Ch.117: The King of Thieves Strikes! Let the Storm Pierce the Heavens!
"Concentrate."
Tony grumbled to himself, annoyed by his father's pestering. With Team Ravenfield stationed to leave for Gelid Peak soon, he had to get some last-minute training in with the Samurott even if he despised spending another second with the man.
Tony closed his eyes and concentrated his magic through his body. His fur lit and spiked up, crackling with electricity. The air vibrated off his aura. He felt like every particle of his body was vibrating at once, trying to shake loose. He grunted as stabbing pains cut across his body in bursts. It felt like he was close to tearing himself apart.
"Don't stop. Maintain focus," Leroy ordered.
Tony growled and stopped the spell, collapsing onto his knees. "Ugh! This is so stupid."
"Deus Tempestatis is not a spell easily mastered. At your skill level, attempting it now is an exhausting possibility."
"Then why are you making me practice?"
"Because you and your stubborn persistence for perfection won't allow failure."
"…" Tony sat down and rested his arms across his lap. "God of Storms. If a bastard like you can master it, I can easily learn it."
"Then why do you complain?"
"I complain. It's what I do. Helps me think." He smirked. "Well, and also insulting your shit mug. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside."
Leroy glared. "This isn't a joke, boy. If you intend to grasp the depths of Storm Magic, you must dig deeper than the physical form. You've come to create your own spell through trial and error. It tells me you are a step closer to becoming one with the storm."
"Tch. Learning it from you sounds like enough of a chore." He pointed to the Samurott and stated, "I've borrowed enough of your tricks. I learned that spell because I knew I could surpass my own roadblock. If I'm going to surpass you, it'll be through my image alone."
"…" Leroy sighed. "Do you know one of the main principles of magic?"
"An encyclopedic knowledge of runes and symbols?"
"Imagination." Leroy summoned a cluster of lightning into his hand. "The complex calculations needed to perform spells are done automatically thanks to our auras. We've become so attuned to them we can perform miracles by thought alone. That's the advantage you should be taking by the reins."
Tony raised his brow. "Oh?"
"I told you that I refer to God of Storms as Deus Tempestatis. That is how I've come to recognize the spell. However, when it comes to higher tiers of magic such as this, it's only as strong as the user's connection to that name. I am one who follows regulations and protocol, thus I refer to its archaic namesake. If you were to form your own version of this spell, what shape and name would be given to it?"
"…" Tony glared at the cluster of sparks. "My own version, huh?"
"Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet!"
Aeternus took cover under a barrier as Tony leapt high up into the air and rained down a storm of lightning beams. They pierced through the floor and Aeternus' equipment with smoke permeating from the bullet holes. The mad clown struck his barrier and fired it at the Dewott.
Tony formed his Nebula Rider and dove under it. "The madman of the shadows dares to hide behind walls? Have I finally struck fear into that black heart of yours?"
Aeternus rose to full height on his tentacles and laughed. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy turning you to dust!"
"Dust this, train me this! Pick an objective and die with it!" He swooped across the walls, firing down Lightning Shot.
Aeternus blocked with another barrier and lit up his fingertips. "Particle Beam!" He fired consecutive laser bursts from his fingers like gatling fire.
Tony weaved through the shots as they pierced and carved through the stone walls. He broke from his Nebula Rider and skidded across the wall. "Quick Step!" Launching himself off, he soared over to the wall behind Aeternus and rebounded off, kicking him in the back.
Aeternus anchored himself with his tentacles and grabbed Tony with two. "I've been studying you for a long time, Sapienti! Your speed isn't enough anymore!" He turned himself around and closed his hands together. "Particle Eraser!"
Tony struggled within the clown's hold before smirking. "Don't get ahead of yourself." He swung his hand and conjured wind. "Ventusphere: Wind Lance!" With a flick of the wrist, he tossed the wind spear into the clown's face.
"GAH!" He staggered back, firing his disintegrating blast into the wall, cutting out an entire section of it.
Tony sparked up his aura and forced Aeternus' tentacles off. "Flash Splitter!" He grabbed and electrified his scalchops, slicing into the clown's chest and tentacles. Three were sliced off in one swing.
Aeternus fell back onto the floor, but with hands pressed down. "Matter Shuffle!"
Sections of the floor rose out as malleable pillars and snaked toward the Dewott. Tony summoned his Nebula Rider again and took off with the pillars chasing him down. He dove under one that came close to smashing into him, then flew over two crashing into each other.
Aeternus flipped back onto his feet, using his darkness to reattach the missing tentacles. "Run, run, run, Sapienti!" He touched the ground and summoned more slithering pillars. "This only makes the chase more fun for me!"
Pillars linked overhead, forming a stone mesh that careen down on top of the Dewott. Tony jumped off his storm cloud and raised his hands. "Dragon Thunderclap!" With a single clap, he blew the stone cage to pieces, sending a shower of debris blitzing across the observatory.
Aeternus formed a wall to block the projectiles and conjured two stone snakes to rise out from behind him. "Let me greet you properly as the leader of the Anguis Organization!"
Tony fired a Lightning Shot into one of the serpents, destroying the head, but the other evaded his shots by weaving in between its crumbling twin. It moved swiftly and snapped its jaw down onto the Dewott, burying him through the floor. It curved up and smashed through a wall, carrying its trapped prey out into the open.
"No wonder this asshat needs to keep his minions in line under duress!" Tony growled, kicking against the inside of the serpent. "Man doesn't know how to do a proper handshaaaaaa—WHOA!" The stone serpent thrashed him about, slamming him against the castle exterior and dragging his upper half along the walls. "Oi, I'm ranting here, you stupid silicone garden statue!"
He gripped between the statue's maw and sent a strong flow of wind magic inside. The air accumulating inside forced the construct's mouth to push open, allowing him to pull his legs free. Right as it snapped its jaw shut, Tony flung himself to the top of its head and plunged his Flash Splitter through. An electrical surge ripped through the head and burst it open from the inside.
Tony jumped amidst the explosion and landed back on the smoldering neck with a mocking bow. "Never interrupt a man when he's monologuing his frustrations. Or is it a soliloquy since I'm talking to a statue?"
