The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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Aeon climbed down from the ladder. After several minutes of incredibly-fast movement, it seemed to have taken him to some of the most remote parts of the library. He began to walk, mildly satisfied at his isolation. At this point, he thought, it seemed that being so far from the other contestants would guarantee that he was safe from harm.

Ari appeared in front of him with a smug look on his face. Aeon ignored him, and kept on walking.

“You wonder where you left that shapeshifting thing, don't you.” Aeon made no indication of hearing Ari.

“Well, you should know that I have returned it to its rightful owner, just like I promised.”

“And I am supposed to believe that you are self-righteous enough to be so proud of a small act of honesty?” Aeon turned to Ari, looking stern. “What are you really planning?”

“Okay, you seemed to have backed me into a hole. I will tell you that I wished to start another game like this, but I was too late. The last one had started already.” There was a pause. “Er… you don't have to worry that I entered her in another competition. I give you my word that I didn't.”

Aeon continued to walk. Does he even know he's revealing so much? With that statement alone, he just proved that there were more games involved, and a limited number of them as well, and more.

“One would think that a man so accustomed with the workings of this universe would know how a simple device would work.”

Ari raised an eyebrow. “And what is this device you speak of?”

Aeon stopped walking and looked at Ari. “Your strategy of excuseless honesty is flawed. From everything that you have told me, I've deduced that all you want to do is find out how my adaptive tool works. You've also revealed to me that there are other games like this, and that there is a limit to how many games can exist. Eight, maybe? Perhaps… the winners of each game participate in another, one final test of skill that just might be the Director's final goal.”

Ari attempted to avoid a look of realization. He failed. “Your powers of deduction are impressive, to say the least.” He began to walk, this time placing more thought into what he says. Aeon followed, and saw Ari turn a right. As soon as Aeon passed the corner himself, he saw that it was another dead end, with Ari nowhere in sight. Aeon sighed, not deciding whether it was best to have Ari far away or watched carefully.

Aeon began to shuffle through the shelves on the dead end, and came across a strange glass plate. It seemed entirely out of place in the sea of books, yet also seemed very well hidden. He looked through the plate, and saw the image behind it heavily distorted, to the point that any image that could be seen through it was reduced into coarse noise. Deciding that it must be somewhat important, Aeon held on to it, and began walking again.

***

Ari followed the vacuum cleaner, which was cleansing as it proceeded with its excruciatingly slow pursuit of Aeon. At this rate, it will never catch up with him. I need to get this thing closer.

“Hey, vacuum.”

“Sensors indicate that Lifeform Ari is trailing this unit. Current data indicates that Lifeform Ari is not aggressive. Proceeding with pursuit.”

“How would you like if I showed you a shortcut to Aeon?”

Eximo paused, and continued to cleanse. “Although Lifeform Ari has been deemed nonaggressive, trust has not been fully established. This unit refuses offer of aid.”

Ari grimaced. Well then, too bad, machine. He walked up to the vacuum cleaner and pressed his hand on top of it. Eximo stopped cleansing, as the world around it disappeared.

“Sensors are indicating a large amount of conflicting information. Cannot process data at this time.”

***

Aeon stopped in the middle of an intersection. Taking an arbitrary book from an arbitrary shelf, he placed it open on the table, and laid out the glass plate on it to test a theory. Surely enough, the text shifted, and some words were magnified, others shrunken to the point of near-invisibility. Aeon examined the book, and saw that it was a science fiction novel. Reading only the magnified letters, Aeon saw that the glass plate highlighted the workings of a particular device in the fiction. A hidden message, relevant to the content of the book.

He was interrupted by the sudden sound of a vacuum. Panicking at the fact that he should have heard its gradual advance—not to mention the surprise of being found so quickly—he immediately stood and confronted the machine.

“Sensors indicate that Lifeform Aeon has unexpectedly appeared in extremely close proximity to this unit. Proceeding with orders to eliminate all contestants.”

***

Drake sat on the bookshelf, clearly annoyed by the entire ordeal. The book he was carrying around began to vibrate, and he opened it with a look of frustration.

“What is it now?”

Ari has started another fight between Eximo and Aeon. Deal with them, I'm still busy on my end.

Drake disappeared without a word, taking note of his annoyance in Ari's antics.

***

Eximo flung a single knife at Aeon, almost as a warning attack. He caught it in midair, and placed it in his pocket. He was soon treated to a flurry of knives, and Eximo began to approach more aggressively. Aeon ducked again under the table.

As Eximo began to move around the table, as before, Aeon began to think. He leapt from his position, occupying the opposite side of the intersection.

