The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

---

"Release him!" Eximo shouted, rushing towards the Director. But the vacuum's charge was interrupted by a spiked wall rising from the ground. It tried to circle around, but more walls emerged as it did. Before long, Eximo was surrounded by a circle of spiked walls, and then, almost as an afterthought, a dome emerged on top of the structure, just in case.

Aeon stared right into the Director's lack of a face the whole time. Chains surrounded his arms and legs, and soon tightened. With the Director still holding him by the throat, he slowly coughed out a question.

"Why the chains? Why not just finish me now?"

The Director said nothing. The chains tightened. No matter how much he struggled, Aeon couldn't move.

But he could still talk.

"Wait, let me guess. This isn't about killing either of us. This is about showing us that you're still the top dog here, isn't it?"

Still the Director said nothing. The spectral crowd booed. But, out of the corner of his eye, Aeon noticed one of the Directors in the audience fade away...

"Your concentration's starting to break. You can't completely maintain both the audience and your traps, can you? That's why you're not talking... aagh!"

The chains binding Aeon suddenly surged with electricity. It was painful, but he was unperturbed.

"Must be hard... ack!... holding the audience... and that dome... urgh!... together... Let's give you... something else... gah! ... to worry about..."

The Director felt something suddenly appear on his back. He couldn't see it, but he soon realized what it was.

Finally, he spoke up.

"You put that bomb on my back? Do you really think a mere explosion will destroy me?"

Aeon smirked, despite the continuing electric shocks.

"So why are you worried enough to... gargh!... break your silence?"

Before the Director could here was a sudden noise as a wall of the spiked dome went flying into the audience. Eximo emerged from the resulting hole, holding an enormous hammer in six of its arms.

"I repeat: Release him. You will not get another warning," it said.

The Director turned his head, or seemed to in the smoke. The audience rapidly faded.

"You dare presume to tell me what to do?"

The diversion was just enough. Aeon concentrated on the electrified chains.

The chains extended, wrapping themselves around the Director's wrists.

He screamed as the shock traveled through him, and let go of Aeon's neck. Eximo used the opportunity to rush in, holding the hammer up high and preparing to strike. Aeon mentally commanded the chains to extend more, entangling the Director in them and continuing to shock him.

Eximo brought down the hammer on the mass of smoke that seemed to obscure the Director's head. Aeon slowly concentrated on the chains binding him, unraveling themselves and further binding the Director, continuing to fill him with electricity.

There was a loud noise as the hammer came down, accompanied by the noise of electricity shocking the Director.

Then, an instant later, the chains shattered. The hammer was flung into the air; Eximo quickly released is grip to avoid being carried along with it.

The Director flew up and shouted.

"I am not as weak as you take me for!" he screamed.

"Perhaps not, but you are not as strong as you would have us believe either," Eximo replied. "I notice that the bomb is still attached to you."

There was a pause. The Director focused, and the bomb crawled around his body to his front.

The timer indicated ten seconds. It suddenly ran up to ten minutes.

"You might be wondering why I didn't simply remove it," the Director said, turning towards the ground. "It's not a sign of weakness. I'm making it follow the same rules the original bomb did. Well, mostly."

He suddenly swooped towards Eximo. As he did, the bomb shifted to his forearm, and he brushed against the vacuum cleaner with it. The bomb left his body, and transferred to Eximo.

"We're playing tag now. And you're It."