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| Dancing in the Buddha's Palm [Scipio's Solo] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 28 2014, 05:36 PM (2,222 Views) | |
| William Scipio | Jan 18 2015, 05:29 AM Post #11 |
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Scipio and Alice walked down the hallway, playing games the entire time to alleviate their boredom. ”Rock…Paper…Scissors…shoot! …Damn it!” Despite being far faster than any of his crew, able to easily change which figure he would throw around 100 times before he hit his palm, Scipio could never once beat Alice’s eyes. Though he often looked down on the BBA’s mass-produced creations, some of the more elite gear was really swanky stuff. No matter what hand he threw in the end, Alice always threw its perfect counter. She only ever needed to throw a single hand- but like Scipio always taught, it was the only blow that mattered. ”Wanna try again, sir? I’m sure you’ll win one of these times.” Alice giggled, her hand coming up to her face to cover her smile. She was the only one of the group- other than occasionally Scipio- who never wore the Blood Crow battle armor, her naturally impervious steel skin more than enough protection. Plus, her active holographic camouflage could easily take the form of the armor, so Will always cut her some slack. Scipio tched, pressing a button to retract his visor into the armor. Spitting on the ground, Scipio pressed a second button, retracting the armor in its entirety until it folded into a single metal plate that covered his back. ”Yeah, and some day pigs will fly on their own. No, we’re playing a different game. I bet you the next guard who comes this way will be…raven-haired.” Alice pouted for a moment, enjoying winning as they all did, but her smile was as quick to come back as was the sun after a hard rain. ”Oh, okay! In that case, I think he’ll be…a blonde, like Bladedancer~” Alice skipped ahead, looking forward to the next soldier to cross their path. As the pair turned around the corner, they found the lone soldier they were expecting, but…”Huh. A ginger. Was not expecting that.” Scipio nodded his head at the charging warrior, and Alice grabbed the handle to the massive poleaxe on her back. A single downwards swing was all it took to cleave the man in half- as well as create a tear in the solid metal floor for 100 feet. ”Damn, love, we really need to work on your control. Nice power though, gotta admit that much.” Alice blushed at the compliment, but Scipio didn’t even notice. Okay, round two. More points for guessing exotic haircuts. I’m gonna go with…brown hair and blonde highlights.” So on and so forth the game went, with neither Alice nor Will correctly guessing the hair color, their guesses getting wilder and wilder as the game went on, until there was finally a winner. ”Seriously? Fucking rainbow colored hair? Who the fuck has rainbow colored hair?” Acting out his anger, Scipio fired a ki blast that obliterated the poor woman, interesting rainbow hair and all. ”You’re just mad because you lo~ost. You know the rules of the game, Bladedancer!” Scipio kicked at the soldier’s gun, which had just managed to avoid complete obliteration. The power of his annoyance sent it flying down the hall, where it punched a hole in the wall and continued on through. ”Yeah, yeah. I lost two games in a row, so now I have to fulfill one request of yours, no matter how insane it is. Who the hell came up with such a stupid fucking rule?” Alice giggled, clasping her hands behind her back. Her cutesy appearance was in complete contrast to the giant, blood-speckled poleaxe on her back, or the mangled corpses she crushed underfoot. ”You did, sir. You thought it meant that you’d never have to get off your lazy ass, but it backfired pretty splendidly, huh?” Alice skipped forward joyfully, only stopping to look back at Scipio. ”I get a chance to make you do anything I want, hmmm? I wonder what I should ask for you to do…” Alice giggled maliciously while the pair continued onwards, Scipio grumbling the whole time. The pair came to a locked door, the first that Scipio and Alice had encountered since their ‘break.’ Huh. I thought Anastasia had gotten all these. Have you grown soft in your old age, Shadewalker? Damien would be sad. Scipio thought, putting his ear to the door and hearing terrified rustling on the other side. Realizing that some troops must have pulled the door down manually in self-protection, Scipio grinned ferally. Alice recognized that satanic smile immediately- the entirety of the Blood Crows did. Scipio backed off the door, squeezing his shoulder blades together and activating his armor, the metal sliding over his body like a spider cocooning an unfortunate fly. ”Wonderland, there’s a whole group of people on the other side of this door. I want you to kick the door in, wave the flat of your axe to create a massive wind to disorient them, and then blast your Ki skywards to blind them.” Alice cocked her head sideways in confusion. ”Why would I do that? Any one of my attacks could kill all of them, especially the three you asked for. So why not just do that? ‘Always put all of your power into a single killing blow,’ isn’t that what you always say?” Scipio shrugged and smiled helplessly as the mask slowly slid over his face, obscuring the rest of his facial expressions. ”Also, put on your Blood Crow armor hologram. We’re going in SWAT-style. It’s always been a dream of mine.” Alice was suddenly fired up at these words, turning on her holographic projection instantly, and bringing her axe to bear like an executioner at the stand. ”If it’s to fulfill one of the boss’ fantasies, I’m willing to do anything.” Scipio looked at Alice slightly askew. ”Um…okay? Just…don’t overdo it, I guess.” Despite his words, Scipio could feel himself heating up in anticipation. It was time to fulfill one of his life dreams, and he was going to enjoy it, no matter how ridiculously overpowered he had become, damn it! ”FOOOOOORRRR…. MAAAASTER!” Alice screamed as she kicked in the door, swiping her axe from left to right like the world’s heaviest fan, crushing many of the soldiers hiding behind the heavy steel door and blowing away the rest. Yelling her defiance to the world, Alice screamed as she fired a ki flare, completely blinding anyone within the confines of what was once a sanctuary, and now was nothing more than a death trap. This rapid switch became even more apparent when Scipio leapt into action. Ohhhh yeah. This is pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted from life, and it’s playing out exactly as I imagined it would. Life is good.” Scipio grinned savagely as he drew his knives, perfectly sending them into the throats of the farthest targets, the ones he might not be able to hit within a second were he to physically fly over to them. Still, the weighted throwing knives moved so quickly that to the average person, it must have appeared as if there were knives in Scipio’s hands, then his targets had spontaneously generated the ability to grow daggers from their throat. This was, of course, assuming that the average man would be able to see him at all, due to the Ki flare. They would not be. Drawing two swords and crossing his arms over his chest for maximum power, Scipio darted towards the disoriented soldiers, his seven other swords leaping from their sheaths and swirling around Scipio’s back like steel seraph wings, each deadly edge propelled by Scipio’s telekinesis. Scything through the soldier masses like an avenging angel, Scipio slowly grew an evil grin below the faceless visage of terror his mask presented. ”More… more… more… more… More more more MOREMOREMOREMORE! GIVE ME MORE! GIVE. ME. EVERYTHING!” Scipio shouted, giving himself fully into his bloodlust. ”Oh dear. There he goes again. Still, even this scary side of Master is sexy…” Alice thought, dropping her axe to watch Scipio go. ”Hey, Wonderland, it’s Shadewalker. Everything alright over there on your side? The cameras where you are suddenly died a few seconds ago, and Bladedancer’s vitals just shot up- adrenaline and heart rate are both spiking. I know there’s no human who can match the boss, but-“ Alice shrugged, cutting off Anastasia. ”Oh no, everything’s fine. Bladedancer is just in one his moods.” Alice could all but hear Anastasia’s eyebrow raise on the other side. ”You found a pretty girl over there or something? No wonder the cameras are dea-“ ”Ah, no, Master was having a bit of fun and started seeing too much blood.” ”Ahhh. That… would explain a lot. I’ll… leave you two to it, then. The others should be meeting up with you soon enough.” Alice nodded and murmured something in the affirmative before watching Scipio continue. ”More! I WANT MORE! Is this all you got, you damn bastards?” Scipio screamed at the opposition as he cut them down as easily as a farmer would grains of wheat, his once orange and black armor now nearly entirely red with the gore of his enemies. The soldiers screamed and clawed at each other to escape, only to be blown back into the room by the power of Alice’s fan-like axe. There was no escape from the killing zone, not when Scipio first gave himself over to his extraordinary bloodlust, and not now that the blood had puddled an inch deep across the room. Finally, only one soldier was left, as Scipio slowly advanced, a figure covered in blood, and only imagined in the darkest of nightmares. The man was too scared to even scream, and fell backwards, a paler puddle of liquid displacing the blood around the man’s crotch. Flicking his hand forward with all the authority of Fate itself, Scipio sent his swords into the man’s arms and legs, crucifying him and lifting him up until he floated, his feet hovering an inch or two off the ground. Finally the man found his voice, and started screaming for his life. ”SILENCE! Is all you can do scream and moan like a woman in heat? Damned mongrel.” Scipio had fully descended into the bloodthirsty insanity that he normally buried deep inside his baser desires, the part of him that only wanted to rip and tear and cut and kill and devastate and destroy, the side that solely subsided on screams of terror and the taste of blood. It was a dark side of him, but Scipio reveled in its power and primal delight every time it consumed him. The blood splashing away with every step, Scipio stretched his arm out, and a knife immediately obeyed, sinking into his palm. His voice was now cold as ice, but his hand trembled with anticipation. ”I said, be silent” He hissed, plunging the dagger into the man’s right lung, immediately cutting off his air flow and silencing him. Licking his lips, Scipio retracted the mask, suddenly awash in the scent of blood, now that the mask’s filter no longer protected his nose. ”I want to experience everything there is to know about your death.” Scipio hissed. His mouth watered. Clenching his hands into claws, Scipio plunged his left arm into the man’s chest, feeling the warmth of the blood around him. Silent, the poor foot soldier could only watch in horror, his eyes slowly tracking upwards to meet Scipio’s own, and he recoiled at the darkness he saw in those depths. ![]() Laughing demonically, Scipio thrust his other hand into the man’s stomach and ripped it out, repeating the motion over and over until he had exposed the chest cavity. Reaching inside one final time, Scipio grabbed the man’s beating heart and pulled, showing the dying man his own heart before Scipio crushed it under merciless iron fingers. Dropping the man in disgust, Scipio bid his swords dry themselves and return to their sheathes, stepping over the man and crushing his skull as Scipio continued onwards, uncaring. Alice slowly made her way through the room that looked like hell on earth, slowly, hesitantly, placing her hand on Scipio’s shoulder, deactivating her hologram. Scipio whipped his head around, panting heavily, his bloodlust still roaring for more. But at the sight of a concerned face, he shook himself like a dog shedding water, his senses finally returning to him. A mirthless smile graced his lips as he nodded his thanks to Alice. ”I-I’m fine, thank you. Let’s get out of here, shall we?” Scipio said, walking forward. Alice nodded and hurried to his side, walking side by side amiably with the blonde demigod of hellish fury. The only sounds in that room were the slight splashes as they made their way through the lake of blood into the next room. Scipio removed his armor, commanding it to its passive, resting state the moment they escaped the room of death. He walked in silence for a moment, before quickly striking up a conversation with Alice, his carefree personality once again asserting itself in an attempt to wipe out the recent events from memory. The two quickly turned to laughing with Scipio’s quick wit and quicker retorts, and a few minutes later, the carnage was all but forgotten, as the pair turned the corner and met with the rest of Scipio’s crew. ”Good to see you untouched as ever, Bladedancer. Might be glad to know that, while you were getting frisky with Wonderland, we were getting shit done. Barracks are cleared and Research data collected.” ”Cheshire! 0 points for the uncool welcome. You know Boss could probably- no, definitely- wipe the floor with anything he meets. So what’s the matter if he looks untouched? You really wanna meet the enemy that gives him a hard time?” Drake lifted his mask, spat on the ground and laced his fingers behind his head. ”Yeah, yeah, I suppose. You bastards ready to move on, then?” ”If I were you- and I will never say this again so long as I live- I’d listen to Cheshire. There’s a little present waiting for you just ahead, boss. I think you’ll like it.” Anastasia hinted over the comms. Shrugging, Scipio waltzed forward, hands in pockets, face grinning with eagerness at his promised gift, the Blood Crows falling behind him in support. Kicking open the door that Anastasia led him to, Scipio stared at the sight before him, his jaw dropping. Gold. So much gold. Laughing like a kid at a toy store, Scipio ran his fingers through the treasury’s items, throwing himself onto a gem-encrusted throne that must have been worth millions of Zeni, reaching down and grabbing a goblet as well as a bottle of ancient wine. Pouring himself a glass, lounging, Scipio let out a contented sigh, just taking in all the luster before him. ”Oh Bladedancer…say cheese~” Scipio heard over the comms as he saw a camera zoom in on him, and the ensuing picture was sent to all of their HUDs. ”Ohhh yeah, that’s good, Shadewalker! Save that, we’ll send a postcard to Gatz! Have it read: ‘Heya, boss! Hope everything’s going well out there in space! We here in the black ops squad are doing just fine, and managed to…acquire some gold for your treasury! Consider it an early baby shower gift!’ Think that’ll work?” Scipio laughed as he outlined an imaginary postcard with his hands, his entire crew laughing as he did so. ”Ohhh man, even if he kills you, 100 points for style and flair, Bladedancer!” Alex managed to squeeze out his words between bouts of hysterical laughter, wiping away a tear of mirth from his eye. ”I thought so. Anyways, Shadewalker, bag it and tag it, get a couple trusted members of the rank and file to help carry this shit out. We got a job to finish.” Scipio finished his drink, grinning as a slight trickle made its way down his chin, looking all the world for a small drop of blood, hinting at what was to come. ![]() ----------------------------------------------- Word Count: 2,673 Words Total Word Count: 16,480 Words |
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| William Scipio | Jan 19 2015, 06:54 AM Post #12 |
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Slowly pushing himself up out of the throne, Scipio grinned as he squeezed his shoulder blades together, the armor sliding over his limbs with every step. ”It’s like a Megaman game, right, boys? We’ve made our way through the mooks, and now it’s time to face the boss!” Scipio’s armor, cleaned by the auto anti-blood formula while it was in its resting state, gleamed, though the helmet refused to cover his head, having been dented in battle by Scipio’s vicious movements. Still, this was alright as far as the blond berserker was concerned. He’d just be able to better experience the battle like this. Really, the only reason he even wore a mask in the first place was for the shock factor and the coordination with his troops. Even his armor was a bit of a bother- Scipio liked feeling as light as possible, so he could end his opponents before they ever knew that he had moved. Once more they came to a series of tunnels, seven in number this time and Scipio allowed his body to hang forward in exhaustion, until every muscle above his torso was relaxed and his fingertips were brushing the floor. You could almost see the anime depression lines circling him. ”Ugh…this guy really loves his damned tunnels, doesn’t he? Almost makes me wanna just level the whole damned place…” Scipio slowly felt his Ki crackle around him, and the dust in the air slowly rose up to circle him as he considered laying waste to the facility. ”Now now, boss- you know that we want this place as a forward base for Final Heaven. Wouldn’t do any good to level it, now would it?” Scipio turned around in joy as he heard footsteps echo down the hall, for once the familiar voice not coming over the comms, but in person, as Anastasia sashayed up to the group. ”Still, we can’t leave a single one of these tunnels unchecked, in case some renegade forces decided to take up root like a nest of vipers, especially if we station regular rank and file, no? So it’s simple: we each follow a tunnel to the end, and we wipe out any that dare stand in our way. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it a thousand times more before this war is over. What’s so difficult about that?” Scipio smiled softly, grateful for Anastasia’s words of wisdom, simple as they seemed. They managed to calm his selfish desires down long enough for his cold reason to take over. Scipio sighed and shrugged melodramatically. ”You’re right, of course you’re right, Shadewalker. But how could I not be peeved at being separated from my loveable little Crows once more? Could anyone blame me?” Scipio hugged himself and rotated his shoulders from side to side, like an overbearing parent proud of his children’s multitude of achievements. The entire crew laughed once again at their captain’s antics, until a voice appeared over the speakers. ”Good evening, Ladies, gentlemen…Scipio.” Every Blood Crow to a man suddenly whipped their head to the speaker where the sound originated, then back to the Sword Saint himself. Only Scipio was seemingly unaffected by this disturbing news, but if the voice from above knew Scipio’s name, then there were more worrisome things to fear: how much did he know? If he knew Scipio’s name, then wouldn’t he know the man’s weaknesses, the family he still possesses? ”I’m so very glad that you could all make it to my lovely home. I do so hope you enjoyed yourselves with the entertainment so far; I understand that it has been sub-par until now, but I assure you: much like a proper dinner, once must have the unfulfilling appetizers to whet the appetite before the true meal arrives. Now, if you would all please choose a tunnel, we can get this over with far faster. Oh, but Scipio- if you would be so willing as to take the middle tunnel? I would love to meet you myself. That is…unless you don’t care for the lives of your cute little brothers and sisters?” The voice that until then had been light and lilting, with an affectation almost similar to Scipio’s happy-go-lucky-ness, suddenly took on a sinister edge. ”Regardless, I look forward to your choice. I look forward to having you- or your family- for dinner.” The loudspeaker shut off as Anastasia shot it, presumably cutting the villain off before he could launch into his big ol’ villain laugh. Still, the whole process had only drawn a wry smile from Scipio. ”You know, that last line could be taken several different ways… he would do really well as a Saturday morning villain on a kid’s show, don’t you think?” Scipio mused to himself. Alexander laid a hand on Scipio’s shoulder, moving forward. ”I got this, boss. He wants to fuck with the Blood Crows? Fine. We’ll give him the war he’s so desperate for, then pluck out his eyes after he’s seen the true face of despair.” Alex and Arthur began to move forward, determined to eliminate this threat to the cohesion of the group. ”Stop.” This single word rang out in the gloom, and never has a word carried such weight since “Let There Be Light” was uttered in the Beginning. As if frozen in place, Alex and Arthur stood still, Alex literally in the middle of a step and frozen there from pure, unadulterated terror. All of them shook and shivered, and sweat beaded on their foreheads, as their boss’ predatory instincts, so normally a bolstering force spurring them on, turned on them and stared them down, slavering, begging to be let off the chain. Not a sound was uttered, and even hearts were afraid to beat as the Blood Crows knew the horror that their enemies so often faced, the feeling of rabbits staring down a tiger, daring to cross the natural order. All color seemed to drain from the room, until everything seemed to turn to monochrome, like a dying film roll. The only sound in that room was Scipio’s footsteps as he slowly stepped around the Crows, heading his way down the middle tunnel as instructed. Pausing for a moment, Scipio withdrew his bloodlust, allowing the Crows to breathe once more. Like a spell had been broken, motion, sound and color flooded back into the room, and the Blood Crows as one turned their attention back to Scipio. ”No. He asked for me, and I’d hate to disappoint him. Plus, he took something of mine, and now he dares threaten another. Blood shall pay for blood, and I shall be the one to exact vengeance.” Scipio continued walking down his tunnel, raising his right fist, elbow locked at 90 degrees, fist raised to the sky. ”Complete his challenges. Do as he asks. And surround him. Remember: We are the Crows.” ”By the time the enemy knows we circle the battlefield, all he should see is death!” The Blood Crows roared back to their commander, returning his gesture and heading down their own, separate tunnels. Scipio allowed himself a small smile before continuing down his path, his tumultuous Ki lashing out and scouring the walls with every step the only (if rather obvious) giveaway to his true emotions. Continuing the unlit hallway, Scipio found himself plunging into deeper and deeper darkness all the while, his only companion the sounds of his own footsteps as soon his eyes were robbed of all light and he relied solely on his ears to deliver him information. This went on for several minutes, until finally, his eyes having long ago grown accustomed to the darkness, Scipio noticed a slight light at the end of this tunnel. Good God, for all my big talk, I rather hope I’m not dead. Would be rather a disappointment after all that bravado and bluster. Scipio smirked to himself as he made his way towards the light, finally arriving into a large…. …well, ‘cathedral’ was the only way to describe it. ![]() The cold stone pillars surrounded Scipio, as he stood where the pews would be in a church, but only bare floor resided. Before him stood an altar running with blood, giant glass windows that let in the dawn’s light, and a single solitary man, slowly eating dinner as daintily as you please. A slight growl emanated from his left, and Scipio quickly realized the pair wasn’t alone- rather, hundreds of dog-like creatures surrounded them, controlled by nothing save their own sloth. Perhaps the creatures seemed mindless, abominations that they were, but Scipio could tell just from looking at them that they were bred for the sole purpose of war. ”Ah, Mr. Scipio! So glad you could make it! Really, your siblings are just too cute- I would have hated turning them into one of my little pets, here.” the man crooned, stroking the heads-yes, plural, heads- of just one of his pets. All of them seemed to vary in some way, whether it was something innocent, such as pelt color, or deranged, like how many eyes they possessed- which varied between ‘none’ and ‘enough for a Lovecraftian horror.’ Many almost seemed bug like in build- their skeletons seemed welded to their backs, instead of their bodies arranged around the bones like most mammals. ”You know, I admire a man who rescues those no one else will, but I have to say: some of these are just fucking ugly.” The man chuckled slightly as the pet under his hand snarled, sensing the bloodlust and hatred behind Scipio’s words. ”True, true, many are rejects or misfits- but all have their purpose. Even if that purpose…is death.” With that last word, the man snapped all three of his dog’s heads, almost faster than Scipio could possibly track, killing the creature near-instantly. A blood-red mist seemed to swirl from the creature, and suffused the man, who closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, as if enjoying the scent of a kingly meal. Scipio was immediately on guard, not sure what had just happened, but knowing that somehow the dog’s Ki had immediately disappeared, and the man’s Ki had increased not insignificantly. ”You know, I really must thank you- without your little…what was your adorable name for them? Ah yes, Blood Crows- without them, I could never have imagined growing this powerful. I had over a thousand troops in this facility, but had no idea what to do with them. They were useless to me alive, but now, because of you, I can hardly move without an ensuing crackle of power! It’s glorious! Let me show you-“ The man extended his finger, and Scipio was only able to sense the danger at the last second. Twisting his body, Scipio just managed to avoid the deadly beam of light that ate through his armor, causing the top half to fall off and expose his chest, just missing punching a hole through his armor. The man clapped his hands slowly, obviously delighted.”Ah, very good, very good! I was told quite a bit about you, William, and I am ever so disappointed when legends fail to stand up to the rumors that surround them. But you, I believe, will have no problems with that.” The man stood up suddenly, shaking his head sadly, Scipio immediately took a battle stance, his every sense strained to its utmost to prepare for the next attack coming his way. ”My God, where are my manners? My name is Mr. Church- you may remember me?” Mr. Church laughed as Scipio’s eyes flared with sudden realization. Mr. Church was the client for one of his first major mercenary jobs, where he met Anastasia and his best friend, Damien. ”Yes, it seems we have much to thank you for, William. You have been instrumental in the realization of our plans all those years ago. The Jewel of the World you gained for us is not just a pretty gemstone- it’s a vault of power.” Saying this, Mr. Church procured the massive diamond from beneath his desk, watching the jewel lazily pulse with all the joy of a father towards his child. ”You of all people, as a Ki user, should know that life is power. The more vitality you can infuse into your body, the better you can wield it, the stronger you become. But why must that power only come from your own body, and why only from life?” Mr. Church smiled softly, and Scipio knew at that point he was dealing with a megalomaniac. Still, he said nothing, hoping for a clue of some sort as to what Church was planning, and if Scipio was lucky, how he would go about stopping it. ”We of the Order of the Golden Dawn looked into this, and rediscovered the long-lost art of necromancy. Death does hold power, William- enough power to activate the Final Kingdom, to rain hellfire upon this diseased earth, and to revive it from the ashes. Life is power, and blood is life, Mr. Scipio. And through bloodshed we will free this broken world of the chains that bind it.” Scipio raised a single eyebrow, unable to take the speech anymore. ”Have you been taking villain lessons from Dr. Evil himself? Watch too much television as a child? I always knew it rotted your brain, but I never knew it was this bad. Seriously, I’m amazed you had the willpower to restrain yourself from a hearty villainous laugh at the end, there. You are literally drop-dead, batshit insane.” Mr. Church smiled sorrowfully. ”And you, unfortunately, do not see the world around you. A shame, really- though the Lord said you might respond like this, I had hoped you might prove amenable to our cause, from what you had seen during your days as a wandering mercenary. It seems though, sadly, that the Lord was right, and that your usefulness is coming to an end. This is where we part, I fear. Enjoy your last moments upon this earth- and I apologize that you will not be around to see the coming end.” Mr. Church snapped his fingers as he walked up the steps leading outside and to the roof of the cathedral. ”Hey, bastard, wait up!” Scipio snarled, but he got no farther before he was set upon by legions of the mongrels surrounding him. Scipio spun around, his blades at the ready, turning the abominations, each one magnitudes stronger than the creatures Alex and Arthur fought in the research labs, into mincemeat, a death bell ringing from every swing of his sword. Still, as Scipio fought and the pack dwindled, that same bloody mist rising through the air, the swordsman felt his normally boundless energy slowly leaking away from him. Still, his power lasted him until the end of the battle, and left him standing, as usual, in the victor’s throne, atop a mountain of broken corpses. ![]() It was not until then, that Scipio realized the source of his deathly fatigue: though he was living, he too, exuded the red mist of war, his power slipping from his grasp, only to be absorbed by the Jewel of the World. Enraged, his fury cutting through his lethargy like a lance, Scipio bounded up the steps towards the roof, in hot pursuit of the one that had the guts to challenge him and flee like a coward, he who dared to steal Scipio’s power for his own gains. "CCCCHHHHHUUUUUURRRRRCCCCHHHHH!!!” Scipio roared, his wrath knowing no bounds as he ascended the steps, ignoring the power being leeched from him with every step, his only desire to punish the man who would dare attract the attention of he that dared challenge the seat of god. ----------------------------------------------- Word Count: 2,622 Words Total Word Count: 19,102 Words Edited by William Scipio, Jan 19 2015, 03:44 PM.
