Day 31: Nugai VS The Reaper
"So, this is the one who thought he could oppose Zenith?" A voice said.
"He was strong, but it's finally all over for him." Another said.
"Kill him!" Someone ordered. "He can't be allowed to interfere any more."
"But there are others." Another added on.
"He's just the leader. Take him out, and the others will become an unorganized mess." Another said. "It will simply be a matter of time."
I awoke. I just lied there paralyzed in fear. I wanted to scream out, but perhaps the fear of all of the other Smashers being around the city hall and waking them up kept me silent. I got up and began to walk to the washroom. I just stood above the sink and threw some cold water over my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. My face looked like it hadn't seen sleep in ages. Honestly, I looked like a completely different person and had aged a couple of years. In my hair there were a few noticeable white hairs, and it certainly wasn't because of the awakened aura state.
I swear I had just seen my own death. It scared me, yet at the same time, it was somehow comforting. I would go down fighting. I wouldn't need to worry about suddenly falling over dead because of the Akashic points taking time. If anything, it calmed me down. I could go all out against the Reaper. I could do anything and everything to make sure that this horrible chapter in both of our lives ended for good.
I walked back to my bed and just fell asleep once again.
I awoke to everyone else moving around. They were all ready to go out to war. Currently many of them had started to eat breakfast.
I got up, and also began the daily routine, deciding to hold everything in to avoid the line to the washroom. I ate some food and looked around, it was hard to imagine that within a few hours, all of us would be at war. I glanced outside, and noticed that it was still dark out.
"Master Hand wants us to attack before dawn." Mewtwo said. "Nugai, in case we never see each other again, it was nice knowing you."
I was a bit taken back. Mewtwo was being nice? "Thanks Mewtwo." I said. "That means a lot coming from you."
"Nugai!" Lucas and Ness shouted. They ran up and sat beside me.
"Sorry that you couldn't come with us to beat the Sega Superstars." Ness said.
"I have my own job to do." I said.
Ness laughed. "Yeah, and you better do it properly. We don't want the Reaper to be alive anymore."
Lucas was looking down at the plate in front of him. He was currently cutting a pancake with a fork and then dragging it around in the syrup. "Hey, Lucas, didn't you have something you wanted to say to Nugai?"
Lucas looked up at me. "Um, Nugai, beat him for me." Lucas said. He stretched out his hand, and I shook it. I could suddenly feel some energy going into me. "I transferred some PK Love into you." Lucas explained. "If it will help you win, use it."
"Thanks Lucas." I replied.
Eventually, all of the other Smashers were done their breakfast, and they went out to the Pleiades.
"Nugai," Master Hand said. "There is one last thing I want to give you." He handed me a small cube that fit on the palm of my hand. "This is Ray MK III. Good luck today."
I watched as they departed in the Pleiades. Deep down, I wanted to go with them, and help them, but this was their fight. Something I couldn't partake in. All I could do was just wish them luck.
No! I'm a Smasher too!
I looked down at the Smash Pendant and remembered Master Hand's words, that I must fight and end the Reapers battle. I just closed my eyes, knowing that the Smash Pendant would lead me to the place that I most wanted to go.
It pointed to the direction to where the Pleiades had departed. I put the pendant underneath my shirt and let off a heavy sigh.
Damn it!
I just stood there frustrated. I knew I was the only one that could beat the Reaper now.
I stood up and went back to the train station. I placed my hand against the wall and entered into the Akashic Point. I looked around and stretched out my hands to the data. I could see the future. The Smashers and Sega Superstars would fight each other until they were all exhausted, then the Reaper would come in and kill them all.
I now knew what had to be done. I had to defeat the Reaper, and end everything once and for all. Finally, my heart was set on fighting him, and the Smash Pendant pointed towards the Reapers base.
I got out of the room and made a quick stop at the stadium where I found the storage room. Quickly I began to grab a few items. A new beam sword, some cloaking devices, proximity mines. And then I made my way to where the vehicles were located. I stepped into the Blue Falcon. "Sorry Captain Falcon, but I'm borrowing this." I placed my hand over where a key would go in, and it just automatically began to start up. I had hotwired the car by editing the source code.
The Blue Falcon then drove off to the Reapers base. Saki, Isaac, Little Mac, Kat, and Ana were actually shouting at me that I had left them behind. They were waving their arms in frustration, and I'm pretty sure Saki gave me the finger. "Sorry, but I have to do this alone." I said. I activated a cloaking device that I had stolen earlier, so that they couldn't immediately follow me.
I imagined that would be fruitless, since, there was probably a tracking device in the vehicle, but by the time they caught up, I was hoping that the battle would be done.
With the Smash Pendant guiding me, it only took two hours for me to get there.
I didn't know what to expect. Perhaps a giant castle of foreboding evil, but the base certainly wasn't like that. It was plain. Just an old abandoned warehouse. Why would the Reaper have his base of operations here? I have no idea.
The door was a large steel one, and was bolted shut. The building had been condemned. Using a reinforced Aura Kick, I knocked the door off of the hinges and the bolts out of the wall. I walked in, expecting an ambush. But there was no one there.
I walked forwards, the pendant pointing to an old elevator. I went in and slowly went up.
On the third floor I got out, and looked around. The building was dusty it had hardly been used. But, I could see tons of footsteps on the dusty floor. I walked forwards and eventually found myself in a large empty room. Well, empty is probably the wrong word here. There was in fact a giant chessboard painted on the old wooden floor. There were also some rather expensive HDTV's hanging all over the room.
There was some clapping. Sitting on a sofa, rather casually was the Reaper. "Welcome Nugai." I drew my beam sword, however he just raised up his hand.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked.
He glanced around the room. "Oh, you mean the followers that I amassed while here." He said. "Well, to be honest, I sent them back to the other world, since you closed the gateway. I didn't want them stuck here."
I didn't know, was there actually a good side to him after all?
"You sent them back?"
"Yes, it's just us now." The Reaper said. "Elsewhere the Smashers and the Sega Superstars are about to fight. They aren't here to protect you, and they won't interfere... Though I have to wonder, why did you come here, there are still a few more days left before the worlds are completely separated, why not help the Smashers?"
He snapped his fingers and all of a sudden all of the TV's lit up with the fights of the Smashers VS the SEGA Superstars. Each TV was showing different fights, all were time displaced. I think the best way to describe it was that you had 25 TV's set up, and each TV was playing an episode from a TV show, the end effect was that you were watching an entire season of TV all at once. "Sorry, but I've all ready seen how it ends. You're going to go there and kill all of them while they are weakened, and then be unopposed for the rest of your life here. I'm here to fight you because I have to."
