Here's the next chapter!
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 4: The Reaper's Line of Sight
[BGM: Alcamoth, Imperial Capital – Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition]
"Hey… Can I talk with you guys for a moment?" Pit asked, walking over to the couch that Eleven, Solo and Eight were sitting on in the living room.
"Oh, sure thing, Pit!" Eight nodded with a smile, and then Pit sat down next to them.
"I've been wondering, about Arusu and what happened back at that burning town… I definitely have never seen someone, not even a human, have such an aggressive behavior like that one." Pit said. "Does he tend to lose his temper that easily?"
The trio's eyebrows perked up while exchanging glances, before frowning as Solo began, "Oh…well, the truth is… Arusu wasn't always that aggressive like how he is today."
Pit's eyes widened. "He… wasn't?"
Solo shook his head. "No. In fact, his previous personality was a mixture of Eleven and Eight's."
"Really? Wow, I can hardly imagine him having both of their personalities. How did he get this personality change, then?"
"It happened all the way back during his journey in his own world." Eleven began. "His goal was to defeat the Archfiend Barasmos residing at the top of a volcano; a task that his father, Ortega, was supposed to fulfill due to it threatening to destroy the world right at the time of Arusu's birth. But since Ortega never came back, the king of Aliahan waited until Arusu became of age so he could finish up what his father couldn't. However, after Arusu and his three travelling companions finally defeated Barasmos, a new evil confronted them, that being the Master Archfiend Zoma, and so they rushed over to his lair. When they arrived at Zoma's castle, they actually caught up to Arusu's father who was surprisingly still alive, but he had lost his memory and was mortally wounded by King Hydra."
Pit bit his lip. "That's… terrible."
"After Arusu took care of King Hydra… it was already too late. He watched his own father die slowly in his arms… and to add even more insult to injury, he had just recovered his memories during his last moments."
[BGM End]
Flashback…
"HIYAAAAAAAH!" Arusu yelled, delivering one final blow on King Hydra and killing it.
"Phew, we did it…" the Mage sighed in relief. "But… our Sage is too injured to heal us all up!"
"Nnngh…" the Sage groaned.
"She needs a Medicinal Herb right now!" the Warrior ushered.
"No worries. I got some more with me." Arusu assured and proceeded to rush over… until a weak voice called:
"I-Is someone there?" this made Arusu immediately stop in his tracks, with eyes open wide due to recognizing that voice and looked back… to see his father still lying on the floor, making him gasp.
"*gasp* Dad!" Arusu rushed over to his father.
[BGM: Distant Memories (Dragon Quest III) – Dragon Quest XI S]
By kneeling down next to his father and placing his hands on his chest, Arusu noticed horrified how gravely injured he was: blood scars complete with bleeding all over his skin, burn marks, and a few rips on his clothing.
"I can't see… I can't…hear…" Ortega groaned, struggling to open his eyes.
"No…! Dad!" Arusu exclaimed, a few tears escaping his eyes. "Hang in there!"
Unfortunately, Ortega couldn't hear him, and instead said, "Please…if there is somebody there, there's something I need to tell you…"
Arusu said nothing in response, since he knew that his father couldn't hear or see anything and so stood quiet to hear what Ortega has to say.
"My name is Ortega… I come from a place called Aliahan… I… I remember it all now…" that last sentence made Arusu's eyes perk up, as it appears that his father somehow lost his memories and had them returned by the time of Arusu and his party's arrival… but it still didn't help the fact that he could not even open his eyes so he could see that he was in fact talking with his own son, and that he was at the brink of death.
"D-dad…" Arusu sobbed, a tear of his falling onto Ortega's face. "P-please… Don't die on me like this!"
His begging proved to once again be fruitless, and Ortega used the last of his strength in his lips to say, "If… If you ever make it to Aliahan… I need you to find someone called Arusu, and tell him… Tell him I'm sorry… I wanted to make the world a better place… A place where he wouldn't have to be afraid… But I… *sob* I just wasn't strong enough…" and with that… he stopped breathing.
