EX Stage Chapter 2: The Face of Destruction
...I've been going along with his absurd little game for long enough. But now that Alvis is truly making a mockery not just of me, but of the rest of the court as well, I can remain silent no longer.
"I object to Alvis' request," I said while raising my hand up past the rim of my parasol, "It is blatantly clear that he is trying to bring in a biased source to testify in favor of the accused."
"Hmmm..." The murmurs of the divine dragon brought Alvis to stop smiling for the moment, "Yukari raises a point. Sarajin would rule in favor of the boy's good nature, no doubt..."
"Indeed he would," Alvis remarked while slowly lowering his head and closing his eyes, "But if I may be so forward, Futanji, could I state the intention of my wish before you decline it?"
"Why should you keep getting away with holding up these proceedings?" I pondered aloud, raising my voice in an accusative manner, "Using your wish during a trial? That's unprecedented beyond all imagination. At this point you might as well just say 'I wish for the Phoenix of Destruction to be declared innocent'."
"I would not make a mockery of the court in such a manner. I am merely...trying to make a point," He flashed his subtle smile at me and remarked, "Unless, you know more about the Phoenix of Destruction's character than you are letting on, Yukari Yakumo."
"...He visited my world for a little bit but I never met him in person. He's as a complete stranger to me as he is to you," I raise my head and giggle a little, "So I don't understand why you're so adamant about trying to prove his innocence, Alvis."
"All in due time Yukari," He siad while tucking his hands into his pockets, "But you are right. I have held things up long enough."
He turned his head towards Futanji and remarked, "My wish is simple...I wish for Sarajin Stratos to be awakened from slumber, and during this trial he will be completely and fully honest regarding what he feels regarding Alex Whiter."
"...That way, there should be no fear of bias," He tilted his head back towards me and grinned from the side of his face, "Is that acceptable?"
'What he feels regarding Alex Whiter', you say? With those terms and conditions, there would be no way for Sarajin to expose my part in all this...But that almost feels like its being done on purpose. You do know I was involved Alvis. You and your precognition. But that power is worthless against the words I think, and the words I write in this state of being. You may think you are winning this 'fight', but you've chosen the wrong wish. And I look forward to seeing your plan unravel.
"Very well...I accept the terms of this wish. Now..." Sarajin thrust his eyes up and a rush of pure energy flowed outward across the realm, sweeping us over like a spring breeze, "I release you from the shackles of slumber, Sarajin Stratos!"
A pensive glow surrounded Alex's body as a bright, holy sphere of light was forced out of his body, making him feel weaker for just a few scarce moments. The sphere released the sound of an droll yawn that echoed slightly off the pillars we Guardians stood upon.
"...Where...am I?" The voice spoke like an elder sage. Slow, yet wise. Yet as the mass of light budged slightly upward it let out a more high-pitched sounding gasp and spoke up with a far more youthful voice, "You...you guys?!"
"It has been two-thousand years, Sarajin. I presume you've enjoyed your sleep?" The mighty dragon indulged in a little bit of joking around as he addressed the mighty Elemental Overlord with some degree of respect.
"Futanji..." Sarajin tried to return to his older sounding tone, but his voice cracked a bit and he quickly gave up, "I...I see you're looking quite well these days."
Alex was no doubt confused by the Elemental Overlord's change in tone. The man he once thought was wise and revered now sounded like some everyday goofball. Considering his current predicament, even I could not blame him for closing his eyes and throwing his head down in defeat.
The spirit of the Overlord turned back upon sensing his vessel's distress and then the sheer girth of his glare could be felt upon us through his sifting form as he addressed in a deeper tone, "What is the meaning of this? Why is Alex Whiter here?"
"Your 'successor' stands accused of a terrible, unrepentable crime, Sarajin," Homura remarked with the mere glow of her eyes fighting back against his pressure, "And should he be found guilty, your soul shall serve an eternity of imprisonment as well."
"...What crime could be so great to warrant this trial, Futanji?" Sarajin said with a complete disregard to the witch's threats, "Our agreement was-"
"That we would not interfere in the affairs of your successors, yes. But I am afraid this is a matter too grave to ignore, for as you shall now be told, your 'Phoenix of Destruction' is responsible for the swift, abominable end of the Marvel Universe."