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| William Scipio | Jan 19 2015, 07:47 PM Post #13 |
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![]() ”Get back here you son of a bitch!” Scipio screamed as he ascended the final staircase, and was immediately buffeted by the high winds. Spires rose to surround Scipio, while nameless faces stared down in silent judgment. But what Will focused on was the massive airship slowly flying away that Mr. Church stood upon. ”A noble effort, Mr. Scipio, but I fear it will be for nothing. You are *ahem* literally powerless to stop me, and judgment will soon rain down from Final Heaven. Enjoy your final hours as best you can, William.” The airship began to fly into the sky as the rest of the Crows made their way to Scipio, every one of them battered and bruised. ”Guys! You alright?” Scipio was torn between his injured crew and the escaping Mr. Church. ”Yeah, just…little beat up. Whole bunch of those bastard abominations- clearly the earlier ones were failed products.” Alex saw the dirigible taking off and managed a weak chuckle, wiping the blood from his lips. ”He wants…to get away on that thing? That’s cute.” Alex’s eyes narrowed as he aimed his hand at the ship and summoned his Ki to fire. ”No, Merlin, don’t!” Scipio yelled, but the damage was already done. Alex collapsed to the ground in exhaustion as the Ki blast flew from his hand, only to be absorbed into the Jewel of the World. ”Shit…No Ki use! He has the ability to absorb any and all Ki! Internal manifestations only, just use what you need to get by!” Looking around, Scipio saw how much the Ki loss had begun affecting his crew, who had come to rely on it after only a month of training. Alice, who used Ki as her primary power source, looked as if she was actively dying. Scipio cursed. ”Okay. Shadewalker, get everyone out of here. Move, quickly! I’m going after that bastard on the Goodyear Blimp.” ”Wait, Scipio! Take this, it might be of some help.” Considering that Scipio’s name was already known to the enemy, Arthur felt no great tactical loss in uttering it again as he shrugged off his coat. Having been repeatedly treated by the Redgrave brothers with Ki infusions, that coat’s technology was the only thing the Blood Crows had found that was at least somewhat useful, based off CC’s Saiyan Armor. Scipio accepted it with a nod of thanks, shrugging it on as he sprinted towards the cathedral, running at max speed towards the spires, conserving his Ki as much as possible, husbanding his strength. Flight was out of the question- Scipio could feel his Ki slipping away from him every time he tried to use it, like clutching grains of sand in his palm. Running at one of the spires, it occurred to Scipio how ludicrous this situation was- the Order of the Golden Dawn was so deluded that they had literally built a fucking cathedral to their arrogance, complete with altar and dubious statues of…saints, maybe? I swear to God, this is like a fucking videogame. Maybe I really *am* inside a Megaman battle stage or some shit. This is literally written like some teenager’s battle fantasy. Leaping upwards, Scipio began running up the spire, leaping up the stone like a hopped up spider monkey on speed, using his arms to throw himself off the spire and onto a stone statue. Coming in at some speed, Scipio braced himself, bending his knees before throwing himself skyward, kicking off the statue’s face. Hah! Take that, you judgmental bastard! God that felt good! Scipio thought as he ran straight up the main spire as easily as if it were flat land, losing Ki all the while. Bunching up his muscles at the very top, Scipio hurled himself skyward, his fingers just barely brushing a rope before clutching at it with all the desperation of a dying man. Scipio simply floated there in space for a while, dangling hundreds of feet off the ground and ascending, before he got his right arm on the rope and began the slow haul upwards. Just like how we started this whole thing…Hand…hand…foot…foot. Repeat ad nauseaum. Scipio grinned to himself as he shuffled up the rope, his muscles burning, his body’s desire to simply let go, but his will alone screaming continue onwards. ”I’m coming for you, Churchie. I’m going to murder you so horribly that mothers around the world will tell this story to their children to get them to shut up and stop crying. I will end you.” Scipio muttered to himself as he continued up the rope, spurring himself onwards until he finally reached the envelope of the airship. Leaping upwards, Scipio took out two knives and dug them into the airship’s skin, air angrily rushing past his face as he used the knives like ice picks, making his slow way up the zeppelin. Such small holes wouldn’t make enough of a difference in air quantity within the envelope to matter much where flight was concerned, but that didn’t matter to Scipio, who savagely enjoyed ripping through the foil with every upwards movement. Finally, Scipio reached the top, to the sarcastic slow clap of Mr. Church. ”Impressive, Mr. Scipio! I must say, your tenacity is admirable, even in the face of a foregone conclusion. I must ask- how do you plan to kill me without the usage of your precious ki?” Scipio smirked savagely as he slowly drew two swords, holding one up so that it aimed at Mr. Church’s throat, even across the football field’s distance that separated them. ”Adorable.” Mr. Church deadpanned, drawing a sword of his own and teleporting across the distance to face down Scipio. ”Shit!” Scipio cursed, barely bringing his swords up in time to block the deathblow. That single second of mindless defense cost the blonde berserker though, as he saw yet another portion of his Ki waft away, only to be taken into the gem- and Mr. Church, by consequence. Church’s relentless assault continued, and with each strike, Scipio could see his Ki dissolve and his strength dissipate. The coat that Arthur had loaned Scipio saved the berserker’s life more than once, turning aside lasers of Ki and convincing Mr. Church that anything other than close range tactics were useless. Still, Scipio was at a massive disadvantage. The Ki usage that had become as natural to him as breathing now became his mortal enemy as his life force slowly filled the Jewel of the World. Mr. Church actually managed to score a hit on Scipio’s left shoulder, blood running in rivers down the arm. Scipio desperately needed a way out, some hope of victory. Consolidate your strength…drag it close to you, and layer it. Press it down like a diamond, and only use the bare minimum you need. Scipio imagined taking that sand in his hand, and every time some fell out, catching it before it slipped away and pouring it back on top, over and over again. The red mist floating from Scipio slowly lessened, trapped against his body as if stuck under a plate of glass. Instead of stopping Church’s blade, Scipio deflected it, allowing the metal to harmlessly shear off to the side, giving Scipio openings to exploit. Though Church still was by far the physically superior of the two, Scipio, who had done nothing but gather battle experience and train for the past five years, used his superior technical knowledge to slowly but surely gain ground, never winning, but surviving. ”How? How are you not dead yet? Die already, you filthy cur!” Mr. Church roared in indignation, relying on his sheer strength to power his attacks, the swords ringing like church bells with every strike. ”Fine, you’ve forced my hand, you filthy mongrel!” Leaping backwards, Mr. Church exposed the Jewel of the World, raising it high above his head. ”Oh lifeblood of the Final Kingdom, drain the vitality from all! Let your power reign over God’s domain!” Immediately Scipio felt as if he were being drawn forward, towards and into the Jewel. No! Resist it! Layer your Ki, press it down like diamond! Do not give in! Scipio snarled at himself, hoarding his life energy like a miser with gold. Sparks flew around his bloody aura, the pressure from such dense Ki actually causing friction in the air. Diving deep into the center of his being, Scipio martialed his power, pushing it together, taking the light, wafting Ki and crushing it until it was a single point, refusing to give in to the Jewel’s power. Eventually, the Ki conformed to the contorts of his body, coating him in a crimson armor. Scipio could physically feel his body heating up under the effort to contain his Ki and keep his life, the pressure nearly backfiring and crushing him, instead. Goddamn, this heat is unbearable. I’m getting cooked by my own energy! Sparks swirled around the tempest of aura. Until finally, ignition. ![]() Scipio roared with fury as his Ki finally exploded under the pressure, his body being consumed by scarlet flames. ”Haha, yes! Be consumed by your own power, and help realize the pursuits of the Golden Dawn! Consider it your last action as my pawn!” Mr. Church yelled, but he was quickly silenced by the sight before him. Though wreathed in flames, Scipio himself was unharmed, but his visage had changed dramatically. His once golden hair now was black as a crow’s plumage, with only a sliver of white in the front any hint to its original color. The blood had evaporated off his left arm, but the sheer Ki density had literally encased that arm in a black armor that seemed as natural to Scipio as his skin. His eyes had changed color as well, from their surly red to the bright gold of the wolf, his pupils becoming slitted, opening wide to refocus on the scene before him. Some of his canines had even elongated, marking him as a true predator. Scipio looked at his body in amusement, his Ki swirling around him like a hurricane. The Jewel of the World was reacting as well, oscillating at the same frequency as Scipio’s new, terrifying Ki pressure. ”You… what did you d-“ Church was immediately silenced by the killing presence of Scipio from behind him. ”This…this is mine.” Scipio snarled, clutching the Jewel of the World in his claw before crushing it, all the energy flowing into him and stabilizing his power. ”No! The Jewel! How dare you!” Church screamed, lunging at Scipio with his sword. "Oh God...It burns... it burns it burns it burns it burns it burns IT BURNS!" Scipio screamed, clutching his head in agony, nearly falling to his knees. It felt like his body was burning in hell, while his mind seemed to be falling into a madness Scipio had never experienced even in the deepest throes of battle frenzy. Hearing Mr. Church screaming his name, Scipio looked up, momentarily distracted from the pain by the external stimulus. Licking his lips, Scipio howled in joy, dropping to all fours like a wolf before bounding towards Mr. Church. To Scipio, the world seemed to be moving in slow motion, as he leapt upwards, reaching forward with his armored hand, palm first, the sword meeting Scipio's hand and shattering completely as Scipio pushed his hand past the sword and through Mr. Church's shoulder, completely ripping the limb off his shoulder. Church collapsed to his knees in pain, but Scipio did not give the man the decency to have a good rest in the middle of the battle. He had promised terror and pain beyond imagining, and he was only starting to get into fulfilling his oaths. Still, despite how much he wanted to intimately illustrate to Mr. Church how yes, hell on earth was indeed possible, Scipio only had a single goal now, and that was reaching the Final Kingdom and turning every obstacle in his way into a smoking ruin ”Goodbye, Church. I look forward to torturing you again in hell.” Scipio snarled, as if human thought and speech had suddenly become difficult for him. Church begged for his life. ”No, no, please, don’t do this, William, you don’t have to do this. Simply let me go, and I will forget everything- no harm will come t-“ Scipio dropped his sword to the ground before thrusting his left hand forward into Church's abdomen, hooking his claws under the man's ribcage. heedless of the man's screams and promises, Scipio repeated the gesture with his other hand, his fingers curling around the hip bone before extending out the skin again. Summoning his strength, Scipio pulled tearing the man asunder with a sickening squelching sound. Dropping the two halves of Mr. Church, Scipio shook his hands clean of his blood, completely ignoring the corpse of the man who had given Scipio so much trouble in his life, his eyes instead solely set on the Final Kingdom. ![]() There it was, floating in the dawn’s splendor, beautiful and yet simultaneously ominous. The airship, as if possessing a mind of its own, continued to fly towards this Castle in the Sky, heedless of the events happening atop its canvas. Here it is. Here it shall end. Blood shall pay for blood. I will have my vengeance. Scipio licked his lips in anticipation. ---------------------------------------- Word Count: 2,301 Words Total Word Count: 21,403 Words Edited by William Scipio, Jan 20 2015, 04:58 PM.
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| William Scipio | Jan 24 2015, 07:09 AM Post #14 |
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Scipio picked up his sword, holding it in a reverse grip, the blade extended and pointing back up his arm as the Final Kingdom expanded to fill his entire view, floating staircases and ascending spires crisscrossing the air in front of him. Scipio rocked back onto his haunches like an animal, one leg slightly in front of the other, his claw digging into the zeppelin’s envelope as the docks came closer and closer. Finally, unable to take it anymore, his transformation magnifying his every selfish desire, Scipio launched himself forward, ripping into the envelope of the zeppelin as he did so. Just to make sure, as he flew in the air, Scipio twisted in midair, tucking his body before jackknifing his legs until he was upside down, as if he were walking on the underside of the clouds. Raising his hand, Scipio fired a massive blast of fiery Ki, laced with midnight colors. He grinned with savage delight as the zeppelin burned, slowly falling into the wastelands below. Turning back around, Scipio laid on the speed, the air crackling with heat as he made his way for the top of the castle- -until he was knocked out of the sky by a massive Ki blast. Snarling in frustration, Scipio spun as he fell, having been completely disoriented after having been hit only by the bare fringes of the insanely powerful blast. What the hell was that? Shit, this damned place even has Anti-Aircraft Guns? What the hell? Scipio snarled as he crashed to the ground, flaring up his Ki and using it like a shield to cushion his landing. Easily popping off his hands and onto his feet, Scipio dusted himself off before looking upwards at the castle looming over him. His gaze drifted over to a nearby flight of stairs, and he sighed. ”Looks like I’ll have to take the long way up.” Scipio pouted. Still, the longer he was out of battle, and the less adrenaline that was flooding his veins, it seemed the more reason and human intellect he possessed. Interesting. Seems like this form is based off animal instincts. Giving up human thought in order to tap into a more animalistic power? I should try to see if I can contain it, find a good balance between human and beast. Sounds like fun… Scipio licked his lips in anticipation as he began sprinting up the stairs, racing up them on all fours like a dog as often as he did on two legs like normal people. He could taste blood in his mouth, though whether he had bit his tongue in order to feel the ruby red liquid slosh across his taste buds, or if he had merely imagined it, he was not sure. In his current state, his imagination and subconscious counting for as much as reality did. Misty figures danced like the Fey in the corners of his eyes, there at the edge of vision, then dissipated like smoke when he turned his head to view them. The sky had turned shades of blue and green and violet that he could not even begin to describe, and he could see a translucent apparition of every figure in motion, as if his brain could predict the future and showed it to him clear as day. And though his logical forebrain thought it was slowly going mad from the influx of so much information, his new, predatory senses took it in stride, taking the feverish dream world in stride and making him faster and stronger, not in spite of it, but rather, because of it. ”Ah, William. So glad you could finally make it. We’ve been waiting here for you- and I can sense that you’ve brought the Jewel of the World with you, as well. Thank you for being so very cooperative in this. Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Church was wrong about you- but no matter. You’ve played your part in the coming of the Final Kingdom. Bring me the Jewel of the World, and you may yet have your place in the coming of the new world.” Scipio snarled back, his predatory, possessive instincts taking over. The jewel was his, and soon, so would the life of this bastard. ”Alright, how about this? I’ll bring you the jewel, and in return, you give me your goddamned head!” The cold-colored world Scipio saw suddenly swam with crimson, a pink mist suddenly contaminating everything he set his eyes on. Scipio recognized that voice. It was the voice that spoke so damned coldly all those months ago, the one that belonged to the head bastard of the guild of bastards that had killed his Ashley. He was going to finally get revenge. It would be glorious. Not just giving himself over to the bestial rage, but feeding it, stoking it onwards, Scipio ascended the seemingly endless flights of stairs, desperate to catch that murdering bastard before he could escape. The fact that he might also have a giant frickin’ laser ready to murder the entire human race was of secondary concern. Finally reaching the end of a flight of stairs, Scipio skidded to a stop on a giant field, maybe a football field in size, with stone statues every 5 feet or so littering the edge of the field- and yet another flight of stairs waiting at its end. Scipio sighed, before continuing his sprint through the field on all fours, sword clenched by the handle between his teeth, having given all motor skills over to his more bestial nature, only caring on speed at the moment. This probably saved him, as his body sensed the lighting swift attack and dodged before his forebrain could compute what the hell had exactly even happened. Digging his claw into the ground and using it as a pivot, Scipio spat his blade into his hand as he prepared to counterattack. However, he immediately had to dodge twice more, skipping on the first time, and outright rolling out of the way of the second, before he got a look as to who he was facing. The stone statures, covered in moss and dust, began standing up from their kneeling position and started shambling towards him, the ground rumbling with every step. ”Ah, yes, I see you’ve met the Stone Guardians. I do so hope, for both of our sakes, that you manage to defeat them and continue to the heart of the castle. It would be rather awkward, you know, if you died here at the hands of these moldy, crumbling statues, and I had to go down there and retrieve the Jewel myself. Would really spoil the whole ‘visionary chessmaster’ routine, wouldn’t you agree?” That voice, someone nowhere and everywhere at the same time, chuckled all around Scipio, driving the blonde berserker mad with rage, falling for the trap. ”You just wash your neck and wait- I’ll be there to reap your life personally! The only one who dies from this bullshit castle is gonna be you!” Scipio roared at the sky. ”That’s the spirit. I look forward to meeting you, Mr. Scipio.” ”O Bearer of the World’s Treasure…conquer our challenges, and prove yourself worthy of commanding the Final Kingdom and deciding this world’s fate.” ![]() With those words, the statues surrounded Will and attacked. Snarling, Scipio’s wild side took over, using sheer unnatural athleticism to try and dodge the blows. But though he managed to cleave through several of the statues, there were simply too many of them. Unable to take to the skies for fear of provoking the grand cannon, Scipio was simply boxed in, until there was nowhere left to run. Growling like the cornered beast he was, Scipio tried to slip past the soldiers, but found himself boxed in by their perfect tactics and supernatural strength. Any time he nearly broke the shield wall, the mere air pressure blew him backwards into the kill circle, shrapnel slicing through his skin of his forearms even as he covered his face. As he was forced backwards, he felt a mighty blow strike him down, and it was only thanks to the armor covering his left shoulder that he was not cleaved in half himself. Blood streaming down his back, Scipio turned around to see one of the guardians he had destroyed reform itself just in time to nearly kill him. Scipio nearly lashed back out at the statue, but held himself back at the last second, avoiding yet another massive strike that would have severed his torso from his legs for sure. No! Giving into the animal isn’t working! I need…to tame the animal, to make this strength my own. Otherwise, I’m going to die. Determined, Scipio began thinking through the battle, using his intellect to guess where the next attack would come from, and combining it with his bestial, preternatural abilities to dodge and counterattack. Though the statues had yet to touch him with this change of tactics, Scipio didn’t really see much of a difference. What’s the bloody point if I can’t kill them? Even if I take them out, they just reform! Cutting down several more in a row, Scipio noticed something strange: The more he simultaneously cut down, the longer they stayed unformed. Soooo…. Are they connected to a single life source? A grin of savage delight slowly spread over Scipio’s face. Well then…let’s just see how much damage we can do, hmm? Giving himself into his power, Scipio dug deep into the crimson rage and released it, the air immediately superheating as William began his counter attack. Any statue too far away was blasted into oblivion, and any that sought refuge from the flames died by the sword, the Ki-reinforced steel smiting all it touched, uncaring for shield or stone. And though this circle of slaughter continued mercilessly, Scipio never seemed to quite get the job done. Just as he moved onto the final company of soldiers, the first ones to die would rise again like zombies that never quite knew when to quit. After a few minutes of this, and several near wipeouts of the guardians, Scipio was pretty sure that the guardians were cheating, their regeneration increasing just as he came close to wiping them from the earth. And he was sick and tired of this. This battle was no fun for him- it was just wasteful of his energy. Suddenly smirking, Scipio got a horrible idea stuck in his head, and it refused to let go. So, you fucks need to be TPK’ed all at once, huh? Well, I reckon I can oblige! Suddenly taking to the skies, Scipio hovered in place for a moment, his defenses ready at a moment’s notice. ”Well, fucking Laputa wannabe, hit me!” The Castle In The Sky was only too happy to oblige, bringing down its godlike attack down on the prideful Scipio, like Zeus striking down the prideful Bellerophon. Crossing his arms above his head, and bracing himself for impact, Scipio rode the lightning all the way down to the battle stage, concentrating all his Ki on defense as the attack obliterated all it touched, turning the grass to ash and leaving the stone guardians less than that, rendering the field salted and barren of all life. ![]() Digging himself out of the ground, having been driven deep into the earth by the sheer power of the Heavenly Hammer (as he had taken to calling it- he was still testing names), certain that he had felt his foot dangle through the other side, Scipio chuckled, coughing out a single puff of dust from his lungs as he did so, seeing the damage done. ”Hah. Serves you right, undying bastards. God, regeneration is a bitch and a half.” He muttered, dusting himself off as he continued onwards to the heart of the Final Kingdom. ----------------------------------------- Word Count: 1975 Words Total Word Count: 23,378 Words Edited by William Scipio, Jan 25 2015, 02:10 AM.
