The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Amethyst slowly backed away. She could see it in their eyes. Everyone around her- or at least everyone from Battleopolis- their souls had been... deactivated?

Everyone but the demon lord had that same blank expression. The demon's arrogance made it clear. Whatever had just happened, it was his fault, and he was the only one left.
She wouldn't let herself show fear to a demon.

"An interesting challenge of micromanagement. However I doubt a fragile teenage mind such as your own can control an entire city worth of people."

The demon's grin grew broader, "You're still trying that trick? Well then, maybe the fact that I HAVE will prove to you I'm a demon in your last seconds!"

"Photon Cyclone." The words were as simple as ever, as the scene melted. Amethyst's crystals impaled themselves into the street, spreading underground, and grabbing an 'island' of earth, with Amethyst, Nathan, and Aeon.

The island was ripped up into the air. But the magical eyes of the cyborg lich saw through the illusion, and Amethyst found herself barely dodging out of the way, as his metal arm tore through the air where she had been.

An unseen force grabbed him as he flew past, and spun him around like a ragdoll. Then from his arm, countless guns emerged, firing at once.

Force Shield triggered, and for each bullet a black mirror image shot from behind Amethyst. The attack was blocked, but she could already feel herself tiring out.

Midnara was next to land on the island, as it pulled itself out of the demon's illusionary space. She held a long lance, composed of some sort of energy that radiated a kind of 'anti-light.'

"Cosmic Joust" she said, in a monotone voice not dissimilar from Amethyst's own, and what looked like a cutout of the night sky shot from the lance, barely grazing past Amethyst's head.

The island had made it high in the sky now, but that did nothing to hinder Alcaraith- back in her dragon form- from grabbing on, raising her head up to level with the island's surface. Her toothy grin gave way to an earthshaking roar, which became a pillar of flames.

The black flames of Force Shield intercepted, but Amethyst could already feel herself running out of energy. Now Lutherion landed on the island, skeletal wings on his back. Dokurumets phazed through the ground as well, and Amethyst found herself surrounded.

And then the Demon Lord himself floated up.
"Convinced yet? I suppose it doesn't really matter, you're about to die anyway! KYAHAHAHA!"
His laugh was quickly mirrored by Lutherion's, who lunged for Amethyst with his Wightmaw Arm.
"Killer Doll" came Amethyst's voice, as crystals formed around her arms and legs, and pulled her out of the way.
Then Dokurumets laughed, and swung his broadsword down. It wasn't nearly as close this time, as Amethyst dodged by at least a kilometer.
The laughter faded, but the faces in the crowd showed it. The next to attack will be...
Midnara rushed at Amethyst, magic circles trailing from the lance. But she saw it coming a mile away, and stepped inches to the right.
The lance barely touched her hair, but she had had enough time to dodge further.

"Your abilities to control multiple bodies simultaneously is abysmal." Amethyst mocked.
It didn't sound like mocking though, rather, she said it as though it were simple fact. Her face didn't show a grin or anything, she simply stared back, as she read off more simple data regarding the demon lord.
"If you are human, this is expected. If you are a demon, you are a disgrace to your species."
Spoken again as though it were fact. Were it a human saying such simple insults, the Demon Lord would've had no problem just looking them in the face and laughing.
But Amethyst wasn't human. Her simple face, her intellectual attitude. Up until now, it hardly seemed like she was capable of making jokes. Her words were weighted like some sort of thorough analysis had come with it.

As a result, the Demon's face twitched just slightly. That twitch carried to Lutherion, who Amethyst easily dodged once again.

Now the island crashed into the ground. In truth, Amethyst was extremely concerned about her mana consumption. But she couldn't let it show.
She didn't have to. In the past, she had had to try just to feel. Relaxing her face was no problem. It was this coldness, this expressionlessness, that pissed off the Demon Lord the most.

One life form in the city conscious and not under his control, and he couldn't even...!

He conjured an energy broadsword, and began to lunge towards Amethyst. But a skeletal arm grabbed him midair.

"Orders are to eliminate all contestants except Lutherion. Prioritizing targets based on relative threat-level. Highest threat: The Demon Lord which has been reasoned to be the ninth contestant."

Now he was really pissed. His expression passed to Konka Rar, who shouted at Eximo. "You have new orders! Your only targets are the pink haired girl and the man with the shape shifting weapon!"

Eximo pondered for a moment, then continued. "Majority of life form readings in the area have been altered. This includes the individual currently addressing this unit. Conclusion: The individual addressing this unit is not Konka Rar. Therefore, individual's orders are irrelevant. Continuing with original orders."

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerAwesome use of Eximo there. [img]images/smilies/icon_up.gif[/img] I didn't even see that coming, and it works so perfectly.

By the way, I meant to mention this, but the name "Geiram" I used for the city's true name is an anagram of "Mirage". Needed to come up with something quickly.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerAnd that's my cue.

Aeon led Nathan through the plains, following past-Nathan's path. Nathan himself was still on his throne, looking sufficiently uninterested. The throne floated, following Aeon's footsteps. The demon followed, showing absolutely no indication of emotion or feeling.

The group watched the boy as he passed by the contestants around him. He was mocked by Lutherion, offered some advice by Alcarith, then by Emily. It was clear that they felt an innate pity for the boy.

“This is what you wanted to show me?” Nathan said, clearly seeing no value of this excursion. “All you are doing is proving to me how miserably weak I was.”