"…Dad…?" Arusu gently shook him. No response. "Dad?!" he shook him again, and after getting no response again and fearing the worst, he placed two fingers on his neck. Nothing. His father was no longer with him. "No… NO! DAD!" Arusu screamed, and then proceeded to cry onto Ortega's chest.
Behind him, his three travelling companions watched the whole scene in front of them in solemn. The whole dungeon was then met with silence, with the only sounds filling this room being Arusu's sobs.
End of Flashback
[Resume "Alcamoth, Imperial Capital" BGM]
"And at this point… Arusu's heart became filled with rage and hatred for Zoma, leading to his very first snap in his life. He would then go into a violent rampage throughout the rest of Zoma's lair, tearing through every monster and destroying everything in his path. He nearly lost himself during that…if it wasn't for his travelling companions that were accompanying him." Eleven retold.
"Oh dear…" Pit whispered.
"They managed to snap him out of it and talk him out of doing something reckless that he might end up regretting, and so he was able to calm down and managed to defeat Zoma with a clear head."
"But despite saving his world, it was because of that incident that Arusu's previously kind and energetic personality has changed to an aggressive and hot-blooded one." Solo said. "Thankfully, after meeting and becoming friends with me and Eleven before Eight's arrival, Arusu has learned to control his anger with our help. Now he would only snap if he gets extremely annoyed… or if anyone insults his hair." he spoke the last sentence rather cautiously, while Eleven and Eight shuddered in unison.
"Something tells me that someone learned the latter the hard way, and you guys had witnessed it." Pit suspected.
"Yeah…" Eight nodded. "It was not someone on our side, though."
"Oh. And… how bad was that snapping moment of his?"
Eight sweatdropped. "Really bad. He utterly curb stomped our foe without even needing our help."
Pit sweatdropped as well. "Oh, geez…"
"Well, as long as you don't accidentally make him snap, Arusu is generally quite a caring guy." Solo smiled. "He's also very determined and protective, which are his main positive aspects of his new personality. So don't worry too much about that." as he said that, Eleven and Eight nodded in agreement.
Pit nodded in understanding. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind!"
Then, Palutena walked in. "Ah, there you are, Pit." she said. "Were you having a chat with them?"
"Yes, Lady Palutena. So, what's up?"
"I came to warn you all that the preparations for your next mission are complete. The others are waiting for you near the gate."
The four immediately stood up from the couch. "We're heading out right away!" Pit said.
[BGM End]
Soon…
"Here we go!" Pit exclaimed, he and the group having their weapons equipped before taking off.
[BGM: The Reaper's Line of Sight – Kid Icarus Uprising]
The gang was now flying into a dark clouded and foggy sky. "So, what's our mission this time?" Pit asked, as they were taking down some Miks.
"You remember Reapers, don't you? From the Underworld?" Palutena asked.
Pit paled up, remembering how these were one of the most annoying enemies he had to deal with in his first adventure. "Not those guys! They're always freaking out and calling in their little Reapettes. Ugh, I'm getting worked up just thinking about it!"
"Are they really that bad?" Shulk asked, shooting an Octo.
"Yes, anyway…" Palutena replied, trying to bring everyone's attention back to their mission. "About the Reapers…"
"Sorry, sorry, go on."
"They have a fortress near the entrance to the Underworld in Reaper Valley."
"Heh. Which is where? Reaper Boulevard?" Pit joked. "But seriously, thank goodness we don't have to go there, right?"
A moment of silence occurred.
"That silence means we have to go there, doesn't it?" Pit asked cautiously.
Arusu rolled his eyes. "Well, duh."
"I was afraid of that…" Pit muttered as they all began to fly down through the sea of clouds. "Will you at least tell us why you want us to go to a place crawling with Reapers, Lady Palutena?"
"I'm trying to find another one of Medusa's commanders, Pandora." Palutena replied.
