Author's Note:
I've been waiting to get to this fight since the beginning of NV, and I'm so glad I finally get to post it! If you're into reading to music, I heavily recommend looking for [Mai Hime] Mezame on YT and reading the section marked with ** to it. I wrote the scene to that piece and I more or less consider that Ophiod's theme when writing him. I hope you all enjoy!
The city of Ouroborus was in flames.
With a massive roar, the blackened figure that stood at the apex of the palace let out a blast of power. Serpentine scattered in the streets of the blasts fired towards them, destroying their homes, their lives, their everything. The darkness of the night sky only framed the flames that rose up from them, completely obscuring anything else that could be seen.
The figure turned, seeing a large group of Anacondrai racing towards him. His black hair swirled above him like some sort of ethereal being. He raised his hands in the air and thrust them forward, sending out beams of purple that struck the Slither Pit arena in front of the palace. The entire rocky swirl was ripped apart, blasted into the stands and crumblign them to dust. The warriors scattered to avoid the rubble, but the cloud of dust slowly began to overtake even that.
A blast of orange slowly overcame the figure's vision. He raised his hands, trying to obscure it. When he lowered them, a beautiful Serpentine was hovering in front of him. Her body was surrounded by magic, flowing out from her hands. Her scales, normally a dull copper, had slowly begun to turn golden as the magic flowed through her. The orange surrounding her illuminated her in front of the night sky and the flames behind her as Ouroborus burned.
"Garmadon, stop this!" Aspheera shouted, her eyes misting with tears, "This isn't you! This is the venom that is taking you over! My love, please, listen to me!"
"YOUR SPELL IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH ANYMORE!" The figure roared, his entire face hidden in darkness to let only his red eyes pierce Aspheera, "YOUR WORDS WILL NOT REACH ME!"
With a loud cry, the figure sent his power towards the snake. Aspheera gasped, her eyes widening as she thrust a shield of magic in front of her. The impact broke the shield instantly, and with a massive cry she was sent hurtling off in the distance. Her body smashed into the side of the palace as she let out a wail of pain. Before she could get up from the attack, the dark being had shot off towards her, smashing apart the palace wall as Aspheera barely managed to move away in time.
"My spell, I will, I will perfect it!" Aspheera shouted, "The venom can't have taken you over this quickly! This city is your home, Garmadon! Please, listen to me!"
"YOUR SPELL WAS WEAK!" Garmadon roared at her, once more raising his completely darkened face, "YOU WERE WEAK! THE VENOM HAS FESTERED INSIDE ME FOR YEARS, HELD BACK ONLY BY YOU! AND NOW, REAP YOUR REWARD!"
Aspheera used her magic to fly above Garmadon, charging up power in her hands and pointing it down towards him. The magic shot down and wrapped around him as orange chains, binding his arms to his side. Aspheera landed on the side of the pyramid palace once more, slowly raising her hands and blasting her power down them. As it struck Garmadon through the chains, he let out a roar of pain. Each burst from Aspheera's magic sent his roars towards her. She shut them and turned away, quietly sobbing to herself.
Aspheera looked up to see Garmadon had broken the chains with a blast of power. The blast roared off through Ouroborus to strike a large library, destroying it and sending more fire to the district. Aspheera gasped as Garmadon shot straight towards her, his hand grabbing her neck. He lifted her up in the air, even as she gripped his hand and yanked it. His entire body had gone black. Purple lightning shot through his body. It was the power of destruction, and her eyes desperately looked into the red orbs that had belonged to her husband. The man that she had saved from death. The man that had betrayed his entire people for her. There was nothing there.
With a deep grin, Garmadon threw Aspheera. The Queen was sent hurtling right into the entrance to her palace. The large pyramid, previously as sign of power and hope, was now alight with the rest of the city. Aspheera raised her head from the shattered floor as Garmadon charged his power in his blackened hands.
Garmadon let out a loud laugh as he leapt forward off the side of the pyramid, landing in the ruins of the Slither Pit. The Serpentine around the city were fleeing in desperation.
"Yes… YES!" Garmadon laughed, "BOW BENEATH ME, SERPENTINE! I AM THE DECEIVER NO MORE! NOW, I AM YOUR RULER!"
Aspheera's body twitched, trying to get up. She pushed herself upright, her tail limp as she did. She looked down as Garmadon charged more power in his hands and leapt into the city, blasting apart the beautiful buildings that the city had become known for. She watched as Serpentine fled. As the man she loved had become fully taken by the venom, the destructive force by which the two had met before. And all she could do was weep.
"My Queen!" Arcturus' voice rang out. Aspheera turned to see him slithering across the palace floor in his golden armor, ready for battle. He gripped her and helped to pull her upright, "My Queen, are you alright?!"
"I… I am…" Aspheera shook her head, "Where is Ophiod?"
Arcturus turned. Hiding beside the throne was a younger Ophiod. He was little more than a child. He trembled as he looked out the palace walls, watching as the city he knew went up in flames. Aspheera tssked.
"Where are you taking him?" Aspheera asked.
"I was to take him underground," Arcturus shook his head, "...He has been watching."
The young Ophiod trembled harder as he saw a new flame burst up into the air. Aspheera shook her head. She set her jaw, trying to find the words she had to say. tHe conviction she needed for this. Ophiod put his hands over his head as he tried to hide himself from it all.
"...Bring me…" Aspheera shook her head, "Bring me the staff, Arcturus."
"What?" Arcturus asked in shock, "You… my Queen, what do you intend to do?"
"...You do not wish to know," Aspheera hid her tears from Arcturus, "I know of… a spell. A spell we can use to end this. I must, I must perform it."
"M-Mom?" Aspheera turned to see Ophiod slithering over to her. He looked up to her, confusion in his eyes. Aspheera looked down at him, then turned to Arcturus.
"Go!" Aspheera snapped at him. The Anacondrai didn't hesitate, slithering off as fast as he could. She turned down to her soon, then reached out and took hi shands with her own.
"Ophiod… my… my son…" Aspheera shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'm… your father, it's… I'm going to ask you to do a terrible thing. A horrible, horrible thing. And you have to do it for me. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. You may hate me for this, and, please… please, I need you to listen to me."
"M-Mom, what's going on…?" Ophiod asked, his voice quiet and meek. His mother's eyes trembled as she looked down at her son.
"...I… I need you to perform a spell with me," Aspheera asked, "Your father, he is… he is gone. He'll destroy all of us if we don't stop him. I'm sorry. It's my fault. He… he was being kept back by me, and my spell failed. He's… I need your help. So, please…" Aspheera shook her head, "Please listen to me. Do what I say. I need you for this spell, it won't work if we don't do it together."
"M-Mom-" Ophiod started, but then he heard a crash. Both mother and son turned to see Garmadon having landed at the palace entrance, slowly walking towards them. Aspheera said nothing more and grabbed her son tightly, her magic flaring up to teleport them.
"You can't hide from me!" Garmadon shouted, raising his hands and firing at the throne. The chamber behind it was revealed as it was broken apart. He grinned and walked forward, following them through the chambers.
The world shifted. When Ophiod opened his eyes again, he was standing with Aspheera. Arcturus stood beside them, holding the staff with the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu. To their backs was the chamber that held the Great Devourer, sealed away as it had always been. Garmadon stood at the chamber entrance.
"You cannot stop me…" Garmadon hissed out, "YOU CANNOT STOP ME!"
"Yes I can!" Aspheera gripped the staff, causing the scroll to unfurl, "...I love you, Garmadon. I love you so much. And it's because of that that I… that I will!" Aspheera shook her head, scattering her tears about, "I will seal you away!"
Garmadon growled and lunged at her. Aspheera pushed Ophiod back and held the staff forward. A blast of pure magic shot out, grabbing hold of Garmadon. All at once, Garmadon shouted in pain as his entire body was enraptured by it. Aspheera shut her eyes and turned her head away, but chanted as he did.
"Vah cah insurtru!" Aspheera shouted, her words strained with agony, "Destu cah rahkshi vah!" Garmadon screamed, making Aspheera's body tense harder, "MUAKA!"