Aeon thought for a moment. “Look at Emily and Alcarith. They wanted to help you; they cared for you. What would they think if they saw you right now, submitting yourself to the will of a demon lord?”

They followed past-Nathan, running through the mansion in a crazed fear. Soon, past-Nathan was cowering behind a door, looking at the scene unfold in the plains.

Aeon paused, and looked at Nathan. The boy had a distinct look of disgust on his face. I need to work faster…

Soon, Lutherion woke from his trance and was thrashed into the trees. Dorukomets interrupted, and was subsequently killed and assimilated into the Wightmaw. The plains melted into a calm blue sky that extended from zenith to nadir, and the elements of a small village appeared among the trio and began falling.

Their first sight was past-Nathan, entirely panicked at the sudden change in scene. They saw the boy feebly make his way to the restaurant, meeting Emily. They searched the restaurant and found a pinball machine, which past-Nathan began experimenting with. Soon, Amethyst joined them and discussed escape from this infinite freefall. Lutherion interrupted, and Nathan returned his attack with one of his own, severely mangling his arm.

“I tire of this. So far you have had no compelling argument. You want me to revert to… to this?” Nathan motioned to his past self with disgust.

“You didn't understand the power of the knife then. Do you see how powerful that attack was? If you had the will to control it, then there would be no need for this chaos.”

After the battle, past-Nathan talked with Emily, and Nathan's father was brought into the conversation. Aeon had an idea.

“Nathan, who was your father?”

Nathan's look of disgust faded, and was replaced with a look of innate anger. “He was a demon hunter, nothing else.”

“Nothing else? Not even a loving father? Was his occupation that important, or was your relationship with him that weak?”

“He is dead, and matters nothing to me.”

“Your father was a demon hunter. What would he have thought if he knew his son surrendered himself to the control of a demon?” Nathan said nothing.

Aeon turned back to the scene. After a brief fight with Lutherion, past-Aeon, Alcarith, and past-Nathan were flying on strange machines in different directions. Nathan headed to the restaurant, and they followed. Inside, past-Nathan began playing the pinball machine, controlling the restaurant's descent.

“Do you remember this scene? Do you remember that everyone went to a building to avoid collisions? You were in charge of the restaurant, and you handled it well.”

“And what does this prove? Only that I play pinball well.” Nathan said the word ‘pinball' with a grimace.

“It proves that you are not as useless as you make yourself to be. Without you, that explosion Amethyst mentioned might have occurred, leading to the death of every contestant, including yourself.”

They watched three buildings collide, and they watched past-Aeon set the bomb on Alcarith. Nathan murmured, and Aeon attempted to show nothing. Soon, the bomb detonated, sending the buildings crash into the abandoned village. The contestants crawled out, and Aeon and Nathan floated down.

Immediately Lutherion began harassing past-Nathan, who returned with an attack that subsequently re-mangled his arm. Emily came to aid and began healing him. Past-Aeon also arrived, giving Nathan a normal knife as a less self-destructing substitute.

“Do you see how everyone comes to help as soon as you are attacked? Do you see Emily's need to aid you? You had more than you think. Even I came to help… and that is still my purpose here.”

“I don't care for her—she's dead. And I don't care for you, either—you're going to die soon too. So enough with this nonsense about compassion. I don't need it now that I have the demon and its power.”

“There is more to this than the capacity to win this game, Nathan. You will realize that soon enough.”

A few minutes later, the familiar scene appeared. Past-Aeon and past-Nathan were talking of their weapons, and how to use them.

Nathan laughed. “And yet, you're the one who gave me this idea. You're the one who caused all this to happen, and now you're trying to undo that wrong.”

“Is that so? Did I truly tell you do make a pact with the demon?” Aeon turned and looked at Nathan. “This is about control. Willpower. I never told you to submit yourself to the demon. I told you to control the demon.” Aeon turned back. “But, perhaps I was wrong, then. Maybe you just don't have the willpower to do what I ask of you. Maybe you don't deserve me trying to free you. Maybe you didn't deserve Emily's compassion.”

They saw past-Aeon hand Nathan a bowl of soup.

“You had a powerful position, and that was the compassion of the others.”

The battle began to unfold. Aeon left, confronted a werewolf, and returned wielding a silver dagger. Lutherion summoned his biggest minion, and caused enough chaos to absorb every contestant in the fray. Nathan made the pact with the demon, and began showing his newfound abilities.

“Maybe you don't deserve any of that.”

They watched. As Emily was mortally wounded, Aeon looked at Nathan, whose face was all but unreadable. Soon, Emily gave past-Aeon her last energies and her final will, and the village disappeared into a white mist. The mist dissipated, and was replaced with perfect cubes. Lutherion made clones, and Nathan took care of them. Past-Aeon followed past-Nathan, and was subsequently spat at. Eventually, Lutherion triggered the scene change, and the cubes were replaced with grass and sky. It is here that Nathan began to truly show his demon-augmented abilities as well as his hatred of Lutherion. The crystal in the centre was shattered, and the blue sky was replaced with chaos. Lutherion regained his insanity, and began to direct the island of sand. Soon, Lutherion was finally killed by past-Nathan in the midst of a sandstorm.

Neither Aeon nor Nathan said anything during this round.

As the current round progressed, Aeon could tell that Nathan's stubbornness was weakening. Even viewing his own actions, the innocent boy inside of him began to take precedent, and he no longer began to show disgust at his previous self, but disgust at his current self. The current round made it even clearer—the demon's control began to take on a new form, one that had a significant impact on Nathan.