He pulled out his cell phone and just began to do something. After a few seconds he put it back into his pocket. "What did you just do?" I asked.
"I just had a small change in plans." The Reaper replied. "If you didn't come here, yes I was going to go there to fight you and kill all of them again. But since you're now here, and I'm clearly far too busy to do that, I just sent an anonymous tip to the Playstation All-Stars that this would be their chance to get rid of the Smashers. And another tip to the other faction. All they have to do is drop a nuke on the place and all of them will be dead! It's perfect!"
"I don't think everything will go the way you planned." I said.
"Really, don't you think it will be rich? They will all end up killing each other." he laughed. "And then this world shall burn, until there is nothing left but ash. Zenith can then try and complete their little project fantasia, but it will be pointless. They will just fuse a dead world together with our own, and nothing will change! And then we can just sit back and laugh at all the money they wasted."
"A joke that requires genocide." I said. "Quite frankly, I don't find that very funny"
"And what are you going to do? Stop me?" The Reaper laughed, followed by a heavy sigh. "Nugai, Nugai, Nugai. You can't win against me! You never have been able to! Maybe you should just accept that. I think it would be a lot easier for you."
I ran forwards thrusting my beam sword towards the Reaper, however he just blocked with his scythe, forcing my beam sword into the wooden floor. I quickly deactivated the beam sword and reactivated it, this time, the reactivation pierced right through the Reaper's abdomen. He let out a gasp of pain.
"Not bad." He said, somehow grabbing the beam sword with his bare hands and pulling it out. "But that won't do anything!"
He showed me his hands, there were no burns where he had touched the Beam sword, and the most damage done was just to his clothes. His abdomen was completely healed, as though my sword had never pierced it. "I'm just a memory now, a fabrication of the Reaper's strongest emotions. Under normal conditions, I probably would have just been a specter. It's amazing that I even have a physical form, but that was just because of the sacrifice. His original plan that day was to just kill you and bring you back using the Assistant Manager's corpse as a sacrifice, and a bit of coding to make you an obedient little slave. But that failed when you began Project Fantasia and erased him out of existence!"
"Began?" I asked.
"Even if you crossed over the worlds for only a few seconds, there will be a rift there until the end of time." The Reaper replied.
"No, I made sure to close it off." I said.
"Deny it all you want. It won't change the fact that Project Fantasia will happen. All it will require is someone to find the hole, and force it open."
I grabbed my beam sword and swung at him again, this time aiming for his head. The beam sword went right through his head, "Are you done yet?" He said rather bored.
"But how?"
"Please, I had control of Dialga and Palkia, I took a bit of their power. I can just make your attacks phase right through me." He said.
I figured since he no longer had Dialga and Palkia under his control, he couldn't do it that frequently. It was just a small battery that would quickly run out if he abused its power. I pulled the beam sword out of his head.
"So, you still think you can stop Project Fantasia? When you can't even scratch me?" He laughed.
"Yeah! That's right" I replied.
"You sound so much like a broken record..." He said. "There is no way you can stop it. It's far bigger than you can possibly imagine! You know we're not the only ones who could travel through the worlds!"
Of course it would be naive to think like that. His sacrificial lambs and the people he got to fight against me were enough proof. There was Rai, Sui, and Tei as well.
"Just how big is it?"
"Do you know the other reason why The Reaper escaped into this world, instead of just dieing in the car?" The Reaper said.
"All I know is that Tei approached him a few years prior, and I guess he figured it was an assassination." I said.
"He was being followed on both sides." The Reaper said. "Your friend, never had a moment of peace, he never could let down his guard for fear of being attacked. The thought of escaping into the games to relax never again crossed his mind."
"Okay, but why did he escape into this world?" I asked.
"He had formulated a plan, one much like yours of somehow finding a way to separate the two worlds. He wanted to protect you, and the others who could travel between the worlds, and all of those that would just be stuck in the chaos if Project Fantasia succeeded." The Reaper said. "Because of you, he cast aside his humanity, and became a demon, a monster, The Reaper. His death in one world was his birth in another. His goal was to prevent Project Fantasia, no matter what the cost. You can imagine why."
"Zenith has everything to gain from Project Fantasia. Technology, medicine, power. New wars could start. Everyday diseases such AIDS or Cancer could be a thing of the past with the medicine that has been invented in this world!" I said. "Anyone with this power and knowledge could profit immensely."
"Exactly, one could rule over your world with the knowledge of this place!" The Reaper laughed. "And to believe that you once wanted the two worlds to fuse."
"It was nothing more than a short sighted childish dream! We thought that there would be no side effects, and that everything would be fine. But that was just a kid's view on the world. The chaos that would ensue would be disastrous!" I replied.
"So, you have at least matured." The Reaper said. "Now then, I'll ask you once again. Are we going to take the easy way to prevent it, we could just kill everyone on one of the two sides, or the hard way and try to stop Zenith?"
"My answer hasn't changed." I said. "And I doubt it ever will. I will choose the hard way. I won't choose such an easy option if it results in the deaths of billions!"
"Then I guess one of us has to die here." The Reaper said. "If you win, you'll crawl up from the bottom, fight against Zenith, and may even fail. If I win, I'll kill everyone in this world, and yours."
"What?!" I shouted surprised.
"I am but a memory, not the same Reaper with his humanity. I am the embodiment of all of the fear that he brought, the hatred that everyone felt towards him. The very slaughter he brought forth! And as such, I only crave for death and destruction! This world isn't enough to satisfy me! I will kill, and kill, and kill until there is nothing left to kill!" He laughed. "And you will be the first part of my artwork. The magnum opus, the masterpiece I call genocide!"
The Reaper rushed towards me and swung his scythe. I attempted to block it with the beam sword, but I was sent flying several feet back, and fell on the ground.
"What was that!?" The Reaper laughed. "If you're pushed aside that easily, Zenith will trample you! You're not sturdy enough!"
I got back up and stared at the Reaper.
"Cast aside that stupid beam sword and fight me with your real weapon." The Reaper said. "That beam sword won't be able to withstand another few attacks."
I looked down at the beam sword. All ready there was a crack in the hilt. I stretched out my hand and the sheathed sword appeared in it. The chains were wrapped around the sheath and the guard preventing me from drawing it. I just held both swords in front of me. The Reaper rushed forwards once again. This time I also charged forwards. He swung his scythe, but I blocked it with the sheath and swung my beam sword right at him. Blood suddenly shot out of his arm and solidified to block the attack.