Garmadon screamed harder, his hands blasting power out into the magic around him. Aspheera's body trembled as she did. Acrturus put his hands in front of him to shield himself. Ophiod pressed against the wall, sobbing in confusion and terror.
"Ophiod!" Aspheera shouted, "You must help me!"
"M-Mom!" Ophiod shouted, his body frozen.
"GGGGGGGGAAAAAHHHHHH! RRAAAHGGHG! AAUGUGHG, AGHEGH!" Garmadon screamed, his body burning with the magic. Each shout ripped another tear in Aspheera's heart.
"I can't… do this alone!" Aspheera shouted at Ophiod, her words strained, "The spell.. Requires two to perform! Ophiod, you are the only one!"
"I-I don't want to! I don't!" Ophiod shouted, "Stop hurting him! Please!"
The light of the chamber grew brighter. Aspheera strained to hold her grip on the scroll. Garmadon's eyes flashed with that deep red, burning all the way through him. For a long while, Ophiod could do nothing but stare at it, tears obscuring his vision. In the reflection of those tears, however, there was something shifting in Garmadon's eye.
"RRRAAAAGGGHHH! Garmadon shouted, "M...MY SON! PLEASE! DO IT!"
"D-Dad?" Ophiod turned towards the writhing figure of Garmadon, "Dad! Stop, please!"
"DO IT!" Garmadon screamed, "PLEASE! BEFORE I… BEFORE I HURT YOU MORE! I LOVE YOU, OPHIOD! I LOVE YOU, ASPHEERA! PLEASE! STOP ME! STOP ME WHILE I STILL… WHILE I'M STILL ABLE TO REMEMBER YOU!"
"Dad!" Ophiod screamed. Garmadon's hands flared with power which shot out into the magic Aspheera was pouring into him, corrupting it. Aspheera's body tensed as it poured back into her, casing her to grit her jaw in agony. She held on, trying her hardest, pushing against it. Garmadon began to scream harder as he poured everything he had into breaking free.
Ophiod gripped the staff. Aspheera looked down at him with pained eyes. Ophiod focused, pouring his magic into the staff. Mother and son both poured their magic together. Garmadon's power hit Ophiod, and his entire obyd felt as though he'd stepped into fire. Each cell he had roared with pure pain. Both endured as Ophiod recalled the words his mother had said to him!
"I-Ishtar! Invictar! Se-se-cah! Olmak de… de…" Ophiod's throat burned. Aspheera slid her hand down the staff to take his hand. She looked to him among the blasts of magic with sadness in her eyes. A solidarity to them. Ophiod took a long breath, forcing himself to continue as they chanted together.
"OLMAK DE TAH!" They shouted together, both crying, "GREHAN DE TAH! OLDMAK DE TAH! DE TAH! BOHROK!"
The wall behind them opened. The magic they used powered through them. IT burned through them. It lit their bodies up. The two Vipers watched as the magic dragged Garmadon forward. The screaming, writhing visage of his father, into the darkness. Ophiod could see the sleeping form of the massive Great Devourer inside. The magic yanked Garmadon inside. Ophiod shut his eyes just as Garmadon was thrust forward into it, the magic sealing him away with a thud of the chamber doors sealing shut once again.
Aspheera dropped to the floor, her body, her magic, and her will exhausted. She let ou a hard gasp as she panted on the floor, trying to regain her straight. Ophiod slowly hefted the large staff up in his hands, feeling it in his hands. Feeling it in his mind. Feeling everything about it. And… and what he had done with it.
"...I-I…" Ophiod lowered his head, "I-I sealed him in there, with… I sealed him away and… and now…" Ophiod raised his head, "W-What… what… what have I done…?" Ophiod shook his head, "What have I done?!"
With a roar of confused anger, Ophiod slithered forward, thrusting the staff forward into the wall with one arm. The staff struck the wall and stuck there.
"Give him back!" Ophiod shouted, "Give, give him back! Y-You can't do this! I-I don't want him to! G-Give him back, give him BACK!"
Ophiod thrust the staff against the wall again. Hitting it. Slashing at it, throwing all he had on it. Arcturus and Aspheera looked on at him with a look of anguish in their eyes. As Arcturus moved to support the Queen, Ophiod felt tears begin to leak from his face.
"GIVE HIM BACK!" Ophiod screamed, slamming the staff forward against the wall. For a few moments, he held it there, his lips opening up for an anguished cry. He tried to pull the staff back. It didn't move.
Suddenly, Ophiod's body was thrown backwards. The staff went flying through the air as Ophiod landed on his back beside his mother. His vision went black. He curled up in pain, gasping. His strength was gone. His will was gone. He was just like his mother. The mother that had him seal his father away. Ophiod slowly closed his eyes, ready to devolve into tears…
...Instead, Ophiod opened his eyes to a sky of purple and gray. He raised his head as the purple began to fade away. He shook himself, finding a sore spot on his back. He was laying on the ground, the scroll in one hand, and Skales standing over him. When Ophiod slowly raised his hand, he saw smoke beginning to leak up from his face against the palm, and into the air.
"Ophiod!" Skales hissed at him, his eyes wide, "Are… are you okay…?"
"I'm fine, Skales…" Ophiod blinked, "I don't know what happened to me… I… I was seeing…"
Ophiod's words trailed off. His eyes had caught his staff. A staff that was dripping with red. The scroll itself was stained with small rivets of it. The blood had run all the way down and started to stain his right hand. His body was locked in confusion as he tried to place it.
"What…?" Ophiod shook his head, "Where did… where did this blood…?"
"I will not allow for another to die like he has…" A voice echoed across the battlefield, "I will not allow for another to be hurt. I WILL NOT ALLOW IT! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"
Ophiod looked towards the noise. When he did, his eyes froze on the sight of it. Over, cradling Mage's body in his arms. Mage's body streaked with red, blossoming from his chest. And Over's eyes widened beyond belief, a pain and hurt in them that Ophiod himself could only guess at. And with it, the malice of someone ready to do something, something Ophiod knew not what he'd caused.
"...Did I…?" Ophiod looked down at the staff. Just in time for Over to fall forward, planting his body firmly overtop of Mage's own. Ophiod slithered backwards as he saw those eyes begin to rise up. The purple in them, leaking out into the abyss of his blackened body. Watching as that body began to twist contort… and to melt.
"Get back!" Skales, sensing danger, yanked hold of Ophiod and yanked him away from the sight. Ophiod could only watch as Over's body melted. Twisted. Pooled onto the ground in an inky mirth. Skales continued to yank him away Ophiod was left staring at the sight of Over's body, ripping, tearing, transforming.
"What's happening?!" Ophiod shouted, gripping his staff tightly, "What, what is he doing?!"
The orb broke free of Over's body, rising up into the air. With it, the rest of his body seemed to melt away, as though the support had been lost. Ophiod and Skales soon were actively slithering away as the darkness spread out over the ground. Growing in its size, shape, and covering more of it. And when the two had fully left the grounds of the Summit, Ophio turned back just in time to see the darkness swirling up around the orb itself, the blackness of it all deeper than any shadow, any darkness cast by a creature. He had no idea what he was seeing, only that whatever it was, it was a horrifying creature of the abyss.
The creature of melting darkness roared into the air. Ophiod gripped his head, his body suddenly overcome with a feeling of sorrow, horror, and dread itself. A hopelessness washed over him, causing every ounce of his body to freeze over. Skales did the same, his body writhing as he felt the same sensation. Both of them collapsed onto the ground as they felt it, pushing forward and forward into them. Above them, the mass of darkness bubbled and frothed, then another limb ripped out of it, rising up into the air and slamming down towards them.
With a flash of wind, Monty grabbed hold of the two of them and blasted them across the ground with his skating feet. Mere seconds after they were gone, the limb hit the ground. Darkness melted from the foot, moving out onto the ground like a spill of decay and joining with the massive pool that had already covered the entire former Summit grounds. Monty threw the two forward and stopped, turning to look towards the creature with the SoS drawn. When Ophiod looked up, they were behind the assembled group of their foes.
"W...What is that thing…?" Lloyd asked, his body shaken as he looked up towards it. His eyes seemed to scream to look away, but his body refused to do so.
"...I-Is that even Over…?" Harumi took several steps back, her breath picking up hard.