Soon, the flashback dawned on the current situation. Aeon and Nathan watched the bone web appear and disappear, leaving their own corporeal bodies in mental conflict. The flashback became a real-time view into reality, and Aeon began to speak.

“Amethyst, Eximo, you, me. And the demon lord. These are the remaining contestants. Amethyst and Eximo are fighting to protect our bodies, and I am fighting to free you from the demon's grip. The dead contestants—ones that you contributed to the death of—are revived and are attacking you, controlled by the demon. This, above all, is the ultimate situation that you chose. Is there any more doubt that we are trying to help you? Is there anymore doubt of the demon's control over you?”

Nathan attempted to remain stubborn. “The demon is here to protect me, nothing more. He is not telling them to attack me; he is telling them to attack the others and you, because he knows that you are trying to rob me of my power. He is simply doing his best in allowing me to win this rotten game.”

Aeon turned to face Nathan. “Is that so? Look behind you.”

Nathan did so, and saw no one. “There is no one there. What are you trying to prove?”

“Where is the demon, Nathan? There.” Aeon pointed at the demon, standing on the rooftop. “He has betrayed you. He has left your mind a long time ago, and only now you have noticed it. And yet, you remained stubborn and supportive of him. This is the extent of which he has made a fool of you.”

Nathan said nothing, his face frozen in a confused mix of anger and fear. The flashback faded, and Aeon and Nathan were back in the throne room. Nathan faded away, leaving the demon's domain. Aeon remained, closed his eyes, and began concentrating.

“Amethyst.”

In reality, Amethyst flew back to Aeon's position. He had spoken, and Nathan began to look around frantically. Aeon was still in the motionless position, aside from his mouth.

“Amethyst, tell Nathan to give me his knife.”

“You heard him. Give him the knife.”

Nathan looked at Amethyst, and then at Aeon, who slowly extended his hand, still covered by the metal glove. Nathan placed the knife in his hand.

“Done.” Amethyst said simply, and returned to the fight.

In the demon's domain, a door opened in the back of the throne room. Nothing could be seen behind it. Aeon stepped down the stairs, and walked through the doorway.

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Spoiler1615 words. Holy shit, I need a break.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Good God man you writing a novel?

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerDone. I left a few things open to allow OddGuy to fill in the rest.

I need a break.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerI am impressed, man. That was epic, and not just for its length. You and Draykon have made this round's finale even more awesome than I had hoped.

One small continuity error: Lutherion triggered the scene change from the cubes, not Eximo. Just change one word and it'll be fine.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerDone, and added a few words (not really important if you've already read it).

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerRight. I was asked to finish this round off if OddGuy didn't respond, so here goes.

Spoiler alert - OddGuy was eliminated this round. It's a real shame, he had some great posts. He was just far too inactive.

After Amethyst's mockery, the demon lord was enraged, and his concentration had suffered for it. Eximo had thrown him off even more, and was now keeping him under a constant, direct barrage of attacks. It even had spare arms to fight off any puppets the demon sent to try to divert it.

Eximo fought like it had nothing to lose. Indeed, within its mind, it felt it did not. If it fell in this battle, it would be freed from the burden of carrying out its new orders.

But those same orders compelled it to fight with all its strength. The demon was constantly under attack by at least six of Eximo's arms, while struggling to send forces at Amethyst in the meantime.

He did not even see Aeon entering his mental realm.

Aeon watched from a distance. The demon, whose back was to Aeon, was holding a large key. Attached to the key were countless strings, which held up dozens of marionettes. As the demon moved the key, the marionettes moved as well. Aeon could see that some of them resembled the late contestants... Lutherion, Alcarith, Dorukomets... even Emily. This seemed the greatest insult of all.

Before, the demon had come across as a calm manipulator; a serpent with a silver tongue. The facade had fallen away, as now he was enraged. He shouted at the puppets, as if his current predicament was their fault.

"There's a saying, you know. It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools."

The demon turned to Aeon. He saw the knife in his hands.

"So. The boy is no longer mine. It matters not. I need only destroy one of you to invoke the Director's intervention. That will give me all I need."

The demon released his grip on the key as he turned to Aeon, but it continued to float and move the puppets on its own. A flaming sword emerged from nowhere to enter the demon's hand.

"Once the Director begins to move you, I will be able to manipulate this world to ensure the survivors are sent wherever I desire. Perhaps I will make them burn up in the center of a sun. Or buried under a mountain. It depends on what whim strikes me at the moment." He grinned wickedly. "Regardless, I will ensure that I remain here, even if the Director tries to move me. I will build this city into my new kingdom. And once I am ready, I will conquer as many dimensions as I wish." He glared at Aeon. "It all begins with your death. Once your mind is gone, your body will follow."

"Pretty ambitious plan you have there. But what happens if I destroy you here first?" Aeon set the knife in his adaptive tool. It grew into a mighty sword, and began to glow with a bright light.

The demon shielded his eyes. Even the light from it was hurting him. "Gah! What is this? That knife has no power to slay demons! It can only seal us!"

"Think of it as a gift from Emily, bastard." Aeon charged forward, stabbing the demon lord in the chest, where his heart would be. The demon tried to block, but the light had weakened him.

In the real world, a single word went through Eximo's mind. Spoken by all its mental voices in unison.

"Now."