He put his inner debate on pause as he looked onto the battlefield raging outside the castle. So much had progressed since his escape that couldn't track who and what was fighting down below. There was an airship that clearly didn't look like the Wasteland waging war down below, and there were a fair number of explosions that could've made the average onlooker mistaken it for a faulty fireworks display.
He focused through his Eye of Odin and scanned through the participating parties. "Wasting my time up here with Captain Freakshow doesn't seem all that productive. Best I—" His eye widened as he spotted a strong aura waging battle outside the battlefield.
Focusing on it, he took note of the vibrant orange color radiating around it mixed with the unmistaken splashes of teal infused within. He could feel the presence being given off, but his eyes alone told him the identity of the beholder, bringing upon a few tears of confusion and hope.
"Is that…Flint?"
"Peek-A-Boo!"
Tony sensed the foreboding presence of a large structure looming over him. Catching it in his peripherals, his Eye of Odin reacted and automatically threw his body out of the way as a stone hand came down and crushed the remains of the beheaded snake. Another stone hand formed out of the walls and curved toward the airborne Dewott.
He growled. "Be it miracle or not, I suppose killing you will spare us all a nightmarish plight!" He spun his body around until his feet touched the approaching hand, then leapt off before it could close its fingers around him. He dove through the gaps of the other hand's finger and slid along the arm. "Lighting Shot: Lotus Bullet!" Through both hands, he fired a gatling shower of lightning beams, breaking the constructs down little by little until they crumbled into pebbles.
Tony slammed a Ventusphere into the wall and broke back into the observatory just as Aeternus fired a Particle Eraser in his direction. He conjured a small storm cloud under his feet and flipped over the disintegrating beam. With his scalchops drawn, he brought them down and cleaved through the clown's shoulders.
Aeternus cackled through the searing pain. "Good, good! You're putting up a real fight!" He tapped the floor with a tentacle and punted Tony away with a small pillar. His shoulders fused back together with darkness. "You really are a killer!"
Tony landed on his feet and sheathed his scalchops. "Nah. I just really hate looking at your face. Of all the modifications, you just had to—Oh!" He hid his smirk. "Oh, my mistake, you were born with that face. My apologies for your failure in the genetic lottery."
Aeternus' cat-like smirk stretched. "You haven't seen freakish yet!" Slamming his hands down, walls of stone pillars ejected from behind and charged toward Tony.
Tony raced through the pillars, dodging them with the aid of his artificial eye. He pivoted off his heel and slid under the offending stone, performing a makeshift breakdance to both avoid being flattened into a pancake and to outclass the clown in style points. He flipped off his hands, gliding over waves of pillars, and dropkicked the clown square in the face.
"You may have been a big bad general in your heyday, but you're not quite the juggernaut of five hundred years ago!" He kicked off his face and deftly landed on a slithering pillar, riding it to the top as it tried to throw him off. "Though, it did take you fifty years to subjugate an entire region, and even then, you got your ass handed to you by some string and a few thousand tons of brick. Who's the more accomplished one again?"
Aeternus laughed. "Oh, you foolish boy! Five hundred years grants a lot of opportunities! Particle Incineration!" He expelled destructive pale flames from his hands.
Tony leapt off the slithering pillars as the flames consumed and broke down all in its path. He kicked off the wall and raced down another set of pillars that tried to smash into him. He surfed his way to the bottom and lunged at Aeternus, slamming both his fists into his chest.
"Impetus Pressure!"
He blasted a straight line of vibrational energy through the clown's midsection. Aeternus coughed up blood before being thrown back into the walls. His organs sloshed and ruptured from the high-speed movement while his bones rattled and cracked.
Tony then went into a high-speed dash and slammed his knee into Aeternus' chest, caving it in. The clown doubled over in a drawn-out wheeze while Tony flipped back through the air and landed with his arms smugly crossed.
"And five hundred years dulls one's judgment apparently." Tony smirked. "I've came close to beating you before. This time, your precious apprentice won't be here to save you."
The clown picked himself up, coughing and wheezing up tainted blood through his toothy smile. "Oh…Oh, you really are something, Sapienti." His chest fixed itself, and the clown stood back up wiping the blood from his lips. "I always felt a kindred spirit between us. You could've inherited all my power. I could've made you into a brand new me."
Tony charged a Lightning Shot and took aim. "The only me there needs to be is myself."
"…" Aeternus bowed his head and laughed through clenched teeth. "So it should."
Tony raised his brow as something stirred under the clown's bandaged arms. From the hands to the shoulders, it shifted in shape and size, pushing against the inside of the bandages like something was trying to escape. He heard a low hissing coming from those arms. He took a step back without thinking as he listened to the clown's insidious laughter grow more manic.
"That's why I like you, Tony. You're still you. You've always been you." Aeternus lifted his eyes, which gleamed with maniacal joy. "You're just like me. Always moving forward and sticking to your principles. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to meet someone who shares in my ambitious desire for power!"
"What the…?" He took another step back. "What the hell did you do to yourself?"
"Kehehehehe! Oh, if only you weren't so stubborn with morals. I suppose…this'll be our final meeting. Business negotiations are over!"
Aeternus' arms ballooned out from the bandages and tore through. From the scattering white ribbons came a hodgepodge of limbs sewn and fused to his shoulders. Giant muscular arms with spindly arms connected directly under. A large pincer snipping from his left side while a skeletal snake slithered and hissed from his right. Even Aeternus' face shifted a bit, the corners of his mouth splitting open, allowing him to open his jaw wide and revealing sets of fangs. His eyes sharpened into red slits as he licked the air with a split tongue.
"Let's all celebrate with a revelry of darkness, Tony Sapienti! KEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"
"What in Arceus' name?!" the Dewott yelled.
Aeternus lunged at the startled thief, snapping his fanged jaw across the air. Tony recovered from his shock in time to narrowly dodge a swiping blow from the clown's pincer. His eyes widened as it opened with a laser charging inside.
"Particle Cannon!"
Tony ducked all the way back before the pincer fired. He felt the hairs on his face being singed from the close contact. The energy ball smashed through the room and disintegrated part of the wall. He backflipped off his hands and took to the air on his Nebula Rider.