"...I don't know, but…" Lulloyd blinked, but the image was still behind his eyes, "That, that noise is... "
"Whatever Over has done, Mage is inside that thing," Monty looked down towards Ophiod, "...And he's likely not got that long left to live."
"What?" Ophiod planted his staff in the ground, raising his body up. His limbs felt frigid, right down to the core. He couldn't move his body well at all. The sight of the beast, the creature from their nightmares, roaring in front of them, was something which he could barely bring himself to comprehend. And even then, the thought of it alone only made his limbs lock up more.
"You… you stabbed Mage," Lloyd turned to look at Ophiod, "You stabbed him! And, and now Over… Over did that?"
"I did?" Ophiod shook his head, "I don't remember that. I only remember… I was seeing something. In my head. I didn't know I was hurting anyone!"
"Well, you did," Harumi gulped, "And… and now…"
"And now," Oni's voice spoke up as he walked up in front of the ground, "You are seeing someone that has become the heir of grief."
Monty pointed the SoS forward at Oni. The being held his newly crafted mask in one hand, but had not placed it on again. He looked back towards the group, his eyes hollow as they always were.
"What?" Monty frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
"I warned him… I warned him of the grief and rage that he has held within his being," Oni looked back up towards the abomination in front of them, "His is a grief that cannot be seen in words. The loss of a world that he had given his existence for, the one person he had taken in as his own reason for continuing… and then, to see that loss again, in one that he had imprinted on… it has given him a level of anger, of rage, that has transcended even his own mortal shell itself."
"So… so you're saying that this is Over… this is him upset?" Lloyd asked. Oni frowned.
"No. That is not Over," Oni lowered his head, "It is his anger, his grief, his malice, all given form within the power he stores within. A form of which only could be created from the fusion of the power of a time before time of the Overlord, and the emotion and destiny in his fusion to the one we knew as Lloyd. It is their combined grief, sorrow, and anguish. That beast has no mind, no thought. No mind to take, no will to break. Nothing that can be turned back."
"...So, so how do we stop it?" Lulloyd asked, taking a shaky step forward, "There has to be a way to stop it!"
"Did you not listen to me?" Oni looked down at the ground, at the shadows that were slowly consuming it, "That thing, is not Over. He cannot be stopped. He is the raw force of a power that surpassed even the First Master, for a time. This world is forfeit. You would do best to shut down your device, and to leave now. This situation has gone beyond what it was we had intended."
"The device…?" Harumi asked, turning to see that, indeed, the device to summon the Twins was still running, still firing its portal up into the sky, their devices still attached to it and powering the thing. It was a goal that she had almost completely forgotten about. From the looks of everyone else, they had to.
"We can't leave!" Lloyd stepped forward, "This is Mage's home! We can't let him just run rampage here!"
"You would fight something that has power that you cannot even hold a candle to?" Oni asked him.
"We do that all the time," Monty held the SoS forward, "...Even if that thing is like… that."
The beast in front of them stopped moving. Its body was melting still, dripping down and condensing back into its own mass, but it no longer moved. For a moment, they assumed that the creature itself was finally finished moving, finished with what it had intended to do. But instead, they now watched as it began to turn its large, liquid eyes towards the ground. Towards the ring of binding that Ophiod had placed along the ground. The one that had held back the Oni smoke, and would serve to be the means of preventing their escape.
Slowly, the beast opened its jaws. With a massive roar, the thing let out a blast of power. The power was almost akin to that of Over's own blasts, but it was infused with a darkness of tendrils wrapped around the thing and swirling in and out of the mass itself. It blasted straight towards the barrier, hitting it with a screech to almost put them all on their knees again. Orange magic flared up to meet it, attempting to fight it. Attempting to hold the thing back. Attempting to keep the beast from escaping. The magic held, yet the screeching was enough to tell they would not have long before it left the arena.
"We have to stop it, before it leaves…" Lloyd looked up at the beast, "...We have, we have to bring Over down. We have to…"
"How?" Oni shook his head, "You have no way of doing so. I will not help you in such an endeavor."
"We figure it out, then!" Lloyd snapped, "It was your smoke that caused this! If we have to be the ones to fix it, then we will!" Lloyd held his sword up, "...I don't know what we'll do, but we have to help him, we have to get Mage!"
Lloyd leapt forward. The group attempted to stop him, but he was far too fast for them. He ran straight towards the beast, towards shadows that had blanketed the ground. He shouted as he raced forward, straight towards the creature. His feet crossed the threshold of the shadows, running across the ground.
Suddenly, Lloyd's body froze. His shadow rose up behind him, up from the ground and behind him. Lloyd's lips opened to try to protest, but the shadows moved and suddenly shot against him. The others watched in horror as the shadow infused into his body, as though diffused into him like water. Lloyd moved one hand in front of him, just in time to see what looked like his very skin itself was frothing. And then, he screamed.
"LLOYD!" Harumi screamed back as he watched Lloyd fall to the ground. Lloyd's body writhed, convulsed, it snapped and shook in ways that seemed unnatural, confused. The shadows inside of him, his own shadow, wracked his very body down to its core. It twisted and mangled his limbs, wrenching him forward and back across the ground. As he did, the shadows on the ground began to rise up. Writhing, screaming, sharpened tendrils that began to slowly conform around him. Lloyd continued to writhe, unable to stop his own body as it seemed the shadows were ready to cocoon him.
Unwilling to wait, Harumi fired Rhotatae into the air, jumping forward and up onto the discs, leaping across the sea of darkness that had become the ground. The moment that the disc passed over the shadows, the shadow of the disc itself shot up and infused it, turning it a deep black before it shattered apart. Harumi leapt into the air to land on it, just in time for her foot to fall through. She landed on the dark ground. Her eyes had just enough time to see her shadow rise up from the ground and begin to drip through her body before the pain tore through her just the same.
Monty reached out with wind, yanking Harumi's body with it and pulling her straight back over to where they stood. Just as she hit the ground not covered in darkness, her screams stopped and the pain instantly subsided. Lloyd, however, was just about to be lost to the darkness. Lulloyd unfurled his mechdragon and landed in the cockpit, blasting away at the shadows with missiles. Several of them were consumed by their own shadows, breaking apart in the air. One, however, shot through the rest just in time to hit where Lloyd was cocooned, blasting open a hole for them. Monty reached out with his wind and yanked Lloyd from it and back over the boundary of light and shadow. Just like Harumi, he too stopped screaming as the pain subsided.
"What is that?!" Lulloyd shouted.
"Over's ability… is it not to control shadows!?" Skales shouted from beside Ophiod, who had remained frozen in confusion this entire time.
"No… this is not Shadow Control," Oni looked forward, "To control a shadow is to bend it to your will. These shadows are not his will. He has asserted his power into them, and nothing else. This… is Shadow Domination."
Suddenly, from the sky above them, a noise. In the clouds, hovering high above where Over was, was Invictus. None of them had heard the mech in the air. None of them had heard it fly. But the clouds parted as he hovered there, looking down at the beast still attempting to blast through the barrier with his deafening screech. Prime slowly took a deep breath in his cockpit.
"...I have said from the moment I met you, that you are an abomination…" Prime gripped his head with one hand, his expression deeply disturbed as he looked down at it, "And now… now you chose to show your true form…" Prime laughed, "While they cower in fear, I have already seen this. I have stood at the center of it, and blasted it apart! I have faced you before! I will destroy you, just as I did then!"
Invictus spun in the air, blasting straight down towards the creature. The mech readied its swords to drive forward into the beast. Ready to destroy it and break it apart. Prime, in his cockpit, roared out as he readied himself to attack. His heart was pounding, his mind was racing, but his target was clear. Even now, as he looked down at the creature in his viewport, he had no terror, only the rush of anger to plunge down into the creature.
From the back of the creature, the shadows bubbled up, then shot up in tendrils massive enough to ensnare the mech, racing up into the air to meet him. Prime slashed his swords through the air, cutting them apart as he continued to rocket down towards the creature. Just as he was about to reach the thing, another purple eye opened on the back of the creature, looking right at him. A hole of shadow depressed into the thing's back beside it, and then another blast of purple power shot straight up from it at him. Prime's eyes widened as he moved to dodge, but the blast was too fast. It blasted straight down into the mech's left shoulder, blasting apart the armor and leaving a gaping hole of wiring, machinery, and sparks. Prime screamed in pain as his own shoulder was scorched with it. The impact threw Invictus backwards, hurtling towards the ground.