Eximo struck the physical demon in the heart, at the same moment and place as Aeon's strike in the mental world. It could not explain why it attacked at that moment; it simply knew the time was right.

Both demons screamed, with a voice that seemed to echo across all realms, physical or otherwise.

As Aeon dealt the finishing blow, the demon turned to a pile of ashes. Then, Aeon saw the world around him slowly begin to vanish. He was about to run back for the door, but then he realized something.

The key!

From what the demon had suggested, it could be used to escape from this accursed game. Aeon had no idea how it could be used, but the reward would be worth the risk. He ran over to the demon's "theater" and pulled on the key. The puppets seemed to pull back; Aeon cut through as many strings as he could with the knife. This must be the demon's very last stand, he realized.

The puppets flew up, even without their strings, desperately trying to wrest control of the key. One of them, which appeared to be a cloaked skeleton, raised a metal arm. Countless guns appeared on its surface, prepared to fire...

And they were blocked by the puppet of Emily. She held up her shield. Many of the bullets were sent back at the strange puppet, but many others made it through the shield. Both puppets fell to the ground.

Aeon finally wrested the key free of the other puppets, and ran along the swiftly disappearing path, back to the door.

When he woke up, he was holding the key in his hand. Around him, Emily and the strange skeletal creature were lying dead on the ground; countless others seemed to be either dead, or dazed.

Nathan had awoken from his trance, as well. Amethyst turned to them.

"I believe this creature is Eximo's creator... or a copy of him, at any rate. When the demon died, it suddenly turned to fire on you, but Emily gave her life defending you."

"Just like her," Aeon sighed. "Even when given another chance at life, she'd give it away for another."

Nathan stared at the key in Aeon's hands.

"Where did you get that?"

"Apparently, the demon was using it to cause this mess. And it seems to provide a way for us to escape... somehow." He handed it over to Amethyst. "Damned if I know how to use it, though."

Meanwhile, Eximo stood in front of a pile of the demon's ashes.

Ordinarily, it would have simply vacuumed them up.

But it had an order. An order that took priority over the cleansing.

If it had tear ducts, it would have been crying as it approached the others.

"Greatest threat is calculated as... Amethyst..."

Amethyst puzzled over the key. "It appears to exert a great deal of control over this particular dimension. I do not believe it can create a portal, but it could redirect a transport... but for the Director to transport us, we would have to..."

There was an unpleasant pause.

Eximo took the gun out of storage, and readied it as it approached. The others were focused on the key, and had their backs turned to it for the moment.

Stop us... Please... it thought. We are right behind you! Stop us!

Once in range, it pulled the trigger.

Nathan saw it just in time, and pushed Amethyst out of the way, causing her to drop the key in surprise. The shot struck Nathan's heart.

As he collapsed to the ground, his fingers grasped the key. He whispered hoarsely.

"Can't send them... home... just be found again..."

"Send them... to a place... where they can fight back..."

As he died, there was a smug smile on his face. When the Director tried to retrieve them, he would be in for a surprise...

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerThat's it for Round Five.

I asked permission from cyber95 before proceeding with the "escape plan". The next round is going to take place somewhere that holds the secret to defeating the Director; that's all I know about it.

Great work, everyone. Draykon and Aryogaton, after seeing your posts for this round's finale, I have to say that I can easily imagine either of you winning this. Both your posts were awesome, and this is really anybody's game now. Let's give our audience a show to remember, no matter who's left standing at the end.

OddGuy, I'm really sorry to see you lose. I know the reason is that you only had one post this round - but it was a great post, and your other posts since Round 3 were great, too. You sure as heck didn't lose because you lacked talent, it was just because you didn't keep up with the game. You've got some real talent as a writer, and I want you to know that.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerShit's gettin' pretty real here in this multidimensional competition. I'm still expecting to lose pretty soon, but I have every intention of going out with a bang. I think I've gotten into the right 'mindset' now too, so hopefully I'll be able to manage more frequent posts.

Also, I think I've come up with a logical paradox Amethyst could use to 'override' Konka Rar's orders, but I don't think I'll use it just yet. With both our villains gone, we need a good source of conflict for the last two rounds.

It's a shame to see Oddguy go. Just another casualty to the Eldritch jaws of inactivity I suppose. Interesting how we only seem to have had one real 'death' in this game. Do the other Battles have that problem? I've really only been able to follow GBII and Intense Struggle.

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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Spoilerthey all have those problems. Cyber, Kiren, Redherring, Anathema at least I know of.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerYeah. I'm really hoping I don't have to boot cyber95 from Intense Struggle in the first round for inactivity, but that's up to him more than me.

The round's just starting to heat up in that, so he's still got time to make up for it.

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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"Before I go... may I ask what's going on with the combatants?"
The Strange Man, as many simply referred to him as, looked upon the large screen. The scene was shifting, as usual, but it seemed like a less smooth change than usual. The contestants flickered between dimensions, as if unsure if they were being sent to the right place.
The Director watched calmly. He could definitely work with this. He started scribbling notes onto sheets of paper and gave them to the remaining Gentlemen, as the Strange Man left.