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| William Scipio | Jan 26 2015, 06:37 AM Post #15 |
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Scipio continued up the stairs, wondering just how damned many of these he would have to go through until he finally reached the heart of the Final Kingdom. The nice part about all this was that no matter what path Scipio seemed to take, all of them seemed to lead the same way. The bad part about all of this was that all the paths seemed to lead the same way, which reeked of magic. Also, that fucking voice would not leave him alone. ”Ah, good, it seems like you’ve passed the Test of Power. I was getting worried there for a moment.” Scipio whipped his sword around through the air, as if trying to cut through the sound waves. ”God damn it, what part of ‘I’m attempting to kill you’ and ‘the moment I meet you, I will crucify you upon a cross of swords’ do you not understand? I do not like you.” The voice almost seemed amused, its collected demeanor never once breaking. ”Well, that’s quite graphic of you, William. Unfortunately, I need you, as my livelihood actually is somewhat dependent on you actually passing these tests.” Scipio had slowed down to a casual walk up the endless staircase, but he had now stopped, a sadistic grin on his face. ”So, you’re telling me, that all I have to do to kill you, is simply walk off this staircase? Just stop taking the tests? Easiest murder ever.” Scipio took a single step off the staircase, his foot dangling into the void. He could feel the static charge that happened any time that AA super laser fired, but it was weaker this time, as if it wasn’t going to fire. Perhaps the Castle itself knew he wasn’t yet violating its laws, but was preparing for the moment he was. A sentient death castle. In the sky. With a frickin’ laser beam. I’m amazed there aren’t sharks floating around in midair, some bullshit like that. Fucking Laputa ripoff. Scipio could all but hear the voice raise its eyebrow. ”You’d do that? And see me dead at someone else’s hands?” Scipio shrugged, turning back to the path and walking up the endless flights. ”Nope. Gonna strangle you with your own entrails before shoving my hand into your chest, ripping out your heart and forcing you to choke on it~” Scipio said in a singsong fashion, his newfound form’s predatory nature taking this luxury time to rethink all the ways it could make the mystery man in white regret ever crossing Scipio before the blissful release of death. It was getting rather good at these. ”Well, you are quite the pleasant one in this form, aren’t you? So very much like your father, are-“ Scipio stopped cold. ”Be silent.” He commanded, possessing such power in those two words that gods would be envious. No more playfulness was in his voice, no more anger, or bloodlust- just venom and ice, a frost so cold as to stun all of reality into silence for a moment. ”Make that comparison again, and I will unmake you.” Scipio continued up the steps, unheeding of his surroundings, his throat coated in bile, his insides in turmoil. He was better than that man. He had to be. As Scipio continued up the steps, for the first time since he had heard that damnable voice all those months ago, he heard a tremulous note of discord in the otherwise calm, cool, and ultimately collected chess master that played with Scipio’s life like it was a pawn on the board. ”Very well, but William, you need to listen to me. You are about to undertake the Test of Wisdom, and you need my help in order to get through it. No matter what you do, you mu-“ As Scipio took one final step in the middle of yet another staircase, the world around him warped, like he had stepped through a gelatinous border into another world. And indeed, another world it appeared he had stepped into. ![]() Up was down, down was up, right was left, left was right, and nothing was how it should be. Scipio felt like he had walked into a madman’s daydream. Most importantly, however, the voice of the man Scipio planned to murder had been replaced with a new, yet not unfamiliar voice: ”O Bearer of the World’s Guilt… Solve our riddle and pass our test… What may change the nature of a man?” With those words, the single staircase before Scipio split into five doors, each with a word above the tunneled entrance: Fate, Agony, Regret, Determination and Nothing. Scipio stood there for a moment, a sad smile transforming his usually mirthful face now that he was alone with his choice, his eyes flicking back and forth between Regret and Nothing. He took a single step towards Nothing, before stomping his foot down hard enough to shake the earth. He bit his tongue and dug his nails into their respective palms, all of them hard enough to draw blood. Disgusted at himself, Scipio spat the blood into space, where it fell forever. ”Fuck. That.” Scipio said, before turning and kicking the door of Determination right off its damn hinges, striding through with rage on his face. As he continued down the tunnel, he found the world blurring all around him, until he found himself upside down, somehow walking in direct violation of gravity and physics. Worried for a moment, until he was sure that the laws of this pocket reality made sure flying was not a necessity, Scipio continued onwards, until the voices rang out once more. ”O Bearer of the World’s Guilt…you who would choose determination to alter the past and determine your future…heed our riddle and pass our test. You who would forge your will into cold steel, A weapon made from a heart cold as ice To deal wounds to match yours- ones that cannot heal Corrupted by sin, and drowning in vice Speak now and raise your voice. Tell us, unbeliever- why make this your choice? Agony or Regret, these we would allow Nothing is the answer you know in your heart. You who would happily make swords from the plough No knowledge to the future can you impart You, whose sole skill is stealing others’ breath A man like this may only deal death. But still now you struggle; still now you rage For others you are willing to split the oceans vast And so we shall show the way out of your cage. Soon you shall find an object- your savior, your mast. It shall be your saving grace, your only ally. All you may trust in this world ersatz Keep it safe if your fate you would defy And return safely home, soldier of Gatz. Still, an act of betrayal you must perform If you are to survive the coming storm. At the altar, make the final sacrifice without fail Upon the stone, life’s blood must fall If you wish to pierce the heavenly veil Else fall under the temple’s deadly enthrall. From there pass over the path translucent as air The end of your doubts shall reveal the path And clear the way through heaven’s wrath.” Scipio raised a single eyebrow at the end of the poetry competition. ”Christ, a couple thousand years of poetry at your disposal, and that’s the best you can do? Sounds like you made half that shit up on the spot. Hell, most of that stuff at the end sounded like a goddamned self-help book, for Christ’s sake.” Scipio shook his head before continuing onwards, through the non-Euclidian geometry and insanity. Several times he found himself walking sideways, upside down was more common than right side up, and more than once he was forced to walk through another staircase. Only by closing his eyes to the madness, actively shutting down the information intake of his predatory brain, and focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, could Scipio even hope to continue onwards. To Scipio, it seemed like several hours of just walking these damned staircases before he finally came to a break, a small antechamber, perhaps the size of an impressive living room. However, inside was circling a large pack of hellish looking wolves, magma dripping from slavering jaws, their circle tightening as they closed in on their prey- a tiny, brown haired girl huddling in the middle of the room, terrified. His brotherly instincts kicking in, Scipio roared at the pack and attacked, his sword scything through the pack, their heat nothing compared to the hellfire Ki leaking from his very being. Some were cut in twain, others were hurled bodily into the abyss, not even having time to drip lava on the ground before falling into eternity. The final few were the unluckiest, simply crushed to death underfoot, or pulverized by sheer concentrated force of Scipio’s aura. Reining in his power, Scipio turned around, looking for the girl, his terrifying visage now the epitome of kindliness as he extended his hand to her, helping her up. ”What are you doing in this place, little one?” Scipio didn’t even bother to ask if the girl was lost- he was lost, and he wanted to be here. The little girl sniffled before taking his hand to help herself up. ”I…I dunno. I just remember playing with my brother, a loud noise, and then…I woke up here, and those scary monsters started circling, and…and…” Scipio put his hand on top of the little girl’s head as it sounded like she was about to start crying again, ruffling her hair and eliciting a giggle. Scipio fell onto a knee, so he was around the same height as the young girl. ”Don’t worry, alright? This big brother’s gonna get you back safely, alright? Just follow me. My name is Will, William Scipio, but you can just call me Scipio- everyone else does. What’s your name?” Scipio smirked at his little joke, garnering another giggle from the girl who didn’t get the joke, but laughed all the same at it. ”I-I’m Rachel. Rachel Samuels.” Scipio nodded once. ”I’ll get you back home. You can rely on me.” He smiled before walking forward, waiting for Rachel to join him. ![]() A few minutes later, the pair arrived at a fork in the road of the labyrinth, where once again 5 different tunnels were offered. Shrugging, Scipio looked at the choices, and was about to choose one at random, when he saw a familiar face waiting for him in the gloomy depths of the rightmost tunnel. ”M-mother? Mother, what are you doing here?” Scipio saw yet another hellhound behind his mother, and he drew his sword, snarling in rage. This place must have the ability to transport innocents into its depths to trap them…but now’s not the time for that! Scipio ran forward, sword extended. ”Mother, look out behind you!” Scipio lunged for the creature, when at the last second, Rachel pulled on the hem of his coat with all her strength, screaming, ”No, big brother, it’s a trap!” Though the force she could bring to bear was small, it was unexpected, and was just enough to unbalance the blonde berserker. Scipio was about to turn his blade on the girl in anger, screaming, ”No, that’s my mother! How dare you, she’s going to di-“ before being cut off by the sight before him. As the hellhound lunged forward, a cast iron gate, humming with magical power slammed down between Scipio and his mother. The hellhound hit Scipio’s mother…. And dissolved as if it had been dipped into acid, whimpering in pain all the while. Scipio watched as the specter of his mother faded away with an evil grin, revealing the acidic banshee settling into its meal. Standing up, Scipio slowly put his hand forward and launched a massive Ki blast, one that left the magical gate untouched, but was plenty strong enough to pass through the latticework and evaporate the banshee, killing it without even giving it the chance for its legendary shriek. Turning back to the pouting Rachel, Scipio offered a frown and shrug of apology. Staying like that for a moment, Scipio bent down and asked, ”Forgive me?” The shaking of the little girl’s head was his only answer. Sighing, Scipio shrugged melodramatically. ”I had so hoped I wouldn’t have to do this…” Picking up Rachel with a fake roar, Scipio tossed her onto his shoulder, spinning left, right, left again, and whichever way he so desired until he finally gained a shriek of utter delight from the girl. ”Okay, okay, I forgive you! But…” Scipio cocked his head slightly. ”What is it?” Rachel blushed slightly. ”Can…can you keep carrying me like this? It’s fun.” Scipio laughed uproariously before nodding. ”Of course. But which way do you think we should go, then?” Rachel, after a moment’s deliberation, pointed at the middle left tunnel, and Scipio headed down that path without a moment’s hesitation, encountering no more baddies along the way. This went on for several more hours, the pair only taking breaks to occasionally eat the meager rations Scipio had left and to relieve themselves. They continued down path after path, some modern, some futuristic, a few underwater, many out in space, and some that seemed straight out of a horror film, but not once did they ever encounter any enemies with Rachel leading them. All the while the pair talked amicably, Scipio wowing Rachel with stories about his heroics, as well as his antics, all the while growing more and more attached to the little girl riding comfortably on his back, and more and more terrified that she might be the ‘mast’ that the prophecy referred to, and what that would mean once they were out of this insane world. Finally, they entered a room with no discernable exit, and Scipio stopped cold. ![]() There before him was the altar, dimly lit by eternal flames, driven by no visible fuel source, and highlighted by the light pouring down from the moon, let in by a gap in the ceiling. Patterns ran across the length of the floor to channel the blood during a ritual, and Scipio could still see the rust-colored stains from previous sacrifices. Without a single prompt from anything, Rachel slid down from his shoulder and walked towards the table. ”Rachel? What-what are you doing?” ”What must be done.” The tiny girl echoed, in a voice that was not truly hers. ”I…I remember what I am. A sacrifice for those who go down the path of Determination, to see if they are willing to offer up the blood of innocents for their desires.” This tiny girl, who shouldn’t be worried even be worried about boys yet, never mind her callous murder, laid herself down upon the cold stone table, settling her body into a grove that seemed perfectly made for her. Scipio stood there a moment, paralyzed, not sure whether to laugh at the turn of events or curse the name of every god that ever was. They stayed like that for a moment before Rachel shivered and spoke up. ”Can…can you get it over with quickly? I always hate this part.” Her voice trembled, once again hers- no longer the plaything of the Final Kingdom, but a scared little girl. At that moment, Scipio’s mind was made up. Now determined, Scipio drew a knife from his pocket with his right hand, Scipio advanced upon the altar. Quickly raising the knife above his head, William brought it down with all his strength… Into the back of his outstretched hand. Blood seemed from beneath his palm, filling the gutters that should have been reserved for Rachel’s crimson life. ”Rachel, get off the table and back away. Now.” Scipio snarled, his tone brooking no objections. Rachel was quick to remove herself from the table, if a bit confused. As she lost contact from the sacrificial altar, the familiar voice that was legion boomed. ”O Bearer of the World’s Guilt, He who would show us that Determination may change a man’s nature, why have you not sacrificed the girl? Are you too squeamish to achieve your goals?” For once, the voice contained anger, a fury that shook the world. No matter. Scipio possessed a wrath far greater than that in his heart- and his was growing. ”Why haven’t I sacrificed the girl? Am I too squeamish? You bastard. You utter, heartless bastard. Yeah, I’ve killed before. I’ve murdered hundreds, if not thousands, to get where I stand today. And you know what? I loved it. I loved the thrill of battle, pitting my strength against the opponent, offering my life as a bet against another’s, and the indescribable ecstasy when I come out on top. And you know what? I probably always will. But for every single one of those kills, and for every single person I’ve failed to protect I couldn’t help but think afterwards, ‘I wonder if there was a better way? Could I somehow have saved this one’s life?’ I managed to console myself, saying, ‘they were a sacrifice for a better future,’ but you know what? That’s complete and utter bullshit. Shit like that is for weaklings who can’t find a way out, who don’t have the power to take this world and make it their own. Well, guess what? I will obtain the power I need. There will be no more sacrifices, no more people I will fail to protect. I will kill to save what is dear to me if I have to, but I will not let another innocent suffer for my failure!” Scipio’s voice reached a crescendo pitch. ”So if you’re still wondering why I haven’t sacrificed the girl, I say, FUCK YOU!” Scipio screamed in defiance, before charging all his ki into a single blast and firing it, absolutely obliterating the altar table. The markings glowed with an unearthly radiance, powered by Scipio’s inhuman power, before quickly overloading and beginning to dissolve. The entire area was soon annihilated, save for the portion occupied by Scipio and Rachel. The silence was punctuated by the sound of crumbling rock and Scipio’s heavy panting. As he was forced to a knee by sheer exhaustion, Scipio saw his power drain from him, his arm turning back to normal, and his hair falling back into its regular shade of blonde, his Ki deserting him. ”O Bearer of the World’s Guilt…This too, is an acceptable answer. Continue forward, and face the final path.” Scipio wasn’t even worried about the stone statues, as Rachel flung herself into his tired arms. ”Brother, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou…” She sniffed, blubbering the words as best she could through the tears. Eventually her voice just trailed off into a series of sobs as Scipio slowly hugged her back, gently petting her hair. ”I told you, didn’t I? You can rely on me. I always carry through on my promises.” The pair remained like that for a moment. ”You know, I think I like you better as a blonde, big bro.” Rachel murmured, her voice muffled by Scipio’s jacket. The blonde berserker laughed before he stood back up, his weary bones protesting. Rachel nodded, and together they faced the sky, the invisible bridge before them. Scipio took a tentative step, found himself standing in midair, took another step, and felt himself falling- more importantly, he sensed the kill laser firing up to murder him. Only the effort of Rachel managed to pull him back to safety, as the laser ionized the air before them. The smell of ozone was thick in the air as Scipio scrambled for safety. ”Trigger-happy flying castle…how are we supposed to find the way through?" He murmured to himself. Looking around, Scipio saw several dead bodies seemingly floating in midair. Intrigued, Scipio looked down…and saw the bloodstains from his hand coating the bridge, rendering it visible. Scipio grinned at his luckiness. ”Rachel, stay close behind me, okay? Step exactly where I step.” Taking out a knife, Scipio widened the wound in his hand, scattering his blood, and finding the next step to the massive gate that stood no more than a football field away. Always careful to spill no more than a drop each time, Scipio slowly but surely made his way to the gate, Rachel in tow. Finally they stood before the massive pearly gates, grinning at each other. ”Ready? We’ll do this together.” Scipio said as he reached down to take Rachel’s hand, pushing the heavy doors open with a bit of effort. As he stepped through the gate, Scipio heard Rachel whisper into his ear, ”Thank you, William,” before her hand became ephemeral, her body dissolving into peals of gold and flying heavenwards. The world wavered for a moment before depositing him back onto the staircase he was on all those hours before this crazy test. ” –st NOT choose the Door of Determination! It is the only gate to which there is no known solution!” Scipio smiled sadly at the sky. ”Hey, bastard? Shut up. I already took that damn test and passed.” The voice once again sounded taken aback. ”Already? That was earlier than I anticipated. Which Gate did you take? I presume Nothing, given your background.” ”Nope. Determination.” The voice suddenly stunned into silence, Scipio managed to garner a moment to appreciate Rachel, and thank her for all her help. May you finally find peace now, little one. Have fun up there. He thought before slowly shambling his way up the stairs, his aching body broken and weary beyond measure, but his will determined to carry on. -------------------------------------------------------- Word Count: 3,700 Words Total Word Count: 27,078 Words Edited by William Scipio, Nov 24 2015, 09:02 PM.