Before he could even land, the shadows on the ground rose up, just as they had with Lloyd. Prime attempted to move away from them, but the darkened ground would not give. He tried to twist away, to turn from it all, but that was when the mech's systems went haywire. As with Lloyd, the mech began to writhe as the shadows swarmed through it, attempting to break it apart from the inside, as it seemed. Prime felt it creeping in on him as he collapsed to his knees in the cockpit, his eyes widened as a feeling of being consumed raced over him. With one roar of terror, the mech's core flared up to full power, and for a moment, the shadows were seemingly blasted away from it. Invictus managed to stand up just long enough to take a step before the shadows attacked again. Prime stood up in his cockpit, shouting in exertion as he tried to pull himself away from it, from being consumed by the shadows. With a sputtering blast of jets, the mech rocketed straight up out of the shadows and off towards non-shadowy ground, collapsing to its knees as Prime's body was drained from the effort.
"W-What is that…?" Prime gasped out, his body quaking and trembling in a primal, all consuming fear, "W-Why is…?"
Suddenly, the shadows in front of him writhed up, firing out like tentacles to yank around the mech again. With his body already drained from effort, Prime could only throw his arms in front of his head before being yanked forward. He tried to rip his arms apart, but it was no use as Invictus was dragged back into the shadows.
The few remaining chunks of wall from the Summit began to shake and crumble. They began to shake as their shadows infused into them. Then, with a hard vibration, the rocks were completely blasted apart, reducing it down to nothingness. The darkness around the creature was beginning to writhe harder and harder, as though it was alive, as though it was moving, as though it was angry and enraged. And all those around it seemed as if they could do nothing about it.
"It… it consumes anything with a shadow, using its own shadow to subdue it…" Lulloyd gasped out in horror, "That… that thing would destroy everything if it reached one of the tribes…"
"W-We… we have… we have to…" Lloyd gasped out. The pain in his body wouldn't stop.
"Yeah… we do," Monty stepped forward towards the beast, "We need to knock some sense into Over before he ends up getting even edgier on us than this."
Seeing that Monty was walking towards the shadows, Harumi sat up and gasped out, "M-Monty! You can't!"
"Yeah, I can," Monty growled out, looking up towards the creature.
"I-It'll destroy you!" Lloyd strained out.
Monty stopped at the ring of where the darkness had spread to by now. Behind him, the others stood on a small hill, overlooking the battlefield. Prime blasted shadows, even as they tried to consume his mech where it lay. Ophiod slithered forward slightly, his breath faint, his eyes widened. And all the same, Monty just turned to look at them, framed by the behemoth abomination behind him as he crossed his arms.
"You're all forgetting something…" Monty chuckled, "...The dead don't cast shadows."
Monty stepped forward into the darkness. For a few moments, he readied for something to happen. He drew the SoS, holding it out and to his side. Nothing happened. He looked back to the group, then he nodded.
"Get them out of here," Monty glared at Oni, "If that thing spreads its darkness any further, they'll be in danger."
"...I'm coming too," Ophiod stood up fully. Monty turned to him with a confused expression.
"But, Ophiod" Skales gasped, "You saw what it did to those two!" He dropped his voice, "Your magic, you know it does not work here! There are no realms!"
"I can magically remove my shadow, as long as I have this scroll, and my desire," Ophiod gripped the staff tightly in his hands, "...The rest of you would fall prey to it. I can use my magic to subdue that creature."
"You are taking an unnecessary risk to your life," Oni informed him. Ophiod looked away from him.
"Perhaps…. But it was I who brought this upon us," Ophiod inhaled sharply, "And thus, it is I that must stop it…. RAH!"
With a blast of magic from the scroll, the shadow that Ophiod cast behind him disappeared. He slithered forward, holding the staff firmly. With a few deep breaths, he concentrated, bringing his goals, his desires forward into his mind. The symbols expanded back over his body, growing the magic that flowed through all of him. Like Monty, he slithered forward, across the threshold into the darkness. When he stopped, the darkness was beneath him. There was nothing there to harm him.
"I will open the door for you to leave the seal, you must all leave then," Ophiod frowned, "I do not know how long this creature will have before it breaks free. Until then, you must rely on it," Ophiod formed a magic spell on the side of his head, "Prime, do you hear me?!"
"I…" Prime's voice came through to Ophiod, a shaky, and terrified one, "I'm here! What is this thing?!" He snarled. Suddenly, Invictus pitched forward, slamming into the ground as the darkness subsumed it.
"I will help free you, you must flee!" Ophiod shouted to him firmly, "This beast is too much for you to handle. Your own shadow is your enemy. I will open the path for you, then you must flee!" Prime didn't respond. Ophiod didn't need to know his response. Even now, the last thing he could see of Invictus was some of the blue lightning trying to fountain up from above the darkness that encroached on it.
"Take that device with you," Monty pointed towards the device they'd brought with them, the one that this had originally been all about. Even now, it just felt like nothing but an afterthought. The creature in front of them was what they all had to worry, to think about.
Ophiod slowly opened a hole in the barrier behind them. There was only perhaps a hundred feet between the ring of darkness and the barrier itself. Slowly, Lulloyd picked up Harumi and Lloyd to carry them over. He took a long, long look at Monty, a confused and nervous look in his eyes. Monty slowly shut his eyes, then opened them with a cold resolution in them. There was nothing else that Lulloyd needed to see before he was willing to slowly begin backing away with them. Lulloyd looked to the device planted in the ground and ripped it up. The power continued to course through it as he pulled it out of the hole in the barrier, running it as far as he could before he planted it down again. The portal in the sky it was opening continued to spark and burn as it searched through the multiverse for the ones they wished to defeat.
"...Ophiod…" Skales gripped his fists, "Must you do this?! I cannot protect you against him! You said that you would fight alongside me, allow me to protect you!"
Ophiod starred Skales down, then he turned his head away from him. With a strained voice, Ophiod held his staff up in front of him, then took a fighting stance, "I'm sorry, Skales. But I cannot allow this mistake to go uncorrected. You must flee. I will be with you once we have subdued this thing."
Skales glared Ophiod down, then he gripped his fists and turned away, racing from the battlefield as quickly as he could. Oni looked to Ophiod one last time with an unreadable gaze, then he left after them. Ophiod waited until they were all outside of the ring he'd constructed, then the barrier closed again. It was now just himself and Monty, both of them holding their weapons of choice, looking up at the creature in front of them that threatened to swallow the world in darkness. All of the fighters, friend and foe, retreated far, far away, off to hills that surrounded the valley the Summit was built in. Prime looked on in horror as he struggled to stay standing. Oni and Skales stood alongside Harumi, Lloyd and Lulloyd. All of them looking on, waiting to see what it was that would happen.
"When… when that creature was forming, he had a core to it, that core must be his essence," Ophiod frowned, "If I am able to cut a hole into that essence, then I will be able to use my magic to destroy the creature. I will use a simple spell to undo all that has been done on an object, to return it to the state before."
"Convenient," Monty lowered his eyes, "Then all we have to do is fight that thing, right?"
In front of them, the beast was still blasting with its power at the barrier that surrounded it. The darkness across the ground was growing steadily, consuming more of the ground it walked upon. The creature's body was still dripping and writhing. The limbs that it had collapsed into the ground under it, only for a new one to form. Like the shadows around it, its body began to writhe and erupt with shadowy tentacles that looked to crush and consume all they could touch. There was hardly any light there, hardly anything for them to see hopeful.
"Yes…" Ophiod frowned, "We must bring it down, for the sake of everyone in this world."
"I'm not making a distraction play for you," Monty huffed out, "Remember that."
"Neither will I for you," Ophiod held his hand up, charging magic in it. With another shout of a spell, his body was surrounded in a layer of orange protective magic, "We must stop it from breaking the barrier first!"