“Lifeform Aeon is not attempting to escape. This is unexpected.”

Well maybe I can talk you into something. “Eximo, tell me again why you're doing this.”

“This unit is proceeding with orders from Konka Rar to exterminate all contestants based on threat priority.” Aeon dodged more knives, which lodges themselves in the books behind him.

He began to think. “How loyal are you to this Konka Rar character, anyway?” Another flurry of knives, this time giving Aeon a deep cut to the leg.

“This unit is programmed to act completely loyal and obediently to Konka Rar.”

“Back in the first few rounds, you would say ‘Hail Konka Rar!' after everything you said. I haven't heard you say that in quite a long time.”

Eximo charged at Aeon with four knives in-hand. Aeon leaped out of the way, and it hit the bookshelf.

“Besides, you found that the Konka Rar that gave you these orders was a fake didn't you?”

“Orders were given when such knowledge was not known at the time, and are still valid.”

“By your choice? There is no reason you should be following them, especially if you know that it was a fake. He… dismantled that vacuum army you worked on, remember? You showed remorse when the fake was bossing you around. Maybe you should rethink your loyalty to him.”

“False Konka Rar was making orders based on his status as a duplicate, and such aversion is not shared with the actual Konka Rar.”

“If that's true, then why are you still following his orders? You either dislike your master or you are disloyal to him. This logic cannot be disputed.”

Before Eximo could try to refute it, an unfamiliar figure appeared between the two, wearing the mask of tragedy. “I'm tired of this! Stop fighting!”

Almost instantly, Ari appeared in a hallway.

“Ari.” Drake said with contempt.

“Drake.” Ari said with content.

The title was Drake Eon. Again, Aeon saw that it was a biography of a person he did not know, and replaced it.

“You're really starting to get on my nerves, you know?.”

If these books are biographies of the Gentlemen, then the Director could be in there.

“I am simply doing what the Director told us to do, and that was to create conflict.”

Then again, the Director wouldn't leave his own book out in the open like that.

“To be honest, it's you guys who are actually disobeying direct orders from the Director,” Ari said.

Reading only the magnified letters, Aeon saw that the glass plate highlighted the workings of a particular device in the fiction.

“Hah! He made the mistake of allowing us to interfere in the first place.”

A hidden message, relevant to the content of the book.

Aeon broke into a run, grabbing the glass plate and a ladder, escaping before anyone could react.

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SpoilerHaha, best page-topper ever.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerPosted, though I have pretty much no idea where I was going with that.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerDone.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of these big posts.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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SpoilerTwo great posts just now. I pity the Director who's going to have to choose someone to kill off this round. xD

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Eximo, ignoring the Gentlemen's argument, immediately followed Aeon as he fled on the ladder.

The numerous voices in its mind had been arguing for some while now.

We do not need to follow these orders! Aeon will allow us to return home!

But our body is programmed for obedience! If we reject that programming, will we be able to serve Konka Rar even if we return?

Aeon will destroy us, and Amethyst, if we do not stop him!

Only if he feels it is necessary. He has not sought to harm us, despite our attack on him.

The discordant voices sometimes persuaded Eximo to resist the order, sometimes to obey. It was ultimately programmed for loyalty, however, and so it generally continued on in pursuit.

It threw four knives towards Aeon, but the ladder's movement caused all four to fall short. Eximo reached into its storage compartment for more.

There was a pause.

Throw something else.

The other voices all slowly agreed to this thought. Even those seeking to kill realized it would be better not to waste ammunition.

Eximo pulled out three books and the small hand-mirror it had found in the strange wasteland. It flung the books forward; one struck Aeon in the head, the other two fell to the floor, one on top of the other.

Then Eximo flung the mirror. Aeon, reacting quickly, caught it with one hand as he gripped the ladder with the other. He didn't have time to think about it, however, and simply shoved the mirror into a pocket as the ladder picked up speed.

Soon it was too far for Eximo to catch up. Nonetheless, it continued to give chase, retrieving the knives it had thrown along the way.

When it reached the two books on the floor, it paused for a moment.

They were the novels it had picked up before. They had fallen with their spines facing Eximo, in such a way that the sides of the books appeared to read:

ELFIN QUEST
DEADLY SECTOR

Somehow, the words in the center caught the machine's attention.

Unfortunately, it lacked a knowledge of anagrams, and so it thought nothing more of the matter, picking up and storing the two books once more, as well as the puzzle book which had fallen nearby.

***

"Damn it!" Arnold said. His unnerving smile disappeared, a rare occurrence. "This is going to be a problem."