Aeternus threw off his cloak and exposed his back. Two slits split open, pushing out two pairs of dragon wings. "No more running, Sapienti!" He flapped his wings and chased after the flying Dewott.
"Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet!" Tony circled across the walls, raining down lightning beams.
Aeternus shielded himself behind his twin muscular arms, then aimed his serpent arm. It inhaled and expelled a consecutive stream of dark energy. Tony picked up speed as the beam blasted through the wall and chased him down. It carved out sections of the observatory, causing the ceiling to start collapsing behind him.
"Nebula Rider: Dance of Hermes!" The storm cloud broke apart and formed around his feet. "Quick Step!" With the air fully at his control, he started outrunning the beam and circled back to the clown. He delivered a full-powered, electrified kick to the back of his head.
"Matter Shuffle!"
Tony saw a pillar firing out below and flipped forward. However, he threw himself into Aeternus' awaiting hands. Trapped between the clown's muscular hands, Tony braced himself as Aeternus smashed his head into the floor and dragged him along to the wall.
"Isn't this fun, Sapienti?! I'm having a wonderful time!" Aeternus tossed the dazed Dewott up once, grabbed his ankle, and slammed him into the floor. He pressed his snake arm to his back. "Bye-Bye!"
The snake exhaled the dark laser, punching Tony deeper into the castle. He smashed through floor after floor before crashing into an empty room. Tony dizzily picked himself up before sensing the clown's descent. He narrowly avoided a diving slam attack from the clown's brutish arms.
"Matter Shuffle!" Aeternus touched the floor and created dozens of stone snakes all converging on the thief.
Tony staggered on one leg, but kept his balance. He pressed and rubbed his hands together, generating a ball of storm magic. "Tempest Impes Fulgo!" Hardening his stance, he thrusted his hands out and fired the sky-blue beam into the snakes.
The concentrated blast of storm magic barreled its way through the constructs and charged toward Aeternus. The clown spread his arms out and conjured a wide barrier, splitting the beam around him. It impacted the wall and pierced through the outside of the castle.
"Kehehehehe! Oh, I haven't had this much fun in five hundred years! Continue to entertain me, Sapienti! I haven't had my fill yet!"
Tony snarled. "Is this how everyone feels when they tell me to shut up?" He disengaged from the spell and crouched. "Light Speed!" Before the beam finished blasting into Aeternus' shield, the thief sped around the empty hall. "Fulmen Scattershot!" He fired off electrical orbs all around the space, concentrating them around the standstill clown.
Once the storm beam ended, Aeternus parted his shield and took notice of the sparking orbs hovering around him. "Oooooh—"
Tony snapped his fingers. "Release!"
The orbs exploded and electrified everything within their borders. Aeternus tensed up and screamed with his entire body lighting up in the storm of magical plasma.
Tony pressed his feet against the ceiling and dove toward the screaming clown. "Flash Splitter!" He brandished his electrified scalchops and passed through the electrical field unharmed. "Take THIS!" He torqued his body and careened into the clown like a spinning blade.
"AAAAAAAaaaaaaAAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Tony's momentum suddenly came to a dead stop as something clamped down on his waist. He gasped as the electricity fizzled out around Aeternus, who was grinning like a loon despite being burnt black. The clown's pincer tightened around the trapped Dewott.
"My turn!"
Tony endured a brutal uppercut to the chin which launched him back up through the ceiling. He clipped the edges of the holes he broke through and found himself flying back up over the observatory. No sooner than he flew out through the glass roof, Aeternus caught up with his arms winded back.
"Annnnnd SERVED!" He spiked Tony across the castle, where he crashed along the roof and slammed his head into a low wall.
"Aaaaagh…" Tony gripped his head and stared dizzily at the open sky where wild magic crackled through the dark clouds above. He could barely make out the fighting happening just below, and he could've sworn he heard more fighting somewhere deeper in the castle. Too many sounds distorted along his ears and mind.
Aeternus descended onto the roof, extending his new wings boastfully. "Oooohhhh, how I absolutely enjoy the thrill of battle. I never expressed my satisfaction with murder and bloodshed during the Grand Imperium Age. Professionalism is key, after all." His manic grin stretched further back. "But five hundred years gives an immortal soul the chance to reflect on what's most important: taking pride in your work! I'm glad we could share this moment together, Sapienti."
Tony picked himself against the wall, catching his breath while he collected his bearings. "You…psychotic freak."
"No witty retort? You're embarrassing yourself." Aeternus reared his arms back, lighting up his fingers and charging energy within his snake and pincer arms. "Let me inspire you!"
"Quick Step!" He electrified himself and sped across the roof.
"Particle Beam: Multi-Ray Fiesta!" Continuous steams of energy poured out from his fingertips and other appendages. He cackled, throwing his hands forward and crossing the beams together.
Tony flipped off his hand and weaved through the beams as they intersected. They sliced through part of the castle roof and separated it into hundreds of evenly split pieces. He landed on one of the pieces as it fell and jumped back onto stable ground.
"Endless Particle Volley!" Aeternus flew high into the air and swirled his hands around, conjuring a stream of energy bolts. Once they started spinning all around him, he thrusted his hands and rained them down onto the roof.
"Flash Splitter!" Tony pulled out his scalchops and cut through the raining stream. He seemed to keep up with them at first, but his head injury acted up and caused him to falter. The bolts peppered his body, miniature explosions lighting up over his defensive aura. He pushed through and kept up the defense, but swung out of rhythm with the energy bolts. He was struck with just as many deflected.
Aeternus's mad cackling boomed over the castle. "Feeling sluggish today, Sapienti? Where's all that spirit? I thought you were supposed to be the clever one!" He ceased firing and clapped his hands together. "Particle Eraser!"
Tony staggered back before jumping out of the beam's path. It disintegrated more the roof and took out a portion of the castle below. He rolled to his feet and fired two Lightning Shots, which were effortlessly blocked by a barrier. He continued to stumble, feeling his head ringing louder in his ears.
