AN: Can you smell what the Homeless King, is cooking?

Well, it's victory!

Cause, Avengers Endgame finally defeated "Avatar: Smurfs in Space"! I am excited to see how the future of cinema itself will be affected by this outcome, and hopeful with the future of Marvel...meanwhile DC is fumbling about, trying to catch it's bearings and clinging to 3 characters to keep their franchises going. Ahem.

Now, we've got all sorts of bloody combat heading into this one, and it'll be setting up for the end of Arc 7 in the next chapter! Though my overtime is killer, this shows you all that I will do my damndest to get it done!

So come on, let's fucking do this, for the money making small nation known as DISNEY!

LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS!

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, and blue cat people, ENJOY!

Arc Seven: The Tower Incursion

Chapter 40: Embolism

Embolism, it is when a blood vessel is blocked by a foreign object. The culprits range from fat, to cancer, a bubble of air, to name a few. Yet, what happens if it is more mental? What if it was indifference or hate?

A hatred for a person that overtakes your life.

An indifference to those you hurt.

What makes these things similar, is love.

The love for a master, who disappeared.

The love for a family, who are no more.

So whether this was actually the truth, or just some fabrication of what was occurring, this was the only confirmation...Ovidius Loman and Shaula were in the middle of their fight, intending to kill the other.

Their hearts affected, shut in.

Her's, clouded by that insane centuries long affection for Flugel.

His, completely destroyed and replaced by his Red Ring.

All that could be said, was the fact that, their blood was still coursing.

Maybe, it wasn't a simple embolism.

After being punched back, Ovidius had several tesla coil constructs strap on his back.

"Guys I need a little power here!"

Several Red Lanterns obliged and fired their rings at the coils, causing his armor to shine radiant purple energy. Shaula rushed over but was still blasted to the ground, fumbling to the floor before kicking off the floor. The guardian kept up with her punches and kicks, pummeling Ovidius in different places, before he slammed his fist to the ground, causing spike constructs to erupt out of the ground, to which she hopped and dashed around them.

Ovidius then had two swords of violet light form on his hands. He began trying to hack and slice, but ate a knee to the face, cracking his helmet.

Wilhelm clenched a fist when he saw that.

Ovidius struggled, but got back to his feet, as Shaula teleported behind him, but when she stabbed her fingers through his shoulder, he did a quick swipe with his hands, making her pull back.

Mimi winced in pain when she saw his injury.

But Shaula was just as bad, as she saw her fingertips were sliced off in that last attack. So she did an insane barrage of kicks, only for Ovidius to create several shield constructs to block each hit, even as one by one they shattered. He then created a mechanical arm construct capturing her arm, and slamming it down. Clamping it down, he slipped his arm out and created cylinder construct on his other arm, allowing a punch from Shaula to smash into it. With audible clicks, the cogs and wheels inside the cylinder snapped shut, trapping her arm.

He yanked out his arm and began using large brass knuckle constructs to begin attacking and did not get her a single moment of clear strategizing.

Shaula punched through her trappings and tried flicker jabbing him, but it was no use, as he used the blood that was on the ground to slip and slide around her attacks. He slid between her legs and whacked her in the back of the head, forcing her long ponytail...to seemingly come alive and wrap itself around his neck. It squeezed harshly, even as Ovidius dug his nails into it, forcing him to use palm beams to make it let go. He backed up a few feet, just as Shaula sprang back on one foot and rushed straight at him.

And, with their heartbeats becoming time slowing ticks, they watched in horror. Time inching to a crawl, maybe it was just the panic setting in, but evidently, it was true.

Shaula, in her immediate anger, threw a punch so massive, it destroyed Ovidius' Aeon Armor, and made his left arm barely hang on by strands of flesh. His helmet; a signature fixture of his entire character, something he was truly famous for, was destroyed as well. His body did two flips in the air, dancing above the ground with blood pouring out of him, metal scraps flinging about, until he finally crashed onto the ground.

Subaru could narrow his eyes, as he watched Ovidius struggle to even pick himself up. He used screw and stitching constructs to keep his arm in place, painfully forcing it to stay on.

Shaula slowly walked to him, creepily, like an 80's serial killer.

Frederica choked up when she saw the delirius and rocked Ovidius fall back on the floor, clearly too rattled to know what was going on.

Shaula kicked him up and did a hand chop, which cut open his chest.