"Pandora?" Jewel asked, once they were all lowered from cloud cover and were flying above an empty wasteland. "You mean THAT Pandora? The woman who opened Pandora's Box and released all the evils unto mankind with the exception of hope?"
"Uhh…no. I meant the goddess of disaster and calamity. Where did you get that crazy information from, Jewel?"
"It's another thing from Greek mythology… and it's NOT crazy information!" Jewel retorted while repeatedly shooting a Belunka.
"Hey, hey…easy there, my princess." Trifle told her calmly after shooting down some Syrens.
"Aaanyways…" Palutena sweatdropped, before quickly focusing back to the main point. "Pandora is currently residing in the Labyrinth of Deceit… However, some force in the Reaper fortress is obscuring the labyrinth's location. I can't find it, not even with my all-seeing Eye of Palutena."
"You have an all-seeing eye? That's amazing!" Zelda gushed in amazement, shooting the Daphnes that came into view.
"Wait, if you have an all-seeing eye, why can't you see Pandora's location?" Pit asked, albeit a bit suspiciously.
"Because of my slightly botched laser eye surgery."
"Are you messing with us again?"
"Maybe. Regardless, your job for now is to infiltrate the Reaper fortress!"
"R-roger that!" Pit stuttered as they continued flying, taking out a group of Handoras and some other Underworld monsters on the way. But as they continued onwards, they soon saw something very unusual on the horizon: a lot of small red lights.
"What are those red lights?" Eight wondered.
"Are they…" Palutena began, only to gasp when the lights suddenly became harmless red lasers. "…Reaper eyes?!" and right on cue, the mob of Reapers began to summon a horde of Reapettes to attack the gang upon spotting them.
"Uh oh!" Eight flinched.
"This is really bad!" Pit exclaimed as Palutena proceeded to quickly guide them all away from the Reapettes.
"We need to find you a safe route." she said while the gang was shooting down a few of the Reapettes that managed to catch up with them, as they were approaching a ravine below. "Down there is your only option!"
"Are you sure about that?!" Melia questioned, not really trusting that ravine.
"I'm sure of it. This ravine should take you to the Reaper fortress." Palutena said as everyone dived down into the fissure, flying in the middle of the ravine's tight walls. "But it's tight, so be careful. If you get stuck, I won't have time to get you all out."
"Man, things are really heating up!" Pit said. "Time to bust through here! Full speed ahead!"
"Excellent idea, Pit. Naturally, I had the same thought. Let me help."
"Just try not to get us killed again, for Rubiss' sake!" Arusu exclaimed with a small tone of anger, clearly still being sore about the incident with the Hewdraw head and the monster pheromone from last time, and then Palutena sped up their wings.
They carefully maneuvered around the ravine's protrusions, taking out any Underworld troops as they did. But then a loud whooshing sound greeted the gang's ears as they looked ahead… to see a heavy windstorm. "Hold on… Is that a windstorm up ahead?!" Eleven asked with eyes open wide.
"Hang on!" Palutena exclaimed, trying to steer the gang away from the windstorm, only for them to fly into it anyways as it caused them to spin around.
"Ow!" Pit winced.
"Don't be such a baby. It's only wind. I mean, at least it's not poison or acid wind. Then you'd all be in real trouble."
"Ooh, lucky us." Pit replied sarcastically as they took down more Underworld troops, until they flew right into a cave.
"You're heading into a cave now." Palutena informed. "Be careful!"
The trip into the cave went rather smoothly and fast as the gang was shooting a Mega Mussel they encountered, and then they were back outside soon enough and were now shooting at several Shrips flying around the ravine, before a horde of several Underworld troops appeared as Palutena quickly warned them:
"There are many enemies ahead!"
"We'll take care of 'em!" Pit said as everyone immediately opened fire at this mass of enemies and defeating them… but they also came upon a dead end in front of them.
"This looks like a dead end. There must be a way out… Hmm…" Palutena began to look for an exit while the gang was dealing with the enemies, until she spotted a cave below. "Down there! I'm getting you out!" she then steered the gang down at the cave at full speed, as they proceeded to defeat more Handoras inside.