"...What?" Sarajin's devastation was palpable, and a little delicious to take in as I watched him retract his spiritual form towards Alex and appear to stare at him with slight confusion.
Alex raised and rapidly shook his head, and for a moment I heard Sarajin whisper to him, "It'll be alright..."
He then turned back and I quickly intercepted his attempts at pleading by remarking with a somewhat mocking tongue, "Did you not know this?"
I twisted my head back at Alvis and remarked, "So much for 'a spirit seeing as it sleeps', no?"
Of course, I knew what was going on. Alvis, you were a fool to think I was not aware of what a spirit can and cannot do. I silenced Sarajin's sight with my boundaries during all moments where I was involved, from the start of my encounter with the Phoenix of Destruction, all the way to now. If you believed you could expose me through this wish, then you are sorely mistaken.
...But, I suppose that little could stop you from smiling anyways.
"No, I knew nothing about this. I watched Alex's journey over the last couple of years, but there was a point where darkness consumed my vision," Sarajin looked towards Futanji and remarked, "But...why was I summoned?"
Alvis, with a bow of courtesy towards the dragon, answered the question thusly, "I used my wish to awaken you, venerable Overlord, to answer one question for all of us."
"Alvis? Hey man, how's it going?" Sarajin spoke cheerfully like a someone who hasn't met his friend for a long time.
"Quite well, I am happy to report. But...now is not the time for catching up." He started to rub his chin and Sarajin's spirit jolted a little in response.
"Right right, I get it...Somewhat. So go ahead, ask away!"
"Tell us the truth. What kind of person IS Alex Whiter?" Yen Sid inquired in a firm tone of voice.
"What kind of person is Alex Whiter?" Sarajin murmured aloud to himself as he slowly drifted his spiritual form around to stare the downtrodden boy in the face.
"...He was not the person I was expecting, that's for sure."
Sarajin turned back around and his gaze could be felt gliding along the entire court as he spoke, "When I first met Alex Whiter, I didn't see some hero ready to accept his grand destiny. I saw a child, frightened and wounded by the world into believing that there was no good to be found within it."
"I saw a fire in his heart that wished to see this terrible world burn. I almost didn't want to let him have my powers. But...I could not deny that he had made it all this way to me. He had made friends, forged bonds eternal, and with their help claimed the stones I had laid out across the Mushroom Kingdom and brought them to me."
"So I sought to take him under my wing, and help him realize his potential to do good even in a world that seemed to conspire against him. And he did do good. He fought back the boy who took up the mantle of Dark King. He defeated the emissary from Subspace. He bested his dark clone created by the machinations of Cackletta..."
"But when that victory was achieved, the boy's doubts began to turn against him, and he hid himself from the world he had saved three times over. It was at that moment that I was reminded that he was not someone I could just force my wishes upon. I was a fool to think so. But rather, he was someone who needed help...Help I knew naught how to provide."
"He ran from his friends and his duties for a couple years out of fear that the hate he felt would make him burn everything down. But then...he met her, the girl who held the last name of my beloeved. And in those first few seconds of meeting her, she helped him more than I had in the years inhabiting his body."
"Having a positive influence around, one more around his age, gave Alex Whiter second thoughts about the world. He started believing in the good of the world again, and tried to be a better person not just for her sake, but his own as well. As for what happened not too long ago...I am lost on the details."
"But you ask me what kind of person Alex Whiter is? Then this is my answer...He is anti-social. He is rude, abrasive to most people he meets. He cares little for his own safety, and is quick to rage..."
"...But his sense of justice is second-to-none. He feels sympathy towards the less fortunate, he is more than willing to act as a shield to protect the innocent, and he won't hesitate to save those he cares for the most. Does this make him a great hero? Absolutely not. But even if Alex Whiter was not the one I wanted, I would never ask for a do-over. For as flawed as he is, I know deep in my heart that he'll do more good for this world than he would evil."