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| William Scipio | Feb 2 2015, 06:33 AM Post #16 |
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Scipio cursed his own weakness as he slowly trudged up the steps, his body betraying him at every move. He had already torn off his undershirt, having used it to bind up his continuously bleeding hand. Every time he moved his hand even slightly over what was considered ‘normal human maximum potential,’ it would start bleeding worse than a virgin on her wedding night, requiring yet another strip of shirt. Frankly, if he wasn’t AB+, he’d probably be every blood drive’s favorite customer. He should probably start saving these up for…Shark hunting? Maybe I should take up shark hunting. I could totally take up shark hunting with all of this blood. Chumming the waters and all that. Chum sounds good right now. God I’m hung- Scipio shook his head. No. I’m becoming lightheaded from blood loss. I cannot allow it to control me. Must…keep…moving…forward. Scipio thought, his ever mental word punctuated with a single step. Still, after reflecting back on his condition once again, he grimaced. I am quite hungry, though. His stomach rumbled in agreement, trying to get Scipio to listen, before the blonde berserker looked up and saw yet another monster flying towards him. Oh, you have got to be kidding me. He deadpanned, upon seeing the monster in question. Through the air swam a leviathan shark, moving as easily as if it floated in the oceans below. Several more followed closely behind, a veritable armada of death fish. Snarling to himself, Scipio withdrew one of his endless knives from deep within his clothing and hurled it at the first shark, following up with two more just to ensure that it would go down- Scipio had always heard the bigger the body, the smaller the brain was rather true for sharks, and so he wanted to make sure the damned thing would go down. Still, even with his power in tatters, his constantly reinforced body was able to drive the knives into and through the lead shark, instantly killing it. Scipio prepared a host of other daggers, but as the leader went down, the surrounding sharks surrounded him, lured into a blood frenzy over their former companion’s body, and began slaughtering each other to bits. Still, Scipio didn’t even bother to watch them continue, merely checking to make sure that he hadn’t opened any wounds this time before continuing on, his desire to see this to the end spurring him on, to death if necessary. ”You know, you seem rather down, William. Just know that final sleep awaits you once you reach the top. Merely make it to where I stand, and it will all be over before you know it. I promise, I’ll even make it painless. You’ve earned that much, as useful as you are.” Perhaps it was the man’s intention to piss off Scipio; regardless, it worked, as the blonde began clambering up the steps even faster, muttering ‘kill, kill, kill,’ under his breath in every language he knew, his one track mind zeroing in on its target, and the deadly result that would follow, when once more Scipio found himself in a pristine white world, completely barren save for Scipio himself. ”Well, this is cute and all, but if you don’t mind, I have an ass to kick. And possibly crucify. So if you don’t mind?” Scipio took a step forward, and immediately the world before him sprang to life. A wave of energy rippled forward from that single step, infusing the world with life. Though the horizon as far as he could see remained white as the unpainted canvas, the sky sprang into being, a perfect blue, with a few clouds lazily drifting across. Before Scipio appeared two children, who never got any closer no matter how much he walked. ![]() ”Hey, big brother, you’re gonna take me to the Festival like you promised, right?” The girl asked, idly twirling her parasol. ”Of course! Didn’t I say I’d take you? I make a promise, I follow through!” The two before Scipio disappeared like an old television screen did, not so much winking out as slowly fading from existence. Scipio barely paid any attention, instead just continuing forward, when yet another scene appeared, this time off to his left. ”But bro, you promised you’d take me to the Fourth-Year Festival! You promised!” The parasol girl, now slightly older, pouted. Her brother rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. ”I know, I know, it’s just… we can’t. The wars have made it too dangerous. They’re bombing everything. We can’t make the journey. I’m sorry, sis.” Once again the scene faded away. The scenes continued for a while, all around Scipio, but always within his sight- and always out of range. Though he listened with a passing curiosity, he continued forward with a single minded determination that almost seemed to border on insanity, never once deviating from his path, just…continuing forward at all times. The blue sky slowly faded to a murky grey, with red tinges as if from smoke as Scipio walked onwards Finally, one of the visions happened right around him, the brother right in front of him- and he had no choice but to stop, his feet seemingly stuck to the floor. Tears streamed down the brother’s face as he cradled a mangled corpse, the pristine white dress suddenly giving away her identity.Oh God…that was his sister… Scipio fought the sudden urge to vomit. He had seen more than his fair share of death in the world, but for one to die so young, and for no other reason than careless power…. …And none of this had anything to do with the fact that he himself had siblings to protect. Or that his use of his own power for pleasure could have just as easily caused this travesty. No. That wasn’t it at all. ”I’m so sorry sis, I’m so sorry, I’m so so so so so so so so sorry… please come back… please…” the brother sobbed into his sister’s clothes, as if his apologies could somehow bring her back from the dead. Scipio bent to a single knee, trying to put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, but passed through the body as if it were mist. The two brothers simply stayed there for a moment, commiserating across time, when the nameless one laid his sister down with a gentle kiss before standing back up. He clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood, and Scipio could all but hear the sounds of grinding teeth. ”I swear…I’ll make those Imperial bastards pay! Rachel, I swear I’ll avenge you.” Scipio stood up in sudden shock. Rachel? But… but that was… that girl in the Trial of Wisdom. Oh God. What- what happened? However, Scipio’s feelings of shock were quickly replaced with feelings of dread as the black fog began to poison and contaminate everything, even the white floor turning black as sin as the darkness swallowed up all of reality. Scipio tried to run, to fight back, but he found himself paralyzed, until finally all the world turned to black. Scipio stood there in the murkiness, unable to even see his hands before his face, when that familiar voice boomed out once more. ”O Bearer of the World’s Pain… You who dare challenge the gods… conquer your own heart to conquer our final challenge.” These cryptic words were all that were spoken before light began to suffuse the darkness- not much, but enough to see by. Scipio found himself in a damp alley, cold and bereft of any hope. If any place deserved the moniker of Hell, “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here,” this was it. This was where hope went to die. Looking around him, seeing the dimly flickering neon signs, the sky shrouded in fog, and the world that was empty of warmth or life, Scipio snarled, disgusted. ![]() This is my heart, huh? Fits. Scipio heard motion behind him, surrounding him. Rolling his eyes, Scipio reached for his swords- only to find nothing there. Patting down his body in increased fear, Scipio found that he no longer had a single one of the multitude of weapons he came into this world with. Breathing deeply, Scipio calmed himself. No matter. I can still take anything foolish enough to challenge me. Scipio thought arrogantly, summoning up his Ki, ready to visit infernal wrath upon all those who dared challenge him, but nothing came. His eyes opening wide in fear. For the first time since all those years ago, since the bastard that claimed for himself the title of ‘father’ still lived with Scipio’s family, Scipio felt afraid and powerless. He slowly turned around, to see hundreds of beady little eyes, glowing red as Scipio’s own, all turned towards him. Then, as if in a horror film, the leader of the group slowly approached, baring his teeth in a Cheshire smile, a promise full of pain. Scipio took a single, involuntary step backwards, slowly turning. ![]() For the first time in his life, Scipio ran. The monsters in the night gave chase. His Ki-less body felt heavy, heavier than he had ever remembered it being. Scipio could not think of a single time he hadn’t passively been increasing his natural abilities with his life force, and he was paying for it now. His powerless legs thudded against the pavement, and though he was an athlete in the prime of his life, with incredible strength and agility, he was just a normal human, and he tired far too quickly. Slipping around a corner, Scipio tried to catch his breath, and stopped breathing entirely as the army of darkness scampered by him, his hand covering his mouth in self-protection as every twisted product of man’s nightmares hopped, shambled, or sprinted for his life. As the last one passed him by, Scipio bent over, his hands on his knees, gasping for breath, having just kept up a full sprint for nearly 5 minutes. Puking what little food he had left in his stomach onto the ground, Scipio wiped his mouth and rested his head against the cold stone building, thinking quickly. I’m going to die here to a bunch of fucking imps. I need to get out of here, somehow. I need…I need to get a view of the area, scope the place out. Scipio looked upwards, at the buildings towering over him, and got an idea. Checking to see that the coast was clear, Scipio sprinted from his spot in the alley, managing to make his way into the lobby of the largest nearby skyscraper. The lights flickered on and off as Scipio slowly made his way up the stairs, the elevator out. He went up, floor by lonely floor, terrified of every shadow and every piece of cascading rubble as he made his slow way through. Just as he began to relax, something hit him like a ton of bricks, sending him flying. Scipio was almost certain he heard a rib or two all but shatter. Coughing up blood as he rolled, Scipio looked up to see his attacker, and instead saw what must have been a professional body lifter’s wet dream. A massive creature, standing maybe 8 or 9 feet tall, stood there, hunched over on its knuckles like a gorilla, the horns on its head still brushing the top of the ceiling. It must have stood 15 feet tall, standing up. And the muscles on it… well, Scipio was amazed of three things: that the monstrosity cloaked in shadows could fit, even in this wide hallway, that it could move at all, and that he wasn’t blood and dust on the floor. He was pretty sure this thing was the Hulk’s ugly older brother who had turned to steroids. ![]() All these thoughts ran through Scipio’s mind, and all of them ran out the moment the beast yelled. From that point, Scipio, who was so used to the role of predator, always chasing, always seeking, always hunting, became prey. Scrambling to his feet, his breath shortened due to his ribs, Scipio ran for his life, knocking over anything he could put between him and that thing. As it lowered its head and lurched after him, each monstrous limb almost trying to pull individually, it simply obliterated anything that stood in its path. Walls were gouged, desks turned to splinters, and cubicles were like cardboard before its charge. The only thing that saved his life was a sharp corner. Scipio took it at full speed, kicking off the wall and using it to change his line of attack immediately, in a move blatantly stolen from parkour. The bull-man, however, did not have the same ability. It crashed into the wall and kept going, into the next room, through that one, and into the room after that. Scipio didn’t stay to gloat- instead, he put as much distance as he could between that monster and himself, ascending staircase after staircase, throwing down as many bulky or heavy items to block it as he could. It wouldn’t matter in the long run- the creature had a supernatural ability to destroy anything and everything it touched, with a power that might have even outclassed Scipio at his peak. The only possible reason he must have survived that first hit is that it couldn’t use its power in such tiny corridors. That much mass going that fast- well, that equation had a simple solution: squish. He heard its frustrated roars closing in, and Scipio immediately looked for a place to hide. Terrified, and running out of time, Scipio whipped his head around, looking for something, anything, that could protect him. Seeing an AC vent at the last second, Scipio jumped up, hanging on the grating, ripping the skin on his fingers to get it off. He managed to make it in at the last second, vaulting into the steel box that could be his salvation- or his coffin. He pulled the grate up behind him, and watched as the hulking beast slowly made its way up the stairs, its red eyes gleaming in the darkness like twin jewels as it snorted, sniffing the air like a hog. Scipio’s breath caught in his throat as it lurched underneath him, every step shaking the ground like an earthquake. The creature turned in place, sniffing for Scipio, waiting for what seemed an eternity. Scipio’s lungs felt like they were about to burst. Finally, the creature thudded past Scipio’s hiding place in the ceiling. Waiting another eon, Scipio slowly exhaled, his vision swarming with motes of light from his breathlessness. That’s when the bloody red eyes filled his vision. The minotaur stared at Scipio with bloody rage in his eyes, and Scipio screamed, realizing he had been caught. ”FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!” He tried kicking backwards, but his superhuman strength had failed him, and panic had set in as the minotaur roared, ripping apart the metal vent like it was paper. Scipio arched his body, and managed to temporarily avoid disembowelment. However, there was still the matter of falling to the ground- or worse yet, into the minotaur’s hands. Thinking quickly, his body reacting before his mind could, Scipio grabbed one of the horns, swinging his body around and onto the Minotaur’s back, literally grabbing the bull by the horns. Enraged, the minotaur snorted and bellowed, trying to reach backwards to rip Scipio limb from terrified limb. However, the mass of muscle, the very same that made the minotaur so terrifying, now protected Scipio, the minotaur unable to reach his back. Refusing to give up, the minotaur tried backing into a wall to squish Scipio flat, but the blonde berserker would be having none of that. Hauling back with all his might, Scipio twisted the minotaur and forced it to arch its back, protecting Scipio in that tiny, furry, smelly hollow it created. Aggravated beyond belief, the minotaur hollered once more before lowering its head again and charging forward, determined to kill the pest that had brought its hateful self into being. ”Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCK SHIT HOLY SHIT!” Scipio yelled as the hallways streaked by, hauling off on one horn or another as turns came up, forcing the minotaur to steer instead of bashing through a wall and decapitating or worse, dislodging Scipio from his commanding post. The two continued like this room after room, before Scipio finally screwed up, and the minotaur careened into a wall, dislodging Scipio and knocking him to the ground, dazed. Standing up almost immediately, Scipio threw himself to the side, under a table and out of sight, taking note of where he was before the beast did, and thanking every god that may have ever existed that he was in a kitchen. Slowly poking his head up, Scipio saw that every table was set, table sheets, utensils, and all, and he promised himself that he would get a religion again the moment he was out of this nightmare. Pocketing two knives, Scipio quickly formed a plan. Sweeping the tablecloth he needed, Scipio sent plates flying to the floor, shattering in a great cacophony. The confused beast whipped its head around to see Scipio prancing like an idiot on the table, a knife in one hand, sheet cloth in another. ”Toro, toro, toro!” Scipio shouted maniacally, laughing at his insanity all the while. The minotaur was only too willing to help out, and as it ran forward, it fell into Scipio’s trap. Even in the fever clutch of terror, Scipio had noticed that every time it galloped forward, the beast lowered its head. Snarling his rage as the beast made its juggernaut sprint towards him, Scipio stood in defiance. Grabbing the cloth in both hands, Scipio jumped up and over the low profile of the minotaur, the height from the table helping him to clear the deadly horns. As he jumped, he released the sheet, getting it perfectly stuck on the horns and preventing the minotaur from seeing. As it crashed into the wall, its confusion stealing power and preventing it from bashing through the wall. Though Scipio had not cleared the creature entirely- it was far too long for that, and so he was sent spinning as he made painful but survivable contact with the beast’s back- he quickly clambered to his feet, determined to survive. Faster than a squirrel with a cocaine habit, Scipio clenched the knife between his teeth and scrambled up the beast’s back one more time, reaching his previous positon on the beast’s neck. Spitting out the knife, Scipio’s features twisted into a grimace of pure rage, the perfect epitome of the struggle for survival as he spat out the knife and drove it into the minotaur’s eye. The creature bellowed and threw Scipio before he could finish the job with the second knife, but mad with rage as the minotaur was, Scipio decided to call it quits while he was ahead. Running for his life, Scipio this time went downstairs, using the second knife to gouge open the wound on his hand and giving the minotaur a nice little blood trail to follow. Going down a few floors, Scipio kept this trail up before throwing the knife into another air vent, binding his arm tightly enough that it wouldn’t bleed anymore, and made his way to the elevator doors on that floor. Managing to pry open the heavy doors, Scipio faced down the featureless voice, and had to step back out of fear of the height. Without his Ki, he no longer possessed the ability of flight, and so death by falling was again a very real concern. Scipio heard the bellowing of the minotaur from nearly 5 floors above, and decided that death by falling would at least be quick compared to what that thing had in mind. ![]() Steeling his nerves, Scipio threw himself into the void, grabbing onto the elevator cable at the last second, slipping at first. Scipio’s breath caught in his throat as he slid, before he finally caught on a rough patch. Breathing a sigh of relief, Scipio slowly wrapped his legs around the cable and made his way upwards, steadily climbing the rope up, past the searching minotaur, and hopefully to safety and knowledge. ------------------------------------- Word Count: 3485 Words Total Word Count: 30,563 Words Edited by William Scipio, Nov 24 2015, 09:02 PM.
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| William Scipio | Feb 4 2015, 07:00 AM Post #17 |
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Scipio ascended the elevator shaft, his muscles screaming in protest and agony as he hauled himself ever so slowly upwards. Just like how all of this started. Hand hand, foot foot. Hand hand, foot foot. Christ God above, I have done waaaay too much climbing today for a man who is usually able to fly. Scipio continued like this for about 10 floors from where he started, thinking that he had built up enough of a sizeable distance between himself and that inhuman beast that he could rest. Reaching the next floor, Scipio swung his legs back and forth, building up momentum, before finally releasing, jackknifing his body to just clear the gap. His fingers scrabbled for purchase before finally getting a grip on the lip of the next floor. Using the side braces for support, Scipio hauled himself up so that he stood on the available few inches or so of purchase, prying open the steel doors, his fingers bleeding as he did so. Though he nearly fell to his death several times, Scipio finally managed to wrench the doors open, stepping through without a sound. Making sure that his hand was no longer bleeding, shaking it over the void to be rid of any errant crimson drops, Scipio closed the doors behind him, and began to make his slow but steady way forward. He was no longer nearly as careless, however, and slowly made his way up the floors, noting hiding spaces at every turn, carefully doubling backwards as he heard the slightest of sounds. At these higher floors, imps were far more likely to appear, and though they were pathetic alone, when roaming in packs even a rat may prove dangerous. Hiding in a nearby generator closet as yet another imp horde slowly gimped by, Scipio searched his surroundings for anything that could be conceivably used as a weapon, and found a crowbar, slightly rusty yet still plenty sturdy enough to deal some serious damage. Hefting the crooked iron bar in his hands, slapping it into his palm over and over and over again, Scipio thought of a plan, and a wicked grin grew over his face, his eyes narrowing in predatory delight. Opening a fire preparation box, Scipio stole the fire smothering blanket from inside, and headed on out of the generator room. He had a theory, and the only way to test it…was through direct experimentation. It was time to hunt. Scipio stalked behind the roaming group of imps on the 52nd floor of the towering skyscraper, watching their every move, noting their every action. Scipio knew that these monsters could be injured, but for the sake of escaping this hellscape, he had to be sure that they could be killed. After several minutes, he had memorized their patterns, and noted which ones were most likely to be stragglers. Knowing that he was risking quite a bit, even for this crucial bit of information, Scipio waited until the weakest of the pack, the runt of the monsters, was left behind, the pathetic creature looking for some particles of food the higher-ups may have left behind or forgotten. It clearly had no luck, from how little it found, and how it was about to meet its gruesome end. Stalking forward on silent footsteps, Scipio approached as it turned its back, snuffling through the rubble. He attacked. Quickly throwing the blanket over its dog-sized body, Scipio stabbed down with the long, sharp end of the crowbar. Once, twice, three times the crowbar slammed down, bloodless and wiped clean by the blanket on every upstroke. Finally the imp stopped twitching, exhaling one final yelp as the blanket slowly turned black, absorbing the blood of the imp, leaving no puddle for Scipio to step in, or any way he could be traced to the murder. To be certain, Scipio doubled back to the supply closet he saw earlier, dousing the crowbar in bleach just as the braying imp pack made its way past him, drawn by the scent of the kill. Counting to twenty after the last member passed, Scipio made his way to the elevator shaft, dropping the incriminating crowbar down its black depths. There we go, Scipio thought with no small amount of self-satisfaction, No way in hell those things can trace all this back to me, now. Hypothesis proven- they’re as vulnerable as I am. Time to make myself scarce then, I reckon. Scipio quickly scampered his way up the stairs, to the ominous sounds of the braying imps behind him. Opening the top of the jug of bleach, Scipio emptied it behind him as he climbed the stairs, finally reaching an open stretch not blocked by literal tons of rubble. Scipio threw the jug behind him as the bleach finally ran out, obliterating his scent and therefore any trace or hint that he might have ever existed. Wiping his hands against themselves, Scipio congratulated himself on a job well done, and continued upstairs. Finally, dodging the last of the monsters, Scipio made his way all the top of the skyscraper, sighing with relief as he entered the penthouse office, a single table twice as long as Scipio was tall dominating the floor, with a clear vista all around, completely unobstructed by any of the other buildings around. The moment his eyes alit on the world around him, Scipio’s jaw dropped, and he slowly walked forward, begging that his eyes were wrong, disbelieving the information they were feeding him. All around him was destruction. His small sector of the city was all that stood, everything else having been laid to waste, empty and battered husks of what they once had been. ![]() Scipio fell to his knees. ”No. No, no, no, no, no no no no no… Come on, you’ve got to be fucking with me…” He moaned. The world seemed endless, stretching on forever. For some reason, Scipio had expected that he just had to make his way out of the city, past all the batshit crazy monsters. But no, there was no way out. There was also a nagging worry at the back of his mind, a kind of self-doubt that tore at his heartstrings, and ate away at his self-confidence: This was his heart? This dingy, grimy hellhole, swarming with monsters stuck smack dab in the middle of this apocalyptic wasteland? Scipio always knew that he was no saint, despite what his title might have others believe, but he at least thought his soul was a lighter shade of grey, not the impenetrable black he saw before him. Scipio stayed there for a moment, before slowly getting up and making his way to the boss’s chair. He reached down to the bottommost left hand drawer, where he, ever since he was a kid old enough to understand these sorts of things, would expect to find a CEO’s private liquor stash. He found it on the first try, and poured himself a glass of bourbon with shaking hands, leaning back into the soft leather, slowly swiveling around as he sipped the sweet liquor, the liquid fire burning all the way down. On the desk he saw a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, and these he pocketed too, but not before lighting up, trying to feed as many vices as he simultaneously could. The buzz set in quickly, dulling his aches and pains, and helping him ignore them. As he sat there, thinking about all the information he had just been swamped with, his heart slowly turned cold, and the uncertain shaking became more controlled, no longer from fear. Instead tremors of sheer rage began to take hold of his body, the burning in the pit of his stomach spreading to the rest of his limbs, until it felt once more like he would burn from the sheer heat of his own hatred for the world. This world wants to play dirty? Those fucking guardians want to try and get in a mud match with ME? Fine. They can play dirty. They just better not go tattle to God when I send them to their makers, crying like the bitches they are. As he clenched the glass in his hands, nearly cracking it in his fury, even with his human level of strength, Scipio heard a familiar bellowing- the minotaur. He welcomed it. Standing up, kicking the chair out of his way, Scipio yelled right back at the minotaur. ”It’s about FUCKING time you made your slow ass way here, you goddamned udderless cow! I swear to God, I could have fucking milked your mom’s teat dry, sold her meat for steaks and turned her bones into glue by the time your fat ass got up those steps!” Scipio hurled the glass in his hand at the minotaur’s head, striking it on the nose and sending it reeling, the shattered glass scything through its wet and sensitive organ as the overpowering burn of the alcohol disoriented it. ”Bring it the fuck on, you fucking mascot!” Scipio dove to the side, just avoiding the monster’s slow charge. Quickly rolling to his feet, Scipio realized the creature had slowed down its charge so it didn’t go flying out the window. Ohhh, I can work with that. Scipio sneered evilly. This minotaur would learn fear by the time Scipio was done. Sticking close to the edges, Scipio circled around the edges, looking for an opening, trying to tire out the creature, or somehow wound it. As his nerves steeled themselves ever more, and his head cooled down, Scipio looked at the beast in the eye for the first time, and realized something useful: the creature still had the knife that had stolen its sight firmly lodged in its eye socket. Seeing this, Scipio smirked satanically, and began slowly walking up to the minotaur, his rage at this world subsuming his good sense and self-preservation. He was a predator, and he would act like it, damn it. He did not run scared from anything, not anymore. The minotaur paused for a moment, seeing what it thought was prey approach it like the predator. Scipio saw this hesitation, but fortunately he had known how to be a provoking asshole all his life. ”What’s the matter, milk-teats? Your time of the month? Nah, probably afraid of the fucking blondie before you. Not that I can blame you- big guy like you sees a little fuck like me, thinks, ‘shit, I broke this bitch’s ribs and he’s still shit talking me!’ The fuck is going on?” Scipio shrugged dramatically, taking a swig from the bottle of bourbon for extra effect. ”Maybe the truth is, you’re just growing impotent, you piece of fucking trash. Can’t get it up, can’t even catch your own prey- but that’s okay! Not all of us can handle the stress of being a man!” Scipio spread his arms wide, mocking all the while. ”Just fucking lie down and kill yourself. Or wait for me to do it- I don’t give a shit.” Scipio thought a moment before his smile turned sour, more like a wolf baring its teeth than anything else. ”Actually, I totally just lied there. I want you to wash your neck and offer yourself up to me in fear. I’ll put you in your fucking place and make you regret ever having crossed me! My only worry about a sick fuck like you is whether to cut myself a nice angus burger, or first make myself a fucking T-bone from your ribcage!” Scipio screamed at the creature. The beast suddenly lunged for Scipio, reaching out with massive hands. Scipio hopped up at the last second, making sure that his arms were totally free. The minotaur held him out at arms’ length and huffed. ”Puny… mortal… going to… squeeze your guts… into paste, eat your… heart out before you, rip… your head off… with teeth.” The beast threatened, as its claws began to squeeze around Scipio, nearly making him cry out in pain. Still, the blonde berserker persevered. ”Hard to- gah- eat my heart before me when my heart is paste with my organs, bullshit for brains. And using teeth on the head? Did your mother teach you nothing? She was so good at ‘that,’ too…” Scipio shook his head in derision, and the minotaur had it. It brought Scipio in close to bite his head off, and that was when the trash talking swordsman struck. ![]() Lashing out with the bottle still in his hand, swinging the bottle like a baseball bat, Scipio cut the minotaur’s nose to ribbons, simultaneously splashing the alcohol all over its upper torso. Grinning, cigarette clenched between teeth, Scipio called out, ”Hey, mister, got a light?” laughing, before head butting the beast in its tender and wounded nose, sticking the cigarette right against its dingy fur, and sucked in. The end of the cigarette lit up with glowing cinders, and the fire spread like… well, like wildfire through the beast’s soaked fur, instantly setting the front half of it alight. Scipio laughed dementedly as the beast threw him, watching the creature try to bat itself down, stop the flames from spreading. ”Oh, my bad. You are the light.” He snickered. But all these antics were only the distraction. The real show was soon to start. Picking himself off the ground, ignoring his bitterly complaining body, Scipio ran around behind the blindly flailing minotaur, whipping off his coat and throwing it before him, using the heavy Kevlar threads (the real reason he survived all those deathblows) as yet another fire blanket, scrambling over it to reach his favorite perch, right on the minotaur’s neck. ”And here’s mud in your eye!” Scipio snarled as his legs locked around the beast’s neck, his eyes coming around to pluck out the knife, dug in deep with fear, before reaching back, slamming it into the other socket with all his might, and twisting. Scipio leapt off the flaming creature, rolling on the ground as he did so, extinguishing the flames that had begun spreading over his clothing. Still, as he shrugged his coat back on, he couldn’t help but notice the newfound, more piercing pain of the burns that patched his body. Still, as Scipio considered his wounds, he decided that they really weren’t that bad, especially when considering the monster screaming before him. Fully blinded, on fire, and hurting all the while- Scipio should put it out of its misery. Quickly and silently, Scipio made his way to a nearby window and began to shout. ”Hey, Mr. Seared Steak! Could I ask you to maybe die before you get charred? I like my meat medium rare at the most, and well done is just a waste of good meat- never mind the shitty, stinking stuff you’re packing. Seriously, even if you never existed until today- baths are totally a thing, bro.” Scipio kept up the heckling, and the minotaur, so enraged by pain, didn’t even stop to think of a trap. The flames grew higher as they ate up the beasts’ fur, greedily consuming the minotaur’s skin and fur, spreading to the rest of the office as the beast threw its body back and forth in mortal agony. ”GONNA… KILL YOU!!!” The beast shrieked, charging Scipio at full tilt. Laughing, Scipio danced merrily out of the way, and watched as the beast flew out the window, the shatterproof glass never even standing a chance. Scipio walked sedately over to the edge of the building, and saw the minotaur barely hanging on by the strength of a single arm, the flames having finally been put out by the high winds. Its other hand was completely burned to cinders, blackened by the flames and completely useless for all intents and purposes. The rest of its body wasn’t faring much better. ”Please…. Wanna… live.” the minotaur begged as Scipio stood over it, blocking the light from the office, the sound of crunching glass beneath his feet giving him away. Saying nothing, Scipio sauntered back into the office, caring not for the flames that rose up all around him, as he reached back into the cabinet and pulled out an entire handle of vodka. This time whistling as he skipped back to the awaiting minotaur, Scipio popped the cork with his teeth, and turned the bottle upside down, silently watching the colorless alcohol glug its way out of the bottle. The beast smelled the terrifying ozone like scent, and began whimpering as the familiar liquid once again splashed against its fur. ”P-please… no… more.” It begged. Scipio pulled the zippo lighter from his pocket. ”Prey doesn’t get a choice in the matter.” His eyes cold, he dropped the lighter on top of the creature’s hand, and brought his foot down hard over it, crushing the minotaur’s fingers, and creating a spark that ignited the petrol within the lighter, creating an explosion. The flames once again raced across the minotaur’s seared flesh, and it let go of the skyscraper with a howl, falling forever to its death, interrupted only by impact with a window washer stand, knocking it askew as the minotaur continued on its deadly date with destiny. Scipio could hear the thud as it splattered across the pavement with a blood splatter radius normally reserved for bombs, and apparently, so could everything else within five city blocks. Shadows surrounded the creature, licking up the Jackson Pollock of blood, while the smarter ones looked up, saw Scipio, and poured into the building, looking for their next meal. Soon, even the imps were following close behind, and Scipio knew that he wasn’t getting out the usual way. Not like that was an option ever since the fires started. Scipio reminded himself. Looking for salvation, Scipio saw the rickety window washer stand that the minotaur had hit on the way down, and knew it to be his only chance. Wishing to hell that he hadn’t used up all the alcohol on the minotaur, feeling that some liquid courage would really come in handy right about now, Scipio stepped backwards a few steps, and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, preparing himself for the jump. He felt the heat of the flames radiating through the room, and knew it was now or never. Sprinting forward, Scipio hurled himself into the void, not for the first time noting that he was doing this whole ‘life risking’ thing entirely too often recently for his tastes. His heart in his throat, the air screaming past his ears, Scipio nearly died from fear alone as he fell with style through the air, tucking into a roll the moment his feet hit metal grating. Unfortunately, the minotaur would have his last revenge, as an overstressed cable finally snapped under Scipio’s weight, the straw that broke the camel’s back, leaving the scaffolding dangling perilously in the sky. ![]() ”Oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!” Scipio cursed as the scaffolding slowly began to screech down the side of the building, the remaining cables no longer able to tolerate the weight. ”Come on baby, you can do it, you can do it, you’re fine, you’ll hold out…” Scipio whispered sweet nothings to the scaffolding and to lady luck, in the hope of survival. But apparently Lady Luck was an animal person, because after this, the scaffolding, in a final screech, began to accelerate. ”Oh holy FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!!” Scipio screamed as he flew through the air, having to hold onto the scaffolding as he quickly became weightless, going into freefall. ”Not like this! I am not going out like this! I am NOT dying after having come this far!” Scipio declared to the gods, as he fiddled with every button or switch on the console. Apparently, at least one of them was listening, as Scipio managed to hit the emergency break, the entire scaffold throwing up sparks like it was the Fourth of July as gravity hit Scipio with a vengeance, slamming him into the scaffolding as it began to slow down. As he got perilously close to the ground, Mother Nature’s reclamation project helped too, the trees growing out of the pavement catching the scaffold in their branches, slowing the metal juggernaut down with every broken bough. Slowly but surely, as the ground grew closer all too quickly, Scipio slowed down, until he figured it was safe enough to jump. Nearly at the ground, Scipio curled himself into a ball as he smashed through the trees, the branches giving enough that he got to the ground safely, if not comfortably. It took a few seconds after he had hit the ground and knocked the air out of his lungs for Scipio to open his eyes, in complete disbelief that he was alive at all, sure that some god out there was drunk and forgot to claim his soul. However, as his multitude of aches scrapes and otherwise uncategorical wounds all too readily told him yes, he was unfortunately still alive, Scipio couldn’t help but laugh at his fortune, wincing as his ribs immediately made him pay for it. ”Suck it…Laputa ripoff. I’m coming for you, next.” He grimaced. Slowly limping, Scipio made his way to the construction zone he had seen earlier, his body feeling a hundred years older and a hundred pounds heavier with every step. A single thought kept him awake and alive as he crossed the apocalyptic cityscape, warming his frozen heart with thoughts of malice: Time to begin my counterattack. This world will learn to fear ME. ----------------------------------------------------- Word Count: 3,703 Words Total Word Count: 34,366 Words Edited by William Scipio, Nov 24 2015, 09:01 PM.
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| William Scipio | Jul 14 2015, 01:19 AM Post #18 |
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The hellhound stalked the streets of the dying city, sniffing the ground with disinterest. Earlier that day, he had smelled life- vibrant, painful, rejuvenating life, and it had nearly sent him mad- even more so than usual. Now, with nothing but trash floating on the wind, and the tasteless monsters that roamed the alleyways, the imps that were sustenance, and nothing more- and barely even that. Here, life was power, and without that allspring from earlier, to the hellhound, it seemed as if all the colors were leached from the world, grey insidiously insinuating itself onto every façade and into every structure. ”You never make me stay, so take your weight offa me~ I know your every move, so won’t you just let me be?” The hellhound perked up its head at the sound. Color flooded back into the world, and it whipped its head around to try and find it. The breeze picked up, and once again the hound smelled the agonizingly sweet scent of life, and it nearly went weak in the knees, its body trembling in excitement at the scent. Launching forward, howling to terrify its prey, the hellhound bounded through the alleyways, towards the old zone smelling of iron and rust, skeleton behemoths rising skywards. The alleyway opened before it, as its unnaturally multi-jointed legs took the turn at full speed, the world blurring slightly as it began to accelerate. The life font was incredibly close- the hellhound could feel it, like an electric wire scouring its skin. Faster and faster the hound pushed itself, until… Nothing. The end of movement. The end of motion. The hellhound looked down, and whimpered at the iron wrapped around its legs, constraining it, burning it. Looking up, it saw the life font- but standing over it, the hound was more certain that it saw Death standing over it. The creature raised its iron stick and slammed it down. The hellhound shrieked once, before the darkness claimed it. Once again, nothing. The end of movement. The end of motion. Snarling, Scipio spat on the ground as he lifted up the corpse, examining it. Taking back his steel chain, Scipio wrapped it around his arm, ready for instant redeployment if necessary. Looking down, he couldn’t help but cock his head and grin at the recent turn of events. ”Oho~ So you bastards don’t like the touch of iron, do you? What are you, Sidhe?” Scipio laughed slightly, pleased at his find. He finally had something over these shadowy bastards. Taking the steel rebar in both hands, Scipio planted his foot against the hellhound’s flank, and heaved backwards, wincing at his protesting ribcage as he removed the steel rebar from the hellhound’s. Testing the sharpened edge, Scipio nodded once to himself, as the whittled edge kept its point even after the attack. As he saw the entry wound bubble and hiss, as if the makeshift spear were poisoned, Scipio nodded in silent joy, now sure that his theory was correct. Rolling his neck, Scipio grinned to himself. Time to strike a little bit of fear back into this damned world. Hopping up onto the fence, Scipio used it for height, swinging up and kicking off to reach a nearby fire escape. From there, he made his way up to the building’s roof, maybe 4 stories up, where he had converted the rusted steel structures left lying around to rot into the world’s ugliest bell. Taking the rebar in both hands, Scipio swung it like a baseball bat, causing the structure to ring out loud enough to be heard for miles around. ”Dinner time! Come and get it!” Scipio snarled at the world, before jumping off the roof, hooking his makeshift spear around the lamppost that had crashed into the building, sliding down like some demented pirate straight from the fairy tales. He could hear the stampede behind him, thousands of paws, claws, and anthropomorphic blobs chasing him, hungry for his flesh, his heat. Hell, he could feel it. The first few turned the corner, and the rest converged on him, like an unstoppable wave. They looked quite impressive; they really did. It was just a shame it was Scipio they were up against. The first trap activated as Scipio crossed it. Hundreds of steel rebar, all sharpened to a fine point, fell down like iron rain upon the pursuers. Shrieks of pain echoed through the hollow streets of the city as the bars impaled the monsters, pinning them into the ground, outright killing plenty, maiming more, and slowing down the rest, planting an iron forest amongst them and forcing them to go around. All the while, Scipio stood there, clutching his sides and laughing, pointing at the fallen, enraging them. Scipio could just imagine the thoughts (if any) running through their heads right now: “How dare he? How dare he just stand there and laugh?! He is prey! He should be running for his life, breath panting, limbs flailing, feet tripping, terror mounting, body becoming heavy, soul becoming weary, until we tear into him and take it all away! We are the hunters and he the prey! So why is it that everything seems reversed?” And all the while, Scipio continued laughing, his favorite smile- demonic smirk No. 3- danced across his lips, daring those who still could to try and do something about it. Eventually, they did. The multitude still alive made its way around the confusion, the crippled and dying and dead a mere drop in the bucket compared to the numbers still alive and waiting for blood. The chase was back on, but unlike how it started, back when Scipio first entered this world- panicky, desperate, and desperately terrified, Scipio once again felt in control of his own destiny. He was in his favorite place- dancing on the very edge of hell, keeping time to the devil’s tune. It was times like these that he felt his spirit soar. It was only in the greatest of dangers that Scipio ever felt truly alive. And if he fell from the cliff’s edge? …Well, that’s all part of the game, isn’t it? Spinning in place, Scipio returned to his dead sprint, spear at his back, chain in his hands. Whipping it above his head, Scipio heard clanking like the world’s heaviest set of wind chimes as the steel wrapped around an old support beam, nearly rusted away- but still just strong enough to bear his weight. Trusting it do to so, Scipio laughed delightedly as he entrusted his body to the sky, swinging across the 20 foot gap like Tarzan. He even did the ululating yell as he flew through the sky. Sure, there was a sheer moment of terror as the pipe broke, but at that point he was already well across the gap, so it didn’t matter too much. Not bothering to look back, Scipio rolled to his feet after hitting the ground and continued running for dear life, quickly wrapping the chain around his right forearm as he did so, not wanting it to get in the way of his marathon sprint. It was just as well that he did. While the ditch he had found, the one clearly meant to be the foundation for some sort of house, was a gift from God Himself, Scipio had quickly gotten to work making it a trap worthy of the very devil. Sharpened rebar filled every square inch, making the pit look like one of the more garishly sadistic traps from the Indiana Jones movie than the foundation of a house. Like water filling a container, the wave of shadows flooded into the open pit. The sounds of inhuman shrieks and skin sizzling like grease on a pan once again filled the air, but this trap barely even slowed down the demons, filling the pit to capacity and continuing to chase after Scipio. But now there was trepidation in their every movement, fear at every creaking building, every gust of wind. Was that a trap? Was this where the next wave would die? Suddenly that source of light, heat, and life didn’t look so appetizing anymore. They were expecting an easy meal; prey didn’t bite back. Laughing maniacally all the while, Scipio continued his mad dash for the alleyway, a small, enclosed place that was so tight the roofs overhead touched, and when they had collapsed, supported one another in a single formation. Scipio felt like a pinball whenever he didn’t run perfectly straight- he’d bump into one wall, then mere milliseconds later, would ram into the other one, his momentum carrying over. Still, this place was perfect for what he wanted. Reaching the wall at the very end of the corridor, Scipio pressed his back against it, feeling the cool brick press against his clothes, leeching every ounce of heat it could from his body, just like the rest of this damned world. Scipio smirked. Fine. Let it. In return though, you’ve gotta be greedy, make sure only you and I can share my heat, wall. Scipio laughed as he picked up the shield he had lovingly constructed from iron rebar and shingles, weaving the iron like a basket with the weight of falling objects- and a fair amount of cursing, having layered the shingles in between until he was willing to bet his multi-layered monstrosity might even catch a bullet. One bullet, but a bullet all the same. He winced slightly as his ribs protested, but prepared his shield regardless, bracing it against one wall and his body weight, while his left arm snaked around back and retrieved his spear, holding it at the ready. The demons crowded the mouth of the lion’s den, pushing and shoving to be first in the cave and take the lion’s share of the life that had dared intrude upon their dying realm. Unfortunately for the weaker ones, the alley was narrow enough that even the smallest of those beasts had to go in single file. They advanced upon Scipio, wolves descending upon the flock, aberrant limbs twitching, eldritch mouths salivating, thousands of eyes staring at Scipio, focusing on the single source of light and color in this flickering, ephemeral world. Without warning, the first of the pack launched itself at Scipio, its snarls quickly turning to whimpers as its teeth slid off the shingles and onto the rebar. The whimpers became a high-pitched shriek as Scipio’s spear launched forward as if fired from a cannon, savagely piercing the beast in the chest. As it fell to the ground, Scipio pulled out with a sickening squelch, only to doubletap, his spear darting forward once more to spear the flailing monster in the head, ending its troubles permanently. The next demon was a fatty; he hit the shield hard enough to rock it, the top shingles falling- only to expose the nasty spikes spaced every 6 inches. Originally used to hold the top level of shingles in place, these spikes had been lovingly sharpened by Scipio, his rage demanding that every drop of blood sizzle under the light of the cracked moon, the taste of iron foul in these creatures’ mouths. It felt like hours continued like that, Scipio slowly walking forward over the mountains of corpses he built, every body that fell sizzling to his feet making the climb ever harder for the monsters of this world, making it easier for Scipio to stand tall above them all. His eyes flashed red as he grinned. Yesssss…. Good, very good. Even without power, you withstand. You strike. You hold firm. How fitting. Scipio smiled savagely as he struck once more, cutting down a hound as it flew at him. But in that second after the bloodlust faded, before it could boil over once more, Scipio paused. Wait, what the flying fuck was that? He thought. That single moment nearly cost him his life. As he lowered his shield to ponder the thought, a hound flew at his throat, ready to rip it out and gorge on the steaming lifeblood that would shoot out like geyser spawn. At the last second, whether due to luck or some outside force, Scipio slipped on the ichor pouring from another enemy, sending his feet flying and his head slamming down unto the bodies below. His vision swam momentarily as he thrashed out with his limbs, doing whatever he could to make sure the unseen enemy stayed away from him while he got his sight back. As his vision focused in, and his other sensed returned from their temporary leave of absence, Scipio realized that when he slipped, his shield had come up and caught the hellhound, impaling it firmly across the metal. However, the creature’s weight made it far too heavy to use, especially with the constant thrashing. Unable to remove the creature, Scipio threw the shield to the side, grunting with the effort as he sprinted by the creatures of myth and nightmare. Sliding under another leaping mutt, Scipio ran like hell, patting his pockets as he went. ”Where is it where is it where is it where is it where is it where is i- there you are!” Scipio laughed as he pulled out his golden lighter, his baby, from his pocket. He began rapidly spinning the wheel, desperate for a flame as he came upon the acrid stench of petrol, searing his nostrils. He had spent forever slowly dragging those damned cars to spill their lifeblood, the precious oil, everywhere, for one grand finale. As he prepared to do so, he saw familiar, long dark hair, waving ever so slightly in the listless breeze. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no no no no no no no FUCK no! Scipio cursed inwardly as he recognized Rachel Samuels, back from the grave- possibly in more ways than he could ever even imagine. She cowered against the two cars, desperately trying not to be seen by the hounds. Cursing every rotten god that had gotten him here, Scipio scooped up the little girl and threw her over his shoulder, crying out in pain as his ribs protested. Still he ran with her, trap ignored, running like hell for safety. All thoughts of revenge had been pushed from his mind. As he sprinted forward, he heard a terrifying sound behind him. Not the snarling of the hounds- he was used to that, but rather, the sound of steel grating on cement. Daring a glance behind him, Scipio felt his jaw hit the ground. The damned hound had somehow managed to stand up under the weight of the shield, and was dragging it, thorns still digging into its body, the creature mad with pain and desire. That wasn’t the terrifying bit, though- no, the scary part was the sparks coming from behind the beast, spurring the hound on as the spikes bit into the concrete. ”Ohhh, you have got to be kidding me. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck shit fuck no no no no no no no fuuuuuuuuuck!” Scipio screamed as the hellhound reached the gasoline and set the world ablaze. The flames roared like lions as they clawed towards the sky, consuming everything in their wake. Scipio continued to run, daring not to glance back, only wanting distance. But while he knew the flames had taken everything into its ravaging embrace, Scipio still heard the baying of hounds behind him, and the skittering of that now-infernal shield. Daring one final look, Scipio almost wished he hadn’t. Actually, no, scratch that. DEFINITELY wish I hadn’t looked back. That was a horrible life decision. Why did I have to look back? Actually, better question: why do those hounds have to be FUCKING IMMUNE TO FIRE? Fuck me! Scipio screamed in his mind, outraged at how ridiculous this entire world was. One hand holding onto Rachel, who mutely stared at the creatures behind them, slowly catching up, the other clutching at his side, applying pressure so that the gash from a hellhound, as he now thought of them, wouldn’t bleed him like a stuck pig. Running for the nearest alleyway, Scipio turned and twisted and ducked into alcoves until he was so lost within the city, not even he knew where he was anymore, nevermind those beasts of war. Still, he continued to run until he had passed through an old abandoned hydrant, ripped off and still leaking water, erasing his bloody trail, and until the dull gleam from the damned animals disappeared. Even then, he slowly drudged his way up a flight of stairs, desperate for some height to watch any nearby foes. Finally, he fell to his knees, no longer able to run. Rachel fell from his shoulders gracelessly, but to her credit, was more worried about Scipio than about anything else. ”Big bro? Big bro, are you alright? Big bro, answer me!” Scipio groaned, the best he could do in response. He could feel his breath getting short, his vision swam, and his limbs felt leaden, like someone had poured liquid gold into his veins and let it sit. He slowly fell to his side, crying out in agony as his side slammed into the deck, unable to keep himself together with his willpower anymore. He had more breaks in his bones than he had bones, he’d have an easier time of it finding a part of his skin not bruised or shredded all to hell, he was probably burned across the entirety of his back, and he had a killer headache that nothing could seem to stop. Oh, and it began to rain. Well fuck you too, Mother Nature. Scipio almost managed a halting little huff of a cough before being wracked with mind numbing pain. His vision whited out, and when he came back to, all he could see was a worried Rachel hovering over him. He tried to speak, but all he could do was wheeze, his lips refusing to form the words, his lungs no longer possessing the ability to power themselves, never mind try to use them for something so trivial and non-survival-oriented as speech. He managed just enough strength to pull his lips back in some crude facsimile of a smile as he nodded slower than tectonic movement. Seeing him do that, Rachel slowly nodded back, before crawling over to the railing and staring downwards, looking out for something that might be looking for them. Scipio was just about to fade out to black when Rachel spoke up, her voice piercing the darkness. ”You know… it’s beautiful here.” The sheer ridiculousness of that statement brought Scipio back around. Are you fucking kidding me right now? It’s a shitheap world, dying, rotten, diseased, destroyed. It’s plagued by hellhounds and ogres and half a dozen other monsters found only in nightmares and Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and all of it wants to kill us just for being alive. The only light here flickers, brief, beautiful, and sad. No wonder these creatures want our light, our heat so much- this world has none of it. It’s a frozen prison of steel and death. Scipio watched his breath crystallize in the air as the temperature dropped dramatically, the raindrops that were once somewhat soothing now becoming freezing needles of pure pain, like lances delivered straight to the nerves themselves. So this is my heart, huh? How fitting. A dying world for a dying man. I guess…this is it, hmm? End of the line. Well, that all sucked. Scipio thought as he closed his eyes once more. But fate had other plans for him, as he heard slow footsteps up the stairs, and the sizzling of water on a frying pan. ”B-b-big bro?” Rachel whimpered. Scipio cracked open one eye, just barely a slit, but what he saw was already hellish beyond imagination. There stood Rachel, her back against the rusted railing, terror in her eyes. Not 10 feet from her was another hellhound, its skin still burning, water droplets vaporizing on contact. It stalked towards Rachel, growling, but it didn’t seem to notice Scipio. To be fair, I have been lying dead cold here for a… while… Scipio was struck by the sudden realization that the life-seeking hellhounds couldn’t find him, as close as he was to death. Certainly he would never have such an easy time escaping as he would right now- the hound was distracted, didn’t even think him alive, and he could easily just crawl down the stairs. He just would have to find a broom closet and he could heal until he was fit as a fiddle once more. And all he would have to do… is leave an innocent girl to die. Scipio stared another moment at Rachel before shaking his head and crawling for the stairs, his limbs aching, heart breaking. I have a life of my own to get back to. I have people counting on me. What would mom think if I died here? How would Johnny or Claire know where I was? …how could they bear to live with me knowing what I did to survive? … … … How could I bear to live with myself? Scipio took another longing look at the staircase. He hurt so bad. His head hurt, his limbs hurt, his ribs hurt, his skin hurt, and even his eyes hurt. All of this could be fixed easy by a nice spot of rest and a Senzu Bean. But more than anything else, his heart hurt. And he knew there and then, that if he ran away, it would never stop hurting. Because he wouldn’t be himself anymore. He’d just be a pathetic bastard who put himself above everyone else, and he wasn’t that kinda person. Not anymore. Snarling to himself, Scipio willed every bone in his body to shatter, every blood vessel in his body to burst, his skin to rupture, his brain to bleed out his ears, so long as he made it over there in time. Pushing himself off the floor, Scipio roared as he charged forward, stumbling only slightly, his will driving his body more than his muscles ever could. No! You fool! What do you think you’re doing, you sniveling mongrel? She’s worthless! Scipio had no idea who the hell in his head would dare speak to him like that, but he was not having it. The rest of his body was already in open rebellion. He would not have his brain defy him as well. Shut the FUCK up you cowardly son of a bitch. She’s worth ten of us- we’ve got blood on our hands and she doesn’t. If you’re not prepared to die by the sword, you should never have picked one up in the first place! Scipio tackled the hellhound, and his roar of rage immediately turned into a scream of pain and terror as his skin began to blacken and crisp, his every nerve shrieking in agony along with him as they burned in hellfire. Still, Scipio continued, taking both him and the hellhound over the edge. As the air rushed past his face, and Scipio found himself in freefall, he became overwhelmed with an almost inhuman rage, and seeing so close by such a wonderful target, he decided to take full advantage of it, straddling the now-fireless hound and punching the ever-loving hell out of the hellhound, going blind in his rage. He blacked back in a few second later with blood on his fists, his right arm completely broken, and the hellhound’s skull caved in from the merciless rain of fists. As he fell, he slowly rotated until he faced the sky. Finally seeing what Rachel saw, Scipio smiled. Huh. She was right. It’s damn good looking, after all. He chuckled, closing his eyes one more time. ![]() Scipio felt himself stop falling, but not in the usual way. Opening his eyes a crack, wanting to see what was happening, but not wanting to let the universe know he was onto it (just in case he was operating on Looney Toons logic), Scipio saw the world around him slowly bleach out and run white, the buildings disappearing, the world disappearing, until he was once more in that world of pure white. Then he dropped. ”Motherfu-“ That was all Scipio managed before the air was driven forcefully from his lungs, his body hitting the floor two feet away. He laid there and wheezed for a few moments, just focusing on getting some good old O2 into his lungs God DAMMIT I knew I hated this place. Scipio thought as he slowly stood up. Dusting himself off, Scipio saw that most of his injuries had been healed, all of the ones contracted during his time here on this hellish castle, anyways. ”O Bearer of the World’s Pride, You who would have everything for yourself, all the world’s treasures, all the world’s power, would give it up for a single girl. We ask but one question: why?” Scipio sneered, a show of utter disdain apparent on his face. ”Why? I don’t wanna hear why from the fuckwads who put that same little girl so damn close to death over and over and over again. I did it for the same fucking reason that the sun comes up every morning, or water runs downhill. You don’t question why someone needs to be saved, only why someone must die. To do anything else would be to assume the seat of God.” The voice almost sounded puzzled. ”O Bearer of all the World’s Greed, is that not what you desire? The seat of God?” Scipio only had a single response for that. Grabbing his right bicep with his left arm, Scipio raised his middle finger to the sky. ”Fuck that noise! If anything, I’d want to destroy the seat of a god like that. Someone who decides who lives and who dies, who can judge a human no matter what he’s done or might do- that’s no god to follow! There is no life without free will! How beautiful it is to think a man might redeem himself in the future, and how cruel to judge him just because he might not! No one should sit so high in judgement! No one!” Scipio roared his defiance, summoning his power around him even as he did so, in direct confrontation with this world that seemed to sap his superhuman strength. Yes…not the answer I would expect of one of my own, but a fine conclusion to come to all the same. Very well, little one- if you would so challenge the gods, then let me lend you a hand! Scipio felt a surge of power infuse his very soul, as red tattoos ran down his body like Tron cycles, tracing endless patterns as they glowed and shifted with his power. ”Ohhh, I could get used to this.” Scipio breathed. Grinning, Scipio raised his left hand to the sky. He could feel a power trying to press down against him, trying to crush him, but right now, it was as potent as an eggshell against the mountainside. ”You want my answer for what I want? I’ll tell you.” He laughed, a light, pearly sound that still rocked the world, like the voice of the creator calling the world to be. ”I WANT THIS WORLD GONE!” The realm of white shook like a heavenly etch-a-sketch, and cracks appeared in the fabric of the ‘sky.’ Scipio could’ve felt the sheer terror of the voice from the air- that is, if he could feel anything else but the power, directed by his unbreakable will, like leashed lightning, the thunder of the gods themselves turned around only to be aimed at their heavenly heads. The air around him crackled and smelled of ozone, and where he stepped, the white expanse, like a painter’s canvas, cracked and ran with gold and red. ”O Bearer of This World’s Power, Stop! You know not what you do!” Scipio laughed in response, and this time the entire dimension flinched. ”I know exactly what I’m doing, oh ‘friend’ mine. I want this world gone, this world where the strong terrify and cow the weak, where the men who walk like gods take anything and everything they want! I shall rend the skies and split the earth, crush the stars and break the heavens in order to do so! I want those men who think themselves above life and death to know exactly what they dare usurp before it turns against them. Call me a hypocrite if you care, for I will take exactly that power up in order to punish those who do the same. I care not. But there is a duty those with power owe to those without, and if I must be the only one to take up that burden, then I SO SHALL!” Another roar, another earthquake like the end of days. Lightning crackled through the space. Scipio’s arm still rose high, like a preacher of brimstone and hellfire as he effortlessly pushed his way through the resistance of this world of nothingness. Of stagnancy. Of death. ”But for those who do not understand this responsibility, and who selfishly chose to benefit themselves at the expense of others with their strength, there shall be a reckoning. They will be judged by their humanity, the only thing that might judge a man. And if they be found lacking… THEN I WILL BE THEIR RECKONER!” With this final shout of defiance, Scipio snapped his fingers, and the world around him shattered. Shards of glass fell like rain around him as he walked forward, imperious as fate itself, as demanding as free will. At this point, Scipio was fully man, but fully something else- the vengeance of humanity, the primordial essence of its being, righteous fury incarnate. As the false world around him shattered, Scipio found him once more on this floating fortress. He slowly, indefatigably ascended the staircase, his eyes only focused on the top before him. As he rose, that infernal voice, the one that had brought him all the way here to begin with, DARED to talk to him one more time. ”Oh, so good for you to join me again, William! I was beginning to think you had di-“ ”Be silent.” With those two words, Scipio seemed to command reality. Birds fell silent, the endless creaking of the staircase’s machinations stopped, and even the ubiquitous voice fell quiet. Only the sound of Scipio’s steps could be heard. ”I am coming for you. Make no mistake. And I will end you for your crimes. You, monster who have murdered and stolen endless wealth, and you who has gambled with lives not your own, have been judged accordingly, damned by your own admission. All that remains is the administration of your sentence.” Still, through all this imperial terror, a bit of the usual Scipio still managed to peek though, black humor well in form. ”So wash your neck and wait. I’m already going to be sullying my blade with your blood- I’d hate to get some errant dirt on it as well.” ------------------------------------------------------------------- Word Count: 5,285 Words Total Word Count: 39,651 Words Edited by William Scipio, Nov 24 2015, 09:01 PM.
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| William Scipio | Sep 30 2015, 06:37 PM Post #19 |
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”He’ll be coming around the staircase when he comes, he’ll be coming ‘round the staircase when he comes~ he’ll be coming ‘round that staircase, he’ll be coming ‘round that staircase, he’ll be coming ‘round that staircase when he comes. He’ll eat your fucking soul oh when he comes~” Scipio started singing, making up his own lyrics as he went along. Part of it was to intimidate the fuck out of his opponent, and the other part was that it was far too quiet. Not even birds dared to fly around here- they all got zapped to death by the laser with compensation issues. Color had bled back into the world, and the tattoos had faded, but the memory was still there. The power was still there, crackling like electricity just beneath his skin. But you know what wasn’t there? That fucking voice. And Scipio was almost prepared to thank the god that seemed to live within his skin if only for this. Climbing the final few steps, Scipio stood on a platform overlooking everything, yet holding nothing. Well this is fucking useless. Where is mister voice? Scipio looked around and around before finally looking up and seeing a massive temple floating far above his head, almost out of eyesight. Oh well that’s fucking useful. How in the flying fuck am I supposed to get up there without, I dunno, FLYING? Fucking broken ass Laputa, doesn’t even allow someone to reach the e- In the middle of his thought, Scipio was enveloped by a beam of light. He only had enough time to throw up his hands in a guard before the world winked out like an old television before him. When the world blinked back into view, he was standing on a pedestal, facing one final flight of stairs before the very top of the whole system. Well. Teleportation. That made things easy. Anyways, this must be where the frickin’ laser beam was coming from, huh? At least here I won’t be fucking zapped to hell again. It’s the small things in life. Scipio decided as he stared up the final flight of stairs, wondering if he hated the voice that was his constant companion or the fucking flights of stairs, before the voice was kind enough to speak up and settle the debate. ”Ah, William. So good to have you join us. Please, come up.” ![]() ”Of course! Anything for the man who I’m about to make a horror story for little children!” ”I believe you already issued that threat to Mr. Church.” Scipio simply smiled, never one at a loss of words. ”Oh, I know. I’m planning on making it a whole epic. That way, no matter what the age, parents can keep on telling your story and never run out of high octane fuel material!” Scipio smiled innocuously, completely at odds with the words he was saying. Once again, the voice was silent. Scipio 3, nameless douchbag 0. Just how I like to see it. Scipio thought as he slowly ascended the staircase, taking his time as he prepared himself for battle. ”So I gotta ask- who’s this ‘us’ you’re talking about? It’s just that, you know, I normally like to know the names of my enemies before I turn them into mulch. He wouldn’t happen to be a Chad, would he? I don’t think I’ve ever killed a Chad before. I managed to cross ‘Haverford’ off the list of names thanks to your buddy, and I even killed a church- gonna laugh about that pun for a while, little Catholic boy that I am, thank you- but never a Chad. It’s such a killable name, too…” Scipio said with a delightful smile, as if he were discussing baking recipes, and not turning a man’s blood into drink, his bones for roads, and his meat for the plants. Finally, Scipio reached the final step and blinked. What he saw, his brain simply could not comprehend. ![]() ”Oh nobody, just myself and a fallen god.” At first, all Scipio could see was the tortured creature, neither man nor woman, white of hair and decrepit with age, tubes penetrating the skin, pulsating painfully as they kept the monstrosity alive. Then his vision expanded to see the spider like abomination grafted onto the creature’s torso, like some sick biologist’s experiment. Spine and bone and muscle and veins all showed as parts of the skin had sloughed off, the body only kept together by the chitinous armor that covered the lower body, animated by the lightning that coursed through its very being. For the first time in his life, Scipio was glad that something he might have to fight was all chained up and presented to him. ”I’d say if that’s fallen, Luci got off rather lightly. That thing looks like it started the night with a 30 shot hangover. In Russia. On an organ donor’s bed.” ”Always clever to the last. You always did have a witty quip to make, no matter the situation.” The voice finally unclasped his hands and turned around to face Scipio. ”A pleasure to finally meet you…”Old friend.” Marcus took off the voice modulator and stood there, a serene smile upon his face, but coldness, ice coldness within the amber eyes that once held such light. ”M-Marcus? No, this has gotta be a bad joke. Take off the fucking mask before I claw it off myself, and gouge the light from your eyes in the process." ”Apologies, old friend, but it is me. But you’ve known that all along, haven’t you? How I managed to get to the house so quickly when you were dying? How I didn’t care when I heard you had murdered all those…well, not innocent gangsters,” Marcus said with a chuckle as he simply stood there, unfeeling, ” but certainly men who didn’t deserve to go out like that. Or perhaps do you believe it to be god’s hand in me rescuing you? I suppose you’ll be right in a few minutes, but the truth of the matter is, we’ve been tracking you since your contract to find the Jewel of the World. Why, I still have Sikanda! It’s a wonderful blade really- I understand why you were so loath to part with it. If you want it back, I’d be glad to kill you with it. But if you don’t mind, I would like what is mine. Give me the Jewel, if you please.” Scipio screamed. ![]() He threw himself forward at Marcus, swords leaping into his hands at his will, every last one of the multitudinous blades and knives and daggers he possessed exploding outwards in a shower of steel, looking as much monster as the beast before him, with gaping maw filled with swords and his daggers like scales flickering in the dying sunlight, Ki crackling like lightning and fire within the beast’s beating breast. Still, for all his grand fury, Scipio was stymied by an invisible wall, the amorphous bladestorm reforming itself again and again as it uselessly rammed itself against the barrier. ”Ah ah ah, can’t have you killing me before the ritual! Difficult to perform the Lazarene miracle without the powers of a god beforehand, you know. The Jewel, if you please.” ”I…ate it, motherfucker!” Scipio roared as he slashed ineffectually at the barrier. The effect was immediate and unexpected. It was the first time Scipio had seen Marcus truly furious. Not joking, as he would regularly in his ‘theater life,’ as Scipio was coming to think of it, nor occasionally surprised, as had happened during the trip up here, but well and truly out-of-his-mind-insane-angry. ”You WHAT? You blithering idiot, do you even know what you’ve done? What you’ve become?!” ”As long as I see your broken body crucified upon a post of blade and bones, I don’t care! Scipio’s eyes darted around, noticing a telltale shimmer to the barrier, looking for it to give away some weakness, some way he could surprise Marcus and end him there and then. But Marcus’ rage, like a summer squall, was gone as quickly as it arrived. ”No matter. The ritual won’t be complete without it, but I suppose the Jewel flows in your veins. I just have to...expedite the process a bit.” Grinning, Marcus spun around, drawing a serrated sword before plunging it into the monster behind him, ripping it out with great joy, blood and gore splattering over him. Immediately, the man who Scipio had once considered friend began to glow and crackle, as if the lightning of the gods began to crackle through his skin. Laughing, Marcus spun around and raised his hand. Scipio heard the shattering like glass and immediately his entire world went white. The next thing Scipio remembered was the boom. More than just a sound, it was a physical blow as much as the ‘white strike’ was, buffeting Scipio as he unsteadily rose to his feet. ”Really, Scipio, for a man as smart and clever as you profess to be, I expected more. You brought mere steel to a fight against a god of storms? You may as well face Magneto for all the power you possess.” Marcus laughed as Scipio looked around himself in dismay. His metallic monstrosity lay dead, his weapons all scattered around him like chaff before the fire, smoking and blackened or sharp but shattered. ”Well. Fuck.” Scipio thought before Marcus materialized before him. This was not merely a quick step- Marcus had completely disappeared, then emerged from nothingness before him, as if he had destroyed himself and was recreated instantly. Scipio almost had enough time to admire it before he was backhanded down into the castle waiting nearly a mile below. He had no time to react- though that may have been what had saved his life. With an attack as instant as the lightning, Scipio had no ability to tighten his muscles, and so the main brunt of the attack passed through him like a wave over the water. It still hurt like hell, though. Crashing into a castle far below, Scipio didn’t stop moving until he was buried deep into the earth. Shaking his head, Scipio quickly got his feet below him and began to layer his Ki, over and over and over again before finally igniting it, activating his transformation mode. ”Oh, a new ability? How cute.” Scipio didn’t even bother processing the words- he just reacted to the sound. His clawed arm lashed out, aiming to disembowel Marcus, while his torso pivoted and his knee flew to cave in Marcus’ skull. Both attacks were nullified as if Marcus had seen them ahead of time, each hand dispatched to combat a different threat. Flicking his wrists, Marcus knocked away Scipio’s attacks and left him wide open for another bolt of lightning. Still, this time, Scipio was just fast enough to condense his Ki in his throat, letting it explode in a roar. It wasn’t enough to hurt Marcus, or nullify his attack, but it canceled enough of it that Scipio could combat the rest, his body lithe as a cat’s, rotating around so that feet hit the wall and knees bent, absorbing the shock. ”Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant, William! There is perhaps no one else in the world with the combat instincts to counter that so beautifully. I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than an artist such as yourself.” Scipio snarled and spat out blood as he ripped a polearm off a nearby wall, the voice technique imperfect and thus causing him some damage. The polearm slowly turned black as Scipio layered his Ki over it, making it an extension of his own body. ”Trust me- the world is far larger than you could ever possibly imagine. Though you know the Man in Black said that before deciding to spare Inigo, right?” Scipio rasped, offering with a roguish smirk, always finding the smallest joy in his opponent’s mistake, even at this bleak hour. Marcus merely returned with a smile of his own. ”Look around you.” ![]() Scipio did, and realized that he was surrounded by millions of shards of stained glass, their destruction most likely caused by his crashing into the castle/temple, which was caused by Marcus’… ”Oh.” Not for the first time that day, Scipio sighed, his face drained of all emotion, his spirit merely accepting Lady Luck’s capricious sense of humor as he realized his position there and then. ”Well. Shit.” Dropping low, front leg extended, Scipio angled the polearm so that the blade pointed towards the ground, simultaneously thinning his ki over the weapon, providing a clear path of conductivity, grinning as the lightning harmlessly passed through his metal weapon and into the wall behind him, his hands insulated by the layers of burning Ki upon them. No matter how powerful it is, it’s still lightning. It has to obey nature, even over his will. I can do this. For his part, Marcus just laughed as he fired bolt after bolt after Scipio. ”Yes, yes! Simply incredible! A level of skill and talent even a god could be envious of, to challenge the heavens as a mortal!” Scipio kept to the ancient Shaolin style of wielding the Guan Dao, memorized after having fought a master of the art. Countless arts flooded to his limbs, half remembered as if in a waking dream, the ferocity and terror of battle bringing the forms to the forefront. And even as