I dropped the beam sword, and quickly grabbed a proximity mine from my pocket and stuck it on the Reaper's stomach. I jumped back and threw a little pebble at it, causing it to explode.
When the smoke cleared the Reaper just stood there not exactly impressed. "Cheap tricks aren't exactly going to protect you." The Reaper said. He noticed the beam sword still on the ground and kicked it away, however underneath that, was another proximity mine. It immediately exploded.
"You were saying?" I teased.
"The only thing you've been successful at is singeing some of my leg hair." The Reaper said.
I rushed in and quickly hit him with the sheath of the sword right in the abdomen winding him, followed up with a kick directly to his head sending him flying back several feet. "Two points." I said.
The Reaper got up. He had a smile across his face. "Let's play a game." The Reaper said.
"Let's not, and say we did." I replied.
"Good, you're serious." He laughed. "But I never said I was giving you a choice." He pulled something out from underneath his cloak. He pressed a button on it. Suddenly all of the TV's switched to a countdown timer. It started at 1 hour.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"The rules are simple." The Reaper replied. "You are going to have to defeat me in 1 hour, if not, well there are enough explosives around the entire neighborhood to make sure that you die, and the block is nothing more than a crater."
My heart began to pound in excitement. I was nervous, I was afraid, but I couldn't deny that I was finding it fun. "Very well then!" I said. "One hour, and this will all be over... one way or another."
"Good." The Reaper laughed, as he crushed the remote in his hand. "There's no going back now."
We rushed for each other. I swung the sword, and he attacked with the scythe. Quickly I blocked the blow with the sword and moved myself closer.
"The scythe is a poor weapon when you think about it." The Reaper said. "A single blade, that's facing you. But, he chose this weapon for two reasons."
"I guess the first was to draw images of the grim reaper." I said.
"Correct. The second was to remind himself how close death was to him." He said. I threw a punch right into the Reaper's abdomen. I sent a burst of aura through it, sending him back several feet. He just landed swiftly on the ground. "Of course, you've all ready seen his way to strengthen his scythe." Suddenly the blade was covered by energy, and a second energy blade formed on the other side.
He began to swing it, and blades of wind rushed towards me. I began to counter with swinging the sword, and doing my best to block the attacks.
"Why does you're weapon remain sheathed?" The Reaper asked. "Draw it!"
"If I could, I would!" I replied. "Sadly these chains are stopping me!"
"I see, a restraining bolt." The Reaper laughed. "The weapon that the Akashic Point makes is based upon your hidden desires and thoughts. A sword, it's simple and can get the job done, but the fact that you can't remove the chains must mean that you fear that you will abuse that power."
I just rushed towards him and hit him on the left arm with all my strength. "Then again, maybe I just find it more effective this way for bludgeoning." I said.
"I guess that's always a possibility." He responded swinging the scythe towards me. I jumped back to avoid it however; the energy blade did manage to scratch my clothes leaving a rather noticeable cut across it.
"Hey, I liked this shirt!" I said annoyed.
He however ignored me. "The Reaper, wanted to use Zenith's power against them, have them fight the monsters that they were trying to create. Become the amalgamation of what someone could be with all the available resources of the two worlds. But he was limited in resources, mainly time. He couldn't do major modifications to his body to become a cyborg, so he just went with the quickest way to learn, just by injecting the information directly into his brain." The Reaper explained. "With that knowledge, he learned how to move flawlessly, and how to use the weapon to it's fullest potential through VR training. But in the end, his greatest weakness was that he was still human. He couldn't constantly exert himself. Zenith won't have soldiers with that big of a weakness."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Mainly because if you can't beat me, or only can barely beat me, you will not be prepared for what's ahead." The Reaper replied. The aura blades disappeared on the scythe along with the metal blade, so that he was now just wielding a staff. He began to spin it around and then jab it towards me. Several of the blows hit my body and forced me back. He kept on following through with several attacks, disarming me and knocking away the sword. He forced me back further, and kicked the sword to the other end of the room.
I was knocked up into the air, and the blade on the scythe reappeared. This time I created a barrier out of aura, which was able to reduce the damage, and stop the blade from piercing me. I still went flying across the room and into a wall though. I fell down onto the ground.
Oh crap that hurt... Don't think I can take much more of this...
I struggled to get up. My left hand brushed against something on the ground. I just glanced at it.
The cube that Master Hand had given me fell from my pocket. I reached for it, however the Reaper stabbed my hand with his scythe. "Oh? What's this? Another cheap trick?" He said annoyed. I pulled my hand out of the scythe. It hurt like hell, but I honestly didn't care. I grabbed the cube, and blood began to flow down it.
"Please work!" I said.
Suddenly it began to glow with a bright light. The Reaper jumped back, quite afraid of the light, and I just embraced it. The light felt warm, and I could feel the pain in my hand going away. When the light died down I was suddenly covered in some strange armor. I had fused with Ray MK III who was in the cube.
"So, you decide to fight!" He laughed.
It felt really weird to be honest. I suddenly felt much lighter even though there was rather heavy armor on me. There was also the sudden feeling of knowing how everything worked. All the new attacks and abilities I had, I just suddenly knew what to do to activate them.
I raised up my hand, and there was suddenly a gun in it. I pulled the trigger and a laser rushed for the Reaper. It was so fast that he wasn't able to block it. From a pod that was floating behind me, missiles began to fire. The Reaper quickly put up a barrier; the missiles hit the barrier and exploded doing nothing. I rushed forwards and pierced through the barrier myself, and then delivered a punch directly to the Reaper's face. He went flying back to the other wall, and I began to rapidly fire all the weapons I had, the laser from the gun, and a seemingly unlimited supply of missiles from those two pods. I wasn't going to give the Reaper a moment to rest. I'd finish this off quickly.
The Reaper jumped off of the wall and towards me. He began to just cut through every single missile. He managed to get up close and punch me, the armor absorbed most of the attack, and a giant crack appeared on the chest piece, I just bared with it and threw a punch directly at him. He threw another punch and our fists collided. We began to rapidly throw punches, and they just continued to collide in midair.
"Activate, soulboost!" I shouted.
Suddenly I was covered in a golden aura.
How clichéd... oh well, whatever. I'll take it. There's no time to actually complain.
The next punch was enough to send the Reaper flying back. More missiles began to shoot out of the pod towards him. This time when he tried to cut through them, they exploded. I began to circle around him, launching missiles, and firing lasers. He had no choice but to just stand there and take all of the abuse I dealt him.