"The Underworld forces really stepped up their game!" Pit stated.
"I doubt those underlings managed it on their own. It's a sure sign that Medusa is back in power." Palutena mused as the gang emerged out into the ravine that was filled with Underworld monsters, before flying into a long tunnel. "You're almost there!" Palutena exclaimed, with the gang approaching the light at the end of the tunnel as the Goddess of Light began her countdown, "3… 2… 1… Contact!"
With that, everyone was out of the tunnel, and found themselves overlooking the intimidating Reaper Fortress right in front of them. They all awed at its massive foreboding structure, being lined up with animal skulls and tusk-like structures that curved around this entire fortress, and large vertebrae on top that were supporting two towers standing on each side of a small bridge that leads straight to the main entrance. After taking in the sights, the gang was ready to fly to the main entrance… only for the fortress' turrets to open fire at them with red lasers, making them yelp in surprise while trying their best to dodge these lasers.
"Agh! There's too many lasers!" Shulk exclaimed.
"Whoooaaa! It's hot hot HOT here!" Pit shouted.
"There's no chance of getting in from above." Palutena observed. "You'll have to break through the front."
The gang flew to the front gate, taking out the Reaper on the lookout… before they all charged straight towards the gateway of the fortress.
"Here we gooooo!" Pit yelled.
Trifle's eyes widened, now realizing what they were about to do. "…Wait, ARE WE GOING TO BREAK THROUGH THE WA-"
*CRASH!*
[BGM End]
Everyone broke right through the wall just as Trifle feared… and on the other side, we cut to them all lying on the ground exhausted and in pain.
"…Ow…" Trifle groaned.
"That… hurt…" Eight groaned.
"I'm seeing stars…" Jewel moaned dizzily.
"My achin…" Eleven groaned.
[BGM: Reaper Fortress – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"Everyone! Are you all right?" Palutena asked in concern.
"Never…better…" Pit groaned as everyone slowly got back up.
"Then let's get moving. The force obscuring Pandora is deep within this fortress." everyone nodded in response and began to move, going around an automatic guillotine.
"Yikes, this almost reminds me of the guillotines from Ocarina of Time's Shadow Temple…" Jewel thought with a disturbed look as they next turned right, where there was another guillotine up ahead in the hallway.
"Reapers may look all evil and crazy, but there's a good reason for that." Palutena said. "They ARE evil and crazy."
"Well, obviously." Melia said after they moved past the guillotine, approaching their first door of the fortress.
"But here's a little tip: they won't bother you if you stay out of their sight."
"So… We basically have to sneak our way through, then." Solo concluded as they went through the next room, where they peeked out from the left wall to see a patrolling Reaper with its back turned from them, so it was safe for them to run towards a corner on the right and hide.
"Ugh, it had to be a stealth mission…" Trifle muttered as they waited for the Reaper to walk past them.
"I know, right?!" Pit agreed.
"Oh, I'm sure it won't be that bad." Zelda hoped, and by the time she said that, the Reaper had finished walking past the corner they were hiding in and so they dashed out of it and moved on, taking a right turn and going through another door.
The next room, however, turned out to be an ambush room, as the gang found themselves being confronted by a Specknose, a Skuttler Mage, and two Shulms. As the gang proceeded to fight them off, Shulk couldn't help but realize something, "You know… Considering this is the Reaper Fortress, there really aren't very many Reapers."
"There must be a huge soul harvest going on somewhere." Palutena replied.
"What do you mean?" Pit asked.
"Reapers are soul carriers. When a being dies, they take its soul to the Underworld. The humans probably started another war, which means a lot more souls to deal with."
"Yep. One of the major consequences of a war: a lot of casualties." Melia sighed, using Spear Break on one of the Shulms.
"Why are they always fighting? It's so sad and pointless." Pit said.
"Most of the time it's because of a certain reason, mainly being a political or economic reason in one or several regions." Jewel answered. "At least, that's what my real-life persona told me during her History classes."