"Oh, how predictably dull!" Tony gasped aloud as Aeternus came down on him with his pincer hand. It smashed his face into the roof. Aeternus picked him up and slapped him a couple times. "Hey, don't fall asleep just yet! I thought you said you were going to change your life around. Carve out your own destiny and all that. Where's the fire? Was I wrong about you, Sapienti? Are you really all talk?"
The Dewott cracked one eye open and sneered. "I…was wrong earlier."
"Ooooh?"
"…" He cracked a smirked. "This is actually an improvement for your ugly mug—"
Aeternus cracked him upside the jaw with one punch and sent him hurtling into the sky. "Good, good, you still have some talk left in you. Particle Beam!" He lit up his fingers and fired lasers.
Tony formed a Nebula Rider and barely dodged the lasers. He rubbed his hands together and generated another ball of light. "You're not avoiding this one!"
Aeternus smirked and spread his arms out to the sky. "Well, don't disappoint! Hit me with everything you've got!"
"Now die! Tempest Impes Fulgo!" Maximizing the magical output of the spell, he fired a colossal beam of storm magic down on the clown.
The beam eclipsed the sky from Aeternus' point of view, all to which he stared with increasing glee. No barrier, no counterattack, and no evasion. He stood there and let the beam barrel down on him, ready to be overtaken in its light.
Or at least that was the outcome Tony hoped for.
His eyes widened as the beam started to split apart meters from impacting the castle. Without moving a muscle, Aeternus laughed as the laser split apart in four separate directions and traveled to the four corners of the castle. The divided beams struck a metal rod on each corner and funneled the spell into the ground, where Tony could see it dispersing across the earth harmlessly.
"W-What…?"
Aeternus threw his head back and cackled laughter. "Whaaaaat? Did you think I was lying a week ago? I told you, didn't I?!"
Tony glared. "The lightning rods—"
"Specifically designed to counter any escape attempts you were cooking up. You may get away with some of your weaker spells up here, but anything like that will just get redirected away. No more big booms from you!" The clown cackled louder, nearly falling over backwards.
Tony's eyes flickered back and forth between the four lightning rods as they discharged the last of his magic. "All of my strongest spells will just be redirected into them…"
"Ooooooh, Tooooony!" The thief glared back at the roof as Aeternus wound his arms back, conjuring balls of light into each. "Particle Missile!" He lobbed the energy balls up while his snake and pincer arms fired four more each.
Tony kicked his storm cloud and dodged the streaking orbs. However, dodging them wasn't as simple as he thought. With dramatic movements from Aeternus' arms, the pale-yellow comets curved and continued apace toward him. Tony turned around and took off flying with the so-called missiles in hot pursuit.
"Oooooh, this is so much fun!" Aeternus waved his hands around wildly, bursting into maniacal laughter.
The missiles sped up and swerved from different angles around the thief. He lit up his Eye of Odin as the orbs converged on him. With his automatic reflexes engaged, his Light Speed triggered and performed minute adjustments to dodge the attacks. The missiles continued to adjust to his dodges and swirled all about like a swarm of angry Combee. He tried blasting them with Lightning Shot, but Aeternus would anticipate and maneuver the missiles around his attacks.
"Dragon Thunderclap!" Striking his hands together, Tony knocked the orbs back in the shockwave, giving him enough room to escape the surrounding cluster.
Aeternus, however, felt his smirk tugging to its limits. "Missed one." He flicked his middle finger up.
A stray missile struck from below the Nebula Rider and blasted Tony in the stomach. He spat up blood as it pierced through his body. Though it caused no physical damage, it wrecked his defensive aura and inflicted substantial pain over his stomach.
C-Can't…move…
Aeternus swung his hands down and yelled, "And for the grand finale…!"
The remaining missiles converged from above and struck Tony, piercing and carrying him out of the sky. He and the missiles crashed back down on the roof, where the missiles lit up and trapped him in a powerful explosion that tore the remainder of the roof to shreds.
Aeternus relaxed his arms and laughed quietly. "Well, I should've become a fireworks salesman. I know how to end a party."
He flew over the wreckage and swatted the smoke away. A yellow barrier had been set up beforehand, leaving the burnt and stunned Dewott sprawled out and overwhelmed with pain. Tony, still gripping to consciousness, pressed his hands down on the barrier and attempted to pick himself up. Aeternus stomped out his efforts by literally stomping on his head.
"And victory goes to me."
He wrapped his tentacles around Tony and lifted him to eye level. The dazed Dewott cracked his eyes open and glared weakly. "Y-You…"
Aeternus raised one spindly arm and stretched out the fingers. "I've enjoyed the game, Sapienti, but business is a never-ending pursuit. No time for morals or family. Power and morals can't coexist." He snickered softly. "Only the truly ruthless are allowed to rule."
He wrapped his hand over Tony's face, where pale-yellow light shined into his eyes.
"So, allow me to part you from those feeble thoughts with a farewell of my own design. A…Farewell Oblivion."
Some Five Hundred Years Ago…
Prying himself from under the rubble of his king's former castle, the Strategist of Darkness limped out into the deserted landscape, clutching his head while his right arm hung limply at his side drenched in blood. Blood trickled down his forehead. His eyes twitched as his vision distorted in front of him, making the ground shake and shift all over.
Puck stopped walking and glanced back at the leveled structure, once a proud symbol of his king's rule. He wondered how Callista and Voss faired in the collapse. Did they already escape? Were they still buried underneath? Should he use this time to search for his dear allies for that was the proper response to lost comrades?
"…Kehehehehehe!"
The answer was no.
The clown spun on his heels and laughed out to the sky. "If those fools can't survive a few thousand tons of brick and stone collapsing on their faces, they don't deserve my charity. They can find their own way out if they still have lungs to inflate."
He stumbled forward like a man who finished with an all-night drinking party. He grunted as his vision tripled. He staggered onto his knees and spat up blood. He only then noticed the stone spike pierced through his abdomen. It dug through his lung, possibly even a kidney.
"Ooooh Wendrake, such treachery can't go unpunished."
Puck touched the spike, disintegrating it into yellow dust. Blood poured from the wound, but his darkness quickly deployed to seal off his injuries. It did little to ease the clown's head trauma, still feeling like an earthquake was going off in his body. He wrestled through the vertigo and rose back onto his feet.