I soon stopped, and the smoke began to clear. He stood there, however he looked extremely frustrated. "You just made me use up the last bit of Dialga and Palkia's power that I had to survive all of that." He snapped. "Be proud."
I just smiled. The thought that victory was possible crossed my mind. I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass by!
I wanted to charge forwards and end this battle. But my body wouldn't listen to me.
My body began to glow with a white light. From my body, the cube emerged.
The fusion had ended, and so did any chance of victory. My body suddenly began to scream out in pain. Every single inch of my body felt like it was being ripped apart. There was no physical wounds, but I could tell that the fusion had put a great deal of stress on my body.
I struggled to stay standing up. But it felt as though my legs were now made of jelly. I just fell forwards.
The Reaper laughed. "So, this is it, Nugai."
"Crap." I muttered.
"Was that all you had?" He wondered.
I looked at the TV's displaying the time. There was still 50 minutes left on the countdown clocks. If I could get away, and rest for a few minutes to regain my strength, I could fight again. But, I imagined that the Reaper would also be resting.
"So what now, are you still going to fight? Because if that was all you had, it wasn't enough."
I figured it was my only chance at victory, so I had to do it even if The Reaper would recover. I reached in to my jacket to get a smoke bomb, however the Reaper was far too fast. He noticed and ran up to me. In an instant he grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up off of the ground.
His other hand grabbed my arm, pulling it out with the smoke ball in it; also on the smoke ball was a motion sensor bomb, which he didn't see. I quickly turned it on. He took the smoke ball from my hand.
"Still up to you're stupid tricks?" He laughed. "What could you possibly be thinking?"
"Just how much this is going to hurt." I managed to gasp out. I followed it up with spitting at the motion sensor bomb.
It exploded and sent us both flying backwards. He skidded across the floor while I hit the wall.
Even using a barrier of aura to soften the explosion, and the impact against the wall didn't do much.
Oh, yeah. That really hurt...
I glanced towards the Reaper. He wasn't expecting it and his right hand had been blown right off.
He began to scream out in pain. A smile crossed my face, and I let out a small chuckle.
That may of just been worth it...
If nothing else, it would at least be a lot harder to swing around that scythe with only one hand. While he was writhing in pain, I began to crawl towards my sword.
I eventually reached it and glanced up at the clock. 45 minutes remained before everything exploded.
I looked over at the Reaper. He had hardened his blood to prevent any more blood loss. I imagined he also could no longer use any blood attacks for fear of losing even more blood.
He got up and glared at me. He staggered forwards, I reached into my jacket, and he froze. "So, the Reaper can feel fear." I laughed. "Even if you're just a memory, you're not that different from us humans after all."
"Are you going to rely on your cheap tricks again?" He asked.
"Those cheap tricks seem to be doing a number on you." I laughed.
I used the sword to hold myself up. The Reaper just rushed towards me. He began to swing his scythe with his single hand it seems that the only thing that I managed to do was just reduce his accuracy. I put up a barrier of aura, The scythe hit against the barrier and was pushed away, at least with the first few swings.
The Reaper swung his scythe at me once again. It hit against my aura barrier. However, it pierced through the barrier and the scythe went right into my left eye.
My immediate thoughts were far too vulgar to transcribe, so we will have to go with, "SHIT THAT HURTS!"
I backed away; my hand was covering where my left eye used to be. I just didn't exactly know how to react. The Reaper swung his scythe at me again; I had somehow managed to dodge it. "An eye for a hand! I guess that's almost a fair trade off!" he laughed.
I threw several smoke balls down onto the ground, and the entire room filled up with smoke. I used this opportunity to distance myself from him and hide in another room of the warehouse, I just sat down for several seconds, trying to think what I'd do about my eye.
Shit… shit… shit…
My thoughts began to switch to how my life would be affected if I won this battle and escaped alive.
I doubt I'd be able to hide it in the real world for all that long. What will I say to friends and family?
I just sighed.
What can I do...
However my thoughts were cut short. "Found you!" The Reaper shouted entering into the room. I jumped up, and pulled out several motion sensing bombs from my pockets. I threw them at him, and they quickly exploded.
He had easily dodged the attacks. I had expected him to. And he quickly went into my blind spot. I tried to use aura to see there, but the pain had quickly distracted me. I felt a searing pain across my left shoulder. My arm fell down limp. I reached up with my right hand and soon felt a warm and wet liquid. Blood.
"Half of your body is useless." The Reaper laughed. "How do you plan to proceed?"
"I'll fight to the bitter end!" I replied.
The Reaper smiled. "I wouldn't expect anything else."
The chains on the sword had suddenly unraveled, so I drew it. I sliced at the air in front of me, but the Reaper just jumped away. "This is just pathetic..." He laughed.
"Good there's some distance between us." I laughed. I stabbed the sword into the ground. I had to buy myself some time, along with distancing myself from him. Suddenly a wall appeared between us. Around me, all I could hear was the sound of metal scraping against metal.
It was just the first thing that came to my mind, shuffling all of the rooms in the warehouse, and combining them with all the other warehouses to make one super big building that was just a constant maze. I fell forwards gasping for air. I estimated I'd be safe for at least five minutes. A minute or two for him to figure out what had just happened, and another few minutes to find me.
"Crap... Now what." I muttered to myself. My left arm was useless, I had only one eye. Using aura was getting harder and harder to do by the second as I was losing blood, and there was too much pain. I used the last bit of my strength to move so I was at least leaning against a wall.
I tried to think of a way to get out of this one. But, my mind was just blank.
It was the end.
It was finally over… I lost.
"Crap." I muttered. I looked around. "Observer, I know you're watching this."
"Of course." A voice said. The Observer appeared in front of me. I just looked at him with my one eye. He was smiling all too amused. "Tell me, how are you going to get out of this one?"
"I don't know. I don't think I can." I said.
"So, you're giving up?" The Observer asked.
"Unless you've just got another eye lying around, I can't really use aura, or think about anything." I replied. "I just have a sword, a single arm now, and a few other items in my pockets. I'm kind of screwed."
The Observer just sighed. "I see. As it just so happens I do have one." He said.
"What?" I said surprised. "You just happen to have an eye lying around? How?"
He just ignored my question. "However, it doesn't come free."
"I figured as much." I muttered. "What's its cost?"
The Observer just had a smile across his face. "Now, now, we can worry about that later, you need to deal with the Reaper first."