"Yes, but there's also the fact that we gods fight too, and when we do, humans are always caught in the middle." Palutena lamented.
"So, this war against the Underworld Army is causing the Reapers to work overtime." Pit concluded.
"I'M the one who should be working overtime. Then there'd be less soul harvesting… Humans get frustrated, even destructive, when we gods don't provide for their welfare."
"True…" Zelda sighed sadly, as they had defeated all the enemies and the path up ahead opened up for them. "Hyrule suffers a lot from this dilemma."
"Don't be ridiculous! Everyone loves the goddess of light! You know that!" Pit smiled with his usual optimism as they were going up the path, avoiding a moving blade trap along the way.
"Thank you, Pit. I do my best." Palutena smiled back. "Now, then… Let's proceeded."
At the top of the path, the gang first dealt with a Shelbo as it tried to suck them up in order to bite them, and after that, they noticed a grind rail as they proceeded to instantly hop on it and start grinding.
"Whoa-ho-ho! Nice!" Pit cheered.
"That's a grind rail. It beats walking, huh?" Palutena said, as the gang was shooting down a few Reapettes. "You can ride it right into the courtyard."
"Woohooo!" Jewel cheered. "Now I know how it feels like for Sonic when he grinds on rails!"
Once the rail ended, the gang landed on the courtyard and defeated several enemies patrolling it, those being a Tortolunk, two Skuttler Cannoneers, two Skuttler Mages, and a Belunka. After their defeat, another wave of monsters appeared: two Shulms and a Shelbo. Trifle made quick work to melee both Shulms to defeat them before quickly running away from the Shelbo's suction air, where Zelda quickly fired arrows at the eye in its mouth to kill it.
"Whew! Thanks, cousin!" Trifle thanked her, and then the purple barrier in front of the next door disappeared, allowing the gang to head through. Upon arriving in the next room, Arusu immediately spotted a Souflee right up ahead and quickly proceeded to shoot it and defeat it before it could escape.
"Yes! Got it!" he grinned and then they moved on, encountering a jar spawning out Shemums as Eleven whacked the jar repeatedly to break it while Pit slashed through the Shemums.
By heading into another room, they were greeted by several Handoras… and much to Pit's horror, an Eggplant Wizard.
"Not this guy!" he shrieked and immediately began to shoot it with arrows, but it dodged out of the way.
"An Eggplant Wizard!" Palutena exclaimed.
"But I don't want to be an eggplant again!" Pit whined, avoiding the Eggplant Wizard's thrown eggplants that would turn the little angel into a literal walking eggplant.
"Way back then, you had to visit a nurse to get fixed up, remember?" Palutena asked.
Pit chuckled. "I was there so much, they named the place after me: hosPITal. Get it?" unfortunately for him, he was met with dead silence from Palutena and the others… with the exception of Trifle facepalming.
"…Seriously, how many bad puns are you ever going to make?" Trifle questioned with the most borderline deadpan expression ever.
"It's funny. It's OK to laugh." Pit spoke dumbly.
"No, it's really not." Palutena replied. "Anyway, there aren't any hospitals in this fanfic."
"WHAT?! But what am I gonna do?!"
"Calm down, Pit. I can help you with this, too. If any of you are turned into an eggplant, my powers will transform you back. After a while."
"Thanks, Lady Palutena!" Pit thanked.
"We really are in your debt." Eleven added, taking out the last Handora while Pit finally defeated the Eggplant Wizard, and then they walked into the next room where they saw scythe-like blades swinging like pendulums up ahead.
"Those blades look like they could really put a hurt on someone." Eight commented apprehensively.
"Be careful not to fall." Palutena advised, and so the gang carefully moved past the swinging blades as Solo was repeatedly sniping a faraway Shelbo before they safely reached the door at the end. It took them outside, where they used a jump pad right in front of them to ascend to the second level of the Fortress and head through another door. "There are Reapers creeping around in there. They'll summon Reapettes if they see you, so be careful." Palutena informed.