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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:3

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SpoilerWell, I was wondering when you'd reintroduce that mirror.

You realize there's no way we're going to be able to solve that anagram, right?

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerOnly the middle words are important, not all four words between the two titles.

It shouldn't be that hard to guess from context.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerYou have confused me, and I don't confuse easily.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerThe relevant words are "ELFIN" and "SECTOR".

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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SpoilerOkay, I'm not sure when I'm gonna end this round, but I'd like opinions from everybody on who should be eliminated. If you're a contestant, have your say, and I also want opinions from the people who are just watching, because I'm sure there are a few of you with some opinions. Anyway, the round will continue, but it'd be nice to start forming some elimination ideas, so yeah.

Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.

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SpoilerBTP's faves:
1 & 2. Aryogaton and Dragon Fogel
3. Draykon

which is surprising because I still think Draykon's posts in the first few rounds are still some of the best in the game.

Originally posted on MSPA by Sruixan.

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Spoiler"ELFIN SECTOR" is a direct anagram for "REFLECTIONS", which, as per the above hint, "fits" with the context quite nicely.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Arnold appeared suddenly near Drake and Ari. The absence of his smile surprised both of them enough that they paused their argument.

"There's a problem," he said, simply. "And I'm reasonably sure it won't benefit any of us to leave it alone."

"What is it?" Ari asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Arnold let out a sigh before responding.

"I quietly provided Eximo with... something... that can reveal the truth behind the lies that fill this library. Don't expect me to explain why. What matters is that Eximo wouldn't use it until I needed it to... and Aeon has it now."

"Wait. You provided it with... You KNEW that they would come to this library?" Drake asked, incredulously.

"No. But I knew they would come to a place where it would be useful." Arnold's smile reappeared for a moment, before vanishing again. "It's a small hand mirror. I don't think Aeon has realized what it can do yet, so we need to get it away from him before he does. Obviously, it's best for me if Eximo winds up with it, but I doubt you two will try to do that."

"So why are you telling us this at all?" Ari asked.

"Why? Because if Aeon or Amethyst can read the books here freely, they're sure to find a way to escape. I'm reasonably sure none of us want that."

The other Gentlemen paused for a moment.

"This does not affect my plans significantly," Ari said. "If a contestant dies, the mirror will be useless." He vanished, the implication of his words clear.

"Well, now you've done it," Drake said with exaggerated anger. "He's still trying to end the round, the only difference is that now he knows this mirror is important!"

"Well, yes. He's my backup plan. You and I will have to make sure he isn't necessary."

Drake groaned. "I hate your plans."

***

Aeon was about to head back to the shelf of biographies, when he saw the gigantic spider climbing over the top of the bookshelves a few rows away.

I've been in this fight too long, he thought. That doesn't even seem very strange any more.

Then he thought about where it might be headed. It's probably not after these 'Gentlemen'; they're too strong for that. It's not after me, and Eximo is behind me, so it's not after him... that leaves...

Amethyst.

He decided to follow it. He was going to need her help, one way or another.

***

Eximo noted the change in Aeon's movement, and continued pursuit.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Ari appeared on top of a bookshelf, watching the events unfold below.

Damn, he thought, as he watched Aeon pursuing the spider. He's headed for the mage girl. The two of them together... they're likely to get ideas. Especially if they start messing with that mirror of Arnold's... And if the vacuum cleaner approaches, they may just find some way to stop it without killing it.

But perhaps I can interfere with that plan if I get to her first.

He vanished again.

***

If only the stupid thing had read Page 158, Arnold thought to himself. Then I might not have to take these risks.

"Well? What's holding you up?" Drake asked, impatiently. "Go and do whatever you're going to do with that silly book! What is it, anyway?"

"It's a fantasy novel. The heroes fight the forces of evil while wearing suits of armor that grant them mystical powers. Not especially well-written, I think the Director only has it because of the author. His later works were much better."

Drake sighed. "And how does this help us, exactly?"

"There's a scene early on before they get the armor where they learn of its location. One moment..."

Arnold mimed scribbling something in the book.

The first two suits of armor can be found in the Library of Lies...

As he wrote, a fiery red suit of samurai armor appeared nearby, as well as an ice-cold blue one that was more European in design.

"I think the red one is more your style," Arnold said, as he donned the blue suit. "Now, let's get going."

"...they don't require us to be pure of heart or anything corny like that, do they?" Drake asked skeptically, as he put on the red outfit.

"They did originally. I rewrote that part."

"Ugh. There's no accounting for some people's taste."

***

Eximo navigated its way through the bookshelves, trying to follow Aeon. As it turned one corner, it noticed one book up ahead that was crooked on its shelf.