The contestants found themselves separated. Surrounding them were walls of bookshelves, stacked incredibly high. Dust was everywhere, and cobwebs could be seen in nearly every corner. This place had obviously not been used in a while, and nobody seemed to have time to spruce it up for 'company.'
Eximo, Aeon, and Amethyst were alone, in completely different parts of this gigantic, maze-like library, and a voice came from seemingly nowhere. Another 'announcement' from the Director himself.
"Mr. Director, sir, is it wise to let them stay here?"
"Don't worry too much about that. They'll never find it.
Ahem. Contestants, congratulations on making it this far! Welcome to my personal library. I have countless books from many universes in here. Thousands. Perhaps millions. It's a rather large library, so try not to get too lost."
<font size="4">"But that one book. Abot- About you. Should we not retrieve it?"
That last line of dialogue sounded strangely... forced.
"It's fine, Arnold. They'll never find it anyway.
Anyway, good luck, I'm intrigued in seeing who will be in the final two of this battle."

The voice was gone, leaving the contestants to start the second to final round.</font>

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SpoilerWelcome one and all to the library of lies! It's kind of filthy. If the Director knew that this would be where you would end up, he would have spruced up a bit. It's kind of a hidden area in one of the pocket dimensions that you were set to enter, that would be normally inaccessible by where you would have been sent. Somewhere, as hinted by the clearly unscripted conversation, is a book on the Director, and there are other books about the other pocket dimensions, the Gentlemen, and all sorts of other Grand Battle elements. Of course, given the title of this round, the truthfulness of this information may not be as factual as it may seem. Not that your characters know that.
Guarding those kinds of books are various sorts of traps, because that's always fun.
Other than that, there are lots of winding corridors of bookshelves in paths that don't really seem to make much sense. And hey, why not some rotating shelves as well? Those are neat.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerIs the "Re:" in the title supposed to be there?

Aeon blinked and observed his surroundings. A library. Not truly a battlefield, now is it, Director? But, this place just might hold the key to our escape, which seems more and more like the preferred strategy, now that all of the other contestants are in good relations… He looked at the adaptive tool. The attack on the demon fulfilled Emily's last will, and subsequently the energy she gave to Aeon was drained out in destroying the demon. He sighed, and inhaled a mouthful of dust in the process. Ignoring the resounding echo of his coughs, Aeon noticed something interesting. He lifted the crystal eyepatch that he had been using for so long, and was greeted with the familiar feeling of his eye adjusting to brightness. Surely enough, all of the minor wounds were healed up as well. Aeon looked at his adaptive tool, smiled, and began to walk through the aisles.

Thanks, Emily.

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A man walked through an abandoned base, exploiting space and moving around walls, ignoring the corpses and battle going on around him. He stopped by a figure overlooking a strange little girl holding an equally strange book. The man began to speak.

“Drake.”

The second figure turned around without surprise.

“Ari.”

“I am sorry to interrupt this illegitimate excursion, but we have a situation in the original Game. The Director wishes for a conference.”

The man turned and walked back the way he came, and the second figure promptly followed.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerAwww, was it that obvious?

It took about a minute of coughing for Amethyst to regain her bearings, after which she began reflecting.

The last round had been... overwhelming. She was only now getting a chance to sort it out. So she closed her eyes, and looked at everything again, in sequence.

Eximo had attacked her for the first time. He--
She stopped her thoughts for a moment. Should she consider Eximo masculine? Why was she even thinking about it? It's totally irrelevant.
Eximo Pulvis was likely being ordered by the replica of his-- its master. Such orders were probably difficult to override, so it would be best to avoid Eximo.

That key was some kind of control mechanism for the city? How had the Demon gotten it? Did the other arenas have a key as well?

But most important than all that, was the conversation she had overheard. The idea that the Director had made such a careless mistake, somehow Amethyst giggled at little at the idea.

'That book about you'

An autobiography? A diary? Maybe he'd even been arrogant enough to write a holy book proclaiming himself God.

One thing was clear, she had to search the library for that book. Carefully looking around to make sure no one was near, she sat down, and began typing at her armband. She didn't have a spell for searching a library, but she was about to write one.



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The gentlemen calmly marched through Null space. After a moment's silence, Drake spoke up,

"So did you read my note?"
As he said this, he reached for something tied to his waist- an old Mask of Comedy, brightly colored, and possibly lifted from Rome itself- and slipped it over his face.

"A blank piece of paper, how hilarious of you to capture my interest, and then swiftly toss it away immediately after."

"Something came up I'm afraid, so I had to erase the note before anyone read it."

"I take it you wanted our help, but then decided you didn't need it?"

"Well, that boy found the Director's library after all."

"You don't actually believe that book exists do you?"

"Hey, even if all I find is a couple old Schrodinger textbooks, it may or may not be exactly what I'm looking for."

Drake chuckled at his own joke, as the two re-entered the Director's territory.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerWhat?

I got the name after playing too much Uncharted 2. Complete coincidence.

[img]images/smilies/mspa_face.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerWeird coincidence, I was mulling over the idea of setting a round in a library today while thinking about what to do later in Intense Struggle.

That's not spoiling my plans, I didn't actually come up with any details for it and may or may not use it. The idea just crossed my mind.

What have we done?

We killed him...

Where are we now?

Killed him...

The skeletal arm holding the gun went limp. The vacuum was completely still for a while, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the gun arm raised straight upward.

"It is theoretically possible that one of the other contestants has found a way to conceal itself to all of this unit's sensors, and is currently directly above this unit."

Eximo fired repeatedly, until the chamber was empty.

"Judging by the lack of a corpse, it appears this possibility was not the case. This unit no longer has ammunition for this weapon. How unfortunate."

Eximo stuffed the empty gun back in its compartment. It paused again.