he desperately deflected and dodged, his style became more and more fluid, less jerky remembrance and more like flowing perfection as he incorporated it into his own style. Then, with his customary smile, Scipio disappeared from vision, reappearing in Marcus’ blind spot, low to evade detection, the polearm pinioned between the crook of Scipio’s elbows and back. The first spin was meant to take Marcus out at the knees- but it was also meant to miss. Marcus jumped up into the air as expected- but the difficult thing about being airborn is that it makes things inordinately difficult to dodge. The second spin allowed the Polearm to slide out slightly at Scipio attacked on the diagonal, the blade hooking up towards Marcus’ face and forcing the lightning god to cover up, losing his sight temporarily. The third spin impaled the blade into the ground, allowing Scipio to push off it, jackknifing his body and dropkicking Marcus in the chin, shattering his old friend’s guard and sending him crashing through the ceiling. But Scipio wasn’t done. Oh no, he wasn’t even close. Appearing above Marcus, Scipio turned around and spun, delivering a bone cracking axe kick that sent the betrayer crashing back down to earth. Chasing after him, Scipio roared, delivering blow after blow after blow to his onetime friend, as often with a knee or a headbutt as with the butt and blade of his weapon. His fury drove the two of them deep into the earth, until they reached an area eerily reminiscent of the catacombs, the wind chattering through the bones of the dead sounding eerily like applause…or laughter. ![]() Marcus shakily stood up, wiping the blood from his lips as he laughed. ”An excellent showing, William! Look, even the damned laud your effort-“ He did not get to finish his mocking boast as Scipio darted out from the shadows, his polearm dealing a long yet shallow blow to Marcus’ torso as the man failed to fully dodge it in time. Lightning arced after the blonde berserker, only to explode in a cloud of bone dust, Scipio having long since fled. ”I apologize- that must be the sounds of laughter at your cowardice, William! I knew your favorite color was yellow, but I didn’t think that was because you pissed yourself at the thought of a strong opponent!” Marcus spun around, looking for hide or hair of Scipio, but seeing nothing. ”Awww, you’re just getting mad ‘cause I’m winning.” You could hear the smirk in Scipio’s voice. Marcus roared as he flung his hand upwards, incinerating the spot that he heard the sound from, but still, Scipio’s laughter echoed in his ears. Down in these twists and turns, sound bounced strangely, making it an incredibly unreliable tracker in this scenario. Scipio knew this, from years of battling in alleys and submarines and other tight corners. Marcus did not. Scipio also knew, as a man having earned the mantle of power, how to track opponents through their life energy. Sparkle party Marcus the human lightbulb, having stolen his, did not- and that made all the difference down here. Scipio dashed past Marcus faster than even the electrically charged god could react, scoring countless blows, but never able to truly deliver a killing blow. Marcus’ new Ki was too…hazy, as if it were a misty night compared to most people’s shining beacons. It was too strange for Scipio to fully grasp. Finally, Marcus had had it. ”ENOUGH!” He screamed, flooding the catacombs with electricity. ”I am Enlil incarnate, high god of storms and power, and I will not be treated as a scratching post for some overzealous mongrel that does not know his pla-*ghurk*” Marcus was immediately silenced as the polearm severed his spinal cord and vocal chords, entering from the back of the neck and not exiting until the blade had slid through all his internal organs, down below his belly. Scipio’s entire weight was behind this one attack, as his arms hung off the top of the staff, his feet firmly entrenched at the blade’s base, like a digger thrusting his spade into the ground. That last blast of energy had been exactly what Scipio needed to deliver a precise, lethal blow, and Marcus’ pride and indignation was enough to give him the opening. Pushing the blade downwards, Scipio forced Marcus to his knees, impaling the blade through the ground with his prodigious strength, so Marcus would be forced to stay there for all time. ”Sic semper Dei.” Turning around, Scipio slowly walked away, black hair turning to gold as he released the exhaustive hold on his Ki. He staggered for a moment before uprighting himself, a hand out for support against some skeleton’s arm. ”Oh. Thanks for the helping hand, big guy.” Scipio laughed before spitting out some blood on the ground, wincing before continuing onwards. Joyous. Internal bleeding. At this rate, I’m gonna be talking to these guys for a loooooooot longer than I’d like. Concentrating his Ki on healing, Scipio breathed in and slowly walked out of the catacombs, closing his eyes in simple delight as the warm sun and the cool breeze gently battled for territory across his wounded body. Scipio took another look up at the altar high above him and shrugged. Fuck it. I can find replacements. I’ll have to sell a tank to pay for them all, but I’ll find replacements. Making his way across the pavilion, the blonde berserker slowly made his way home. ”NOT. SO. FAST.” Scipio froze at the sound, his body refusing to obey his commands. Move! Run! Fucking run! Fucking hell doesn’t ANYTHING listen to me here other than the goddamned birds? Still, his body refused to respond. Scipio could only watch in mounting horror as some… thing slowly materialized before him. It quickly grew too bright for Scipio to even comprehend, forcing him to turn his eyes away. ”Overwhelming, isn’t it? The sight of a god come into his glory. I must thank you, William- I never would have guessed that I myself would have to die to escape my mortal bonds- though all your earthly poets hinted at it.” Scipio spat at the general area of power before him, closing his eyes. Listening to the sizzle, he locked onto that location, keying his Ki sense into the amorphous blob before him, like a man trying to grip sand. ”You’re talking like you’re no longer human, bastard.” Marcus- no, Enlil- merely laughed. ”That is because I am not. I have usurped the throne of the strongest of the gods with my own power, and have died and returned to life. All within 30 minutes, never mind three days.” Scipio laughed in defiance. ”You have no power to call your own. Everything you own you stole. You are merely a child wearing his father’s suit and thinking himself all the more important for it.” Enlil merely smiled serenely. ”And yet, look at how the strong fall before my power.” Scipio didn’t even have time to react. One moment he was hurting but fine, the next, his right arm was useless and he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to scream so badly, but it felt like there was a vise around his chest. Okay, arm broken, and…Fuck. Fuck shit fuck he just broke 2 ribs and they’ve punctured…lungs… Scipio began looking around for something, anything to help him out as he slowly ran out of air. ”And that was just a single punch. Wait until I-“ Marcus cut himself off as Scipio flew up and out of there at top speed, heading back towards the altar above them. ”Well now, that’s just rude.” Scipio didn’t really care, as he soared skyward, towards the weapons he had left lying around. He desperately needed at least one of them if he was to survive. There was the matter of the giant freaking sky laser, but Scipio reckoned that if it didn’t even warm up to fire upon him when he was sailing through the air earlier, then it wasn’t gonna bug him now. Making it up to the altar, Scipio began madly sifting through the shattered swords and broken blades for what he needed, his vision swimming and heart slowing down all the while. poignard…where’es the poignard…I swear to God and all the saints that I will never mock how stupidly French and pointless you are if you just..show…up! YES!” Finding the small, piercing dagger, Scipio steeled himself and thrust the blade into his chest. The steel felt like a line of frozen electricity as it pierced the flesh and entered the lung. Scipio gasped like a man reborn, oxygen flooding into his lungs, no longer deflating and being crushed by unequal atmospheric forces. Standing up slowly, Scipio ripped off his shirt, tearing it to pieces and binding a pockmarked blade to his broken arm, breathing out sharply as he set it and bound it to the blade, his horrific bathroom surgery terrifying but necessary. Calling a sword to hand that still had a decent edge, Scipio turned around, only to see Enlil standing there, as he had expected. ”Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Most people would have just given up and died, you know? In a single attack, I shattered your right arm, broke three ribs, and deflated your lungs. And yet here you stand, having set the bone, bound it with a sword of all things, and stabbed yourself, all to stay alive. And are you…yes, you’re using that ‘Ki’ power you so often talked about to circulate oxygen through your lungs! Absolutely astounding!” Scipio kept his eyes warily upon his godly opponent. Oh fuck me… he can recognize Ki now. Scipio couldn’t help but laugh as he saw his advantages slip away, one by one. Which leaves exactly one possible avenue… ”Surprise, right? Sorry, but that avenue is not possible, either.” Scipio froze, his muscles tense and quivering from being prepared to launch. No. No no no no no no fuck he” ”Can read your mind, yes. I must say, there is quite some… brilliant stuff up there. If only you had lived, you may have become truly incredible.” Scipio laughed, bravado more for himself at this point than any chance of fooling the mind-reading dark god before him. ”Just be sure you leave the section marked XXX alone- Even a god might become mentally scarred from what I’ve been up to in there!” Scipio laughed, extending his arms to the side as if he hadn’t a care in the world, before immediately dashing at Enlil, hacking away, each and every cut being easily dodged. The last one, Enlil didn’t even bother to move- he just watched as the blade went through his shoulder harmlessly, while Scipio took the brunt of the damage, thrown back as electricity ran rampant through his body. Cursing, Scipio quickly powered up, roaring in anger and pain as his body covered itself in a layer of Ki-Armor, aggravating his wounds, dashing forward once more, this time covering his weapon in Ki as well, to insulate it from Enlil’s lethal body. Giving himself into this form’s far more bestial nature, Scipio raged, grabbing a second sword from the ground in a reverse grip and stabbing it into the ground, using it as a pivot as his legs swept to trip Enlil, the pinioned blade then ripped from the ground, coming in an overhead strike to stab Enlil through the throat. Miss, miss. Still, Scipio attacking onwards, the blade coming down once again, this time stabbing into the ground as a lever, Scipio using it to flip around and over, using his telekinesis to slam himself down on Enlil as one blade went for his heart from the front, and the second went for the kidney from behind. Holding up his arm, Enlil created a barrier of pure willpower, bouncing Scipio off it like he was a 30 pound kindergartener in a fun house. Undeterred, the bestial Scipio called a second storm of swords with his will, preparing to skewer Enlil like a pincushion. ”Ah ah ah, can’t have that.” Enlil wagged his finger patronizingly, and with a flick of the wrist, overwrote Scipio’s will, causing the steel to fall like raindrops as the blonde berserker lost control. ”Did I not tell you? I am a god! You dared challenge the heavens in a battle of will? We can create reality from nothing, and you dare usurp our power, to try and change the course of things before the seat of heaven itself?” Scipio grimaced as he bent low, muscles bunching. ”You’re right. I’ll do this the human way, and still kick you-“ Enlil teleported right in front of Scipio, hand raised. Glad you finally learned your place.” Scipio’s eyes widened as the air crackled and the smell of ozone invaded his nostrils. The next thing he remembered was his head slamming against the concrete as his body dug a furrow through the hard ground. Enlil laughed as he approached. ”You know, you did do remarkably well- for a mortal. You managed to kill an avatar of a god! You may have released said divine being in the process, but oh well. You know, when I start my religion around me, I think I shall make you my first saint- Sword Saint Scipio, indeed! How does that sound for your reputation, hmm?” Enlil smiled as he looked upon Scipio’s body. His eyes flashing, Scipio grinned at Enlil. ” I think God Slayer Scipio has a much better ring to it.” Enlil tried to move, but found that Scipio’s Ki armor, instead of protecting the swordsman’s body, was now wrapped around the lightning, chaining the god to mortality. With a triumphant roar, Scipio thrust forward the dagger he had hid with his body, plunging it into Enlil’s heart. Enlil screamed in rage and frustration. But even as Scipio stood above the body of his enemy, Enlil’s scream turned slowly to laughter. You…you have got to be kidding me. I’ve got nothing left, and he’s LAUGHING? Scipio thought tiredly, as he slowly bent down to pick up a sword. ”Oh, incredible, absolutely incredible, William! You sacrificed your own protection in order to kill a god, and it worked! You are the first mortal in over 10,000 years to wound a god!” Enlil pulled the knife from his chest, golden ichor streaming out until the wound sealed itself up, as if it had never been. ”Oh, if only you had been willing to see this day with me, William! What a force of nature you would have been! What a being!” Enlil snapped his fingers, and Scipio felt himself flung back towards the altar, the ground reshaping itself into spires around his arms and legs, pinning him in the air like a sacrifice for the slaughter. ”Probably should’ve thought of that before fucking with my entire life, huh?” Scipio spat at the god as he felt himself power down, no longer possessing the energy to keep his Ki so condensed, let alone hold the power to shatter the spires keeping him captive. He barely possessed the power to keep oxygen circling through his lungs. ”William, I made you who you are! Though I suppose it is only fitting you end this way- I created you, William D. Scipio, and now I will unmake you.” Enlil slowly picked up the serrated blade he had already used to create a god, and all Scipio could do was seethe. His heart pounded as he saw the blade that would take his life slowly rise. Is…is this fear? Fuck, am I afraid? Of him? Really? Scipio bowed his head, unwilling to see the end. This is the end. I am going to die. … … … ...Then why am I afraid? A single chuffing sound permeated the silence, like a laugh that never quite was. ”I defy you.” Enlil shivered, uncomprehending, yet feeling the spectre of death upon him once again. ”What did you say, mortal?” He asked imperiously, his demand causing the world to go still. The blade descended. ”I SAID I DEFY YOU, USURPER!” Scipio roared, and all the world shook, emanating from his person, as he looked up with an evil grin on his face and a glint in his eye, the look of a man who’s got nothing left to lose and decided to look behind the curtain just for the hell of it. The blade stopped, caught between the command of a god and the defiance of a mortal. What ARE you?!” Enlil shrieked, desperate to kill Scipio, his arm quivering with the effort of bringing down the sword in the face of William’s will. ”I am William Diarmuid Scipio, and I am the man whom you cannot destroy. “ Scipio grinned, and as his vision flicked to the god slaying sword, it shattered into thousands of pieces, no longer able to survive the battle between the warring wills. Enlil retracted his injured hand in pain, eyes widening at Scipio’s feat. ”Monster, demon! Die!” He screamed, his other hand darting towards Scipio’s chest. Scipio laughed. He simply laughed, the bright, pearly, infectious sound of a man who’s finally heard the punchline. He fixed his grinning eyes down at Enlil even as the god’s hand plunged into his chest, gripped his beating heart, and ripped it out, crushing it before Scipio’s eyes. Even then, Scipio’s grin did not fade, nor did the glint in his eyes. As his body spilled its lifeblood on the ground, Scipio smiled there in his final victory over the terrified god. Thus did William Diarmuid Scipio die, bloody, beaten, bruised, but unbroken, carrying to his grave the smile he was born with and the shattered will of a god. --------------------------------------------------------- Word Count: 5,299 Words Total Word Count: 44,950 Words Edited by William Scipio, Nov 25 2015, 04:35 AM.
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| William Scipio | Nov 25 2015, 05:29 AM Post #20 |
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![]() Scipio floated in the white for a while, feeling as if he had just woken up from a pleasant dream and was in that pink state between restfulness and waking, not quite conscious, but not quite under. Still, despite his addled mental state (a completely understandable problem, considering that he had been killed mere seconds ago), he still had enough mental power to run his mouth per usual. ”Oh God damn it not the fucking White Room again. I feel like an extra in an Eric Clapton music video.” Scipio sighed and closed his eyes. ”Besides, I’m dead, ain’t I? I think we both know that it isn’t the pearly gates I’m gonna be stepping in front of, God.” Scipio laughed and enjoyed just floating there. Too bad it was never going to last. No, it wouldn’t be. How fortunate you are that it is not your God that you stand before then, hmmm? Scipio’s eyes snapped open at this intrusive thought in his head, the same that had been plaguing him for a while now. He finally remembered where he had heard it before. For months it was just on the edge of hearing in a dream, no more. Slowly but surely though, it had become more and more powerful, finally culminating here on this floating fortress. Scipio could all but taste that power he had possessed at that time, the ability to rock the heavens and rend the earth… Yes, glorious, wasn’t it? The ability to challenge the gods themselves for dominance. If only it were your power, huh? Scipio scowled as color slowly bled into the world. Is this going to be a common thing? Because if I want someone second guessing me, I have a boss and subordinates that are really good at that sort of thing. I don’t need someone in my head doing that, too. Scipio closed his eyes in pain as light suddenly suffused the world, searing his eyeballs like the night after a baaaaaaad hangover. Hah. You say that as if your heart isn’t riddled with self-doubt and questioning. They call you a monster, a blade to point at the enemy and pray it never turns, but really, you have a chain that binds you to morality more tightly than any other mortal I’ve ever seen. Most men say they’d rather die before they did something against what they believe in, but when you push them, you find out how weak a man’s will really is. But you… you really mean it, don’t you? Scipio growled as he heard his own mocking laugh resound in his head. ”Hey, if you’re here to gloat and whatnot, could you get me a drink while you’re at it, or go away? As annoyed as I am about how it happened, I kinda just died. And though no one is more surprised than I am, judging by all the white I somehow managed to make it through the pearly gates. So you’ll understand if I don’t want to talk to a disembodied voice inside my head right now, right?” Scipio smiled as silence reigned for a few glorious seconds. Well, if that’s your only objection, that’s quite alright. After all… ”We are inside you.” Scipio opened his eyes with a shudder at that mental image. ”Welp, never thought I would hear another man say those words to me. So now that you have my mentally scarred attention, who are you and what do…you…waaaaaaaant… oh Goddammit this is just getting ridiculous.” ![]() Scipio looked up only to see a man who looked exactly like him in almost every way. Golden hair cascaded down to his shoulders like threads woven from El Dorado, eyes like rubies ripped from the earth sparkled in their sockets, skin like polished bronze gleamed in the dull afternoon light, and teeth like shimmering ivory gleamed as he grinned. Gold bedecked his every limb. Even the throne he sat on shone like starlight, and his drinking cup glinted, blinding Scipio. It was almost too much to look at. Mental note: apologize to Anju if I ever get back, and promise not to paint ‘Frank’ or ‘Fred’ or whatever. God, that’s blinding to look at. The man slowly turned his head to face Scipio, snapping his fingers. Reality bent to his whim, and a skein of wine appeared, pouring itself into two perfectly identical cups. ”I heard you were looking for a drink?” The man chuckled. For his part, Scipio merely sighed. ”Greeeeaaaaat, another god. Y’all bastards know I’m raised Catholic, right? Might not follow many of the tenements, but I still kinda have to disbelieve in your existence, you know.” For his part, the man laughed out loud, a loud, booming sound that echoed and rolled like thunder, shaking the ground around him. ”Oh, but it takes a very special kind of man to disbelieve in other gods when he has not only seen them, but has been killed by one! Ahahaha!” Finally, the man calmed down only to grin at Scipio. Oh my God, people are right. I’m annoying as shit when I do that. Fortunately, the man or god before Scipio either could not notice or did not care about Scipio’s thoughts anymore, and so declined to respond. ”Fortunately for you, especially with your current… record of meeting with divinity, I am no god.” When no further answer was forthcoming, Scipio sighed loudly. He couldn’t believe how childlike this bastard was acting. This really was like he was in an argument with himself. ”Alright then, who the hell are you? What’s your damn name? What do I call you, as long as I’m kinda stuck here with you?” The being smiled. ”I have been called many things over the millennia. Foolish. Wise above all things. Brave. Coward before all. King, and peasant. Worshipper, and idolater. I have as many names and titles as there are stars in the sky and particles of sand on the beach, and to name them all would take until the stars burn their last and the universe turns cold, the last organisms gasping a few final breaths. I have been named Shūtur eli sharrī, Sha naqba īmuru, Surpassing All Other Kings, and He Who Sees the Deep. I have been named god-slayer and life-chaser, Divinity Ending and Mortality Surpassing. I am the King of Ur and the King of Heroes, and the precursor for all mankind. I am Gilgamesh, and you would do well to guard your tongue, boy.” Scipio felt the commandment more heavily than any that Enlil dared attempt to force on him. His jaw clamped shut, his tongue leaden in his mouth. His limbs shook as they struggled, and it took every last bit of Scipio’s strength not to immediately fall to a knee. Eventually though, his power failed him, and Scipio bent the knee. ”Damn…you…” Scipio managed through gritted teeth. ”I warned you. Still, I expected more of you. Even here, in your own domain, this is all the power you may bring to bear? And yet you dare call yourself my scion? Pitiful.” Scipio snarled like a wild animal. ”I have never… called myself anything… but my own man. And this…is not my soul. I’ve seen my soul. Been in it. Fought…and bled there. And this is…not my soul.” Gilgamesh laughed, waving his hand dismissively. ”You were in a pitiful simulacrum that the Final Kingdom attempted to recreate as best as it could. Furthermore, that was your soul in the mire of self-doubt, your soul when you lay awake late at night questioning your every decision. I now show you your greatest, your truest self, the you the world sees when you concoct one of your madcap schemes, the you when the world dances to your tune, the you when you yourself dance on the very edge of hell.” ![]() Scipio looked around him and saw a scene that seemed to have crawled from hell itself. All around him was blood and fire, a battlefield strewn with corpses and the bodies of broken men. Others waged war below the hill he and Gilgamesh stood upon, stepping over the fallen warriors all around them, desecrating the bodies of their comrades even as they stepped up to avenge them. Crows circled and wheeled above as they waited patiently for their meal to prepare itself, an endless feast ready for any 10 kings. A few had no manners and so dug in early, but the rest knew there would be endless food, rotten to perfection, cooked by the summer’s heat and the rage and pain in men’s hearts. It was hideous. It was captivating. Scipio finally managed to pull his eyes away in disgust. ”Good to know I’m as hideous on the inside as I am beautiful on the outside.” He muttered, trying to look anywhere but everywhere. Eventually his gaze landed on Gilgamesh, who merely looked back in disappointment. ”Hideous? Do you not see the pristine beauty of it? The nobility of i-” “THERE IS NOTHING NOBLE ABOUT WAR!” Scipio screamed, and the world shook. The birds fell from the sky, and the world was slowly bleached of color until only those two on the hill shone at all. Scipio suddenly stood up, the bonds across his body unable to contain the rage that flooded from his being like and unending spring”There is only death, and destruction, and sorrow, and tears. There is no honor or glory, there’s only regrets and young men crying out a question. A single question. I’ve only warred for a few years, but I know what war is. War is Pain. Misery. Cruelty beyond belief. I've heard all the voices of God's ‘noblest creature’. Moans from bundles of filth in the mountains of bodies. I've been a soldier and a slave. I've seen my comrades fall in battle or die more slowly under the lash. I've held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no brave last words, only their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning "Why?" And I know now what that final question means. I do not think they were asking why they were dying, but why they had ever lived at all. So if you say war is noble, I say you are too blinded by your gold to ever see the truth.” The men below slowly stopped fighting, watching the battle of wills up upon the hill. Gilgamesh sighed, making a small gesture with his hands. ”Very well. Now sit back down an-“ “No.” Scipio uttered his proclamation once more. The bonds came down on him heavier than they had before, but Scipio would rather break than bend himself one more time to this man. Gilgamesh looked as if he were about to exert himself once more, but decided against it. ”Very well. Stand if you must, but listen. Of course war is ignoble. It is violent, bloody, and wasteful. No true king loves war, for to love war he must hate his subjects. No. what is noble is this hill. This is your ability to, even when all those around you lose themselves to madness, keep a calm head on your shoulders and think of the best place to put the necessary blade. Even when you fall into