"Minimal additional time needed to correct disorganization," it said to itself, and pushed the book in as it passed.

The shelf turned around. Eximo found itself in a small room. A book rested in a glass case in the center.

On it were the words "The Life of the Director: Book One of Four".

I've got a feeling this book I'm looking for is the only thing in this library that isn't filthy.

No matter what your current top priority orders are, it would be beneficial to them to find this book.

Eximo opened the case, and removed the book. It looked at the first page.

Please see Books Two, Three, and Four for details.

The rest of the book was blank.

"This book does not seem particularly beneficial to this unit's orders," Eximo said. It headed for the bookcase it had entered through and tried to smash a hole in it, but the shelf was too sturdy.

However, the impact knocked the key book loose again, returning Eximo to the corridor it had previously been traveling down. It continued to follow Aeon's signal.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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To save eight instead of one,
Is with certainty a noble cause.
But one has already been lost.

To save seven instead of one.
Is verily a noble cause.
But the death of one cannot be avoided.

To save six instead of one.
In truly a noble cause.
But one must give her life to save the others.

To save five instead of one.
Is likely a noble cause.
But one will not save the others.

To save four instead of one.
Is probably a noble cause.
But one has already given up.

To save three instead of one.
Is it still so noble a cause?

It was something of a blow to her ego, but Amethyst couldn't help but sense wisdom in the Gentleman's words. So long as she was without a reliable source of mana, Amethyst had to be careful. And so she had huddled up in a little corner between bookshelves. But for some reason, she wasn't reading.
Rather she was writing in the book from earlier. She'd done it before, it helped her organize her thoughts. But somehow, writing everything down, it just seemed less and less clear.

The value of a life is human infinity.
For n = infinity.
Thus n = the value of a human life.
8n > n. This is obvious.
As is 7n, 6n, 5n, 4n, etc.
3n is also still > n.

There was the logical proof...
So why did it still seem futile?

"What do you think you're doing?" came Ari's voice. Amethyst didn't even look up.
"You're supposed to be fighting that man and that vacuum. Get up and fight."
Amethyst looked up at the Gentleman, but still didn't speak. Ari looked frustrated, but then he saw what she had written.
"I'll fix your calculations then. So you'll have no excuse to stay here."
He yanked the book from her, and stared at it for a couple seconds.
"The math is accurate, but irrelevant. This situation for you isn't 3n, it's n, plus something alot less than n, plus..."
He looked back towards Amethyst.
"Whatever the hell your life is worth."
"Understood" was the first word Amethyst spoke, as she stood back up. But she quickly fell back to the ground, as a massive fireball erupted in her face.
But strangely, nothing was burned. The tendrils of flames simply danced around.

"Oi! I didn't give you permission to leave." Drake shouted. His tragedy mask seemed vaguely out of place with the eastern armor, but yet it had a strange flow to it.
"You've no authority over the girl Drake. Her purpose here is to fight, and if you will hinder that you are interrupting the game."
"You always play with such conformity Ari? The game's no fun if everyone just kills each other!"
"Is that truly your reason?"
"Oh just shut up and stop interfering!"
Drake thrust his hand forward again, a tendril of flames erupting, and spreading randomly through the air.
But it wasn't random, it was guided. The energized air particles moved according to Drake's command, and the flames danced through the sky, grazed the floor, and struck Ari's chest.
Or rather, it would have. But Ari had already moved. In and instant he came up behind Drake, and kicked his back. The masked Gentleman fell forward, but quickly regained his balance.
He turned in a direction that didn't exist and ended up overtop of Ari, bringing a flaming foot down onto his head, followed by a flying round kick to the stomach.
Intricate seals flashed in the air for a couple moments, as Ari kicked off of them, landing perfectly balanced across from Drake.
"It's you who's interfering Drake."
The seals each flashed back into existence, each one forming into a bolt of light, and firing towards Drake. He deflected two of them with his right hand, before kicking a third up towards the ceiling, which faded into the thick clouds of dust.

"If you're going to waste time infighting, at least USE the armor." Arnold's somewhat irritated voice proclaimed.
"Hey! Best I can figure all it does is let me throw fireballs. If it's so handy, show me how to work it."
Arnold made a resigned expression, and raised his arm to the sky. A burst of bluish dust shot from his fingertips, and surrounded the scene. The dust settled, and encased the area in ice. As if dictated by some heroic cliche however, only the 'targets' of the attack- Ari and Amethyst- were frozen. Drake and Arnold remained completely unharmed.
"Okay, so all yours can do is throw snow. This things are still totally lame!"

