Chapter 36: Chaos Alex V: The Day That A God is Shot
The situation had changed gravely after the outburst of anger Alex's clone had undergone. With his emotionless state restored he had summoned forth black flames onto his right arm in such a fashion that reminded the young Overlord of his own form's ultimate attack. But the way the flames were burning across his arm worried Alex, as he immediately began to think that it wasn't a close range punch that he should be worried about. The clone cocked his arm up like a machine, the streams of black fire pushing towards the fist and transforming everything into pure darkness that compresses until it is roughly double the size of the hand itself.
"Satanic Sin Bullet." The clone says in monotone. That was all the confirmation Alex needed about the true nature of his attack. Leaping through the air to the right as a massive, comet shaped blast of darkness is fired from his counterpart's hand, the young Overlord is relieved to see that despite its size he was able to avoid touching the perimeter of the attack's pale white aura. But before it is out of sight the clone opens his hand up and swings it out to the side. The bullet quickly switches the place of the trail so it is behind Alex's point of view and thrusts itself in its newly turned direction.
As his eyes widen the young Overlord is quickly run through by the bullet, his entire body consumed by the darkness as he feels two soul shields vanishing instantaneously and the pained cries of the two Genesis Samurais ringing in his ears. Even as the bullet leaves behind him he still has traces of dark flames burning across his clothing and skin. They don't cause any damage, but Alex felt agony and paranoia welling up inside of his mind as they slowly faded away. It was only when they disappeared that he was offered freedom from the negativity. He then quickly turns to his clone as he prepares more flames in his right arm to strike again.
This causes Alex to quickly list what he knew about this attack in his head to prepare to avoid or counteract against it. The bullet moved at high speeds, could be controlled by his clone's movements, and took out two soul shields every time it passed through him. What he really disliked though was the form the attack took, since it reminded him of the disaster that took his parents away from him long ago. As a cold sweat drips down his forehead, the clone lowers his arm so Cackletta's spirit can talk through her puppet for a few seconds.
"How do you like my version of your ultimate attack?" She asks in a tone that expresses sadistic mockery of Alex's pain. "Well I must give you credit where credit is due…Instead of making my final attack into a physical move you had it act as a projectile." "Of course. Though honestly, you could do the same thing to with your soul flames…Or have you forgotten what you used against that stupid robed bitch a long, long time ago?" It was a rather shrewd question, but one that brought up a ton more to Alex's mind. "How could you…" The young Overlords shakes his head before his inquiry is asked in full.
It wasn't a detail that mattered at the moment, and will never matter in the future. He started to back away from the clone's body one inch at a time, keeping his gaze focused on him as Cackletta continued to talk. "Of course, the main reason I made it a projectile was so that I kill you in a manner similar to how your parents died…With a bullet that looks exactly like a comet!" This sentence caused Alex to flinch in place and stop his flight, suspending himself in mid-air as he looks at his counterpart and notices the witch's vile grin brimming deep inside his blank eyes.
It was obvious. She knew way too much, she was greatly prepared for this battle and this one specifically, and the situation was growing grimmer with each second that this puppet of hers was allowed to live. Alex knew the reason why she was so prepared to combat him. As the Elemental Overlord he was the one who governed over balance on the side of the Light, and thus he was the only real threat to one who stood on the side of Darkness. Unless he is taken out, Cackletta will never be allowed to accomplish her goal of absolute destruction through her creation.
"…Why do I keep reminding myself of such obvious facts?" The young Overlord notes as he snaps out of his brief moment of depression and returns his focus to the battle. He flies back further as Cackletta lets her puppet's consciousness return. "Alright, at this distance I should be able to avoid the attack before he can re-direct it…" Reassuring himself of his safety, Alex looks on and watches as his clone raises his right arm up and shoots out another bullet at him without calling the name of the attack. This speeds through, picking up darkness through the air and increasing in size marginally.
Alex speeds to the right, the clone following him with his hand to force the bullet to swerve to head towards him. However, the young Overlord watches the attack approach him, just barely keeping on much to his surprise. He then takes his sword and performs a quick slash behind him while his speed is still at maximum. A flame wave moves towards the larger projectile and impacts against the surface. Though it isn't broken through Alex draws his sword back and curves to the left, getting out of the attack's path with ease as he looks over to his clone and sees him already conjuring up more flames in his arm.
