and fear pushing his mental capabilities to new heights. He would win. He had to.
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