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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For quite some time, Eximo had been detecting five life forms.

Three of them seemed to move about quite randomly, but the total number appearing on its sensors had been consistent for quite some time.

Now there were only three. It knew where Aeon's signal was, and which ones had moved erratically. It knew only one of those had vanished.

The myriad voices in its mind spoke as one.

Amethyst!

***

"It's temporary, but for as long as it lasts, they'll be so still Eximo won't even register them as alive," Arnold explained. "It won't be so easy for Aeon - we won't be able to retrieve the mirror if it's frozen solid with him."

"Can't you just write it out of his possession?" Drake asked, skeptically. "Seems to me that would be easier."

"No. It's not part of the library."

"And why, exactly does that matter?"

"This entire library is, in essence, one gigantic illusion, so strong that in some places it can become 'real'. That's what allows me to affect it in the first place." He froze the two again; he couldn't just sit around talking until the spell wore off. "If I wrote that the mirror was in my hand, I would get a fake mirror, and as part of the illusion, it most likely would give false information. And the real mirror would still be in Aeon's pocket, because both he and the mirror aren't part of this library."

"So what do you suggest? I doubt we could offer a trade, that would only tell him the mirror's important."

"You're right. We'll just have to keep him busy. Maybe we can get that spider of yours after him."

"That thing's so slow, I don't know why I bothered with it," Drake grumbled. "Maybe we should have stuck with your evil clown."

"Right, let me just make a quick change..." Arnold pulled out the book of biographies.

"The spider sought out the one who had hurt it before. The man with a tool that could repair anything..."

***

Aeon was startled to see the spider turn towards him.

Or more precisely, that it didn't turn - one moment it was facing away, the next it was facing him, with the change being instant. It was as if it had always been facing him.

"I get the feeling somebody's not playing fair," he muttered, as he readied himself for the approaching beast.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerEurgh. Extra-long post on Friday or Saturday. Today and tomorrow are dedicated to homework and study, respectively.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerAlright. I'll hold off on my "post every two days" approach to give you time to respond.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerOkay, not as long as I'd hoped, but at least I got something in.

“You really think this will hold them?”

“Ari probably not, but I'm sure the girl will be incapacitated for a while.”

Drake sighed. “It's about time we get some peace and quiet anyway. You stay here, then. I have some research to do.” With that, Drake disappeared, careful to not give Arnold the chance to reply. Arnold refreshed the spell holding the two in place. I have plans too, asshole. The Gentleman refroze them again for good measure, and disappeared himself.

***

Aeon dived towards the opposite bookshelf, pressing against it and placing him in a position so that the spider could not see him. He watched the shadow of the spider crawl on the bookshelf before stopping directly above him. It moved with a strange crackling and shifting sound, like sandpaper on cellophane. Aeon could only assume that such was the nature of the library. He reached for his adaptive tool to see the spider through a reflection, and remembered the mirror that Eximo flung at him. He took that one out instead and held it in front of him, positioning it such that the spider was visible above him.

What he saw perplexed him. There was a spider in the reflection, but it was not the same as the one he had been observing. Rather, its exoskeleton was replaced with parchment, covered entirely by inked words. The strange sound it was making as it moved was actually the crinkle of paper. But before Aeon could make heads or tails of this predicament, the spider disappeared. A shadow briefly passed in the hallway, and the spider landed directly in front of him.

Aeon dived to the side, dodging the spider as it pounced. Within an instant he wielded a rapier, and lunged at the monstrosity, the blade of his adaptive tool hitting it directly in the middle of a mass of eyes. As soon as Aeon leapt back, the wound spurted a short spray of black liquid, staining the floor and the books around him and the spider. Undeterred, the spider charged again. Aeon sidestepped, a faint whiff was heard, and a dismembered leg writhed on the floor. At this point black liquid, unidentifiable as blood or ink, covered this particular part of the library. The spider writhed for a moment, and then collapsed, its remains becoming something indistinguishable from a pile of soaked, black paper.

Aeon looked at his hands, now covered in ink-blood. Dammit, I just got this shirt, he thought as he walked in the direction the spider was heading before it made the sudden turn.

***

Amethyst silently cursed to herself. Although her body was more or less frozen in time, her thoughts were not. In her peripheral vision, she saw a sudden change. Focusing at that spot, she saw a barely distinguishable, hollow, person-shaped bubble in the ice.

***

We cannot let Amethyst die!

Eximo wheeled as fast as he could towards the position where Amethyst had vanished, before halting suddenly.

If Amethyst is still there, we will be forced to attack her.