Ophiod used his magic to teleport forward, across the sea of now writhing darkness. He appeared beside where Invictus lay, dragged deeper into the shadows. Ophiod held his staff up, plunging it into the ground. With a flash of magic, a small circle of ground appeared beneath his tail, the shadows pushed back by the force of it. Ophiod reached his hand up to grip the top of the staff, a flash of power going through him.
"Prime!" Ophiod shouted, "The moment you get the chance, FLEE!"
"Ophiod?!" Prime's voice came from inside the shadows, "I can't! I can't, not when he's-"
There was a sickening crunch as the shadows crunched down on Invictus. Ophiod yanked his hand from the staff, drawing a massive band of magic from it. He clenched his fist on it, causing his body to flare up with its aura. Ophiod thrust his hand forward, blasting the power right from him into the shadows. With the intense light the magic produced, the shadows around Invictus began to burn away.
Prime looked up form his cockpit, seeing Ophiod there as he rose Invictus up to its hands and knees. He reached for his swords, ready to fight again. Instead, he locked eyes with Ophiod, then to the beast behind him, and finally to Invictus' systems. Prime's entire body cried out for him to fight, and yet…
Invictus shot up into the air. A small portion of the barrier in the sky opened up. Prime flew through it, out of the ring and landed on the ground just outside it. The mech was broken, cracked, sparking, the paint marred. As Prime collapsed in his cockpit, he looked back towards the sight and silently clutched his fist, his eyes trembling with madness.
With him free, Ophiod thrust his hand out, opening another teleport. He appeared behind the beast's head and turned his staff downwards, ready to plunge straight into it. Before he could, the blackened mass shot up with tendrils, writhing and stabbing at him, their tips turned to spears. Ophiod threw up a shield in front of him, but as more and more erupted, the shield splintered, then shattered. One struck the magic he had on his body, sending him flying backwards through the air. He landed on the ground with a quick flash of magic.
Monty, tired of waiting now, held the SoS up in front of him, slowly inhaling as his mind raced to figure out what he needed to do. The thing's 'face' was too big for them to do something like attack head on. He'd need to distract it somehow. There was no reflection in the sword.
Yes, I agree, The SoS spoke back to Monty, I believe we will do well to use choice in our attacks.
"You won't even let me use your power, even now?" Monty spat, even as he blasted up into the air with wind.
You are a ghost, you have no reason to need it, The sword responded, He cannot hurt you, just as you said. So therefore, you are free of my power.
"So sorry that I died, then!" Monty hissed at the thing, rocketing right towards the back of the beast.
Ophiod, seeing what Monty was doing, focused on the staff agan, the symbols flaring up against his body as he did. He shot up into the air himself, spinning the staff to gather magical power. He formed a massive net out of magic and shot it straight towards the creature, attaching it to the thing's back and causing it to hiss as the magic burned against it. Monty sped through the air above it as he did, plunging the SoS down and slicing it straight across the creature's back. There was no reaction to their attacks as Monty slashed the SoS out of it, the gash just slowly healing itself back up by stitching the shadows together.
Instead, another purple eye opened up just underneath Monty. Monty moved to blast away, but a bubbling claw of shadow shot up from the creature's back, clasping on tightly to the sword he carried. Monty growled in exertion as he blasted wind into the claw, causing bits of shadow to blow off and back down into the creature. He jerked his arm violently, trying to rip himself free. When the sword came free, the claw disintegrated into shadows and fell back down into the body of the creature. Monty blasted away before three more reached up to grab him.
Ophiod landed back on the ground from his jump, just in time to see one of the creature's limbs erupt back into more claws and race towards him. Ophiod planted his staff into the shadowy ground and spun it in a circle, causing a small barrier of magic to form in front of him. The claws struck it, ripping and tearing at the magic right in front of the Viper's face. Ophiod held out his left hand and slammed his palm into the barrier he'd created, causing it to shimmer and shine with more magic. Snake-like limbs formed from the limbs, with their heads on the ends racing forward and sinking into the claws that grasped for him. The fangs ripped them apart, giving him breathing room to look up.
Monty spun through the air with the SoS, now avoiding the shadows the creature was sending out to try to grasp him and drag him down into its body. He spun his body around and formed a small twister in the air, sending it forward to break apart the shadows that were after him. One claw shot over it just in time and raced for him. Monty slashed the SoS up over his head to cut it apart as he saw it. The shadow claw hit the blade and was split in half, the two sides falling through the air and writhing violently until they hit the ground and were once more absorbed. Monty used his left hand to draw Ebony, raising the pistol up and blasting away at the shadows scattered by the tornado. The bullets churned them up, letting Monty soar back up into the air.
"This is it simply throwing us off…" Ophiod inhaled, "...What would happen, if?"
Ophiod shook his head. He couldn't think of that right now. The creature was still blasting into the barrier that he'd set up. Still trying to break free and out into the world. The shadows had fully leaked over the ground. There was nothing that could help them now. Ophiod held the staff up in front of him, focusing hard and huffing. He had to use more magic. He had to find a way to drag this beast down!
Ophiod focused. He thrust his staff forward, stabbing the scroll directly into the barrier he'd created around him. He focused, bringing his magic as far forward as he could. Drawing all that he could out of the scroll. As much as the body he had would allow. Then, he gave a shout of, "RA VAH KO!" The barrier around him suddenly grew larger, expanding in its diameter. The ground underneath him burned as the shadows lifted from it like water evaporating from a lake. A small patch of the rocky ground under him. And with the barrier expanding as much as it did, Ophiod focused even harder.
Monty, noticing that Ophiod was up to something, turned his attention towards the beast's back. He wasn't planning on acting as a distraction, but he could make that snake's job even easier. He twisted the SoS behind him and instead used his gun to fly along the side of the creature facing Ophiod, peppering it with bullets. The shadows reacted just as he expected, erupting out towards him readying to rip into him. Monty soared up and down across it, opening up what almost looked like a gash of shadows ripping through its body, a wound for Ophiod to focus on. Monty shot down towards the ground and under the beast's body, blasting at it still as he shot to the other side of it. He quickly ran out of bullets, leading to him trading it for Ivory and soaring up into the air on the other side of the creature, looking down to the spec of orange that was Ophiod on the ground, readying to take down the thing.
The scroll began to tremble in Ophiod's hands. He opened his eyes tightly, causing his body to react with a harsh and violent cry as he slammed the staff into the barrier again. The magic around him erupted in snake-like limbs, their heads larger than Ophiod's entire body. They rocketed across the battlefield, straight up to the area of the creature that was blasting its power into the barrier. Snake head after snake head of orange magic sank its fangs directly into the creature's head, wrapping around it like some sort of collar. Ophiod focused, adding as many as his magic would allow. When his magical barrier began to shimmer and flicker in and out of existence, Ophiod gave a hard shout and yanked his staff backwards, out of the barrier.
All at once, all of the magical snakes that had erupted from the barrier yanked back towards him all at once. The creature's beam of power was yanked downwards, just enough to cause it to visibly arc across the barrier by the onlookers. The beast tried to pull back and away, but Ophiod focused, his eyes closing shut as he did. He gave several harder cries, several more yanks of his limbs, several more tugs on his magic, attempting to pull the beast down to the ground.
Instead, another limb erupted out from the side of the creature. This one, however, was not a leg. Instead, at the end of it was a massive set of shadowy jaws, teeth as large as Ophiod's entire body, that split open and dripped shadows like some sort of saliva. A pair of purple eyes lay inside of it, staring down at where Ophiod was. The limb shot out straight towards Ophiod. The Viper had just enough time to turn and summon a ball of magic around his body before the jaws clamped shut around it.
All at once, the snakes attempting to pull the creature's head down vanished as Ophiod rerouted his magic into attempting to form the shield around his body. The jaws stretched and bent unnaturally, stretching around the top of his bubble-like shield until it reached all the way around, as though trying to swallow him as well. Those purple eyes, dripping in and out of the darkness, were staring right at him. Ophiod's eyes widened in fear as he held the shield, even as more teeth erupted from inside of the shadows, spearing down into it and smashing against it as a hammering blow over and over again. The light behind him began to shutter out as the jaws tried to fully enclose on him, to begin drawing him deeper into the shadowy mass.