Sarajin finally stared up at Futanji with a gaze that, somehow, managed to meet the mighty dragon on an even playing field as he spoke, "So do I believe that he destroyed the Marvel Universe on his own? Its always possible. But you'd find me hard pressed to believe that he'd ever do so willingly."
Futanji closed his eyes and growled, "Thank you for your cooperation, Sarajin."
"Heh, I mean...did I really have a choice in the manner?" Sarajin snarked with a slight nudged towards Alvis, who quietly chuckled to himself.
...It was certainly an interesting farce you whipped up for us Sarajin. But no matter. Even if Sans is convinced by this tripe, the vote'll stand 3 to 3. And in the event of a tie...Futanji is the one who makes the final verdict.
"hmm, so what you're saying is...he's a good guy underneath all that gruff?" Sans asked of Sarajin.
"Hey, I was asked to tell the truth, so I told the truth. What you do with its your business skeleton guy."
"heh, alright. if you insist..." Sans appeared to close his eyes and think deeply about his decision for the few seconds they remained shut. When he popped them back open, he looked down at Alex and stated simply, "just don't go around killin' anymore and we're square, ok kid?"
With a subtle wink and nod the skeleton then remarked, "oh right...not guilty!"
...And of course, Alvis would then draw his hand out to the court and remark, "And seeing as how my verdict is the same, I believe that puts us at a tie."
"Very well. Then the final decision lies on my shoulders..." Futanji closed his eyes, and my heart started racing against my chest in anticipation. I nearly snapped the handle of my parasol in two holding onto it as tightly as it did. The dragon debated with himself for more than a minute, the longest I had ever seen him do so, before finally opening his eyes and delivering his divine edict upon us all.
"Alex Whiter, there cannot be any doubt that it was with your hands the Marvel Universe met its end."
Say it. Say it and put a definitive end to this farce!
"...But as for the strings that guided those hands to commit this most heinous of crimes...That I am not certain of now. Perhaps it was of your own volition, perhaps not. But after the heartfelt words Sarajin gave in your defense, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt...For now."
...No.
"But rest assured. If we catch you being involved in an event of this magnitude again, we shall not waste even a second with these proceedings."
...No. No no NO!
"Now. In the name of the almighty God, I release you from your restraints..."
...Those chains of nothingness disappear from Alex's body and he stands up slowly, a free man. And the moment his mouth returns, he stared at me with a scowl and started tightening his fists, only for Sarajin's spirit to fly in front of his face and whisper, "You have earned your freedom. Please, do not do something you'll regret."
His scowl grew tighter and tighter until it twisted his whole face up. He was as angry as I was disappointed at this whole outcome. His body let out a swift burst of fire as he threw his fists down and turned away, where Futanji opened up a rift to outer space with but a thought and remarked, "You are free to go."
Alex limped over to the rift and drew a bead on me with his rage-filled eyes. I could feel the powerlessness weighing on his mind as he didn't speak a word otherwise to neither me nor the rest of us gathered here.
How frustrating it must have felt to him to be able to walk away free from a situation he never deserved to be in, with the one responsible getting away seemingly scot-free. He came after me seeking revenge, and now he walks away with nothing but confusion and the burden of failure.
With his body trembling with a scowl, he took one more step out of the rift, and it sealed up in an instant. And with his part in the trial now over with, Futanji remarked "The rest of you are dismissed..." and slithered backwards into the expanse of nothingness that housed him. Yen Sid and Homura looked at each other for a moment and then disappeared as well, doing whatever tickled their fancy.
But as for me...With my head hung low and my glare a mix of sorrow and frustration, I turned towards Alvis as he stood smiling atop his pillar, and asked him one poignant question, "Whose side are you on?"
The man tucked his hands into his pockets and gave me a daft shrug as he responded, "The side of possibility, of course..."
I closed my eyes and chuckled, forcing a smile as I twirled my parasol above me, "You knew from the very start what was happening. No, rather, it'd be more appropriate to say you knew for many years, didn't you?"
"Indeed," He remarked, having warped from his pillar to mine, and putting his back up against me as he leaned his head up and spoke, "But even if I had not, there were some moves you made that were a little...Reckless."
"Obviously, you are not referring to during the trial. Its hard to debate with someone who knows what you're about to say a dozen steps ahead of time."