For a brief moment the machine returned to cleansing, but broke into a sprint a few second later.

If we notify Lifeform Aeon, he might be able to help her where we can't.

With this Eximo dashed towards Aeon's location, doing its best to clean some of its path simultaneously. After what seemed like hours, it stopped at the remains of the spider. Aeon had already left. Eximo stopped for a moment, took out a brush, and attempted to scrub off some of the ink-blood on the floor. It was stubborn. Deciding that this task would take too long given current circumstances, it continued its pursuit.

***

In the void of four-dimensional space, Ari approached a shadowy figure watching a set of screens.

“Yes?” the Director said.

“I have learned much during my experience in this game. However, I would like to take this one step further.”

The Director turned from the screens, facing Ari.

“I would like to become your apprentice.”

***

Arnold removed his helmet. In front of him there was a bookshelf, its top half visibly empty and its bottom half filled with biographies. He knew that the secret to the location of the Director's book was hidden here, but did not know where to start. He began to remove books one at a time, searching every corner of the shelf. When he removed the last book and found nothing, he began to fumble through the biographies of the Gentlemen who took part in this particular battle. Taking a glance at the last page, he saw the page number to be several thousand.

Ugh. This is going to take a while. At least all of the other contestants are fairly busy.

***

A tendril of light burrowed through the ice. Soon, cracks began to appear, which lengthened and multiplied. A rice-grain-sized piece of ice fell from an edge, then another. Soon, the ice was breaking apart, crumbling in a well-controlled manner. Amethyst collapsed into the pile of snow, almost entirely sapped of her mana. She was lifted and sat against a bookshelf by a column of light.

“Hey.”

Amethyst did not even look up.

“How would you like it if I give you a source of mana?”

Although her interest was piqued, she showed no sign of attention. Ari summoned a particularly radiant orb of light, and held it in front of her. At once Amethyst sprung up, sensing a source of sunlight, which disappeared unceremoniously.

“Now I've got your attention. Well, I'm sure that there are dire consequences if you aren't given a source of mana soon, so it's going to be in your best interest if you do what I tell you… The first of which is to follow me.”

***

Aeon stopped at a familiar intersection. Just beyond the corner, he knew that there was a bookshelf that could hold the secret to his escape from this accursed game. However, he also knew that there was someone already there, fumbling through books and muttering to himself. Curious, he took the strange mirror and held it to the side, such that the Gentleman was visible. Strangely, the entire bookshelf was made of paper, though the Gentleman and the biographies were not. Aeon tilted the mirror to the side, and to his surprise, the reflection moved in the wrong direction. Tilting the mirror such that his own face was visible, he saw that the reflection was merely flipped horizontally. He looked again at the Gentleman, and saw that in the bookshelves other than the important one, some books were made of inked parchment and some were not.

Taking note of this and wondering why he did not notice this before, Aeon pocketed the mirror and waited for the Gentleman to finish with his search.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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After some consideration Arnold pulled out a book entitled "Dexter".

"What tales do dead men tell, I wonder?" he mused to himself.

"What makes you so sure the book is even here at all?" he read. "Or that it exists in the first place."

"Ah, it's ghostwritten, I see."

"Very funny. Consider this. We Gentlemen are not limited to three dimensions. How, then, could anything be hidden from us, yet accessible to the contestants?"

"A very good question."

"There is literally nowhere on the physical plane that we cannot look. The Director can create strong enough barriers to keep us out, but they would be highly noticeable."

Arnold suddenly smirked. "But there are other planes we cannot access."

"True. There are two known planes that were beyond my own reach when I was alive. The spirit plane, and the realm between dimensions. We know the Director has access to the latter that we ourselves do not."

"But gaining that access is largely a matter of knowledge, not ability."

"And this library is filled with knowledge, if one can sort through the lies concealing it - which we, or at least you, are clearly capable of. If the book were hidden between dimensions, then for our purposes, it might as well be hidden here."

"Which suggests the spirit plane is the key."

"It seems plausible. The spirit plane is barely understood - of all the beings involved with this contest, only the demon seemed to possess any understanding of it. In all the worlds, far less is written of the spirit world than of the space between dimensions."

"And if the Director knows anything special, he wouldn't write it down."

"Precisely. Of course, he could also hide it on some plane that absolutely nobody else even suspects to exist, but there's not a lot we could do in that case, is there?"

"No. Let's discount that possibility for the moment and focus on the spirit plane."

"Yes. If the real book is on the spirit plane, then any physical book would be a decoy - or, perhaps, it has been separated from its spiritual counterpart and rendered meaningless. In either case, it will be of little use."