He placed his hand over where my left eye used to be. I felt some warm energy. "I've healed you a bit." He said. He held out his hand and in front of me appeared a floating eyeball. It looked mostly normal. There was one major difference though; inside the pupil appeared to be a star.
"What's in the eye?" I asked.
"Magic, I guess you could say." The Observer said. "It used to belong to a warrior of another race that I used to observe. However he was killed. It was a part of our agreement that I would take his eyes when he died."
"And what are you taking from me when I die?" I asked.
The Observer just smiled. "I haven't decided yet." He said. "I guess that's proportional to how well you are able to stop Project Fantasia, if you can't I'll probably just take back this eye, so try not to damage it."
"So, what's so special about this eye?"
"That race was a race of warriors, because of these eyes. But, that's irrelevant now..." He laughed.
"Is it the sharingan?" I asked annoyed.
"No, no, no." He said. "It doesn't really have any special powers like that."
"Then what is it?"
"It's an eye, just it has a star on the pupil, and it's colored red." The Observer said.
"Then why is its price so high?" I wondered.
"It draws in aura like Lucario's spikes." The Observer said. "You will be able to use more aura now."
"I see. Still, eyes, don't you think those are over used?" I wondered.
The Observer just glared at me. "Look, do you want the new eye or not?" He asked annoyed.
"Yes, I'll take it." I replied.
"Good." He smiled. "Anyways, we need to hurry up. There is no telling when the Reaper will show up."
I just nodded. "Fine, I accept the terms." I said.
The eye burst into bits of data, and floated over his hand. He then placed his hand over where my left eye used to be. I felt a warm energy on my face, and then when he lifted his hand away, I could see again. "You now have the eye. Don't lose it." He said.
"I'll do my best." I said.
"I'd be careful too. Our sight has a tendency to blind us. Also be careful about losing any more body parts, as in the future, there are only so many transplants your body can withstand. And not to mention your body might begin to reject any other new things that are put in..." The Obesrver said.
I just nodded. "I'll be careful, I promise." I said
"Good." The Observer said.
He placed his hand on my shoulder and healed it as well. "Now then, I probably interfered far more than I should have, but I wish you luck. You'll need it, as you probably all ready know."
He began to walk away, and then vanished into thin air. I just lied there for several moments, letting the new eye sink in. I just looked around. If there was anything different, it just seemed to constantly have aura vision on permanently. I also felt some of my energy return.
I looked around to try and find the Reaper in the building; he was running through the building rather frantically. As much as I would of liked to stay there and regain more energy, I didn't know how much time had elapsed. I reached into my jacket to do a quick check on what remained of the items I had brought. "Crap I miscounted…" I muttered. I was out of mines, and smoke bombs. All I had left was a pill capsule containing a maxim tomato. I opened it up and took a bite out of the maxim tomato. I felt more and more of my strength come back to me.
"So, this is it." I said. "Reaper, here I come!"
I began to run through the hallways. But it began to feel like a chore. I had edited the building to make it a giant maze so that the Reaper wouldn't be able to find me as easily, but apparently I made it both too big and too winding.
I don't have time for this... Screw it, Plan B!
I faced a wall and just kicked right through it. I jumped up into the air and cut through the ceiling to create a hole and just began to go through the rooms this way to get to the Reaper much faster. We finally met each other in a large room. Looking at the floor and seeing the chessboard confirmed that it was the same room our fight started in.
"I'm surprised." He said, rather annoyed. "That you were able to create this maze. I'm also surprised that you came to me..."
I looked around for a TV with the countdown, however there was none. The TV's were now all ruined. I imagine it was either our battle, or he took out his frustration on them.
"Don't worry, we still have plenty of time." The Reaper said.
"You're right." I said. "I seem to remember the old days, how a simple hour could last an eternity for us. I wish days could be like that again."
The Reaper just laughed. "He wished for it too. Even if it was just one day, with the two of you playing Smash."
"I see." I laughed. "I guess I know what I'm going to be doing when I kick your ass, and get out of here."
"Humor me."
"Going over with my copy of Brawl, and playing a few rounds." I said.
"He should be dead. You come from a world where he died months ago."
"He's alive. I know it." I replied.
"If you believe that." He sighed. "Now then we've wasted enough time!"
"Agreed." I said.
I ran for the Reaper and swung my sword. The sword and scythe clashed and the two just struggled to push the other back.
"You're fighting me head on after losing your eye." The Reaper laughed.
"Why don't you get your eyes checked!" I shouted.
The Reaper looked at me and suddenly jumped back in shock. " I don't believe this. How did you get back your eye? You can't edit yourself in the Akashic Point."
"Let's just say I have a friend who had a spare one." I said. I rushed for him again and began to slash the air. He dodged each and every one. I don't know what it was about the eye, but I could suddenly see his each and every movement, where he was going go and every possible movement he could make. It was a bit confusing to say the least.
This really is the sharingan, isn't it?
But I didn't have time to try and learn it. I just focused on the one that was real. I swung the scabbard to try and hit him. He began to swing the scythe aiming for my eyes once again. This time I blocked the attacks with the sword and scabbard.
"You've regained all your strength!"
"Yeah," I replied. "Honestly, I've never felt better. You on the other hand, you look exhausted. You're not used to wielding that scythe with only one hand."
"My weapon changes to suit my condition. If I need it lighter to wield it with one hand, it becomes lighter." He said. "It's the same with your weapon. When you were determined to beat me, it's true power was unlocked."
The two blades clashed once again, and sparks began to fly. He swung the scythe and an air blade rushed towards me. I jumped into the air to avoid it, however it hit something behind me, and then I began to smell gasoline. I glanced back to see a bunch of jerrycans that were now leaking the fluid.
He swung his scythe once again and I blocked. Sparks began to emerge from our weapons colliding. He pushed me back closer to the gasoline. And continued to attack. The sparks soon reached the gasoline and ignited it.
He just began to laugh. "Fire burns all it touches, it consumes everything, and as long as there is fuel, it won't stop until it's all ash. We're trapped in here now with the fire, and the bombs set to go off whenever. Even if one of us wins there is no guarantee that we will make it out alive! Isn't this exciting?!"
I wanted to move away from the fire, but I figured he would quickly react. I could feel my heart pounding. I was excited. "Yes." I admitted. For the first time, I thought I truly felt alive.
"But, still, it doesn't feel complete yet!" He said. "It's like we haven't reached the full potential of battle! Let us fight to the full extent of our abilities. Let us fight as only two reality warpers can, where the only limitation is our imaginations!"
