Hello again. Just to let you know, Genis is strapped into a flat bed awaiting his doom. What will happen to him? Please R&R

Don't own anything expect the concept of the story.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: FATE

This just kept getting better and better. Genis was strapped onto a flat bed and a laser was slowly moving towards him. Irving looked on.

"You could have just co-operated. Then none of this would be necessary."

"I suppose, but like you said before, I like doing things the hard way."

"Why do you resist? Can't you see I'm doing this for the greater good?"

"What greater good is that?"

"Freedom is slavery. People with freedom are trapped by their own desires and greed. They do not see what is right anymore. If freedom is slavery, can't the opposite be true as well?"

"And what is that opposite?"

"Slavery is freedom. If freedom is opposed, then people will see what is right. Peace will reign. Wars will end. You and your friends are trying to oppose freedom. I can't let you do that. I won't let you do that."

"Humph. You're an ignorant one, Irving."

"True, I must admit I am rather ignorant. But you know what they say: Ignorance is strength."

"You lost me on that one."

"Ignorance is a lack of knowledge, or a willful lack of desire to improve the efficiency, merit, effectiveness or usefulness of one's actions. We can't make our own actions because they are usually wrong."

"And what do you propose?"

"That we have our actions made for us. We would then be made efficient, following the one who is right."

"And who is right, Irving?"

Irving chuckled. "You're full of questions, aren't you? I suppose you want to know everything before you are cut in two. Lord Ganondorf is right, of course."

"When you say ignorance is strength, you mean our ignorance is your strength. In reality, knowledge is power."

"I suppose your right in some twisted view. Neither the less, it shouldn't matter to you anyway."

"Just answer me one last question. Why do you need my sister?"

"I don't. I just need the spirit within her gauntlet."

"Why do you need the spirit?"

"…I have some unfinished business with her."

"Then you know her? You probably had some intimate relationship with her."

"People just keep saying that, no matter how many times I say it isn't true. I just gave up on the whole thing."

"………"

"Run out of questions, have we?" Irving turned to leave. "O'Brien!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure the job gets done."

"Yes, sir!"

Irving climbed to the top of the stairs. "Farewell, Mr. Sage. I do hope you'll enjoy the afterlife. I hear it's to die for."

Genis struggled to get free.

"And please, Mr. Sage, don't leave too much blood on the floor."

The door shut behind him.

Meanwhile, back at the cell, Link was formulating a plan of escape. After running by the plan with the others, they waited for the guards. A few minutes later, the guards came back with the prisoner they had earlier. Raines started to 'supposedly' cry out in pain.

"Ow!" She yelled. "Owowowowow!"

"What is her problem?" The darknut guard yelled.

"Her back," Aryll said. "She has a bad back."

"It hurts!" She cried. "Please, make it stop!"

"Come on," the guard said. "It can't be that bad…"

He took a look at it. Link yelled, "Now!"

It was an easily won match. It was five against one after all (Note: Regal and Presea are not with them. They are taking care of the boat). Kratos grabbed their swords and stabbed them. They both disappeared into a purple smoke.

"Let's go," Wilder said. "We must aid Genis!"

Meanwhile, back in Room 101, the laser was only a few inches away from Genis. He decided to try to get himself out of this mess.

"Having fun O'Brien?" Genis asked.

"Don't talk to me, inferior being," O'Brien replied.

"Oh, alright. Funny, what do you suppose Irving would do to you when you outgrow your usefulness?"

"I'll humor you. What do you mean?"

"You heard him. After his utopia comes into being, he'll have no more use for darknuts like you. You will be obsolete."

"He wouldn't get rid of me…would he?" He picked up the pen on the table and played with it nervously. O'Brien clicked the pen six consecutive times.

"Damn," Genis thought.

O'Brien clicked it three times.

"Knock, knock," Genis said.

"What?" O'Brien asked.

"Knock, knock?"

"Who's there?"

"I've dropped a bomb on."

"I've dropped a bomb who?"

"I've dropped a bomb on you."

"Augh, that was terrible."

"But it's true."

O'Brien looked at the pen. It was blinking fast. The bomb exploded which knocked the laser off course and broke Genis' left arm strap. He released himself and grabbed all his things on the table. The others broke down the door.