Monty, seeing Ophiod becoming one with the shadows, scoffed and turned back towards the head of the creature. He landed on the back of the creature and shot forward, his skating wind allowing him to race forward and past each of the limbs that attempted to reach up and draw him down into the body of the thing. He soared forward until he had reached where the snakes had tried to drag the creature's head down. Instead, Monty plunged the SoS down into it and then blasted to his left, carving around the entirety of its neck. The gash he created was little, but as he soon came to where the neck sloped downwards, he leapt off and into the air, reloading Ivory and then blasting bullets into the wound he'd made.
"Come on, come on…" Monty continued to fire, unloading the entire clip, "Focus on me instead of him, you stupid-!"
The creature refused to so much as look at Monty. Realizing it wouldn't work, Monty turned to the limb, slowly dragging back into the body with Ophiod ensnared inside. Blasts of magic erupted out of the tendril as Ophiod tried to blast it open, sever it to let himself out, but nothing would let him out. The teeth soon broke down into the magic, as though it were glass. Ophiod, his body straining to try to maintain his magic, shouted as he shrunk the barrier a bit, trying to strengthen it in turn. Instead, more teeth erupted from inside the black and hollow corridor, smashing again and again as the Viper's breath picked up substantially. A primal fear took hold of him as he focused, trying to make the symbols flare up against his body harder, to use the scroll more, to try to save himself.
"...Dang it!" Monty shouted, finally blasting over to where Ophiod was fighting. He shot down on the ground beside it, raising the SoS and violently hacking at the thing, trying to break it open and free Ophiod. The limb was getting closer and closer to fully sucking Ophiod into its mass. Monty fully plunged the SoS into the thing, then he blasted wind straight inside of it. Half of the blade stuck up from the shadow as he sent more and more wind blasting inside of the thing. Ophiod looked up to see a small hole of light just beyond where he was, Ophiod turned and began to blast magic right alongside the wind, trying to pressurize the inside and blast free. Slowly, the hole began to form for them to where he could see the ghost.
"COME ON!" Monty shouted, letting go of the SoS with one hand and reaching into the hole he'd made. Ophiod focused for a moment, then he gave a hard shudder and dropped his shield. He jumped forward just in time for the teeth to impale where he was, even as he jumped for where Monty was. He reached out and grabbed Monty's solidified hand, pulling the Viper up. Ophiod threw the staff out first, then grabbed on with both hands and began to pull himself up. Just as his hips came free, the shadows sucked down around his tail, causing him to completely become encased in the shadows.
Monty gave a hard grunt, still using the impaled SoS as leverage as he pulled. Monty raised one foot and blasted with wind against the outside of the shadowy limb, trying to pull Ophiod out. Ophiod struggled, worming his body as fast as he could to try to get free. The two pulled in unison, even as Ophiod began to pop free.
From the main body of the creature, a massive tendril, this one a massive sword, shot out toward where Monty was. Ophiod looked up and saw it rocketing towards them, looking back to Monty and struggling even faster. Ophiod's tail came free just as the spear raced towards them. Monty gave a hard heave of his body to free him, throwing Ophiod out onto the ground and forming a pocket of wind around him. He raised the SoS in front of him, yanking it free and shouting as he slashed the sword up into the air to meet it.
There was a sound akin to glass breaking, shattering across a hard surface.
A flash of gold through the air. Monty's body was thrown backwards as he held onto the sword. Ophiod grabbed his staff and slashed upwards, cutting through the tendril and breaking it apart. As Monty slowly sat up from the ground, he first saw Ophiod, staring at him in shocked disbelief. Monty leapt up to his feet, raising the sword in front of him, and-
Monty looked down. The sight in front of him was one he had never expected to see. It was almost blotted out by the writhing, malicious darkness of the Over's chaotic swirling mass of hatred, pain and rage. But the glimmering shards of the SoS in front of him was one that he could not hope to ignore.
You... The spirit of the sword, for the first time ever, sounded well and truly terrified, It... it broke me...
In Monty's hand was the shattered half of the SoS. The once clean and elegant blade had been marred and broken, the point now a jagged gash that pointed in the wrong direction. The golden shards on the ground in front of him were little more than metallic pieces. And even then, they were slowly swallowed up as the darkened ground rose up around them, the shadows blotting out even that.
N-No, no this can't be… The sword gasped out to Monty, My, my first Master, he said that I was unbreakable, that I was filled with gold not even the First Chi Master could break! What… what is, what is this…? The sword's voice grew chaotic, What has happened to me?!
Monty looked up. The writhing shadow beast was still there. Threatening to consume everything. The very light, the very concept of their existence. Ophiod looked towards Monty as the creature above them continued to blast away at the barrier. With a hard shattering, the barrier around the Summit grounds broke. Ophiod watched in horror as the magic broke apart, the seal on the ground consumed by darkness. The beast was free. The screeching of its power crashing into magic ceased as it let its power spark out. With another roar into the air, it took a step forward into the rest of the world.
"We... we can't do this," Monty turned to the blade, "We can't do this. We can't fight. Not right now. You know those threats about melting you down? I think we agree on something for once," Monty spat, "You look horrible like this."
Perhaps, I, we can... The sword stammered out, Perhaps, we can make a deal?
"Accept me as your master, and I'll protect you from that thing," Monty demanded, "That's the deal!"
Swear to me you will survive and reforge me after and, and we have a deal, The sword responded back. A reluctant, nervous twinge to the normally haughty tone.
"Monty!" Ophiod shouted at the ghost, "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine," Monty held the broken sword in front of him, "We need to stop that thing, now! You said you could stop that thing, yeah?!"
"I thought I could!" Ophiod shouted back at Monty, "But my power isn't enough!"
"Then you need to find some more power, and find it fast!" Monty shouted at him, "I think I might finally have a way to attack that thing. I'm going to make it angry. You get in there and do what you need to bring it down. No excuses! Figure. It. OUT!"
Without waiting for Ophiod's response, Monty soared up into the air. He soared forward and around the beast, aiming to be right in front of its face. Monty raised the broken half of the SoS in front of him. A part of him still shuddered inside, seeing what he had once seen as a god-worthy sword now reduced to this. But he couldn't think about that right now. He just looked straight at the creature slowly lumbering towards him. To the lumbering eyes that it held as it soared its way forward.
Monty looked behind him. He could see the assembled group of his friends, standing now at a hill at the very edge of the valley, perhaps a quarter or so mile away. If the beast managed to escape the valley the Summit had been built in, it was over. He couldn't afford to let it get away. He couldn't let Over's episode get that far. He looked back to the beast. It was still coming at him, seemingly unable to tell he was even there.
Focus on me, Monty! The sword shouted into his mind, If you are to be my Master, then you must feel me. Feel the power that is within me! Summon it forward! Bring it into the glow, and you will see the reflections I cast!
Monty gave a scoff, but he did as the sword asked. Now wasn't the time to doubt the words it said. He focused. For once, he put his mind towards the sword. If Ophiod could do it, he could. He wanted to see the visions. He'd wanted to get this sword to obey him for what felt like ages. He. Wanted. This. Weapon.
He opened his eyes. His reflection was there in the blade. Monty couldn't help but give a small grin as he saw it. A grin that was wiped away as the creature lumbered another step forward. The pool of writhing shadows underneath it continued to grow alongside it. He focused hard, then he shot his body straight down towards the creature. He went right for them, raced to get to it. And when he was about to arrive, the sword flashed a vision at him.
Monty spun his body hard to avoid being impaled by the creature's darkness, the tendrils lashing out for him. Monty instead drew Ivory in his other hand and fired, sending bullets right into the creature's eye. For once, the thing decided to look at him, even as the full force of its malice was turned towards him. Monty's eyes flashed to see the creature erupting its entire face at him, just as it went black.
With a correction of his course, Monty soared up into the air, out of the creature's face. Just as the vision showed, the entire thing burst out into nothing more than writhing tendrils and blackened fury. Monty soared above the creature's head, then twisted around and held his arm out. A twister of wind formed around it, swirling around his arm as its focal point. When he was ready, he held his arm down and blasted the twister straight down into the creature's neck. It snapped downwards, the tendrils forming back into its face for it to roar again.