"Fine by me!" I said. I held my sword back so that it was touching the fire. I then swung the sword out towards him, he blocked the sword, however quickly jumped back, and the fire followed after the sword, and then began chasing the Reaper. He just quickly covered himself with the cloak, as the fire landed and set ablaze the area around him.
"Reaper!" I shouted jumping into the air and swinging my sword down. He drew something on the ground, I assume with his blood and suddenly there was an explosion that forced us back.
I was tossed and slid across the ground. I got back up and quickly rushed for the Reaper who was still trying to regain his orientation. It was strange, suddenly I was full of energy, like an unlimited energy supply was available to me. I held out my hand and several aura spheres rushed towards the Reaper, he just spun his scythe around really quickly to try and create a shield with it.
The aura spheres hit and exploded, and he was sent back, gasping for air. "How... you should be at your limit."
"I guess the new eye really does work wonders." I laughed.
The Reaper just stuck his scythe into the ground. He brought up his remaining hand and a small blade made out of blood appeared. "I see." He said. "In that case, two can play at that game." With one swift movement he blinded himself. I just stared a bit shocked at him. "He wasn't ready to lose everything. To put everything on the line. He was scared, afraid of becoming inhuman, and that was always holding him back. I'm different though. My sight, I don't need it. I have no attachment to anything. I don't need to see anything again. After all, I'm just a memory..."
He grabbed his scythe and swung it a few times. "Amazing." He said. "I can see everything now."
He took a step forwards and disappeared. Suddenly I heard something cutting through the air. I jumped away, and turned back. The Reaper had gotten right behind me and swung his scythe, which I had just narrowly dodged. "Your heart is now pounding in fear." He said.
I was actually really afraid right now; I didn't know how he just vanished like that. The next time it happened the battle could be over. I threw an aura sphere at him that he just cut through. He disappeared once again. This time he appeared right beside me. "You're just too slow." He said.
I threw a kick but he disappeared before it even connected.
What the hell is going on? We were practically equal a few minutes ago! Why can't I suddenly see his aura?
He reappeared on my other side, and just had his arm wrapped around my neck, not in an aggressive way, but in that friendly way. "You've lost." He said. "Just give up. I'll make sure your death is as painless as possible."
I grabbed his cloak. "No." I said, trying to elbow him. He ran away and his cloak tore a bit in the process. I just now had a long piece of cloth in my hands. I looked around the room; he had completely vanished this time. I tried using aura, but I couldn't see him.
I glanced at the cloth in my hands. I just began to wrap it around my eyes. "If you've blinded yourself, then I shall do the same." I said.
"It won't do you any good." His voice laughed. "You've never been one to embrace the darkness. Me on the other hand, the darkness has always been inviting." He said. I just stood perfectly still and tried to concentrate and find his location. "Even back in the normal world I loved the darkness."
His voice seemed like it was coming from all directions.
"You never know what it hides, you on the other hand were always afraid of the darkness." His voice said. "How you would insist on having a night light, how you were afraid of harmless shadows."
"I didn't think that those shadows were harmless. Tell me, did you ever fear that since we could go between worlds, monsters from the worlds could come to us through the TV?" I asked.
"A bit." The Reaper said.
"Because, that's what I feared was lurking in the shadows. A monster that came through the portal that we used." I said.
"Yeah right." The Reaper laughed. "You're just saying that to save face."
"Now though, we know that it would of only come through if we willed it, and forced it through." I said, ignoring his comment.
"Shut up! I've always hated you." The Reaper said. "Cursing me with this power. Now I just want to destroy you!"
I paused, I wondered if that was true, or if the Reaper was just trying to taunt me. "If we're at the part where you just shouting out random things to try and break me, I think this fight is about over." I laughed.
"You think I'm just making this up? I've always hated you..." The Reaper said. "I tolerated you because you were just some sad and pathetic loser. You were practically invisible to everyone. No one cared about you!"
"Enough." I said calmly. "That's in the past. I've moved past that and I'll grow. I'll change, into someone better."
"What can you do?!" The Reaper shouted. "You're just a crybaby! Someone who will cry and break down at the slightest little thing."
"Enough..." I said. "I've changed from what I used to be."
"You can never change!" He laughed. "You're doomed to always be stuck in mediocrity. You're always going to be some loser! You're just going to grow up and be someone stuck working a 9 to 5 job behind a desk. You have no ambition!"
He kept talking, he kept trying to taunt me telling me what my old self was like, but I just tuned him out. I could feel a slight breeze through out the room, and then a subtle increase in the wind in one section. I rushed over and swung my sword. It clashed with his scythe. He was genuinely surprised. "How did you find me?!"
"The wind." I replied. "I don't just have to rely on aura to fight you!"
The Reaper just jumped back, and I took off the blindfold. I could now see everything in the room clearly by using aura. The Reaper had been there all along, but he had somehow hidden his presence. He wasn't moving at a super fast speed or anything, it was just that he was cloaked, and somehow hiding his aura. He rushed for me and swung his scythe. I blocked the attack with the sheath of the sword and then slashed towards him with my sword.
"How?!" He said shocked. "You shouldn't be able to do this!"
"You know exactly how." I said. "I can see exactly like you now, it just doesn't require me cutting out my eyes."
"You..." The Reaper just grew more and more flustered. "I want to see you suffer. I want to see you cry and beg for forgiveness!" He shouted. "I'll destroy you! Then I'll destroy everything you hold dear. I'll destroy the other world too! I'll destroy everything and create a monument to nothingness! There will be nothing!"
"You've all ready lost Reaper." I said. "It's over, just accept that. This was your last gamble, and it failed."
"No!" The Reaper laughed. "It hasn't failed yet. If I can stall long enough, the bombs will kill you!"
"And you as well." I said.
"That doesn't matter!" He said. "If I can drag you into hell with me, it will be worth it!"
"I see, so that's the way it's got to be." I said.
"Nothing else matters, just your death!" He laughed.
He rushed towards me swinging his scythe.
"Do you have any idea what it was like? Do you have any idea what he went through?" The Reaper shouted. "Coming here, and fearing for his life?"
Our weapons clashed and the dimensional scream activated.
He was in a hospital bed. "You're safe." Dr. Stiles said. "We managed to save your life."
The Reaper didn't respond, he just sat there on the hospital bed looking forwards.
"There's so much I want to ask." Dr. Stiles said. "How you got here, what you did... your condition..."