This confirmed two things for the young Overlord. First, that the direction of the projectile can only be changed once. And two, that even though he can't destroy the bullet with regular attacks he can slow it down by striking it with a direct hit from another projectile. With this information in mind Alex now has a slight advantage against his clone. He reverses his direction and moves towards where his counterpart is, drawing his sword behind his body with both hands as he prepares for the right moment to prove another theory of his.
As the right arm is lifted up ready to launch another bullet at the desired target, Alex swings his sword out in a quick arch and sends a wave of super-condensed flames at his clone. Inside the fire is electricity, which bursts out of the flames after colliding with into the palm of the boy of black and white. Though the black flames coursing across his arms are disrupted momentarily by the attack they continued to pulsate until they reach the fist and condense into the orb of pure darkness needed to fire. As the bullet speeds towards Alex he dispels his sword and thinks to himself, "Guess that won't be a viable tactic then…" before lifting his body into the air to get over the bullet.
A raise of the hand changes its path as usual, and as his head is bent down to watch the black projectile come his way the young Overlord quickly notices his clone summoning more flames into his arm to fire off another shot. What was to come wasn't the focus of Alex's attention though, and he quickly thrusts his arms downward and sends a salvo of light-red energy spheres at it that slows it down and allows him to slip away from it by performing a flip in the air. Now above his clone, the young Overlord twists his head behind him and looks down to see him with his hand up high ready to fire another shot.
Upon seeing this another plan is put into motion inside of his mind, a smirk brimming across his face as he begins to dive down towards his opposite. The bullet is fired out as he charges towards it, but he curves his movements forward and swerves around it, getting beneath it and gripping his now formed sword behind him with his clone in his sights. He arches his eyebrows to stay focused as the counterpart jerks his arm back towards him to reverse the bullet to hit Alex before he can strike him, but this is exactly what he wanted in the end.
With a quick cut burned across the front of his clone's chest, the young Overlord is successful in breaking his concentration long enough for him to curve and rush forward out of the way as the bullet comes down and consumes the body before it vanishes below the feet. It was a quick and effortless blow, and unlike all the attacks Alex had used beforehand, re-directing the bullet actually permanently damaged the clone. As he turns around Alex sees the scars spread across his arms and legs, parts of his clothing torn off to show the bleeding scars underneath as well. With his regeneration unable to work against damage done to himself, the clone twists his body towards his counterpart without focusing on the pain and raises his right arm up.
With black flames spawning for another bullet, the young Overlord prepares his sword in defense beside him, gripping the handle as the blade hangs diagonally behind his hip. He floats back to put some distance between the two of them, but widens his eyes as he sees his clone raise his other arm up as well with flames at the ready. "Oh great…He can fire two of them." Alex thinks to himself in a deadpan tone. With his previous strategy now incapable of being performed thanks to this new addition, the young Overlord tries to come up with another plan as the first bullet is fired from the right arm.
Alex quickly rises up to get out of the projectile's path before it is switched via the jerking of the clone's arm, which is then promptly followed up by another shot being launched diagonally towards where the young Overlord is about to go. Alex didn't know if two bullets hitting him at once would remove four soul shields, but he wasn't in a position to test that hypothesis out and quickly flipped his body downward to send a wave of flame at the bullet below him to slow it down. He then raises back up and performs a backflip to get out of the first bullet's pathway, the other one being redirected towards him with a flick of the clone's wrist.
The young Overlord then speeds himself up, flipping through the air multiple times and gathering wind and electricity into his blade like a conductor for his next attack. The bullet edges ever closer to his body, but with a sudden halt and a thrust like lightning the blade unleashes a tornado surging with the voltage of a thousand generators at the projectile. The built up wind grinds against the bullet and wears itself down and slows the bullet down to a crawl. Before the electricity vanishes with a fizzle Alex turns himself around and dashes away, arching his flight upwards until he is lying on his back on the air.
He then flies towards his clone, leaning his head back to see him creating another bullet in both arms. Flipping his body around with his arms out held and his glorious wings flapping just once, the young Overlord rushes forth in a burst of speed and divebombs towards his opponent. With his sword above his head he slashes towards the face, cutting it straight across the center and keeping the movements towards the rest of the body as leans his own figure to slip between both arms and ram his shoulder right into his clone's chest.
The bullets are fired but pass harmlessly behind him, and their movements are unable to be controlled thanks to the disruption of concentration Alex has given to him. As the clone breaks out of his counterpart's charge and holds his arms outright to cover them both in flames, the young Overlord delivers and arced slash covered in fire, spraying out bolts of lightning from the burning cut that puncture multiple holes through his clone's black shirt and skin and sends a million volts coursing through the nerves to briefly paralyze him.