Mimi tried to rush in, but Nijino stopped her; though it is obvious she was holding back her own anger.

He couldn't even fall to his knees, as Shaula tossed a Light Needle at him, which made him smack to the floor, doing a small bounce. Never letting him know peace, she kicked him away, making his body roll around. Now, it was her time to finish this man off, once and for all. Clenching a fist with her right hand, surging it with mana and strength, her intentions were clear.

Yet, no one came in running, which did puzzle her for a moment, but not for long. Never noticing Ovidius clenched his own fist, his Red Ring glowing.

Her muscles tightened and her eyes sharpened, and now it was her moment to throw a punch.

But she didn't.

"...HK?!"

Her fist was up, her posture was correct, but she didn't move a muscle. In fact, she looked as if it was a powerful struggle just to move around her eyes.

Ovidius got up and dripped out copious amounts of blood.

"Sorry, but I had to make sure it worked."
"Khhh, hukkkk…"
"My last weapon."

His lime green eyes, with a yellow streak to them, glimmered as his half burnt face, smiled.

"That is my final attack, Revenga Art 3: REQUIEM!"

"Hukk...Uhhhk?"
"...I have given you an embolism."

"It's when something clogs an artery or vein...in this case, I used our fight earlier to slowly, but accurately, lead it into your brain. Your primary motor cortex now has a small bubble construct, making blood build up in your brain. HA! EVEN IF YOU KILL ME, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT YOU CAN FUNCTION EVER AGAIN FROM THAT!"

With great anxiety in her heart, she tried to muster any kind of movement within herself, yet it was pointless, that bubble construct squeezed between the very flesh of her brain. Now she was drooling and slumbering, as Ovidius let her have any kind of beam attack he could muster against her. Using spiked gauntlet constructs to hit and strike her as many times as he could. Noting that he was no martial artist and his training in fighting was amateur, he still hit and punched all over the paralyzed Shaula.

He didn't even think about the injuries he received, he had no thoughts about the people cheering him on; all he saw was Shaula, the person who was making his very knuckles rip open and his bones crack. Ovidius fired beams from his ring, a buckshot blast to her face, then had guandao construct slash her across the face. A palm thrust allowed him to get his rhythm back as used various weapons, many people could recognize as either their own, or ones seen in the battlefield.

Jolokia's battleaxe.

Priscilla's Yang Sword.

Subaru's Shiroyama.

Wilhelm's sword.

Frederica's cestus.

Nijino's axes.

Rem's morningstar.

All of them in tandem, not giving her even a second to think...but she still did.

Suddenly, a swirl of colorized smoke erupted out of Shaula, shoving Ovidius to tumble on his back. He shook his head, getting back up and once a bit smoke began to clear up just a bit in front of him, everyone could swear there were small bright dots staring at them.

And from the smoke, a giant pincer shot out and snapped on Ovidius.

"GAHHHH!"

It tried slicing him in half, but the aura from his ring was barely protecting him. And now everyone could see what exactly what it was.

A giant black scorpion.

Shaula had transformed into a giant scorpion in her desperation, and was trying to use her strength to slice him in two...but his fellow Red Lanterns wrapped bindings around her arm, clamps on each of the pincers and made sure it did not happen. Ovidius slipped out of the pincers, watching as her stinger was firing an undirected beam all over the place, before aiming directly at him. He fired eye beams, a result of his Red Ring, which collided with hers causing a massive backlash of power. The sound of glass and concrete smashing apart sent Ovidius flying.

Yet he was caught by Moussaka.

"Ovidius-san, are you alright?!"
"More than that! Get me back in there!"

He nodded, tossing him forward.

As he focused that he still had the embolism construct inside of her, he made it so it now popped. The giant scorpion flung about, before Wilhelm sliced half its stinger off, and Jolokia sliced the other half off. Noticing it was glowing, Frederica kicked the stinger out of the Tower, watching as it exploded in the distance.

The scorpion, just watched as it's biddy eyes reflected her last resorted attack; all the Red Lanterns took advantage of the larger target and began firing shots and crimson beams all over her.

Realizing that her upped speed meant nothing, she witnessed as most of her tail was sliced off in a spinning attack by Nijino and bitten off by Genau. Another burst of smoke, and Shaula was back to her normal self, but butt naked. What could have been a sensual scene, was nasty to look at; her hair was cut incredibly short, her body was covered in nasty scorn marks, bruises and stagnated blood.