"I'd rather not talk about it." The Reaper said. Dr. Stiles just left and the Reaper clenched his fist in anger. He had all ready tried returning to his world, but he had found out he was trapped.
I returned to the battle.
"Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea what that feels like!" I snapped. "You both put me through that! Don't you dare even suggest that I don't know what that feels like!"
I imagine the Reaper would be glaring at me if he still had eyes. He began to swing his scythe and I just countered each attack with a swing of my sword.
I managed to move towards him dodging several of his slices, and then I punched the Reaper directly in the face. There was an explosion of aura that sent him flying back. I could feel my arm scream out in pain. I probably shattered some of my bones with that.
The Reaper on the other hand took a few seconds to react. He suddenly swung his scythe down, and it went into the ground to act as a break for him. He skidded across the ground and then came rushing back.
"Interesting, your body was never fully trained to withstand the stress that Aura puts on your body." The Reaper laughed.
"It's kind of too late to figure that out now." I said while cringing, I glanced at my arm that was now at my side, rather limp. As the Reaper rushed towards me in a split second I decided that I had no choice. Instantly my arm was healed and I rushed in and punched him once again.
He went flying and this time he just stopped himself. "I didn't think you'd be willing to do that." The Reaper laughed. "Editing the Akashic record in order to heal your arm. That's what, 2 months off of your life for healing a broken bone, and it looks like you'll have to do it again!"
My arm was once again limp. It was in even more pain than it was before. "Don't talk to me about the cost of it." I snapped. "After you've shown complete disregard for life, don't talk to me about the life I'm giving up to stop you."
"You should know, it's not so much healing it, it's just instantly moving it to two months in the future." The Reaper said.
"Shut up." I replied. "I know that, you don't need to tell me that!"
"You're fine with just cutting your life down?" The Reaper said.
"No, I'm not." I replied. "But I'm doing it anyways to erase my friend's mistake."
The Reaper just laughed. "You think he was your friend!?"
I just sighed. "I don't know, or do I care anymore. If he was never my friend, then I'll get rid of you for the friends that I do have here in this world."
"And what's going to happen once you go back to your world?" The Reaper asked. "You know that time is different between the two worlds. Once you begin fighting project fantasia, and if you seek help from the Smashers, it won't be the same group."
"That's probably true." I said.
"And what about the the people in that world who care about you? What if you just suddenly fall over dead one day?" He asked.
"Que Sera Sera. (Whatever will be, will be) Then that happens." I replied. "I've decided, I've figured out what my purpose in life is going to be. I'm stopping Project Fantasia, no matter what! Even if I die and have to entrust it to the next generation."
The Reaper just smiled. "So, you finally have a purpose, you just won't wander aimlessly through your life. You've somehow become even more dangerous. And that's all the more reason to kill you!"
The Reaper rushed towards me. He began to spin his scythe around beside him, so that it began to appear like a saw. He then threw the scythe at me. I jumped into the air to avoid it, and a moment later he was right in front of me. Suddenly his blood blades came out of his arms, and he slashed towards me. I held out the sword, and blocked the attacks. However the blood suddenly shot from his blades towards me as though they became bullets. I was hit and they forced me backwards. I had used Aura to strengthen my defenses, so, it really just now looked like some paintballs were on my shirt.
"All right, Observer, let's see what this eye of yours has to offer!" I said, hoping that I could actually wield this eye.
Suddenly, it felt like there was a gust of wind, however, it didn't hit anything but my eye. It was an odd sensation to say the least. But I felt that it was drawing in some aura. The problem was, in this area, there really wasn't all that much aura to draw in. It was an old warehouse. Had the wood that was used to make the pillars or the floor had any aura, it was long gone. The air also didn't have as much aura or energy as the air outside did. The place was just about dead.
The Reaper just rushed forwards once again. He grabbed his scythe that had gotten stuck in a pillar and swung it at me. I held out my sword once again, this time also grabbing the sheath to try and block it. Suddenly the chains that were wrapped around the sheath seemed to have a mind of their own. They reached out and grabbed the Reaper's scythe.
The Reaper tried to pull it away, but the chains wouldn't let go. They just wrapped around the blade.
"So, the chains aren't just used for keeping my sword locked away until I need it." I said.
The Reaper just looked frustrated. "What did you do?"
I just looked at him a bit shocked. "Sorry, I don't know." I said. "But it looks like I'm sealing your powers and abilities!"
"You can try..." The Reaper said pulling with all his might.
We began to engage in a tug of war with our entangled weapons. Even with his one hand, he was still strong and wasn't letting go. Soon I saw why. He had shot blood out of his hand and used that to form spikes to attach his hand directly to the scythe. The chains unraveled and I jumped back.
"What's wrong?" The Reaper laughed. "Does my determination scare you?"
"No." I said. "Just the blood is creeping me out."
"Get used to it, you'll be seeing a lot more if you win!" The Reaper shouted.
He rushed towards me and just swung the scythe down. I stepped back to avoid the attack, and when the scythe got stuck in the ground I jumped onto the blade and kicked at the Reaper. He let go of his scythe and just backed away.
He began to circle around me. "You said I was practically invisible to people." I said. "So, I take it to mean that disappearing technique was originally mine?"
"Yeah, something like that." He laughed.
"I see." I replied. "Let's see if I remember how to do that."
I just exhaled, and let all my tension go away. He just continued to circle around me and the scythe. Off in the distance we suddenly heard an explosion. "What was that I asked."
"All the bombs, I didn't set them equally." He said. "We have 15 minutes now."
"I see... That seems like you so much." I laughed. "I should have seen it coming."
My reaction just caught him off guard. "What?"
"You're just a memory, but there were all these times when I was close to beating him in a race, or in a game where at the last second he would change the rules. 'Second person past the finish line wins.' stuff like that." I said. "We were just kids, and it was nothing too serious, so I didn't mind, but it just reminds me of that. He never wanted me to beat him... Chess, Magic cards." I just began to laugh. "I'm surprised we got along playing video games as well as we did..."
"Well, I'm surprised you can find some levity in this situation." The Reaper said.
"I remember the first time I beat him in chess. Even though he must of beat me 20 or 30 times before hand, that first time completly shook him."
"Were you even listening to me?" The Reaper asked.
"Sort of." I laughed. "Ah well, we're still going to have to fight. And one of us is going to have to lose."
"We could both lose via time out." The Reaper pointed out.
"I hate to say it, but I took a page from your book. I still have some of Dialga and Palkia's power in me." I rather bluntly admitted. "The bombs, the moment they go off, they're a complete non issue. I can teleport out of here, I could freeze time and escape..."