"Ooooh…" He massaged his forehead. "I'm feeling gigglier than usual. What a rush!" He looked out to the horizon after wiping the blood from his face.
The war was over. The mortals have reclaimed what was theirs, and with the very power they campaigned against for centuries. What an unexpected turn of events. They had five years to adjust to the mortals' integration of magic, but the progress they made in such short a time was marvelous. The shadows seemed invincible since their rise to power, but now the world offered them some healthy competition.
The clown scratched his chin. "Let's see: I'm one king short, two allies potentially buried, and one TO bury. And a stunning lack of shadows to command. Any form of retaliation at this point would mean certain death."
His grin grew, his laughter rising in pitch. Through his dazed mind, he skipped along the long stretch of land.
"Oh well, guess I'll have to rebuild everything from scratch. I can't count on the suicidal brute and bitter-hearted witch to get anything done. Fortunately, I've got nothing but time." He spun on the tips of his feet and laughed louder. "Ooooh, I feel so alive! So liberated from restraint! Is this what it means to express joy? Oooh, I kind of like it. Very well, I guess I'll have to fix this mess for you, my beloved king."
With his eyes set on the roadless path ahead, the clown made his way toward his future. A future no destined upon him, but one broken down and crafted by his own hands.
"There's an entire world of magic to explore. Decades and centuries of research to conduct. Let's witness it all! Ad vitam aeternam!"
Perched atop the wreckage of the castle roof, with thunderous cracks of wild magic surging off the clouds and battle waging on the surface below, two minds of self-proclaimed esteem were locked in what seemed to be the end of their feud. With Aeternus' magic spreading across Tony to ultimately reduce him to dust, the Dewott could only stare up at the Sky Zone's storm clouds.
"…What a way to go," he mumbled. "Starting out as some no-named thief. Dying some no-named hero. I always imagined myself becoming rich and famous, being waited on hand and foot, and outsmarting everyone and everything to take hold of my desired destiny." He closed his eyes. "And the last thing I get to see is this storm and some freak's stupid face."
Aeternus smirked. "Has the gravity of the end weighed down your defiant soul, Sapienti?"
"Heh. Don't push your luck, clown. I never said I was interested in dying."
Aeternus tightened his tentacles around the Dewott's limbs. "Well, you've gambled your life one too many times. You know what they say about those who don't step away from the roulette table? Their luck will eventually run out."
"But what even is luck?"
"Exactly. We make our own luck. Some better than others."
Tony glanced down at his body as the clown's magic started to reach toward his waist. By his estimate, he had about another minute or so before his molecular structure crumbled into a pile of glowing sand. He tilted his head back enough to spot stray explosions, lasers, and flying golems hurtling over the visual horizon.
"…Tell me something, Aeternus. What was this all for? Becoming a gang leader? The Shadow King's loyalty? Gaining all the power in the world?"
Aeternus looked away for a moment, snickering aloud. "What a fascinating question. It's been so long, the reason almost escapes me. I…suppose all I've ever wanted was to prove I'm not some lowborn peasant. My time was a cruel one, but my father taught me to always look forward. To be sharp. To outwit everyone. To never let anyone hold me back. That was the lesson I engraved into my heart after I ended his life. Five hundred years, and I've proven I could rise above anyone with the bare essentials. No shadows, no magic, no allies. Just me and my wits."
"…" Tony smirked. "You really are a dumbass."
"Ooooh?" Aeternus leaned down, stretching his snake-like grin in the Dewott's face. "Well, before the concept of self-awareness slips from your mind, enlighten me. What was this all for? Your family? Your friends? To gain all the power and money in the world? Tell me what you value most of all."
"…" Tony closed his eyes. "What I value…"
Amidst their conversation, he slowly inched his hand through the clown's tentacles, moving ever so carefully under his detection. A good thief, above all else, needed hands that could move swiftly, silently, and secretly. Move with such precision and care that no one will notice you brushing up against their skin. Like dousing rods, his hand was attracted to the object hanging around his neck.
"…" He opened his eyes and smirked. "What I value most is my experiences."
Aeternus raised his brow. "Oh?"
"All of this just to prove everyone who thought little of you wrong, but I've been aiming to prove myself wrong. Through hardship, I've learned to cook, sew, track, hunt, steal, sneak, fight, and more. Through those experiences, I've gained powerful allies and friends who I can count on in a pinch. I don't care what anyone thinks of me. All that matters…is that I'm me, and that's all I'll ever need."
The clown smirked. "All that intelligence, and you have no desire to flaunt it?"
"Oh, I flaunt. But I don't do it to prove myself someone's better. Why would I need to?"
His hand found its way to the necklace, and he curled his fingers around it. He clenched down with all his strength until the vial started to crack.
Aeternus sensed the shifting under his tentacles. "Wait, what are you—"
"I'm already the best there is!"
The glass cracked open inside his fist, and purple lightning erupted off of Tony's body. It nearly blew Aeternus away, but he dug his muscular arms into the roof and kept one hand on Tony with the spell still functioning. He was seconds away from completing the process, seconds from turning the Dewott to dust.
"The best there is, huh?!" Aeternus laughed in his obscured face. "This is nothing more than a little tingle! If this was supposed to stop me, you're even more sick in the head than I am! Now, I believe it's time to send you on a one-way trip to oblivion—"
He tightened his grip over Tony…and his fingers slipped through his face.
"…Eh?"
The Dewott's entire body flickered out into electricity and slipped through Aeternus' grasp. The monstrous clown untangled himself and searched the rooftop in alert as the thunder roared overhead. The winds seemed to pick up, and the air tingled his skin.
"Where, oh where, did you go, Sapienti?" Aeternus growled. "It's not nice to leave the party early!"
"Au contraire, Aeternus! The party has only just begun!"
The clown whipped his head back and looked toward the sky. His eyes widened as a bright purple glow descended from the clouds, a living thunderbolt. It took shape, standing above the stunned clown as the spitting image of the Dewott thief.