She flung needles everywhere, at anyone who would get close, until Subaru used Unseen Hand constructs to slam her away. Planting her feet to skid to a halt, she was met with Frederica superman punching her with her cestus, smashing it to bits with that impact. Wilhelm flew under and sliced her upward, Nijino kicked her in the back of the head, Mimi bashed her face with a construct of Ricardo's blade, and Genau tackled her with deer horn constructs. She grabbed onto those antlers and tossed him away, being tackled by Ovidius and flown out of that room, barrelling all the way to the top of the Tower.

Everyone quickly began to follow.

He threw her, before using a baseball bat construct to bash her face in. When she made a Light Needle, Ovidius shifted his body down and sprinted, staring into her tired eyes, before firing eye beam constructs to target her gouged eye, shooting it apart. When she went for a kick, her balance was tumbling, the damage her brain took was too much for her.

A slip was all Ovidius needed...and he used a move, it seemed...everyone had not once used against her, maybe out of fear of how it might not have worked, or out of pride...who was to say?

Ovidius vomited his napalm blood on her face, burning it all.

He punched her, which combined with the attack earlier, dislocated her jaw and shattered most of her teeth. In a moment of power, she was somehow able to muster the strength to create a powerful Light Needle, which cracked the very roof they stood upon and threw it.

Throwing it straight through Ovidius' chest, a large bloody hole made up his injury. But he kept up his attack, waiting for her to throw a punch, and puked blood all over it, making the punch actually break her fist upon his face. This still wasn't anything minimal, her punch still swelled up his left eye, but made him miss her next gouging attack, which cut upon the side of his head nastily. He played dirty as well and shoved three fingers into her broken eye, creating a disgusting hole in her socket.

Being kicked off, Ovidius was also hit with a single eye beam through the side of his neck.

Shaula ran crazed and bloody at him, her face appearing just as hard to look at, as the Red Lantern she was facing off against. The other Red Lanterns finally arrived to watch, as Shaula ran to Ovidius...who waited with baited breath.

"WE WILL BURN YOU ALL! THAT IS YOUR FATE, SHAULAAAAAAA!"

Once Shaula was near him, he fired insanely with his ring, knocking her to knees. Making a crosshair construct, it aided him in his blatant full auto assault, littering her in shots. He fired and fired, drool and blood escaping his crazed predatory screech. He fired and fired, kept firing and shot and shot, not even ceasing as blood began dripping from the top of the Tower. He kept shooting and shooting...even as Subaru grabbed him, yelling something.

He couldn't hear it.

Genau bit on his pants, trying to pull him, barking something.

He couldn't hear it.

Nothing at all.

But he did eventually.

"Enough! Ovidius, enough! It's over, just stop!"

"...?!"

He finally stopped firing, coughing as he caught his breath. Smoke covering where Shaula had tripped. Now, he got to look at his work...there was some sort of large pile of flesh and bones, bits of hair here and there, but it certainly was riddled in holes.

Shaula was no more.

"You did it Ovidius. YOU DID IT!"

All the Red Lanterns cheered his victorious outcome, the final obstacle of the Pleiades Watchtower was defeated, and the sacrifices made, were indeed worth it.

Yet it was Mimi, who slumped over and began to tear up, once Subaru noticed so did they all. So did they notice Ovidius and his horrible injuries. Subaru rested his good arm around his shoulder, feeling how wet in blood his body was.

"Hang on Ovidius! We have to get you to the mages-"
"No! Ughhhh, let me see the next level."
"Level?"
"On the way here, ugghhh, I noticed there was something above the Tower, hard to see, ughhhhh, that is the key."
"But-"
"-My dream is here, please...please Natsuki-san."

His foggy lime eyes gazed into Subaru's...letting him reluctantly nod back, and all the Red Lanterns floated up and used their rings to try and find the entrance. Sure enough, Nijino was able to find it, and once her Ring was used, a see-through spiral staircase showed itself, along with a door in the middle of the air.

While they began opening it, the larger Red Lanterns like Soulfly, waited outside and kept guard.

They opened it, and everyone else floated on inside. With it, there was meant to be obstacles, but it was apparent that the damage the Tower received during this battle allowed them to bypass it.