The black flames fizzle out of existence as his mind is incapable of keeping them formed, and Alex continues his assault by keeping his position steady and pressing onward, performing multiple sword slashes in the span of a second to cut up the skin on his clone's body. He knew regeneration would keep them healed in a matter of moments, but he kept wanting to stall for time so he could figure out how to counteract the "Satanic Sin Bullet". He never let up in his attacks, even as the darkness grew thicker around his clone's body to hasten the healing process. The only parts unaffected were those damaged by his own projectile, which was something of a reliever for Alex.
"Ok…My basic attacks won't work, I can't stall long enough to use my stronger beams and spells to test if they would at the very least destroy the bullets, and now that both arms are being used as guns I can't trick my opposite into sending them back towards him. I can disrupt his projection of the flames by attacking him quick and hard, but since I can't deal permanent damage I won't be able to end the barrage by killing him. Damn it, what other options do I left have to use now?" With everything coming together inside his mind the young Overlord bore his teeth down against each other and realized that the only inch of progress he made during this entire battle was with the destruction of the souls embodying the Seven Deadly Sins, and even that was not of his doing but because of the actions of the Genesis Samurai and Inner Guardian's spirits.
"Can I even do anything on my own?" Alex asks himself as he delivers a hard slash horizontally across the chest of his clone. "No, that's not the issue here." He assures himself. "Besides, my opposite has only survived this long because of Cackletta's godforsaken interference." Shaking his head, the young Overlord discards that line of thinking, mistaking what he considered as a sign of arrogance. At the same time though this denial got him thinking about other things, such as why he has refused to remove the glove pressed against his right hand to use his "Blazing Overlord Fist" to try and end this battle.
It was a flaw in his mentality that he couldn't figure out. But just as his blade struck the body of his clone and pushed him back further, so too did a revelation strike his youthful mind. The question he asked himself just a few moments ago tied in to that which he wondered about now. "Of course…I want to prove myself now. I want to win this battle via my own strength and resolve…And if I let loose the Blazing Overlord Fist I will simply be relying on the energy of the others to save me…However, there is a point where the mixture of determination to prove one's self and my ludicrous denial of the truth will have to end…"
Finally the clone summons his own sword and swings it out to block an attack, the collision of blades knocking both warriors away long enough for the boy of black and white to dispel his weapon and ignite both of his arms with black flames ready to launch his projectiles once more. The clone is able to recover from the blows faster than Alex can, and with the current distance between them the young Overlord had no time to avoid them. The fists fire the bullets out simultaneously, Alex's entire body being consumed by the full might of their darkness as he feels the anguished cries of the remaining Genesis Samurais and the last four soul shields breaking away without a trace.
But he accepts the damages done to him with his eyelids shut and his body suspended in the air with his magnificent wings having not lost their glow. He dims the aura around his body, dispelling his sword and hanging his head so the clone can not peer into his eyes. The boy of black and white lowers his arms and disperses the flames around his body, looking at his counterpart with his head tilted to the right out of curiosity. "Why have you given up…evil me?" He ponders in monotone. The young Overlord is unresponsive, his eyes gazing towards the glove on his right hand as it is lifted up and clenched tightly into the shape of a fist.
He looked deep inside of himself, the mind of his body intact but its inhabitants lying on the spiritual plane broken and exhausted from their efforts. He could see despair buried deep in a few of their eyes, a result of having to endure the brunt of the clone's bullets for their master. The original Elemental Overlord stayed floating as a beacon of hope on both the inside and outside, his formless appearance giving light to all things dim. All of them looked up, sensing their young master's faint presence and wondering just how he is holding up considering the turmoil present in his mind.