"Two lifeforms are displayed on the scan. This unit lacks data to determine which lifeform is which. In addition, this unit is unfamiliar with the layout of the current location. This unit should therefore gather data in order to better carry out its orders. In addition, this location is filthy. While the current order overrides the cleansing, it is efficient to proceed with the cleansing while gathering data."

Eximo moved around the corridors, vacuuming dust. Its distinctive hum echoed through the library as it did so.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

---

Aeon walked through the dusty library, pondering what had happened so far. It was really a bit of a paradox, trying to destroy the demon. I don't think it was possible to destroy the demon without inadvertently leading to Nathan's death. Maybe Emily knew this. Maybe not. He paused to survey his surroundings. The bookshelves extended farther than the eye can see both forwards, backwards, and upwards—he had to either find a better means of transport, or find a different course of action. Choosing the latter, Aeon paused and examined the bookshelf to his right. It's amazing the amount of information in here. He looked upwards, and saw a book that piqued his interest, entitled Tetraspace: a Comprehensive Guide to the Higher Dimensions. The book was high up, far from reach. Strange. With shelves so high a ladder or something should be expected.

As if on cue, Aeon saw an approaching object in the distance. He stepped backwards, and a sliding ladder stopped directly in front of him. Strangely, although the ladder moved at extraordinary speeds, it seemed to neither pick up any dust nor make any sound, and its movements were highly fluid. That, and it only had two rungs: one at Aeon's knee-height and one at his shoulders. Aeon climbed onto the rungs, and they slid upwards and slightly to the side, placing him in a perfect position to grab the book. He did so, and carried it under his arm.

Aeon pondered going back down, and the rungs slid down accordingly. He then had a better idea. He looked towards his left, concentrating on an arbitrary and indeterminate book far in the distance. Surely enough, the ladder began to slide and accelerate, and soon Aeon was zooming across the shelves at a tremendous speed. Strangely, he felt no inertial force and felt no wind as would be expected from such a quick acceleration. But, as the past few hours have shown him, Aeon expected nothing less from the personal library of the Director.

***

The Director and three remaining Gentlemen were seated at a circular table, and the Director began to speak.

“It has come to my attention that…” the Gentleman known as Drake gave a near-invisible flinch, “…the situation in this battle has become impossible to ignore. The relations between the three remaining contestants are too well-established, and intervention is necessary. Furthermore, the current battlefield has been changed from the one we had planned.”

“To what?” one of the Gentlemen said.

“The current battlefield is set to the Library of Lies. Now, as you all now, there is some material there that we simply cannot allow to come to one of the contestants' possession. I could teleport them to a different battlefield, but I have decided that, in order to kill two birds with one stone, a different course of action will be taken. I hereby grant you three the permission to directly intervene in this round and this round only. You may choose how to intervene as you wish.”

Two of the Gentlemen stood, and immediately transported to the Library without further discussion. The one remaining—one known as Ari—had further issues to discuss.

“Yes?” the Director said, his expression entirely nonexistent.

“I have found an intruder to this battle. This person is presumably on a search party for one or more of the contestants, and is currently following the teleportation chain set up by the previous rounds.”

The Director was visibly irked.

“I… would like permission to deal with this intruder myself, and no further complications will be made.”

“Granted.”

***

She did not expect the second teleport to send her underneath a pile of rubble. Nevertheless, this was certainly the location where he went and the site of a battle, and she began to clear the pieces of broken house. It was an excruciating process, and she mumbled to herself as she dug through. At last, she pushed aside a piece of wall support and climbed out. Her relief was short-lived—her exit was greeted by a strange man, standing silhouetted in the moonlight.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerSince Aryogaton asked about my Gentleman's name over PM:

The Director used the name "Arnold" during the intro to this round. To avoid a continuity edit, I'll use the anagram Arnold Fogge as my Gentleman's name.

Amethyst heard the gunshots, followed moments later by the unmistakable hum of a vacuum cleaner. It sounded as though it was moving away.

"It's... a warning," she realized. "Eximo is making as much noise as it can so we'll know to avoid it."

"Surprisingly clever for a machine, isn't it? But then, that's why I chose it. I could see the potential it held."

Amethyst turned around, to see a Gentleman smiling at her. He took a slight bow.

"Arnold Fogge, at your service. The Director has decided to up the stakes for this round by allowing us to intervene directly." Continuing to smile, he drew a sword from nowhere and pointed it at her. "I believe you pose the greater threat to my contestant. That makes you my highest priority target."

Amethyst was not surprised. This only confirmed her suspicion that they were not where the Director intended them to be. She readied herself for battle.

***

"Two additional lifeforms detected," Eximo noted to itself. "This unit lacks sufficient information to determine which lifeforms are designated targets. This unit will continue to gather information while proceeding with the cleansing."

From behind a shelf, Drake watched Eximo and chuckled quietly.

"Arnold must have been behind that order," he said to himself. "Yet the vacuum finds ways to disobey it. But, I can use this. All I need to do is guide it to Aeon. If one of them destroys the other, all the better for me."

As Eximo dusted a nearby shelf, two books fell off of it. Classifying them as clutter, it picked them up, but paused momentarily to look at the covers.

One was a fantasy novel, entitled Elfin Journey. The other was a science fiction novel, with the name Deadly Sector.

These are... important, said a voice in its mind. We know not why. But somehow, they are.

Eximo moved to another corridor. Drake, however, was suspicious of something. He had seen the covers from his hiding place, and checked the shelf the books had fallen from.