Tony's fur was a bright, glowing purple spiked up around the cheeks. His eyes were a brilliant blue with purple, sparking pupils resembling miniature wisps. Black storm clouds wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and neck, sparking with his magic. What's more, five miniature storm clouds hovered around him like drones.
He flashed a smirk. "I am the King of Thieves, the Lightning Thief, and the newly formed Ascended Storm God. I am Tony Alonzo Sapienti, the man who'll outsmart creation itself!"
Aeternus cackled and launched after the flying Dewott. "Neat little trick, but I've already seen your father use this! I've already anticipated you pulling off a move like this!" He fired a dark energy beam from his snake arm.
"That was your first mistake, then."
Tony glided out of the way before vanishing. Not even a millisecond after, Aeternus received a sharp kick to the chest, then received twenty more simultaneously from multiple angles. Gasping from the blow, his eyes flickered frantically to discern the static images of Tony digging their feet into him.
"Because I've already surpassed that bastard!" The static images faded, and Tony kicked Aeternus higher into the sky.
Aeternus spread his wings and caught himself in the air. He held his face, growling in search of the speedy Dewott. There weren't any discernable gaps in-between those attacks. It actually felt like twenty of him kicked me at once. This feels faster somehow. Faster than that Godspeed spell. Don't tell me…he actually evolved beyond his father's limits.
With the most minute of reactions, Aeternus sensed flickering magic and fired from his snake arm. Right as he turned around, he spotted the tail end of purple lightning fading where he fired. He lit up his fingers and fired continuous Particle Beams all around, slicing through the air and clouds around him.
"You missed~!" Aeternus' head snapped back from a sudden kick to the jaw. He barely spotted the purple mass of lightning barreling into him before vanishing. He relocated his displaced jaw over Tony's echoing laughter. "Come on, Aeternus! Let's hear a big ol' laugh!"
Aeternus smirked angrily. "It's not as funny when someone else's telling jokes. Particle Eraser!" He dove out of the air and fired a wide, disintegrating beam toward the clouds. It punched a hole through the storm, revealing the dark blue sky being obscured.
"Lightning Shot—" Aeternus snapped his attention to his left, where Tony charged a mass of purple lightning through his fingertip. "Amethyst Volt Snipe!" He fired a purple lightning beam triple the size of a normal shot.
Aeternus barely dodged away with one of his wings taking the grunt of the shot. It pierced through and left a smoldering hole behind. He grimaced, trying to patch the wound with his shadows, but his regeneration seemed to slow down. Remnant static staved off the shadows from readily repairing his body.
Tony reclined back in the air and grinned. "No witty retort, Aeternus? Have I actually taught you what fear looks like?"
Aeternus snarled, his grin straining. "I'm starting to see the depths of your irritating personality, Sapienti! Particle Missile!" He fired streaking magic bolts from his hands and two odd appendages.
Tony gave a mock salute before flickering out of the sky. Aeternus guided the magic missiles and tracked the Dewott's movements to the best of his ability, striking at the briefest signs of light peeking in and out of sight. The missiles scattered wildly with each miss, ultimately blowing up against themselves before they could even graze the living thunderbolt.
"Ventusphere—" Aeternus barely turned around in time to receive a spiraling ball of wind wrapped in purple lightning. "Storm Convergence Impact!"
Tony tossed the ball and Aeternus along with it. The wind sphere expanded into a ball of dark storm clouds, letting loose densely packed lightning on the clown inside. Aeternus screamed, feeling every cell of his body catching fire inside the lightning. His eyes spewed lightning, his teeth glowed, and his insides illuminated from the rush of electricity.
"Not so funny now, is it?" Tony asked. "I wonder how many lives you've ruined in the last five hundred years. All that backstabbing, all that torture, all that deceit to build your little empire." He smirked. "Just listen to all those tortured souls, Aeternus! Listen as they sing for your downfall and harmonize as the chains of Hell drag you down for an eternity of torment. Or, as my dear mother would say, an Aeternus of torment."
"SAPIENTI!" Aeternus conjured a shield and blasted the storm off himself. With smoking wings, he blitzed through the air with shadows hissing through clenched teeth. "I've toppled far worse than you! This is nothing! Particle Incinerator!" Through his snake arm and pincer, he expelled heaps of pale-yellow fire in streaming jets.
With a snap of his fingers, Tony's cloud sentries joined together and fired lightning bolts through the flames. They punched straight down the middle and struck the clown's appendages, setting them alight in sparking and smoking auras. Before Aeternus could even yelp, Tony kneed him in the face and delivered an immediate axe kick to the shoulder. The sparking aura erupting from his leg burned through the clown's aura and skin.
"GAAAAAAAH!" Aeternus swung his pincer and managed a hit against the Dewott's head. Though, even seemingly decapitating Tony left a hollow victory as the rest of his body simply flickered away, too. Aeternus gripped his burning shoulder and tried to force his shadow to repair it. "This…is nothing."
"Still think you're the smartest man in the sky?" He spotted Tony hovering overhead, snickering through his grin. "No wonder you had to pick on those weaker than you. Seems you can't handle when someone might actually be better than you. You hold yourself up so high as the Shadow King's supposed favorite that you don't care if he's stronger than you or not. It's how you're perceived that matters. Does me finally looking down on you rile you up inside?"
Aeternus growled. "Looking down on me? Who's the clown here, Sapienti?!" He tucked his wings in and dove back down to the castle. "You want to talk big?! I'll give you a stage worthy of your ego! Matter Shuffle!" He crashed down, spreading his magic across the upper level of the castle.
Tony's eyes widened as the roof and everything underneath began to shapeshift. The roof folded in on itself, molding into the shape of a giant snake. The castle lightning rods found their way to the mouth, two pairs twisted into each other and forming into a set of fangs.
Aeternus popped out from the head and cackled with glee. "My gift to you, Sapienti! Devoured by the symbol of Anguis!"
The snake, connected by strands of the unraveling castle, surged up to the clouds and bared its metal fangs to the living thunderbolt. Tony could feel his electrified body being drawn to the lightning rod fangs the closer it came. He flew out of the way, feeling part of himself lag behind before the beast snapped its jaw shut.
"Gah!" Tony looked down and found one of his legs missing.