"So we need someone - or something - capable of exploring the spirit plane."

"And any object or being produced by a book would be suspect in that regard. Any information it gave you would likely be illusory."

"But, there is another way to gain access. One which, I believe, has worked before."

"Eximo. Yes, if you reproduce the healing crystal with the aid of a book... its healing effect would drive the spirits out of Eximo and onto the true spirit plane. It might yet discover the Director's book that way."

"Thanks. You've been a big help."

"Me? You've been having a conversation with yourself this whole time. You're just altering what's in here to help you sort through your thoughts."

"And it's been a big help." He deleted his 'notes' and put the biographies back. It would be safe enough to let Aeon see them now.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Her head down, eyes almost closed, Amethyst mechanically followed Ari. After some time of silence, he finally spoke "I find it strange that you haven't asked me where I'm taking you."
"It is irrelevant" was Amethyst's simple response. She moved to type a few buttons into her armband- but then decided against it.
"The more I think about the battle, the more it occurs to me that my purpose here is... nonexistant."
"You are here to figh--"
"Not here here. Here in reality, here in existence."
The words sounded strangely panicked for Amethyst's usual monotone. The two stopped.
"Winning the battle is not an option. To sacrifice my worthless life for those two..." She clenched her fists and looked up, staring straight into Ari's eyes. His glowing with existence, and hers a void of naught. "I have considered it, and found only one remaining purpose I can have in this universe."

In a flash, she lunged forward, delivering her right fist directly to Ari's face. He was struck off guard, but when she spun around to elbow his gut, a brief flash of light marked his instant movement to behind her.

"I will erase those foolish mortals who think themselves Gods."

She spun around, raising her foot to Ari's head, but he quickly ducked down, launching his own kick at Amethyst's back. She hit the ground, but rolled and quickly recovered into a crouching stance.

"As I have always been humanity's sword, corrupting myself so that their innocence may remain."

Ari moved to deliver a punch of his own, but Amethyst dodge to the side, and sank her teeth into his arm. He howled in pain, and smacked at her face with his free hand. She was knocked off, but a bloody gash remained where she had bitten him. Her jaw muscles were surprisingly strong. She continued speaking.

"And so now I make the greatest sacrifice I can."

Something on the armband beeped, Password Accepted. But in truth Amethyst had never meant it as a password. It wasn't even an incantation. It was a prayer. And though she always thought her world Godless, it would be self-fulfilling.
"Load prese-"
Ari's delivered a side kick to her chest, knocking the wind out of her before she could finish the incantation.
"Understand girl. You haven't even a fraction of the power you would need to stand up to one of us. What possible hope do you have?"
Slowly getting up, Amethyst said a single word. "Power."
Her armband made a small beeping noise. Onscreen, a small indicator displayed less than 1% mana remaining. Already she began to feel her mind growing cloudy. Just staying alive would drain her mana, and without any left, she would definitely...

"I posses within my repertoire a spell that will kill all three gentlemen, destroy this library, rip a hole to the Director's current location, and kill him- all without consuming any mana, or hurting my friends."

Ari chuckled a little. "I'm afraid I'll have to call your bluff on account of the most basic physics. There is no source of any such power in this library. The laws of conservation--"

Now Amethyst laughed. "Surely at at least some point in the past this ignorance has caused you problems. I can isolate at least six sources containing more than enough power in this library."

Ari was taken aback slightly. Six sources... what else did he know for sure there was six of in this library? As Amethyst placed her hand on her heart, it hit him.

"I met someone last round that I should've been unbelievably happy to see, and unbelievably saddened when I saw her killed. I felt nothing. And now, feeling for my heart, I don't feel anything either.

This worthless soul that can't feel anything, there's only one thing it's good for."

Show Content

SpoilerThe round will be ending fairly soon, we should probably get into a good position for the next death scene.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Arnold still had the "children's book". He pulled it out and added another line.

"The crystal of healing, though it was shattered, could not be completely destroyed. It reformed itself, and sought out the heroes, hoping to aid them."

The crystal appeared near him. Arnold felt the healing energy flow through the library.

"Now, let's see what Eximo finds."

***

The healing energy flowed through Eximo's body, driving the amalgamation of spirits out once more.

The instinct to feed returned... and then, it was replaced by a different instinct.

Fear.

***

The vacuum cleaner continued to move on its own, acting automatically...

But its priorities had been changed since the last time it had experienced this.

It drove right past a particularly dusty shelf.

***

The amalgamation was surrounded by a powerful spirit. A spirit which seemed hungry itself - and yet, it made no move.

Desperate, the amalgamation sought out a physical body to hide in.