There wasn't a single novel or any other piece of fiction on them. That shelf contained only dictionaries.

It appeared to Drake that somebody was taking the freedom to intervene a little farther than the Director had intended.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

---

Arnold thrust forward, but Amethyst ducked down. She couldn't dodge from there though, and the Gentleman easily kicked her over.

"I take it you won't allow me to simply search the library then."

"Of course not. You forget you're still playing our game."

The air above froze, forming into Amethyst's signature black icicles, impaling themselves into the ground. Arnold casually stepped out of the way, but was nearly struck as Amethyst whispered a spell, and lightning arched between them. A barrier surrounded him at the last minute though, and he was left untouched.

"You have been permitted to directly attack us then? I see this as motivation for us to join forces."

"Perhaps. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the Director's wishes. Oh well."

He sliced through the air, drawing an arch of light, which flew towards Amethyst.

***

Drake was rather enjoying the excuse to explore the library. Even the Director didn't have the layout memorized, so all he had to do was 'declare' a bookshelf in the way every so often, and he was easily able to keep Eximo from wandering towards Amethyst.

Still, it was a cheap hack of reality, and it wouldn't last forever. So as he tailed Eximo, he was also skimming the bookshelves.

The area they'd arrived at seemed to be arranged in a circle. The central, a large round shelf filled with grimoires. Drake scoffed at the organization, seeing a book on summoning rituals situated directly next to one detailing large-scale magical warfare techniques.

"Completely unrelated" he complained aloud, half-hoping the Director would hear him.

In fact, it was Eximo who heard him, turning around, and turning down his suction devices.

"Unknown entity will identify itself."
Drake was caught off guard, though it didn't show through his drama mask.
"Erm right."
He took a slight, albeit awkward, bow.
"Drake Eon, master of quantum uncertainty- and multidimensional representative of Amethyst..."
He paused for a moment,
"That introduction really would flow better if she had a last name wouldn't it?"

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerI facepalmed and changed my Gentleman's name. Why the hell didn't anyone tell me of this?

[img]images/smilies/mspa_face.gif[/img]

“And who are you supposed to be?”

“You may refer to me as Ari, if you so wish to know. Not that it matters, anyway. Just know that I am the one who has chosen him for this game.”

The woman tensed, and produced a silver needle.

“Also know that you left too early—someone else from your village has been chosen as well. You would make a fine candidate yourself. Lastly, know that each of us have a few unique abilities ourselves, in addition to the ones we have in common.”

Reacting suddenly and spending no time to ponder over that statement, she threw the needle directly at his face. The instant before it made contact, a white, glowing object materialized out of thin air, and the needle embedded itself in the object. The light object convulsed, and formed a sphere, encasing the needle in a solid orb of light. The fist-sized cocoon moved to the side, and its glow illuminated the man's face.

His features were entirely human, except for his eyes. They were a pure white, aside from a faint ring that signified a pupil. The color was not the white of familiarity and warmth, but rather scorched white, the color of a bleak winter sun. He was wearing a plain suit, itself bearing a color that was the perfect opposite of that of the man's eyes.

Ari did not give the woman time to react. At once dozens orbs of light appeared, holding her perfectly immobile. He immediately transported her to a temporal prison of his own, and himself to the Library.

You would make a fine candidate yourself.

***

Aeon climbed down from the ladder. After only a few second of travel, he arrived at an intersection, and the ladder could not proceed any further. In the middle of the intersection was a table, and on it was a small orrery. Thinking he had little time to spare, he turned an arbitrary right, and noticed a piece of paper taped to the shelf. It read “This path leads to a dead end”, in a strange font. Aeon pondered over this.

I don't know whether the person who put this up is trying to deceive me or not. If he isn't, then the path will lead to a dead end. If he is, then it simply won't. I suppose there's no lose-win scenario in this. Maybe whoever put this up thought of that. Aeon proceeded to follow the path, and surely enough, stopped at a circular arrangement of shelves with a table in the center—a dead end.

Aeon sat at the table. On it was another piece of paper, which read “You will see that my advice, whether you choose to accept it or not, only serves to benefit you”, again in the strange font. Quite. Aeon placed Tetraspace: A Comprehensive Guide to the Higher Dimensions on it, and proceeded to read.

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SpoilerSorry for reserving for so long, I was interrupted a few times.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

---

"Lifeform Drake is responsible for Amethyst's entry into this contest, then?" Eximo inquired.

"Correct." The Gentleman readied himself, expecting an attack. But it did not come.

"Data noted. Please confirm: it would be detrimental to lifeform Drake if lifeform Amethyst were to be eliminated from this competition."

"Well, yes. The Director is hard to read, and I'm not sure if he's offering any official prize, but we have our own side wager. Not to mention that choosing the winning contestant would be quite good for one's reputation." Drake seemed suspicious of the vacuum. Why would it ask questions at a time like this?

"Data noted." Eximo sped off past Drake, surprising the Gentleman. "This unit's orders are to destroy the other contestants. Current course of action: Seek out and destroy lifeform Amethyst. No orders exist requiring the destruction of lifeform Drake."

Drake couldn't help but chuckle. The machine was trying to manipulate him into stopping it before it could kill Amethyst! How amusing. Arnold had outdone himself with this one.

Of course, the problem was that Eximo was headed back the way it had came. It had already observed most of the path. Drake realized right away he would either have to be more direct, or more creative.