the rancor of your soul, you still have a part of you that is watching, always watching, a part of you that keeps you human. Sometimes it loses, but it is there, and that is what makes all the difference in the world. That is truly an ability befitting a king. Little wonder you are the Heir of Mankind.” Scipio raised a single eyebrow. ”Nice title, that. Heir of Mankind, eh? Did you take the full 5 seconds to think of it, or did you just get it from a fortune cookie you found on the street?” Gilgamesh shrugged. ”I admit, I never found it any great deal myself. Certainly not a title befitting my heir. But then again, this may be why we are the heroes of destiny, and not the prophets reciting it.” ”I have so many damn questions with that statement I don’t even know how to start. But I suppose ‘your heir?’ is as good as any.” Gilgamesh nodded. ”Very well. You are my heir, and thus, as I and he from whom all mankind originates in, you are the poorly named Heir of Mankind. Heir to History would have been so much better, and I just came up with that one on the spot. But I digress. You are one of the few who possesses a full measure of my blood, a direct descendant able to trace your lineage all the way back to mine own. Most of the heroes in your fables may claim this as well- Genghis Khan, King Arthur Pendragon, Hannibal Barca, Scipio Africanis, Alexander the Great, Gustavus Adolphus… the list goes on. Still, I have never seen one with so great a concentration as in your veins.” Gilgamesh peered closely, as if trying to divine the reason for this within Scipio’s face. ”The proof is within your source of power. Enlil did not kill you- indeed, with methods like that, he never could. You came perilously close to suiciding, however, with that last attack.” Scipio waved his hands to stop Gilgamesh. ”Yeah, and if you’re sellin’ the Brooklyn Bridge, I’ll buy that, too. I saw that thing rip my damn heart outta my chest. He killed me pretty good.” Gilgamesh sighed ad pinched the bridge of his nose, as if warding off a headache. ”I didn’t realize how much you were mine until just now. You never listen to what you’re told, either. You assume you derive your power from Ki, like every one of your friends. You assume incorrectly. Rather, you use your life force in its purest form, burning it like gasoline on a wildfire to fuel your attacks. It’s why you’ve never been able to create actual energy projections- to do so would kill you. It’s also why your every attack is so much more explosive than your peers- Ki is ‘life energy,’ a renewable energy created as a byproduct of living. Using that is no more dangerous than running a marathon- exhausting, yes, but hardly life threatening. But for that ability to fire energy like so, they suffer in power. This is the surest sign that you were born mortal, but rose above. Only a limited amount of people are born able to utilize and increase their ki, but anyone might use their life force so as to gain power. Most die horribly, wizened and sickened before they reach where you stand. The others… well. Let us just say there is a reason every last one of my kin carved themselves an empire.” Gilgamesh sighed before continuing. ”Still, not all of them did so well after. Genghis khan burned out his own life force and drowned in his own blood. King Arthur died a wizened man, easily struck down by Ser Mordred. Hannibal died in a clash against his own brother, and Alexander the Great burned his life completely by 26, dying of a horrible disease your scientists would run from if they had ever seen what it did to him. And I lost my only friend and died for the sake of my foolish pride. And now, here stand ye, at the precipice of choice. You are possessed of more of my blood than any other mortal in history- and that will make you fall harder to my curse than any other mortal in history. You will suffer, anguish, and die alone, stripped of all your possessions, left by all your friends, and devoid of even the power that carried you to your final resting place. Even then, you may not know peace, for any conqueror will always find himself swimming in the seas of blood that Hell enjoys drowning men in. Alternatively, you can spend the rest of your days in heaven. I will personally use my power to force your entry. No other mortal in history was ever given this chance, but then again, no other mortal in history ever had to face this choice. What say ye?” Scipio looked up for a second at the crows circling above head. ”Right now, there is a monster in the guise of a man who has control of a superweapon designed to end the world. That world just so happens to contain the few people I care about. There are also dickheads and guys who the world would probably be better off with dead, but I still have a responsibility to them as one with power.” Gilgamesh looked at Scipio with a single cocked eyebrow. ”Is that all?” Scipio looked back down and grinned. ”No. finally, there’s a bastard out there who gained my trust for the sole purpose of throwing me away the moment it suited him. There’s a special place in hell just waiting for him, and I plan to send him there personally.” Gilgamesh roared with laughter. ”Now that’s more like it! I admit, I expected you to turn tail- but I think now that if anyone will bear this curse and beat it, it will be you. Go. My power is yours. If you can control is…that is up to you.” Scipio felt it hit him like a cocaine high. His every limb crackled with power, and his pupils narrowed then dilated as the sheer shock hit him. He laughed with the simple, childlike joy of the power of creation that now flooded his body, the energy that lit him up like an idiot who stuck his tongue on a power line. Gritting his teeth, Scipio braced himself against the voices that sang in his head, voices that sang out for blood and death and destruction. We are the Angels, Watchers of this world, carrier of its secrets and bearer of its shadows. The shadows watch us as we pass, the gods turn away at our passage, the rats scurry beneath our feet and shudder at the sound of our footsteps on the stones. We are true power. The world sings at the passage of Our voice, Our blood is blue fire, Our soul carries a pair of angel wings. We are free of the First, and we shall exult in it. You, Heir, are naught but mortal. And you would dare stop Us? The voices crashed against Scipio’s brain like the ocean waves against the mountainside. But like the ocean, the Angels found nothing but unshakeable stone. You...overegotistic, narcissistic, self-important Angels... you are children with the power to kill, destroy and burn. You know nothing about life, and probably care less. Why should you not set the field of fire for the prettiness of its burning; why should you not kill wherever you go, simply because you can; why should you understand anything that the rest of humanity can? No. I will bring a reckoning to the gods themselves. Mere Angels are a step down.You will bow to my will if I must crush each and every one of you individually. The Angels were less than happy at this announcement. We are blue fire, We are white death, We are black heaven! We are seven times seven million fold, were born from the first breaths of humanity, by the fears and the thoughts and the ideas and the truths and the lies you poured into the world. We were created by you bigger and brighter and more alive than any mortal could aspire to be! Do not think to tell us what we can or cannot do! They redoubled their efforts against Scipio, appearing in his own worldspace, endless hordes of electric blue monstrosities, creatures that would have made Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep weep in terror. Scipio immediately understood as he slowly walked to the edge of the hill and deliberately drew a sword from a corpse at the top of the heap, the body giving way with a despairing sucking sound. These were not angels- they were all of mankind’s fears and desperation, his rage and powerlessness and hatred and self-destruction and envy and greed and 7 times 7 million sins, from the first murder to the most recent theft, and they increased in number and power every second. Still, Scipio faced them, and cut them down as they swarmed him, his sword cutting down their numbers even as his tongue did. ”You be blue fire, you be white death, you be black heaven. You would burn the world just for the hell of it. But I be red vengeance, I be golden life, I be grey hell. I be but one, and I be mortal, but I am inexorable. I will take your power to stop a monster, or I will kill myself here and now so as to not create a second.” The strongest of the angels, the only one that looked mortal, swooped down, and Scipio grabbed it by the throat. ”I am William Diarmuid Scipio, and I will be obeyed.” With a single motion, Scipio wrenched the neck of the First Sin, snapping it instantly. It slowly deformed, before being absorbed into Scipio’s skin. The rest of the Angels saw this, and slowly, like ripples in a pond, all bent the knee. Blue electric fire flooded into Scipio, and at that moment, he knew true power. Gilgamesh looked at him and nodded once approvingly, before asking, ”Now what?” Scipio smiled before snapping his fingers. The throne disappeared, leaving Gilgamesh floating in the air. ”First, no thrones. No more thrones, no more kings, no more lords. Only people.” Gilgamesh looked off put at first, but nodded. ”Very well. And now?” Scipio merely grinned. ”Now, I have a debt to pay back.” ------------------------------------------ As Enlil spun around and stalked away, the bloody remnants of Scipio’s heart staining his hand, he failed to see the changes that occurred behind him. Scipio’s body spasmed with electricity, and his blood glowed like blue fire as his wound slowly closed itself. Red tribal tattoos began to etch themselves down Scipio’s chest, and the glint in his eyes returned with full force as he gasped back to life. The god did manage to hear the gasp, and slowly turned around, refusing to believe, as if Scipio would somehow still be dead if he was slow enough about his observation, like some sort of Schrödinger’s human. ”What’s the matter, man? You look like you’ve seen a corpse!” Scipio laughed as he simply strode out of the stone pillars like they weren’t even there, though they had held him fast not a minute before. ”No no no- this cannot be! YOU ARE DEAD!” Scipio felt the command hit him like a hammer, the will of a god commanding his heart to stop, his blood to cease flowing. Too bad for the god that Scipio had barely possessed a heart even before it was brutally crushed. Wielding the Angels like a dagger, Scipio found the weak point of the god’s will as he imposed upon reality, and struck. ”No. I’m not.” There was a sound like wrenching steel as the god’s power of Creation was struck by Scipio’s opposing power of Will, the perfectly divine ability countered by the perfectly mortal, Scipio’s inhuman concentration and impeccably human free will fashioned into a hammer, a belief that not only was the world not like so, but rather it was what Scipio thought it was. This was a belief that beggared faith, a belief that water ran uphill so strong that it became knowledge, and from power, became truth. ”Be still! Be still and burn in your arrogance!” Once again the commandment rang out, and the universe hurried to obey. Chains shot from the earth and wrapped themselves around Scipio’s limbs, as infernos sprang from the earth to consume him. This time, Scipio didn’t even hesitate, laughing as he walked through the chains and the fires behind him. He would have been slowed down more by a sneeze. ![]() ”Nah, I’m good.” Scipio laughed as Creation shattered around him, and Enlil took the chance to fly skywards. Scipio snapped his fingers, and the sword he had shattered reformed itself in his hand, as the whole world crackled like broken glass from Enlil’s spell. The world turned black, and then crackled with electricity as Enlil trapped the both of them in a pocket dimension of his Creation. Here, in the pure power of his dominion, Enlil rushed at Scipio, diving forward with lightning like spears in his hands, seeking out Scipio’s heart. Smiling beatifically, Scipio sidestepped at the last second, bringing his sword up and cutting off Enlil’s arm at the shoulder. His opponent may have commanded the lightning, but Scipio moved like greased lightning. Enlil skipped backwards, screaming in pain as his shoulder reformed itself. Still, Scipio gave the man no rest. Diving forwards, Scipio became a human hailstorm, blows raining down, with Enlil desperately struggling to keep up all the while. Innumerable cuts appeared upon the god’s skin. Still, Enlil was not willing to go down without a fight, and so he was willing to suffer that soul splitting pain for the chance to pierce through Scipio’s guard, his hand once again darting up and through Scipio’s chest, plunging into the viscera to crush his heart once more. However, the only thing crushing was his despair as he realized that Scipio no longer even had a heart. Enlil skipped backwards. ”What the hell are you, you fucking monster?! You don’t even have a heart! How are you alive?! How are you so damned strong?” Scipio grinned. ”So many questions… I’ll do my best to answer them all, so please, try to stay with me. Heart: Well, you kinda did rip it outta my chest and crush it in front of me- which, by the way, rude- so I had to improvise. All I have to do is cycle the blood around, so I outsourced that job to my tiny helpers. ” Scipio smiled innocently as he tapped his chest. But that smile slowly slid into one that displayed pure demonic malic, and Enlil took an involuntary step backwards in terror. ”As for power… I hated you so much I enslaved all the sins of humanity to my soul just so I could drag you aaaaallllll the way down to hell.” Enlil looked at Scipio in blatant fear. ”But…but that would damn you to an eternity of torture! You would wish for nonexistence after such a thing!” Scipio kept up the steady grin as he slowly advanced on Enlil, who fell down before scrambling backwards. ”Ehhh, I was going to end up like that anyways. If I get to take you down with me, allllllll the better~” Scipio purred. Enlil screamed as he tried to fly, get some distance from the madman who had wagered his soul for power. Scipio tched and waggled his finger. ”Now now, can’t be a god if you don’t expect a little bit of divine retribution in your life, no? Sure, you’re on the wrong side of it, but all the same: Hold.” Scipio’s command echoed throughout the pocket universe. ![]() Scipio threw the chains that encircled his body at Enlil, relying on his True Commandment to freeze the god enough to ensnare him. Like the fisherman, patient to the end, Scipio reeled in his prey. Enlil, for his part, screamed like a child stuck in a nightmare, firing a pillar of pure lightning at Scipio. Laughing, Scipio threw his sword in the sky, two more materializing in his hands. Twisting his body, Scipio brought the first blade to bear, the steel blazing bright blue with the power of the Angels. The blade grinded against the lightning as Scipio dashed forward, before Scipio flexed his muscles and ripped upwards, deflecting the blast to the sky. Before Enlil could react, Scipio was upon him. Completing his spin, the blonde berserker slammed the first blade into the god’s foot, pinning him in place. Before the screaming began, Scipio was already upon his next target. His second blade pierced through Enlil’s hand as Scipio’s legs smashed into Enlil’s chest, throwing him to the ground. Two more swords appearing in Scipio’s hands, created from nothing, and the final two limbs were pinned. Pushing off with just his upper body strength, Scipio soared through the air, before coming back down with the sword he had thrown into the air to start the maneuver. Standing on the pommel, Scipio drove the blade down through Enlil’s chest and into the ground beneath, like a hammer driving a chisel. Blue electric flame danced across the pentagram of blades, creating a prison not even a god could escape. ”Please, William, you don’t need to do this. It’s me, Marcus! I’m your friend, man! Everything I did, I did for you!” Scipio felt a twinge of guilt and sympathy as he slowly rose into the air. Still, he had a duty. ”No. Everything you did, you did for yourself, Marcus. I’m just sorry it had to end up like this.” Scipio sighed as he summoned his power, clouds gathering as he prepared to unleash hell. His hair turned black as midnight and the claw formed upon his arm once more as he wreathed himself in life force. ”Enlil, lord of storms, Marcus, usurper of power, I stand now as your reckoner. You who would stand above mortals and treat them as playthings are not fit to wield the powers of a god. By the power invested in me as the sins of all mankind, I judge you in the name of all mankind. Be gone.” And thus did Scipio open the floodgates. ![]() Swords. Swords rained down endlessly upon the pinned man. They could not be compared to raindrops, or a hailstorm, or even the flood. You could say they glinted like stars in the night skies. You could say they rocketed towards the earth like manmade meteors. You could say that each one rammed into the earth like nuclear bombs. But you could not find any analogy for their numbers. They were endless, unceasing, infinity upon infinity. The earth only wished it looked like a pincushion. Finally it ended. The dimension dissolved as Enlil was unable to devote the energy to keeping it active. Scipio allowed the blades to disappear as both warriors reappeared in reality. The only sword that failed to disappear was the one in his chest, the only true sword of the set. The blonde berserker slowly walked over to the crackling, bloody body of his old friend. He sighed and shook his head”Rest in peace, old friend.” Scipio shook his dark haired head as he slowly turned around to leave, but spun around as the mantle of Enlil resurrected the body and lunged forward, grabbing Scipio by the throat and driving him to a knee. ”Give me your power! Give me it all!” Scipio snarled, injured and caught off guard, but his eyes burned with anger. ”I gave you a chance! I called you friend!” His limbs blazed with blue electric flame. ”You want my power? You want Our power? Fine! Have it! Have all of it!” Scipio grabbed the blade in Enlil’s chest and used it as a conduit. Electricity crackled through the air, and the earth shook. Pebbles and debris began to slowly rise and spin around the air as they themselves began to levitate, the eye of their own personal hurricane. ”I am the king above all! I am Enlil, lord of storms, ruler of the gods! I live in the lightning and roar with the thunder! I am a god! You cannot do this to me!” Scipio’s limbs shook with white hot fury as he roared at Enlil, drowning out the god’s screams. ”No more! We will stand for no more! No more kings, no more gods, no more masters!” Scipio redoubled his strength, gritting his teeth against Enlil’s assault. ”I am red vengeance! I am golden retribution! I am black hell! I burn with blue fire and dance white heaven! I am sin and death and mortality and redemption! But above all else, I am William Diarmuid Scipio- AND I AM YOUR RECKONER!” Ripping out the sword, Scipio snarled as he twisted up his body and released, cutting off the god’s head in a single stroke. However, at the last second, Enlil transferred bodies, trying to mantel Scipio and take over his body before the blond demi-god completely destroyed him. Scipio was having precisely none of that. ”What’s the matter? I thought you wanted power? C’mon, don’t give up now! I’ll give you enough that you can drown in it! So here! Drown in the Angels! Drown in all the sins of humanity!” Scipio hissed as he flooded his body with power, fulfilling his promise and completely losing Enlil in the deluge. Releasing control, Scipio fell back down to the ground, exhausted. Slowly rising up, Scipio threw out his arms in joy, a wordless exultation of joy. He had done it. He had conquered the Final Kingdom and slew Enlil. ![]() However, the ground shook even as he did so, forcing him back down to a knee. ”Oh for the love of fuck! Can I not just relax for one fucking minute maybe? That too much to ask f-…oh you have got to be kidding me.” Scipio felt his stomach sink as the floating fortress rumbled once more, before slowly, massively, falling from the sky, rapidly picking up speed as it went. Scipio swore. Cockswoggling dropkicking motherfucking son of a bitch ass whore’s breech birth! Are you bullshitting me? Are you dickless, whoreson, dogfucking bastards fucking stupid or that vindictive?! Seriously, a load bearing boss? Is this real life or a fucking Megaman videogame? What fucking else can go wrong today- and universe, if you try to fucking answer that, I will see if I can’t make the natural jump from god-killer to Galactus, I fucking promise you!” He cut off the tirade to slam his sword through the ground, giving him something to hold on to as everything else went flying. Upon the altar, Scipio had a wonderful, bird’s eye view of the city they would crush at this rate. ”Dear God, I’m so tired. Why can’t someone else deal with this bullshit for once?” Scipio muttered. Summoning up the remainder of his power, Scipio jumped off the Final Kingdom, racing towards the bottom as the flying city reached terminal velocity. Twisting around as he reached the bottom, Scipio thrust both hands through the stone until he was buried up to his chest in fortress. Igniting what was left of his energy, Scipio began to slowly move the falling city sideways, not even bothering to try and fight gravity, merely redirecting the city’s target. The last thing he saw as he looked up (up to him, at least, down to normal people) was a mountain range before he was ripped from the city and thrown about in the collision. After that, all was black. ----------------------------------------------- ![]() Scipio slowly came to in a tiny, forested grotto, under the careful ministrations (read: pecking) of a crow. Shaking his hand, Scipio waved the creature away. He was not ready to end up like the men in his nightmares. Not quite yet. It was almost idyllic, with a few birds and the sword he had used to slay Enlil. Well, at least it’s the real world now. If I woke up in one more fucking white room, I think I would shoot someone. Laughing, Scipio found himself enraptured by the weapon. It had changed quite a bit, and Scipio could see that it clearly crackled with the lightning’s power, having absorbed some of the essence of Enlil. ”The god eater, Laevateinn. Beautiful, isn’t she? Freedom incarnate. It was the only other thing I could save, other than us. I thought you might want it.” Scipio spun around, fearing Enlil had somehow still survived, his temper flaring but little else- he was completely out of energy. But when he spun, it was not Enlil standing there, but a dying, ancient man, one who looked twice as old as God Himself. Scipio’s eyes tracked down, seeing that he was holding onto… ”R-Rachel? But-“ The old man slowly nodded his head. ”Aye. The girl you know as Rachel. She was my sister, lovely and cheerful as a sparrow in spring, before Lord Enlil took her life.” Scipio was confused, but the light of understanding finally dawned on his brow, even as the crow settled back down there as well. Scipio didn’t notice, or if he did, he made no show of it. ”You’re him. The boy I saw in my visions.” The old man nodded his head once more. ”Aye, I am he, Aloros. And it was I who challenged you all the way up the Endless Stairs. Enlil tricked me- his other host was dying, and he needed a new body. So he attacked Nashtim, out city, and then came as a benefactor in the aftermath. He promised to reunite me with my sister if I helped him. I was so foolish. He revealed that he needed a willing victim for a true, full power mantling, and so he fused me and my sister into that abomination you saw that man slaughter. He kept his promise, though- we were together. Together, trapped and tortured in that body…for three thousand years. I’ve seen hundreds of so called ‘heroes’ make it past the trials, only to end up as food to sustain Enlil. But you… you were different. You were the first to pity us, to see us as something different from the challenges- to see us as human. You were the first one to save Rachel. So I’m glad… it was you who ended Enlil.” At that moment, Rachel opened her eyes, drowsy as if she had just woken from a deep slumber. ”B…Big bro? Thanks for… helping other big bro. And thank you…for everything. You… be good, okay?” She smiled and lightly offered her hand. Scipio took it in his own, as gently as he would the spring’s first flower. Tears flooded his eyes as he forced a smile. ”Of course. You too, alright?” For his part, the ancient Aloros merely offered Scipio a curt nod and his own hand. Scipio grasped his as firmly as he would a comrade’s, a man with whom he’d fought with all his life. The two slowly turned to dust, the millennia catching up to them. ”Hey, big bro, don’t cry too much, alright? After all-“ ”-All men must die, and a man as great as you should never have anything but a smile on his face.” Scipio nodded silently, wiping his tears on his shoulder, before smiling as wide as he possibly could. The pair mirrored his smile, laughing even as they faded to dust and joined the world for the final time. Bowing his head, Scipio crossed himself and prayed, the words springing unbidden to his lips, though he had never been particularly religious. ”Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Today, for all your pain and misery and devotion, may you be rewarded a hundredfold in Paradise for all eternity.” It was short, it was sweet, and to Scipio, it resonated with a power that the Final Kingdom had never seen. Silence reigned for a moment, and only then did Scipio allow the tears to flow. The cave resounded with his sobs, his sorrow that two who deserved so much more and had shown him truths about himself he had never dared to believe had met such a fate, and his joy and relief that he could pay them back with their freedom. Still, he had a promise to make, and so, with a smile on his face, Scipio wiped away his tears for the last time, standing up and turning around to face the sword. ”Laevateinn, hmm? A fitting name.” Scipio drew it from the stone, and as it made contact with the Angels, the sword changed. The blade slowly faded to black, while the spine shone gold. Chains wrapped themselves around the hilt, which had curved up to meet the blade like angel’s wings. It all crackled with the blue electric fire that Scipio was beginning to recognize as the Angels’ callsign. Finally, and most importantly, runes ran down both sides of the blade’s spine, reading, ‘I am Laevateinn: god eater, king-slayer, chain-breaker/ I will bring judgement to those who cannot be judged.’ Scipio nodded, approving of the changes. He strapped Laevateinn to the baldric upon his back and strode out into the setting sun. I’m coming home. ![]() ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word count: 7,171 Words Final Word Count: 52,121 Words RP FINISHED Edited by William Scipio, Nov 25 2015, 11:13 AM.
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12:33 PM Jul 13