Aeternus cackled from his perch as purple lightning surged down the snake's body, dispersing into the earth. "I wonder what'll happen when my pet catches the rest of you. Will you still be conscious once all your atoms have been dispersed through the earth?!"
Tony reformed his leg and took flight as the snake chased him down, snapping its fangs little by little into the trails of lightning left in his tracks. The closeness of the serpent dulled his flight speed, making it harder for him to escape its range. Through his Eye of Odin, he could see Aeternus' magic being funneled through the lightning rods, possibly empowering them.
"My brilliance needs no audience to be proven to!" Aeternus exclaimed. "I've wormed my way into the criminal underworld for five hundred years for this moment! I've brought down empires with my words alone! One little rat like you won't change that!" He dug his tentacles through the stone snake, and stone tentacles extended from its sides. "You could've been something special, Sapienti, but you're still holding on to pointless attachments!"
The stone tentacles surged faster than the snake body, attempting to snipe the Dewott down. He evaded most of their strikes, but the magnetic lightning rods continued to slow his movements, earning him a strike through the stomach. The tentacles ripped through his electric body and scattered him across the air. Pieces of himself were attracted into the fangs, but he reformed himself before all could be eaten.
"Lightning Shot: Amethyst Volt Snipe!" Tony fired at Aeternus, but his spell diverged into the fangs and dispersed down its body. "Ugh…"
"No storm magic can stop my pet, Sapienti!" Aeternus laughed. "I am the inevitable!"
However, the Dewott flashed a sinister grin. "No lightning magic, at least." He brought his fists together. "Impetus Pressure: Roaring Thunder Cannon!"
He expelled a beam of vibrational energy from his fists laced with waves of purple lightning. While the lightning was inevitably absorbed, the real purpose of the attack was the build up speed for the vibrations. The beam struck through the snake's forehead and caused its back to rumble and quake under Aeternus' slimy legs.
"W-W-WAH!?" Aeternus detached himself as the trembling ground broke apart and threw him down the snake's back. He dug his muscular arms in and caught himself. "Phew. Kehehehehe! You almost had me, Sapienti—"
"And you lost concentration." With the snake's handler briefly stunned, Tony sped the long way around and kicked Aeternus across the face, knocking him further down the back.
Aeternus kept his hands planted inside the back and dragged himself to a stop. "Will you stop kicking my face?! Particle Incinerator!" He expelled jets of flame from his snake and pincer arms.
Now a decent distance from the lightning rods, Tony casually dodged the spells and raced down the serpent's back, kicking Aeternus yet again in the face. "Why? It makes a delightful squishing sound every time!"
Aeternus swung his muscular arms over Tony who dodged before they could crush him. He touched the serpent's back and commanded it to bend its neck back. "I'm going to rip you into individual atoms and mail them to every inch of the globe! With a nail driven through each of them!"
Tony felt his back being attracted to the approaching serpent, but didn't try to escape. Instead, he turned and stared down the approaching monster with a devilish grin. "Now there's an idea. Godspeed!" With time slowing to a standstill, he raced through the magnetic attraction and rushed down the crook of the snake's neck. He pulled himself out of Godspeed right as he reached his mark and grabbed his scalchops. "Flash Splitter: Amethyst God Blade!"
The electrical blades extended out a couple meters, and he crossed them together into the snake's neck. He sliced through in one clean stroke, sending the head flying over its body.
Aeternus gasped. "What in the—"
Tony depowered his scalchops, tossed them up, and launched them backwards with a bicycle kick. They spun through the air and boomerang into the base of the lightning rod fangs. With two clean shots, the shells struck and dislodged the rods.
With the rods removed, Tony used Godspeed to collect his shells before snatching up the broken fangs right as the snake head crashed back down onto the castle. His electricity surged through them, but with nowhere to discharge through, his body stayed whole. "Well, I supposed we should complete your look, Aeternus!"
"Wait, wha—" Aeternus blinked and saw the lightning rods spinning through the air before being kicked in the back. He flew up into the air just as the rods vanished. "What are you—GAAAAH!" Suddenly, the lightning rods were jammed through body, one through the chest and the other through the back of his head. It ripped through the right side of his face. "AAAAAHHH!"
"Oh no!" His eyes widened as Tony hovered above him yet again, grinning like a fool. "I sure hope those lightning rods don't discharge my magic again!"
"You wouldn't—"
"Why not? You would!" Tony wound his arms back, generating a spark between his fingers. "Tempest Saevio Wrest!" He fired twin lightning bolts from his fingertips and struck into the lightning rods.
Aeternus cracked his head back and screamed as lightning erupted throughout his body. The energy concentrated most through the rods, setting the side of his chest and head ablaze with his shadow working overtime to stave off the lethal damage. Shadows spewed out from his body like geysers, where even it seemed to scream like its host.
Tony ceased firing and descended upon Aeternus with a hard kick to the stomach. He grabbed the clown's smoldering suit and tossed him higher into the sky, where he chased him up and delivered another series of rapid kicks to his chest.
"GAAAH!" Aeternus pushed through the assault and blocked Tony's kicks with his muscular arms. He reared his spindly arms back and charged the fingertips. "Particle Beam!"
Tony escaped as Aeternus lay waste to the sky, blasting everything in sight. He fired continuous streams and sliced through the clouds above, nearly hitting the speedy thunderbolt. Enraged, Aeternus raised his snake arm and expelled an inferno of Particle Incinerator.
Tony, caught in the line of fire, braced himself against the flames. He felt their heat burning away at his electrical form, but he would prevail. Calling upon his cloud sentries, they rained down lightning bolts and punched holes through the flames. The inferno dispersed, and the lightning bolts found their mark through the clown's lightning rods.
"AAAAAAGH!" Aeternus' wings locked up, and he plummeted out of the sky. He sent magic throughout his system and, with a wave of his arms, suspended himself inches from hitting the castle. He forced his smoldering eyes open, glaring at the spec of purple glowing high above. "Sapienti!"
Tony smirked. "You know, I should really be thanking you, Aeternus!"
"Huh?! For what? Admitting how much of a pest you are?!"