"If I recall correctly, you were the one who suggested Sans to be one of the Four Guardians. That was just one of the slip ups you made."
"And what of Hades' demise? How convenient for your cause that he so happened to perish right before this trial began."
"Hahaha...Yes well, if you're accusing me of taking part in his untimely death, then you are sorely mistaken I'm afraid. Its just as you say it...Its unfortunate happenstance, and little more."
"...Hmph, so you claim."
"Unfortunate though his death may have been, it was only because of that that I was able to do what I did. After all, had he been alive he'd have most certainly voted 'Guilty', and there would have I been nothing I could do to convince him otherwise."
"I couldn't fully trust Hades to behave that way. You know what kind of troublemaker he was."
"Which is why Sans became a necessary back-up for you. But you underestimated how much hatred for the guilty was in our little skeletal friend's soul."
"Underestimated him? No. What I underestimated was how much of a fool you are Alvis."
"Oh?" He gave me a hearty chuckle, "Perhaps I have grown a little...foolish. They must have rubbed off on me."
"You know exactly what the Phoenix of Destruction is. You KNOW that he cannot be allowed to run free, even with the Author's hold over him broken."
"...Perhaps not," Alvis waved his right hand out and remarked softly, "But as a brave young man once told me...'The future should be decided by each and every person'...Why should Alex Whiter be excluded, just because he was born from different circumstances as the rest of us?"
"So you are interested in the possibilities that he can create moving forward..."
"You are...partially right. But I also wish for you to live to see the future he creates with his own two hands."
"Hahaha...I get it now. The only reason I was spared from being ratted out is because I'm to take part in your little 'experiment'."
"I'd prefer you not use that word. It brings up...bad memories."
"Then how about I use the words 'You are a fool' instead? Because that is what you are...a fool."
"You broke the boy free from the shackles of his Author...Yet let your desire for revenge get the better of you and wished to burden him with an eternity of solitude and imprisonment. If I am a fool, then you are one of a higher calibur than I..."
"...You'll speak a different tongue when its your world that's consumed in fire, just as the rest of the worlds shall burn in the wake of his wrath. You have opened Pandora's Box. There is no closing it."
"Then I am to take it that the great Yukari Yakumo is nowhere close to being done meddling? Plan A and Plan B have failed you...so now its time for Plan C?"
"This defeat was another setback, but you are wrong on two accounts. One, I need not meddle any longer...And two," I turned my head back and gleamed at Alvis with a taunting smile, "It is Plan J, not C, that is next."
"Ah, I see now...Those letters do not denote an order, but rather abbreviations...A for 'Annihilation', B for 'Banishment' and J...Refers to him."
"That's right. He is another who bears a terrible grudge against the Phoenix of Destruction."
"You are playing with fire. It'd be in your best interests not to get burned."
"...We'll see about that. After all, he is your superior when it comes to precognition. You will not be able to weasel the Phoenix of Destruction out of danger this time, Monado."
"...Heh," I could see his smile sticking out from the corner of his face as he tucked his hands into his pockets and remarked, "Then tell Justek Arcavira...that an old friend said 'hello'. I presume that wouldn't be too much of a burden for you now would it...Maribel Hearn?"
"...I'll see what I can do." With an uneasy smile, I slip into one of my gaps, while Alvis' flesh and blood body transforms into a tiny glowing green star that flies out of the realm.
…
Sans's gaze shifts around, and upon finding out he's all alone he shrugs his hands up and said, "huh...guess i'm gonna have to walk back."
Moments after Alex and Sarajin's spirit left the realm of the 'higher-ups' behind and floated amidst the unknown depths of space, the once Elemental Overlord remarked in a deep, relieved voice, "...I can't believe I was able to get out of that mess. Futanji can be a tough customer sometimes."
The spirit turned around and saw Alex hanging his head and scowling his teeth together. He drifted on over and remarked, "What's wrong Alex?"
"...You lied to me." He growled as he swung his head up with the fury of a thousand exploding suns in his eyes.