The nearest happened to be Drake Eon's.

***

IT IS EVERYWHERE! the voice screamed in Drake's mind. SAVE US FROM IT!

"What the hell?" Drake yelled. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I strongly suspect it's Arnold's fault."

He ran off to find his colleague, the voice screaming at him all the while.

***

Aeon turned the mirror towards the crystal. Just as he thought... more parchment. But it seemed to have the same effect as the one from before...

He was interrupted by Drake running in from behind him.

"Out of my way!" the Gentleman screamed, knocking Aeon to the ground. Arnold turned in the direction of the noise.

Drake saw the crystal, and began to have an inkling of what was going on.

"It's the vacuum cleaner yelling at me, isn't it? It's screaming that there's something out to get it, and this 'something' is everywhere. I don't know what you did, but fix it!"

"Everywhere...?" Arnold seemed genuinely surprised, then broke into his trademark smile. "Of course. Now I understand."

"I don't care what you understand, I need to get this mess of voices out of my head!"

"In due time, my good man," Arnold replied. He walked over to Aeon, and grabbed the mirror from him. He turned it towards the bookshelves, and saw the parchment they were made from.

"So that's it. That's where he hid the book."

Aeon thought about fighting for the mirror, but decided to play along. He was, after all, curious about Arnold's words. "Where? What book?"

"A book on the Director. Like those biographies you and I were looking at before. As for where..." Arnold opened his arms wide, gesturing all around himself. "It's everywhere. This entire library is actually the book itself."

"Amazing," Drake grumbled. "Now, do something about this vacuum cleaner in my head!"

"We will, but first we have to find its body," Arnold replied. "The book is so powerful it fills this place on the spirit plane as well. It's too dangerous for a spirit here, unless it seeks refuge in a body with its own will." He turned to Aeon. "I think it's headed for your other friend right now. Let's go pay her a visit, shall we?"

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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"This worthless soul that can't feel anything, there's only one thing it's good for."

Amethyst's speech was interrupted by a vacuum cleaner mindlessly ramming into her legs. It wasn't exactly dangerous, but it was a distraction, and one she couldn't afford at a time like this.

And then she noticed it - the healing energy from before was filling this place. Yet there seemed to be something... unusual about it.

Ari noticed as well, his minor wounds healing immediately.

"The crystal... Here? One of the others must be pulling some sort of trick."

His gaze turned to the machine, still trying to collide with Amethyst.

"I could destroy the crystal... or I could eliminate the vacuum cleaner. After all, a machine can't be healed, and in this state, it's mindless, and defenseless. It's more vulnerable than ever. And you have no way of harming me in retaliation, unless you wish to seek out and destroy the crystal - but I doubt you can find and destroy it before I can dismantle Eximo."

He grinned. "Of course, if you cooperate with me, I suppose I could leave the machine alone. What do you say?"

***

The vacuum cleaner's mental process had been reduced to "KILL CONTESTANTS". It could only move around aimlessly, seek to identify if a valid target was in the area, and then attempt to kill the target - a difficult task with its skeletal arms rendered useless.

Having noticed Amethyst, it attempted to ram into her, its only feasible means of attack in this state. It did not care about the general uselessness of this form of attack - it did not have the capacity to care. It simply pressed on with its futile task, unaware that its fate now lay in the hands of its target.

***

Before Aeon could object, Arnold created a chain out of ice, and bound his arms with it.

"Just to keep you out of trouble. I may find it useful to release you, depending on what Ari's doing."

Drake, meanwhile, was inconsolable.

"THEY WON'T SHUT UP! I can't even concentrate enough to force them out! Can't you do it, and put them in his head?" he screamed, pointing at the bound Aeon.

"I could. But I won't." Arnold smiled.

"You know, if we're going after this third Gentleman of yours, the masked man's screaming is going to give us away," Aeon commented, not sure what else to say. His tool was just out of reach of the ice-chain, but he could barely move his hands due to the intense cold.

"An excellent point." Arnold pointed an arm at Drake's head, and a small blast of snow came out, catching the other Gentleman in the mouth.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

"Um. Is that really a good idea? It's just going to make him angrier later..." Aeon was growing more and more uncomfortable with the situation, and not just because he could barely move.

"Now, now. A good tactician never limits himself to ideas that seem good. It's too easy for someone else to figure those out."

This must be the one who picked Eximo, Aeon thought to himself.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerSo, I guess I'll be writing my death scene on Saturday. Take care of everything you need to before then. [img]images/smilies/mspa_face.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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Spoiler[img]images/smilies/blacktear.gif[/img]