With that, the gang worked their way around the three patrolling Reapers and ran on ahead, dropping down a hole on the floor where they were met by a new horde of enemies: Paramushes, Handoras, two Octos, a Tortolunk, and a Gloomerang. Solo and Eight shot down the Paramushes while Eleven and Arusu went for the Handoras, then Shulk and Jewel ran through the hole of both Octos' smoky ink before slashing them repeatedly, then Pit used his Upperdash Arm to uppercut the Tortolunk in the air where Melia used Summon Earth to apply it to her orbitars and inflict the Tortolunk with the poison ailment upon shooting it as Trifle finished it off with a charged shot, and then Zelda reflected the Gloomerang's boomerang blade back with Nayru's Love before she slashed through the monster to kill it.
Upon this monster hoard's defeat, a grind rail appeared for the gang. "Nice, another grind rail." Shulk smirked as they started grinding on it.
"This one works a bit differently. As you're riding it, shoot the targets on the walls. This will extend the rail to your destination." Palutena explained.
"That sounds easy enough." Pit said, already shooting the first target.
"Just keep in mind that you can try it as many times as you need to."
Following Palutena's instructions, the gang rode on the rail, shooting the targets as they did. In a short time, they managed to make it to the top of the room and next rode an elevator down to the bottom of the Fortress, where they looked to the left… to see what first appears to be an ordinary hot spring.
"Well, well. It appears that this place is equipped with some hot springs." Palutena said.
Pit instantly brightened up. "Woo hoo! I could use a little R and R right about now!" everyone walked over to it.
"Hold up." Solo called out, causing everyone else to look back at him. "There's something strange about that hot spring…" he mused suspiciously.
"Huh?" Pit wondered.
"The steam seems a little…evil."
And indeed; once everyone got there, they became a bit creeped out by what they saw about this hot spring room: the hot spring was colored purple instead of gold and was emitting a rather ominous purple steam, and not to mention that there was a Reaper lounging in it. Thankfully, the Reaper had its back turned to them.
"Uuhh… Yeah, that's probably not a good sign." Pit paled. "We'll just keep moving." they then turned around and left the Reaper in peace. "But seriously, how were you able to sense that, Solo?" Pit asked the Zenithian Hero.
"Zenithians have the ability to sense evil presences." Solo answered. "Even though I'm only half-Zenithian, I was still able to retain this sort of ability."
"Oh, I see…" Pit mused in fascination as they all traveled down the middle hall, avoiding two guillotines that made Jewel once again have bad memories of the Shadow Temple, and were approaching a room that was purple lit as Palutena informed them:
"You're closing in on the force that's obscuring Pandora's location."
"Yeah, I figured the evil lighting wasn't just for show." Pit said, he and the others first taking care of a few Reapettes that came out of the door before heading in.
[BGM End]
As they emerged out, all that they could see up ahead was just a lone normal Reaper… at first.
"Pfft. Really? This is our boss?" Pit scoffed.
"Now this will be easy!" Trifle grinned.
"Hmm, I don't know about this…" Melia mused. "Looks can be deceiving."
Melia's statement would soon turn out to be true, as once the Reaper spotted them, it proceeded to go all crazy as usual… but then it suddenly grew gigantic and became even more horrendous than usual, as everyone looked up at it in horror.
That was the Great Reaper.
"Wh-WHAT?!" Trifle yelled.
"No way!" Pit flinched.
"It's gigantic!" Palutena exclaimed.
[BGM: Boss Fight 1 – Kid Icarus Uprising]
"What IS that thing?" Trifle asked.
"That Great Reaper must be the one who's hidden Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit." Palutena said as the gang tried to attack the Great Reaper's feet, while also avoiding its stomps. "Oh, and by the way, this area is split into two levels, so just switch levels depending on how it attacks."
"You say that like it's easy!"
"That's because it IS easy!"