But as Alex looked in he felt other fragmented spirits buried deep within his body. Each of these spirits held within them wonderful memories from the past. As he recalled them one by one he commented in his mind on the people present in his recollections. "Driad, naïve yet faithful…You were the first non-human ally I met on our journey, and thus the one being I formed the closest bond with due to the time we spent together. You had a past no one knew about besides yourself, and when you learned the truth you were unable to accept it at first…I helped you through your difficult times and saved you when you almost succumbed to your bloodlust…Now you have become a proud and courageous warrior that can protect himself without being deterred, and I'm glad I was there to help you in what little ways I could, even if deep down you wished to become strong on your own…"
"Luigi, the man in green who I always thought was a coward…You always had courage buried within you, and that always surfaced when you had a cause, a person to protect…In the months between now and our first meeting, I have come to realize that the reason for your courage throughout the whole journey was because no matter where you went, the desire to protect Daisy was always right there with you. Perhaps some of that courage rubbed off on me throughout our travels, and for that I am thankful to you…"
"Mallow, the proud, cheerful prince of Nimbus Land…You were always optimistic even in our darkest hours, yet you still knew when it was time to buckle down and get serious. You had grown so much from the days of old, as Mario has told me a couple times before, and it is reflected in the magic you have learned and the maturity of your actions day after day. You are a fine example of royalty, a chip off the old block wouldn't you say? You've made your parents proud, and I am happy to have known you…"
"Gemini, the level-headed electricity wielding demon Koopa…You had a hard time getting accustomed to our ragtag group at first, since we didn't follow the guidelines of your organization due to how unknown it was. But in time you chilled out, showed off your sense of humor and provided a level of depth that I was surprised to have found out from the others. You were smart, strong, and brave…A well-rounded individual that was a perfect fit into our group once you got used to us, and I'm sorry that your line of work keeps you so busy…I would've liked to have gotten to know you more as a friend…"
"Geno, the strong, somewhat rebellious herald from the stars. Having known Mario and Mallow in the past, you fit right in with little difficulty. You saved our butts from the frying pan more times than we can count, and I owe a great deal of gratitude to you out of all the others for standing firm in your beliefs and finding hope when no one else could, illuminating the night sky with the dreams of the planet to save not just me, but everyone around and below you. You are in my debt, he born from the stars…"
"Alpha…Ok, I'll be honest about my thoughts right now since I am alone. I disliked what you did to me immensely…I may have said what I did, may have but on a façade to hide the truth from all, but it doesn't change what you did to me for your own inane reasons….Even so, you stood firm in your beliefs of justice, you fought against Cackletta knowing full well the disdain the others may or not have had towards you. You have held a great burden on your shoulders for thirty years, and even after what you did to me I still respect you for standing strong and continuing on even if the whole world were to turn against you just so you could stop the witch from ending all others…"
"Mario, the courageous, cheerful, heroic, empathetic…You know, I don't have enough adjectives to describe one of the greatest heroes the universe has ever known. You are selfless in everything you do to save the world. Even if you've never seen someone before if they are having problems you will deal with them without any regard to your own safety or without concern about the reward. The countless people who remember your name or your appearance is proof enough of the respect you have gained, and even though you never knew it beforehand the people who have played your games on Earth have come to respect you as well for the very traits I have listed in my mind. It can't honestly be expressed enough how many positive qualities you have in comparison to those you lack, and as the one who brought me to this world I feel as though I have been able to take on some of those traits and become a better person for it. Thank you, most of all, hero of the planet Plit…"
As Alex finishes reminiscing, he pulls his fist away from his chest and looks up towards his clone. He thinks to himself about the time before he gained his Phoenix Form, and realized why he was able to call on these memories so swiftly. Because each of the seven heroes put a bit of their essence inside of him to help his recovery. So no matter what, even when all fourteen shields are down for good, he will forever have someone protect him from the inside, even if it does little to affect the conditions around him on the outside. He raises his hand up and brandishes a pointer finger at the clone.
"I haven't given up. I never will give up on myself or the world so long as I have people looking out for me, and I continue to look out for them!" He says with righteous enthusiasm, but the clone doesn't flinch at his resolve and responds without emotion, "But your spirits have given up…Your statement holds no weight anymore." "That's where you are wrong. The Genesis Samurais, the Inner Guardians, and even the original Elemental Overlord…They aren't the only people protecting me. Even if they aren't here physically thanks partially to your mother's machinations, there are nine others who have watched over me through their and my own struggles. They have never given up, and neither shall I!"
The clone looked at his counterpart in utter confusion, and the boy continued his previous sentence boldly, "You know seven of them already from the memories fabricated within your head…" As he speaks Alex moves his right hand until it is held out in front of his face, his left hand gripped around the glove as his eyes slant fiercely with an overwhelming since of determination. A single tear drips out of his left eye as he thinks about what he is going to do. To remove the glove from his hand, he needs to utter out a password that he had set on it previously. It was a few words that were tied deeply in the strife of his past, but he knew that those above who knew their true meaning would be proud of him for using them so confidently. "These two people have been watching me from the Heavens since their departure from the mortal plane, and as they look down at me with loving eyes I call their names…" With his hands quivering out of sadness, teardrops start to trickle down both of Alex's cheeks as he finds it difficult to contain himself. "Recognize Password: Lumina and Abraham Whiter!"
Next Time: A Serene Ending