"Well, that was cathartic, but no." He raised his finger to the sky. "I actually wanted to thank you for telling me about those lightning rods. I could've wasted all this magic."
Aeternus' eyes widened. "Wait a minute…" Realizing what the Dewott was planning, he grabbed for the lightning rods and tried to pry them out of his body.
The storm stirred and crackled. The clouds circled to a singular point directly under the Dewott, where a mass of electricity gathered and surged. The wind picked up, rusting Tony's clothes and fur whilst grinning like a mad fool.
"Overcome. Improvise. Adapt. I made it this far by those main principles. No matter how many times I fall, I'll always find my way to victory. You and I may follow similar lines of logic, Aeternus, but the difference between you and me is palpable. Whereas you'll die a tyrant, I'll pass on from this world remembered, loved, and worshipped. I'll surpass the Anguis Organization and restore order to the criminal underworld!"
Tony aimed his open palm toward the castle while keeping his other hand pointed to the gathering storm clouds.
"The Age of Crime ends with you, and the Age of Prosperity begins with me! Come, Aeternus! Let's see the light of hope together! Thunder God's Wrath!"
The lightning burst out from the clouds and erupted toward the floating Dewott, piercing through the air with the roar of a dragon. The wild magic of the Sky Zone, having assimilated with Tony's magic over the course of the week, had transformed his thunderbolt into a beam of angelic, prismatic light.
"Fulgur Channeling!"
Through his left hand, he caught the massive thunderbolt through his fingertips, absorbing the energy mass like a battery. A continuous stream flowed from the storm clouds, directed itself through his body, and made its way to his outstretched hand. He performed quick movements with his one hand, creating friction in the air to form a ball of lightning.
Aeternus growled and clapped his hands together, building up magic between them. "My empire will live on for eternity!"
Both leaders, consumed in the light of their respective magic, glared each other down. Their spells grimed with power, causing the air around them to shake. The air was electric. Tony's magic, taking influence over the atmosphere, crackled and spread through the storm clouds and roared.
"Tempest—"
"Particle—"
Tony slammed his palm into the lightning orb and fired a multicolored beam of pure lightning.
Aeternus roared and released the eclipsing beam of light from both sets of hands.
"IMPES FULGO!"
"ERASER!"
The beams collided midair, generating a sky-shattering tremor that howled like thunder. They fought in a tug-of-war for supremacy, one pushing back over the other as their casters poured on the depths of their magical reserves. Tony and Aeternus growled through intense pain, both feeling the recoil of their spells striking back. Tony's arm began to smoke while Aeternus felt his skin breaking down from the radiation of Particle Eraser.
Aeternus tightened his smirk and poured his magic out to the limit, fighting back control in the stalemate. His Particle Eraser started to cut the distance toward Tony, ready to swallow him into oblivion.
"Yes. YES! Embrace despair, Sapienti! FALL INTO DESPAIR BEFORE MY BRILLIANCE!"
Tony, however, would not be deterred. He smirked through the light and whispered, "Godspeed."
BAM!
Aeternus spat blood, feeling his back collapse inward from a sudden kick. He tilted his head back, catching the fading image of Tony landing the hit with his irritating grin. No sooner than after the visage disappeared, he felt a stabbing pain through his wrists and found his hands cut off from what appeared to be an electrical blade.
"W…Wha—"
As if he never left his post, Tony poured on all the magic being drawn from his Thunder God's Wrath and fired his lightning beam at full blast. It tore through Aeternus' waning Particle Eraser and barreled toward the stunned clown. His eyes widened and reflected the glow of the heavenly thunderbolt.
Did he feel rage for being bested? Yes.
Did he feel outrage for someone daring to call themselves his better? Absolutely.
Did he feel despair, even has images of his father flashed before his eyes?
"…"
Aeternus, for once in his life, wore a genuine and blissful smile on his face.
"Guess my luck's run out, Pops. Visit me in Hell…when you get the chance. Let's do coffee. My treat."
The beam struck down and obliterated the castle's upper level in a tsunami of electricity. Aeternus' screams were drowned within the thunderous explosion. Fires lit up over each individual cell. The wild magic of the Sky Zone, combined with Tony's magic, sent the clown off in a glorious blaze as he met the same fate as all his previous victims: dust to the wind.
The spell raged on for a deafening ten seconds before fizzling out. The storm settled above. Smoke towered out from the dark castle, its entire upper level flattened and charred to a crisp with little signs of surviving debris. Nothing but piles of ash being blown away in the wind.
Descending from his aerial throne, Tony touched down onto the ashy floors and stumbled from a brief spell of dizziness. His Ascended Storm God form flickered out, returning him to normal. He collapsed onto his hands and knees to catch his breath.
Shakily, he raised his right arm and found the fur charred up to the shoulder. He could smell burning flesh underneath, too. He felt like a couple bones were broken, and he definitely needed to get his head checked for a concussion. He was probably fine, though.
"Heh." With the weight of the tense battle lifted, he lowered his head and quietly laughed. A pointless, yet relieved laugh. "Phew. I didn't think…that would work. Stress really is a good motivator."
He pushed himself up, stumbling a bit on his heels. Massaging his aching head, he looked around at the wreckage and whistled. Even he was surprised by the damage he caused.
"Didn't know I had it in me. Good job, me." He patted himself on the back, ultimately regretting it as he touched his sensitive shoulder. "Oooh, stings."
His artificial eye spotted something among the ashes. The only solid object that survived the blast. He walked over and carefully picked it up. It was a piece of plant matter. Part of a vine, he assumed. Of all the things to survive, he didn't expect a plant to.
Unless…
"This is Gwyn's," he whispered.
Just then, the castle rumbled, nearly knocking him over. Forming a small Nebula Rider, he carried himself over the wall and spotted a tremor going out from the castle through the underground in a straight line. Red magic was erupting out from the earth, practically exploding everything behind it.
"What in the—" His eyes widened. Turning his way from the sight, his attention was drawn deeper below, spotting a green aura flickering and holding onto life. He gasped. "Gwyn!" With the little magic he had left, he gripped into his storm cloud and dove through the burnt floors in search of his teammate. "Hang on, Gwyn! I'm on my way!"