"You...LIED TO ME!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, silencing Sarajin's voice as the boy thrust his left arm out and planted the other firmly on his chest, "I was never the one you wanted was I?! You knew from the very beginning that it was JOE DARK who was meant to succeed you, and you had the nerve...the NERVE to lie to my face and tell me that I was the chosen one!"
"...Like I said back there, just because you weren't who I foresaw coming doesn't change that you were as worthy as he was." Sarajin tried to remain calm, but there was this sense of guilt in his words.
Alex squeezed the front of his shirt tight and started to tear up as he yelled, his voice coming across as broken and incoherent, "What difference does that make?! You still knew a ton of other shit and hid it from me this whole time!"
"There's an entire race of Aurians out there who survived your time, and your WIFE is one of them! I fought her for crying out loud! When were you ever gonna clarify that, huh?! Or what about the 'higher-ups'?! You sure as hell were acting all buddy-buddy with Alvis! I bet you knew who Yukari was the whole time too!"
Alex reached into his right pocket and rammed the Gaia Temporis right into Sarajin's spiritual form, "And what about this piece of shit!? Mind explaining why there's a sentient life form in here?!"
"...T-There...There is?" Sarajin's muddled confusion was genuine, but not like Alex was in the proper mood to believe him as he whipped the stone back down to his hip and exclaimed, "Don't play stupid with me! After all the bullshit I've put up with today, I don't DESERVE your crap on top of the shitpile you left me!"
He bit his lower lip and with his eyes trembling he mumbled, "I-I didn't want a mentor...I just wanted a friend goddamn it! And you couldn't even have the decency to tell me your real name! I had to find it out from Yukari! YUKARI GODDAMN IT!"
"...I'm sorry. This was just another of my many, many mistakes..." Sarajin appeared to hang his head and look away in shame, but Alex still wasn't having it.
"I don't want your apology...I want answers." Alex forced the Gaia Temporis into his pocket and squeezed his fist around it.
"I never wanted you to have the same life I did. I did much good as the Elemental Overlord with the 'higher-ups' help...But I did an equally unpleasant number of things as well. When I willingly gave up my life, my soul, to pass on my powers to a new generations, I did so with the caveat that my successor would given full freedom to decide what they wished to do with said powers...Without their interference."
"That's why I hid so much from you. The further you remained disconnected from my past, the better off you would be. You deserved the shape your own future...But I would try and remain at your side as best I could."
"...A whole fat lot of good that did..." Alex turned around and swung his hands up, "If there's one thing I learned form all this...You can never run from your past, cause just like death, its always faster than you'll ever hope to be."
He cracked a grin and dryly chuckled, "Except for me...Can't even have the dignity to die, can I?"
He squeezed his fist up before his chest and started shaking his head, "I thought power was the key to all my problems...I thought love was the key to all my problems...But look where that got me."
"All the power in the world wouldn't have saved me just now. I stared in 'God's' face and realized how insignificant I truly was. I wasn't allowed to defend myself...I was just a pawn in Yukari's game, forced to watch as people I didn't know personally debated over whether I was worthy of keeping my freedom."
"...They were going to rob me of my freedom, and I...hahaha...I..." He planted his fist against the side of his head and pulled his fingers apart, tightly biting into the skin with his fingernails as he raised his voice, "I would have had no choice but to let them! How...how fucked up IS that?!"
"Alex..." Sarajin tried to draw him back with an easing whisper, but the boy's voice just grew louder.
"What?! You gonna try and tell me there's something good to gain from all this?! The Marvel Universe is DEAD...Yukari orchestrated its destruction and used me as a goddamn PUPPET, and what does she get? She gets to go home and rest on her fucking laurels UN-PUNISHED. Meanwhile, what do I get?"
"NOTHING!" He swung his arms out and flung his head back, his eyes red and wide as he cackled at the top of his lungs, "A big, fat load of NOTHING! Once again, Alex Whiter gets...nothing."
"...You're alive. That's more than a lot of people can say." Sarajin tried to put a positive spin on things, but again to no avail.
"...Oh yeah? And what am I supposed to do with this life?" He slowly rolled his fingertips into his palm and twisted his head back, his face looking a little too calm for Sarajin's comfort.