The sword flashed once more. Monty turned just in time to see something else was rocketing towards him. Another tendril, this time a limb like he'd seen try to swallow Ophiod. Rather than dodge it. Monty held the SoS to his chest and instead let the mouth swallow him whole. A moment later, a pressurized ball of air burst the entire thing apart from the inside out in the few seconds that it had him inside, before it could use its teeth to consume him. Monty flew back up and instead drove the broken SoS down into the limb, slicing it straight down through the thing and all the way to the base of its body. Another hard blast of wind there and Monty was off. From the creature snapping its head around to look for him, he knew he had its attention.
Ophiod watched all of this from the ground. He watched as Monty blasted away attack after attack, no longer able to be surprised by the visions of his blade. He watched the creature try to ripple and throw him off, to wrench free of his attacks. And then he looked to himself. Standing there. Unable to do anything. Unable to fully help, or to stop him.
"...There… there must be more…" Ophiod looked into the scroll, "There must be more! I gave you my desire! What more is it that you want from me?!"
The scroll said nothing. Ophiod hung his head. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let all of this happen. He couldn't let this thing get any further. But he needed more power. He had to give it something else. He had to be stronger. He had to use its full power. His mother had used it before, and he'd felt it. Once, when he was younger. Now, he had to be the one to fully use it.
**Ophiod could feel it. The power in the staff. The magic, waiting to be used. The raw power he could take, use, and make his own. The power that he could burn through him like a fire to consume all of those that were in his way. The being that was in front of him. The one that he needed to defeat, now more than ever. He needed this power.
"My… my desire…" Ophiod recalled them, the words of what he knew worked it. This scroll, this staff, fed on his desires. The thing that he wanted most in this world. The thing he would stake everything on. The power that would unleash for something he would give it. If he were to give it more of what he wanted, he would have more of its power.
"I am, the Prince of the Serpentine…" Ophiod raised the staff into the air, the scroll blazing with an orange glory, "I am the Prince of the Serpentine! That is my desire! That is what I want! What I need! This is my desire, above all else! Take it, staff! Take my desire and turn it into my magic's might!"
Monty blasted down along the back of the creature, carving a gash and then blowing it open more with wind. When he shot away, the creature had turned its head to now be facing Ophiod. It burned and writhed with an eldritch darkness that none could truly see. It was nothing more than malice and hatred incarnate, a sight to drain away even the most powerful of gazes. And even that was lit up as the scroll unfurled. Even darkness approaching its absolute was blasted with the glow of orange magic. Monty lowered the SoS to turn to see Ophiod, his eyes widening with what he saw.
Ophiod stared down at the scroll, his eyes blazing with magic. His entire body thrummed with it. It burned and writhed with everything that he had. He could use this power, this magic. Forbidden Spinjitzu, power draining into him, filled him. All around Ophiod, a circle of magic filled him. Blasts of orange power rose up into the air and formed into patterns that surrounded him. Ophiod shut his eyes, then opened them a glorious orange.
He thrust his hand backwards, grabbing hold of the power surrounding him. The moment his hand graced it, the patterns formed all over his scales. Each of them lit up with pure and raw magic as the scroll fed into him, and his desire into it. He would use this power now, whatever it took. Whatever he would have to pay. His entire body was filled with power.
"Take this, abomination!" Ophiod shouted, his voice echoing with a reverb born of raw ethereal sound, "Let my power become your might! I give my power to defeat you, to prove myself the true king of the Serpentine!"
The patterns around Ophiod turned inward, rushing through his body. Ophiod let out a massive shout of pure adrenaline as his body colheased the magic together into the end of the staff. With one crackle, his entire body went rigid as the power shot straight out, racing straight for the being in front of him. The entire world around him turned orange as the sheer force of magic fried the air, the sounds, the ground underneath it. Ophiod's shout rose in pitch as the blast struck the side of the beast. The power blasted straight into it, burning through the darkness.
Ophiod gripped the staff in both hands, feeling his emotions run high as his hands gripped it tighter than he knew he could. He brought the staff up in the air, then slammed it into the ground. The force rippled the ground like an earthquake. The magic blast suddenly split apart, racing around to grasp hold of the beast like tendrils of a net. The blast wrapped around the thing and squeezed. The sheer sound of crackling, burning magic against the black hide of the beast was almost deafening. The beast roared out in raw pain as the magic grasped it, yanking it, squeezing it, burning it. Ophiod's shout refused to go down as he poured even more of himself into it.
Limbs erupted out of the side of the creature, one after the other, racing right towards Ophiod. Ophiod suddenly twisted the staff. Spinning, glowing orange rings began to form around his hands and tail, rising his body up into the air. The power connecting the net to his staff rose with him. At the limbs shot towards him, Ophiod let go with his right arm and held it out to his side. With a blast of magic, a golden, glistening blade of magic formed in it. The rings suddenly shot his body through the air as he flew, soaring straight towards the limbs and bringing the blade in front of him. The limbs were cleaved apart, the magic burning the darkness down to nothing.
In the air itself, Ophiod brought his limbs back, then he twisted into Spinjiztu. The tornado that he formed was violent and crackling, magic seeping in and out of his body. It burned through every facet as it. The tornado itself cast a light strong enough to reflect on the oily mass of the beast. Glowing symbols of power formed around the tornado as he continued, spinning seemingly faster, faster, and yet faster still. Suddenly, the symbols formed in front of the Spinjitzu, one after the other. The beast turned and opened its jaws, launching a beam of dark power towards Ophiod. The symbols, in turn, exploded into a beam of orange magic, meeting the dark beam head on. The creature continued to roar and attack, until the beam split straight through its own power into its head. The creature's head was snapped backwards, and the entire beast's body was thrown backwards.
Something snapped. With a massive crackle, the beast, the dark being that had felled all that could see it, was brought down. The darkness began to burn away like wisps of a page left near a flame. It writhed, it screamed, it shook and quaked in pain, but nothing could stop what it felt. Ophiod's magic continued to hold the beast down as it shrank, shrank more. The net itself was working, burning away more and more of the darkness. Burning it down to its very core.
The beast's darkness seeped out of the net of magic, trying to grasp at him. Monty shot in front of Ophiod, causing the shadowy tendrils to follow him instead. Ophiod's magic held on even as Ophiod's Spinjitzu faded, and he instead just hovered in the air with his staff raised above him. Blasting more and more power to hold the net and burn away the essence it had, but little more. The darkness raced out towards Monty, who spun his body and blasted into the air with wind. The SoS flashed the future in its glare, and in turn Monty shot forward and blasted his way around them. His body whipped from side to side, avoiding each of the bits of power that leaked up from it, from all that he could see each time he saw the light in the sword's gaze.
The beast opened more eyes along its body, attempting to fight for dominance over the two of them. Ophiod held his hand out, instead forming a new symbol in the air. Suddenly, the staff reacted, blasting magic it all directions around Ophiod, then snapping together into a single beam that burned straight through the beast's darkness. The sight of it drove more of the shadows across the ground back into the thing's body, sucked up as he continued to blast the thing with the power that he now felt inside of him.
Ophiod lowered his staff in front of him. The raw power that arced through him, it felt as though his entire body was alight with magic. The sight of it was more than any of them had seen. On the hill overlooking the battle, Lloyd and Harumi sat up from their prone position, watching as Ophiod's beautiful magic flowed out of his body, as Monty sped around the attacks one after the other. As the two worked in harmony, two weapons of infamy that worked together for them.
"What… what is that?" Lulloyd asked, "Does… does the scroll really have…?"
The group looked onwards, none of them able to answer. Skales watched, his eyes transfixed to the sight of it. As he watched Ophiod's power glow, he took a step forward. Something glowed in his eyes. Before he was able to see what it was, he fell to his knees.
"This is my power!" Ophiod shouted, his voice still echoing in reverb, "It is my desire, it is my being!" He gripped the staff again.
"MONTY!" Ophiod's voice roared out with magic, "I will isolate the beast's core! I leave the blow to you!"
Monty spun his body in and out of the darkness that still shot through the magic to burn him. Ophiod spun his body again, this time raising his staff up higher into the air. When he did, the symbols on his body entirely faded. Instead, they glowed on the staff itself, and with it, Ophiod lowered it forward and he shouted.