Eventually, finding a huge library filled to the brim with books, some with names they recognized, but more that they didn't. Ignoring them, they were once again able to bypass the next task, some kind of trick involving buttons…

A large room, and sitting in the middle of it, a white luminous sphere of some type, held in place by a sort of podium that wrapped around the edges. Ovidius, still barely hanging on, scanned it.

"Ahhhh."
"What?"
"This is a star."
"Like from outer space?"
"Correct, aghhh, listen if this ever, ugh, runs out...you can replace it with another one...indefinetly."
"R-Right! Our Rings would be able to do something like that, Genau showed us it's possible."
"Of course."

With his joy, he began to buckle his knees, Subaru barely holding him.

"Hey, that's enough okay?! Let's get you outta here!"
"...I won't make it."
"Quit that shitty-"
"-SUBARU."

His eyes went wide, for Ovidius never called him by his first name, not once he could recall. He soon saw Ovidius gaze into his eyes, the reflection of each other was enough to ignore everything around them.

"I have been dreaming of this day for so many years, lost so much of my life, broken too much of my own body. Uhhhhkkk, but now my dreams have come true, my revenge is complete, my family is avenged and,...my friends have won with my help."
"Ovi-"
"-And I have never been so proud of the people around me. Ughhhkkkk, of everything I was able to accomplish, of the people who've trusted me, who have given their all to me."

"Thank you, thank you so much."

Tears trickled down his face, but the smile he had was utterly pure.

"Thank you so much, all of you. My allies, my companions, my family. I am so proud to be with all of you, ever since that day, all those years ago. Thank you. For introducing me to Liliana, ughhhkk, for having my knowledge be shared, for...accepting me...Subaru...nut I'm tired...hey, look...Subaru..."
"Yeah?"
"...Look, in there…"

They both stared into the star, Ovidius using his hand, in which his Ring rested...pointing at it, with exhausted happiness.

"...My mother…see her?"
"...I see her."

He lied, but out of respect, only that.

"Isn't she...beautiful…"
"...Yeah…"

"...It's been so...long...I…I…."

His eyes stared into the white void, until her felt like he was going inside of it.

Ovidius opened his eyes, as he sat at the dinner table, his two brothers, his father and mother sitting with him. A meal fit for kings was there for him, as his mother grinned gingerly at him.

"My little Ovid, eat up, you earned it."
"Thank you mother."

And once he smiled, with his handsome face normal, and tears streaming down his lovely emerald eyes, he agreed.

It was quiet in there, no one made a sound, but inched closer and closer. Until finally, with one last step...everyone saw a Red Ring fly past them, and out the door they entered through.

Wilhelm, was the first to reach them...only to see Subaru, a complete sobbing mess, plastered with an expression of hideous pain.

The old stern warrior, had a moment of weakness, and a single tear dripped down his eye.

Genau was next, and he fell on his belly using his paws to cover his eyes as he cried uncontrollably.

Mimi, fell on her behind, hugging her white fox scarf, crying into it.

Frederica simply clawed at her hair, shutting her eyes in complete sadness, a few droplets escaping her eyes.
Nijino fell to her knees and cried up a storm.

Eventually, there was no one there that had a dry eye.

All they could see, was a normal clothed man, leaning on Natsuki Subaru, as he barely mustered the fortitude to speak.

"GOODBYE, OVIDIUS."

His eyes bereft of light, his skin looking cold...but with a small smile on his face, it was the surest example of the legacy he would leave behind.

Ovidius Loman, one of the Founding Seven, who had spent years toiling away at his own life, trying to achieve so many insurmountable feats and orchestrating plans beyond human measure. He had finally done everything he could've hoped for.

And now, he was allowed his peaceful slumber.

And maybe...see his family again.

The Pleiades Watchtower, was finally conquered.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AN:

Ovidius Loman

"The Mad Genius".

Ch. 13 - Ch. 40

R.I.P.

Yeah, so one of my favorite OC characters just bit the dust, but at least he fulfilled his one true dream.

And was at least able to utilize his final Revenga Art, which is named after Mozart's very famous piece of music.

Now what comes next?

Well, Arc 7 comes to an end next chapter, and with it we will head into Arc 8...which I'm not gonna lie; this will be the craziest shit we've seen in a long time. Trust me, it'll be mind-blowing. Maybe, who knows?

Okay, well, just let the events of this chapter sink in and have a good rest of your time!

Next time, Ch. 41: "Wisdom of Ovidius Loman"...

Catch you soon.