"...Keep fighting the good fight? When at any moment those bastard 'higher-ups' can wipe out this timeline? Go back to Shina? When I don't even know where the hell she is or if she's even still alive? ...And even if I did find her, how could I possibly face her now...?"
He turned his whole body around and slowly drew a finger up at Sarajin's soul, his body falling pale and limp like a doll being broken at the seams, "Instead of spewing all this optimistic crap at me...You should tell me how to kill Yukari Yakumo for good."
"...Have you learned nothing from this? Revenge is what brought you to this point. If you keep going-"
"Then let me at least have to decency to drag that witch to hell with me!" Alex screamed, spit flying forth from the eaves of his teeth before he bit them down into a scowl, "Goddamn it you bastard tell me! Tell me how to kill her!"
"...There is one person who might able to handle Yukari Yakumo. Someone I knew long ago, who as of now should still remain locked away in a prison for his crimes."
"And...?"
"...His name is Justek Arcavira. He is a man with the power to manipulate voids within the fabric of time-space, including the likes of Yukari's gaps. But..."
"But...But what?" Alex firmly glared down the soul of the Overlord with a growling scowl.
"...I worry the years might not have been kind to him. If you free him, there is reasonable doubt that he would be willing to aid you. In fact, his return may endanger the universe if he is not app-"
"Then I give up!" Alex plainly stated while throwing his arms up and wearing a forced smile.
"...What?" Sarajin was left confused as Alex twirled back around and stared up into space.
"There's nothing left for me in this miserable, rotten world...Why was I born? Just to suffer? To be everyone's puppet? If that's the case then to hell with this world!"
"Alex, stop. Do NOT give up on the world!" Sarajin's voice shook space as he flew his spirit back into Alex's body. There, in the depths of Alex's soul, he saw him standing amongst a growing sea of dark red flames.
"...I'm not just giving up on the world..." Alex's voice had no emotion, it was as empty as the air surrounding him.
He turned around, his eyes robbed of even the light in his pupils as he murmured, "I'm giving up on everything, even myself..."
The realm started to quake and Sarajin looked up. Towering over the two, their footsteps worsening the flames into a raging inferno, was a shadowy colossus that took up Alex's shape and had nasty red irises.
"No...Don't do this Alex..." Sarajin's pleas towards the boy's good will fell on deaf ears, as Alex was quickly bound up in a cage of flame, and the titan drew its hand down and scooped the soul of the original Elemental Overlord into its grizzly palm, raising it before its face.
"You're welcome to trick some other dumbass with your schlock. But we...have better things to do." The ill titan's mouth widened and ate the Elemental Overlord's soul whole with a single, bellowing gulp.
Then with a satisfying sigh, the titan shrunk down until it was the size of his other, and through the bars of fire he coiled his arms around Alex's neck and lovingly embraced him as one as he whispered in his ear, "...See? Doesn't it feel good to finally let go and be free?"
Alex slowly nodded his head, and the shadow behind him wove a wicked smile between its cheeks as it hissed into his ear, "Yes...We are finally in agreement, aren't we?"
On the outside, "Alex" leaned his head back and took in a breath of fresh air through his nostrils, letting out an equally exuberant sigh as he lowered his hands to his hips and murmured in a raspy voice, "So this is how it truly feels to be alive...We've been butting heads for a long time, but now we see clearly what must be done..."
He wrenched the Gaia Temporis from his pocket and set his hand ablaze as he dangled it before his face, piercing it with his glowing red irises, "Now...we have much to do, don't we? And this time...You will obey us, or we will crush you into tiny pebbles, you accursed, putrid stone..."
The voice inside the stone screamed in agony as the flames penetrated the sanctity of her cage, and the sounds, no matter how dull they echoed, brought a smile to "Alex's" face.
"...Now then. I think we should find out more about how to free this...Justek Arcavira, wouldn't you agree? There's no time to waste...All of existence is waiting to burn, after all."
...On that day Alex Whiter finally got his wish to die.
Long live, the Phoenix of Destruction.
CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS PART 4 EX: FALLOUT OF DESTINY...
THE END...
….
….
But...Whatever happened to Shina Aurora?