"What happened?" Link asked.

"O'Brien activated the pen-bomb," Genis replied.

"Who's O'Brien?" Tetra asked.

"It doesn't matter. Right now, we got to get to Irving and fast."

"Why do we have to rush?" Kratos asked.

"Because whatever he's planning on doing, he's going to do it now."

Genis turned to Raine. "Raine, where is that gauntlet of yours?"

Raine looked at her arm. The gauntlet was gone. "That jerk must have taken it when he knocked me out!"

"We got to get to him, fast!"

The others climbed the stairs. While they were climbing the stairs, Irving was conversing with the spirit in the gauntlet. The gauntlet was placed in a glass chamber. Colette floated while she was sleeping.

"Colette," he whispered. "Wake up…"

"Where am I?" Colette asked.

"The Forsaken Fortress," Irving replied.

"You," Colette mumbled. "You…"

"Whatever happened to you, I didn't do it."

"You sealed me away in a room and left me to die."

"I thought you died…by the hands of sorcerers."

"Well I didn't. You tried to kill me…"

"I…I don't know what you are talking about…"

"Yes…you do know…Kratos knew it…Yuan probably knew it…you were planning to kill me…why?"

"I didn't try to kill you!" He shouted. "It's some kind of mistake!"

"I saw you!" She shouted back. "You were the last person I ever saw for years!"

"……I see now…I understand…"

"What?"

"That girl you were with…she's…she's deceived you. Tricked you, fooled you, played you like a sucker. Well, don't worry about it. After this is all over, we can finally go back to how it was before all of this happened."

"………"

The others finally reached the top of the stairs (again). They evaded the trap door and smashed into the room where Irving and Colette were.

"I object!" Kratos shouted.

"Object to what?" Aryll asked.

"I just felt like saying that…"

"So the fools finally made it," Irving said. "Now I can begin…"

"Begin what?" Wilder asked.

"A revolution."

"Just go through your evil plan," Link replied.

"Why would I tell you when I can simply show you?"

He picked up the gauntlet (Colette's in still in there) and shoved it into a machine.

"You see, I really want to pay tribute to Lord Ganondorf so much, I went on a built this. Behold the Mana Cannon!"

A tower arose from the ocean quite a few yards from the fortress. The tower was white in color, and had twelve statues of a woman. The top of the tower was domed shaped, painted green.

"The fabled Mana Cannon is finally revealed," Wilder said.

"Why do you need Colette?" Raine asked.

"Did you ever notice the jewel in the middle of your gauntlet? It's called an exsphere. These exspheres grant both man and machine power beyond their wildest imaginations. The exsphere on this gauntlet is called a Cruxis Crystal, the more evolved version of the exsphere. I needed the Cruxis Crystal to boast the Mana Cannon's power to its limit."

"What are you planning to do?" Tetra asked.

"I'm planning to blow the Tower of the Gods to smithereens!" Irving replied.

"Why would you do that?" Aryll asked.

"It's because Lord Ganondorf wants me to. Also, I like destruction on a mass scale. Now, any more questions before I fire?"

"You'll injure Colette if you fire!" Raine yelled.

"I'm planning to make that sacrifice. Although it will hurt her, at least I'll have my revenge against your kind."

"Lord Irving, no!" Aryll yelled.

"Don't you see?" Link asked. "Revenge would be taking the easy way out."

"I agree." Irving pushed the activation button. There was a loud shriek. Meanwhile, back at the tower, it fired a blue light right towards the Tower of the Gods. Irving was right. The tower crumbled into the sea. Nothing (and I mean nothing) was left from it. Suddenly, what seemed to be a city in a dome was floating in the water. The city was shot up into the sky by a long tower structure underneath it (by now, you should see what I'm trying to get at. The city is Welgaia and the tower structure is the Tower of Salvation). The city was shot into the heavens and practically into space.

"The Tower of the Gods is gone," Link said.

"What is that tower thing?" Tetra asked.

"Behold, the Tower of Damnation," A voice boomed from above.

So the opposite of the Tower of Salvation is the Tower of Damnation. Why did Ganondorf decide to create a tower like that? Please R&R.