***

Amethyst sent a crystal into the middle of the arch.

Light from the edges flowed into the crystal, causing it to explode. The arch remained, and continued its advance.

Arnold smiled. "You have good tactical sense. You have no idea how many fools would assume themselves to be safe as long as they don't touch the arch itself. Of course, it can't simply be disarmed by throwing absolutely anything into the center..."

Amethyst barely took in his words. She quickly scoured the bookshelf nearest her, pulling every book off and tossing it to the floor in front of her.

"I hope you can disable the effect. Otherwise, you will have to inform the Director of the loss of a significant portion of his collection."

Arnold laughed. With a wave of his arm, the arch vanished, seconds before it reached the pile.

"Well played. But don't think yourself too clever just yet, my dear lady. I am quite willing to destroy the books if there is no alternative." He lowered his arm, and his sword vanished.

Thinking quickly, Amethyst moved to the side. The sword flew past, barely missing her and flying back into the Gentleman's hand.

"And as you can see, there are still plenty of alternatives."

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerI notice that we seem to be in a consistent me-Fogel-Draykon posting loop.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerWell when there's only three of us, such organization is inevitable.

Amethyst recast her 'Killer Doll' spell, and the crystals on her arms and legs began yanking her through the air, dodging swiftly as Arnold's sword gracefully flew around her of its own accord.

In fact, the sword rarely flew directly towards Amethyst at all. Regardless of his claims, Arnold knew it would be a bad idea if he was the one to deal the finishing blow. Instead, he simply attacked 'quickly,' so to leave Amethyst panicked, and wasting her mana.

Still, he couldn't help but worry about the other gentlemen. Ari and Drake had both seemed rather enigmatic, as though they had always had some hidden agenda.

Really, letting the gentlemen into his library may have been the Director's biggest mistake.

***

"So, you're playing along with the game after all?" Drake asked, tailing Eximo.
"Affirmative, this unit has received direct orders from Master Konka Rar."
"Ah, but didn't you later confirm that that wasn't your master after all?"
"Data supporting this claim did not appear until after the orders to eliminate other contestants were received. At the time of receiving orders, all sensory readings pertaining to that entity supported his identity."
"All of them?"

Eximo stopped moving for a second, and paused, before finally choking out. "All of them...

"Query, the unit Drake has been speaking as though to prevent this unit from continuing the battle. Would it not be to your benefit for the battle to continue?"
Now Drake laughed.
"The situation isn't nearly so direct with me. You see- and keep in mind the Director has suddenly run into a distraction- I win no matter what."
The words in the middle were spoken normally, but with a strange force. For it was as he confidently declared this fact that no one in the universe knew for sure, indeed outside the universe, where space is everything and nothing at once, it did become something. A flicker of light, growing slowly, sprouting tentacles as though to become some eldritch horror, and then quickly flickered into nothing.

A random event throughout null space, where Gods and Universes were so often born from nothing, it wasn't uncommon to see them stillborn. But still, in spite of its meaningless consequence, it was a distraction, and the Director did indeed miss Drake's words.

The arrogant grin of the mask of comedy was never so appropriate.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

---

“Stop reading.”

Aeon looked up, mildly startled both by the sudden appearance of the Gentleman and by his inability to detect it. The man was sitting at the table, across from him.

“You've read enough.”

Aeon closed the book—he had read about a fourth of it already. He examined the Gentleman, and noticed he was rolling a familiar object in his hand. It was silver in color, and molded like putty.

“Let's talk about something more interesting.” The Gentleman placed the silver object in the middle of the table, which slowly flattened into an oblong disk. “Well? Make it turn into a ballerina or something.”

Aeon ignored the request.

The Gentleman sighed. “Don't worry about her—she's in a secure place. I will send her home soon enough, and it will only seem like a few seconds, in her perspective.”

Aeon said nothing.

“Do you really want her to experience the same things you did?”

Again, no reply.

“Oh forget it. Just tell me how this thing works, will you? I'm actually quite curious.”

Aeon finally spoke, albeit through gritted teeth. “It… doesn't work like that.” He placed his own adaptive tool on the table. The colors between the two objects were slightly different. “The same shapeshifting premise is there, but they can be governed by different concepts.”

The Gentleman took the shapeless object and leaned back in his chair. “I suppose I simply can't get that much more out of you, then.” Aeon began to open the book. “Enough reading. You should be mingling with the other contestants.”

Aeon closed the book, mildly frustrated. I guess there's some logic in that… I should find Amethyst, so that we can work together to find a loophole out of here. It is the best chance we have so far, after all. He stood up, and left the only way he could. The Gentleman stood up and followed.

“My name's Ari, by the way.”

Aeon ignored him.

“I suppose a handshake wouldn't be very welcome, then.”

The two came to an intersection, and Ari said to turn left. Aeon looked back with a look of annoyance.

“You wanted to find Amethyst? I'm simply guiding you to her.”

That was a guess—it had to be a guess. But I don't know whether he's lying. Aeon took a left, approached another intersection, and took a right on Ari's advice. The cycle continued for what seemed like hours, before a faint but familiar hum of suction was heard.

“I suggest you stay away from the vacuum cleaner. You saw how it killed Nathan.”

“It is simply following orders, even if it dislikes them.”

“Of course. A machine cannot disobey its programming, now can it?”

“Eximo has shown many times before that it was more than a simple machine.”

“My advice still stands. Take a right.”

Aeon had no choice but to concede.