The gang quickly used the jump pad to get to the upper level in order to avoid the Great Reaper's stomps and shockwaves it created, but despite that, it proceeded to just slash and fire energy blades from its scythe as the gang kept shooting at the giant while dodging its attacks. It was then that the Great Reaper's eyes suddenly glowed red… and Palutena was quick to warn the gang:
"Those aren't just flirty looks coming from the Great Reaper's eyes!"
"Lemme guess – they're death rays?!" Pit guessed, and right on cue, lasers were shot out of the Great Reaper's glowing eyes, but the gang was luckily able to duck underneath them.
"Yep! They're definitely death rays!" Shulk exclaimed frantically.
"In a nutshell. Plus, if any of you get hit, it'll summon Reapettes." Palutena added.
"Oh great, there's also that…" Arusu muttered.
"That Great Reaper has quite the evil eye."
"How can you make puns at a time like this?!" Eight questioned.
"I guess I just don't SEE the problem with a little levity."
"Ugh! Those puns are killing me!" Trifle complained as they kept on attacking.
"Anyways, I think I've found the Great Reaper's weak points. They're its head and little toes."
"Oh, yeah! Stubbing those guys hurts like crazy!" Pit realized.
"But it's more effective to target the head. The head is a weak spot for many enemies and…most living things." with that said to them, the gang focused on shooting for the head while also avoiding the Great Reaper's attacks, especially the laser eyes. Once enough shots were dealt to it, it groaned and started to hold on to its head while staggering, as there was a noticeable crack on its skull. "Now! Finish it!" Palutena hollered.
"But…how?" Eleven asked.
"The light coming from its head. Strike there!"
"Gotcha!" Pit exclaimed, but when they proceeded to aim for the light, the Great Reaper growled angrily at them as it started to swing its scythe around to try to swipe them all, forcing them to get back down to the lower level.
"We won't be able to hit it from down here!" Zelda said, watching the Great Reaper spinning around nonstop.
Arusu then noticed that the light was coming out from the Great Reaper's forehead, and an idea came up to him, "I got an idea!" he turned to his three comrades. "Guys! Give me the highest boost as you possibly can!"
The three Heroes nodded and aimed their free hands towards Arusu. "Kaswoosh!" they called out, summoning tornadoes to launch Arusu straight in the air, thankfully at just the right time while the Great Reaper's scythe was out of reach during his takeoff.
With the combined power of three Kaswooshes at once, Arusu was shot up high enough to surpass the Great Reaper's height by a few inches, and while he was heading down right towards the Great Reaper's head, he brought his sword behind his back as it was surrounded with red energy.
"HATCHET MAN!" he yelled, performing a forceful downward slash right into the Great Reaper's forehead.
[BGM End]
This final Hatchet Man blow proved to be so hard, that the Great Reaper was knocked down to the ground after roaring in agony.
"All done!" Arusu exclaimed once he landed.
"Nice work!" Palutena praised.
"Huh, a Hatchet Man straight to the forehead. Who would've thought?" Solo chuckled while Eleven and Eight gave words of praise to Arusu, who smiled in return.
The Great Reaper then begins to melt into a pool of dark liquid. "Well, that's one way to take down a giant Reaper." Pit remarked.
Arusu smirked proudly. "You're welcome!"
"That sure was impressive, to say the least." Palutena said. "Now let's go find Pandora!" and with that, she extracted everyone out of the Reaper Fortress.
To be continued…
As you just saw from that flashback, turns out that Arusu wasn't always this aggressive. He only ended up that way because of his father's death, and yes, those lines of dialogue from Ortega are exactly what he says in the original Dragon Quest III game. I decided to make this sort of flashback in order to give a reason for my portrayal of Arusu's personality and make him more unique from the others, a reference to how his home game is one of the most revered of the series.
Next up, the heroes will venture into Pandora's crazy labyrinth! I'm actually very excited to start writing the next chapter since not one, but FOUR new villain OCs of mine will make their first appearance there! You'll be in for... quite a surprise once you find out who they are! ;D