"Ancestors of the Serpentine, those who have used this blade, give to me your power!" Ophiod shouted, "GIVE TO ME YOUR STRENGTH SO I MAY PROVE MY WORTH!"
With it, the staff burst out in power. Ophiod held the staff forward, causing a massive beam of magic to drill straight in towards the creature. It arced around the shadows, hitting it and burning a hole straight through it. The hole that it showed revealed it. The glowing orb that had formed the creature itself. The one that now, inside, Ophiod could Mage, floating there, suspended in a void. The thing to take the creature down.
"My magic will free Over from his grief!" Ophiod shouted, "The magic of the Serpentine, the might of my people, I command you to free Over! Separate man from beast so this beast may be ours to fell!"
The magic burning open the hole suddenly shot out like claws, wrapping around the core and squeezing it. The light inside showed Mage's body suspended there, held by something vaguely resembling Over's body. The shadows cradling Mage's body, suspended there in time, shielded from the world. With the magic reaching over it, the shadows inside the core suddenly were cut through, separated from the beast around it. The moment Ophiod did, the beast roared in agony.
"Now, Monty!" Ophiod shouted.
"That's our cue," Monty brandished the broken SoS, "You ready?!"
Let us truly fight together, Master! The sword responded. Monty looked down into the blade and raced forward.
"You better than me for THIS!" Monty shouted, twisting the sword and plunging it straight forward into the darkness. He shot straight towards the hole that was there, that led to the core itself. Ophiod, in his last moment, twisted his magic to send the net straight into the sword and into the core of the beast. The thing roared into the air as the magic shot right into its essence, the essence of what it was. The darkness violently writhed and burned apart, its core blasted open by magic. The core shot out the other side of the creature's body, Monty's sword impaled within it.
With the core gone, the entire beast suddenly began to writhe. Ophiod let his magic go and soared away as the darkness melted in full, no longer able to sustain itself. The group watched as it splashed out onto the ground, the mirth of it becoming embedded into the ground of it. Slowly, the ground, the shadows that covered it receded. It moved up into the shadow of the beast, and slowly, the shadows melted away. It melted down and down, further and further, until it was a puddle, a puddle of writhing mass on the ground. Ophiod landed on the ground and watched as the core that Monty had turned to a gas, rocketing across the battlefield and towards the darkness. Within moments, it had begun to mold itself around the core again. Slowly, the unconscious, four-armed body of the Emperor was left on the ground. From where the core had landed, Mage lay, his body similarly unconscious.**
Monty landed on the ground, pointing the SoS right at the two bodies and remaining on his guard. He waited, his breath coming down slowly as it did. Neither of them moved. He checked the glare of the sword several times, but nothing came of it. He slowly tssked and let the sword drop down, groaning out as he stumbled on his feet.
"He's… he's back to normal…" Monty turned to the sword, "Are we done now?"
For now, The sword responded to him, You used my power… well enough. With that, the voice faded, and with it the reflection.
"Screw you too," Monty sheathed the sword and turned to Ophiod.
The last traces of magic began to pour out of Ophiod's body. The Viper planted the staff into the ground, leaning forward on it and gasping out. His eyes faded back to their normal pupils, letting him slowly gain a grip on himself. He planted his hand on his chest, breathing in deeply. The feeling of raw power left his body, leaving his senses feeling dull and empty. But, even then, he lifted his head up to slowly pat his body.
"I'm… alive?" Ophiod blinked.
"Yeah… what did you think was gonna happen?" Monty scoffed at him.
"The scroll was dangerous, said to take even the power of the strongest warriors of their true desire…" Ophiod slowly shook his head, "I guess, that my desire was strong enough to overcome that," Ophiod smiled, turning his head to look across the battlefield, "I suppose there was never a worry…"
Ophiod froze. Monty turned to see where he was looking. Upon seeing it, his eyes widened too. Across the battlefield, the group that had been unable to fight was standing, having watched all of it happen. Having watched every ounce of Ophiod's power. All except for one.
Skales lay in Harumi's arms, gasping for breath. His body was lit up with orange patterns across it, which slowly began to fade away. Skales' body was trembling and twitching as they faded away, as though they both pained and sustained him. Ophiod's pupil trembled as the last of the symbols left Skales' body, and with it, Skales' eyes blanked and his body went limp. With a flash of teleportation, Ophiod and Monty had appeared right along with the rest of the group.
"Skales…?" Ophiod slithered forward towards him. Harumi looked up at Ophiod, but said nothing. Ophiod reached out, his body numb as he touched his lover. The one that had come with him. The one that was by his side.
The one that he truly, above all else, desired most.
Tears pricked at Ophiod's eyes as a raw and true horror gripped his body. He dropped the staff and grabbed hold of Skales' shoulders as his lips loosed a cry of true terror.
"SKALLLLLLEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!"
Ophiod clung to his lover, his cry of agony up into the heavens themselves. The assembled group all backed away from him as he clung to Skales, his limbs quaking as he held onto him. The Hypnobrai seemed to barely be breathing, if at all. And as Ophiod stared at him, as confused, as scared, as hopeless as it was, the others looked on towards the two that had been left behind by the creature.
"...W-What about…?" Harumi pointed towards them, "What about… Mage and…?"
Lulloyd slowly unfurled his mechdragon, leaping up onto and flying off over the ground towards them. He scooped Mage and Over up in the jaws of the dragon, making a loop around back to the assembled group. As Ophiod tried to rouse Skales up from his slumber, the others all crowded around Mage and Over. Over's body looked as normal as it ever had, simply asleep and none the wiser as to what he had just become.
Mage, however, still had the red wound in his chest. As soon as they saw it, the reality of what had happened came to all of them. Slowly, Monty, Lulloyd, Harumi and Lloyd all grouped around Mage. They looked down at him. Slowly, Harumi got down to him and slowly picked him up, reaching up to brush his hair back. The normally smiling and happy face of the boy was nothing now, nothing more than completely blank.
"M-Mage…" Harumi whispered out, slowly leaning down towards him. For a moment, she was completely silent. She was quiet for a long while. Then, after a moment, her eyes shot open.
"H-He's breathing!" Harumi shouted, "H-He's really breathing!"
"What?!" Lloyd gasped out, getting down to look at him. Indeed, though it was incredibly faint, Mage was indeed taking in air in his lips. He took his time, trying to figure out how it had happened. He looked Mage all over, wondering what had happened, then…
"There… there!" Lloyd pointed. On Mage's left wrist, so faint that it was almost transparent, his Time Matrix was active. The hands had turned to cause the thing to go a deep blue, and was sustained there. As they looked closer, there was a faint blue glow inside the wound.
"H-He slowed down time inside his own body… s-so the damage didn't…" Harumi blinked several times, "We, we have to get him help, right now! He, I don't know how long he has until…!"
"If he's been breathing all this time, he'll be fine now," Monty remarked, "We'll get him to the Time Tribe, they have healers there. All we need is to-"
Beep.
The entire group turned. Behind them, the device that Olive had constructed displayed a message on the screen: Targeting Complete. In the chaos, all of them had forgotten. They'd forgotten about why they were here. To summon the Twins, and fight them. The device formed a large spark in it, then it fired straight up towards the sky. A large portal formed there, a swirling blue mass just like the ones they used.
"No, no no!" Lloyd shouted, running over and grabbing hold of it, "T-The Twins, we can't, not right now! We can't!" Lloyd frantically tried to turn the machine off, but there were no buttons there for him to press, "W-We have to turn it off, we have to turn it off!"
"It… it... " Harumi blinked, the revelation of what was happening coming full circle for her. She let go of Mage and raced over, ripping their wristbands out of it to turn it off. But even as they fell out and onto the ground, the device didn't stop. The portal above them had been opened. She looked up, then tried to yank the Time Blades out. They didn't budge. They couldn't get them out.
"What, what's going on?" Lulloyd blinked, "T-The machine, found them?"
"T-The Twins, they're-!" Lloyd started.
With a blast of power, the portal above them grew in its size. It began to expand, blanketing the very sky above them itself even more than Over had the ground. As they watched the hole into the void itself grow, it became clear what was about to happen.
"The Twins are coming…" Monty held up the broken SoS, "...Get ready."