"You jackass..."
"Tell me, how does it feel to have the tables turned?" I wondered. "How many times have you stabbed someone and then just proceeded to twist the knife?"
He rushed towards me in a fit of rage. I sent a few quick Aura Spheres towards him. Even though they hit, even though he was pushed back a bit, even though there was the sound of a few bones snapping, he just charged towards me. I jumped back away from the scythe, and he just grabbed it, and immediately the scythe had the second energy blade.
I think I just realized a major mistake with my taunting of him. I had effectively just backed him into a corner. Like many wild animals, or monsters, they only get more dangerous when they're trapped, I imagined he was the same. "Shit that was stupid..." I berated myself.
He ran towards me and began to swing the scythe as wildly as he could. I did my best to avoid it but his random swings were next to unreadable. He began to gasp for air. I was a bit shocked that he was exhausted, I thought that this battle was going to take much longer.
He began to do some strong swings with the intent to finish this, but these were far too telegraphed and easily avoidable.
"It's over." I said, as I blocked the attack and knocked his scythe away. "Admit defeat."
He just fell down on the floor and began to gasp for air. "It's finally over…" He muttered, just being rather accepting.
I just walked over to his scythe and grabbed it off of the ground. He just struggled to get up. "Finish this! If you truly believe that you've won, then come and end it all!" He said stretching out his arms, leaving himself open. "Kill the first person that you will have to in order to stop Fantasia. Kill the first of many! Succeed me! Become the next Reaper!"
I squeezed the scythe as hard as I could. "Reaper!" I shouted, rushing towards him, jumping in the air and cutting his head off.
His body fell over limp, and his head rolled across the ground.
There was just silence, I half expected him to appear from behind a pillar clapping sarcastically saying something snide like "Congratulations at the cost of several arms, legs, bones and an eye, you beat my duplicate."
But that never came.
"Congratulations." The decapitated head said. "You beat me, you won."
Deep inside I was screaming in terror. I just tried my best to stay calm on the surface. "How are you still alive?" I questioned.
"I'm just a memory." The Reaper said. "I'm shaped by peoples thoughts about me. I guess you could say that I was rather infamous here. People probably believed that I was immortal or wouldn't die even if my head was cut off, so that's that. But, I'm practically harmless now, unless you reconnect my head. But I figure you won't do that."
"You'd be right." I said. I looked at the body and a spark of aura later, it caught fire. "Now you're just a head."
"How mean." He laughed. "You're quite cruel. So, what are you going to do now?"
I sat down on the ground and just looked at the head. "Fight Fantasia. That's all I guess."
"No, I meant, are you going to try and get information from me?" The Reaper said. "I mean... I am the Reaper's Memory, I knew everything he knew."
"You wouldn't really tell me anyways." I said.
He just let off a small chuckle. "You're probably right. They were really only after him, since he proved to be a threat. He found something during one of his journeys into the world."
"I'm guessing the Akashic points." I replied. "He got Bloody Mary some time, and they found out about it, and tried to get rid of him because it's a part of their plans."
"7 in this world, 7 in yours." The Reaper's head said. "2 out of 14 have been found. He found others, but, saddly you can only bond with one at once."
I just sat there.
"To get rid of the person's power over it you either need to destroy it, or kill them. But only someone who can use the akashic points can really kill someone who uses an akashic point."
"Why did you allow yourself be defeated." I asked.
"I'm not all powerful." The Reaper said. "It was my other self who bonded with the akashic point, and I don't have access to that power. Even if I'm just a memory, there are some things that a faded memory can't do. There is always the imperfections, and how our memories lie to us. How we remember a pie tasting much better than it did, or the smell that came with the cooking. In the end, I'm nothing more than an imitation."
"Still, there are things that you clearly can do that he couldn't do." I said.
The head just began to fade. I must of looked a bit surprised.
"It seems like my time is up." The Reaper's head said. "Sorry, but, I can't sustain myself outside of the Realm of Memories like this for much longer."
"Why?"
"I need to keep using sacrifices to remain solid." The Reaper said. "I planned on just using criminals, but well, I didn't get around to it. And now, my physical body is gone. Just as a head, I really don't have much I can do. Just talk until I fully fade away. If you've got any final questions, now would be the time to ask them."
I just sat there for a few seconds, I wanted to think of some questions to ask him, but my mind was just blank. And then, one came to my mind. That text message telling me to go up to the Manager's office.
"Reaper, was there any time that you were trying to protect me?" I wondered.
"Once." He said. "You probably didn't know this, but the Manager and her sister, were both employees of Zenith."
"Right, she was talking to someone I never found out the identity of." I said. "That kind of suddenly makes sense."
"They came here to this world because of me. They became the manager's of the Smashers, while posing as normal inhabitents, and then, they were ready to manipulate the Smashers for nearly whatever they needed. They could get the Smasher's technology and it could greatly help them with building the machine that would fuse the two worlds. They could easily access the Smasher's finances to get new technology that was developed in war times, and send it back to earth." The Reaper said.
I just looked a bit shocked.
"She was most likely talking to a supervisor. They were trying to get a serum that would stop me. Make it so I couldn't oppose them. And once your battle with Marth had concluded, they decided that your life had served it's purpose. I couldn't stand for that."
"But how did you know that?"
"My mole." The Reaper said. "I had asked him to keep a close eye on everything. Sonic did just that."
"Why did you kidnap Lucas?" I asked.
He just laughed. "It was mostly as a distraction so the mole could move around without suspicion. That and for all the wrong I had done in this world, there was some right that I wanted to do..."
"Were you really going to revive his mother and brother..." I wondered.
"Most likely." he said.
"Did your other self ever find out any important people in Zenith?"
"No." He said. "He was worried about people following him, so he kept his investigation to a minimum. Most of what he found out was from when he came in here, and found out from Zenith employees, and people in the Government."
"Indeed." A voice said. Walking towards them was the Observer. "It was a brilliant battle."
"So, can all employees of Zenith go into this world?"
"That's a safe assumption." The Reaper said.
"If I can interject. Most can." The Observer said. "I explained it to you Nugai, that if someone drags someone else into this world, just like you dragged in the Reaper, they can now freely go between the two worlds. An easily exploitable thing, don't you think?"
"Can that ability be taken away?" I asked.
"Yes." The Reaper was the first to speak.
This honestly shocked The Observer. "It can, but I've only done it once, to the founder of Zenith." The Observer said.
"What?!" Both of us said.
"Much like how I gave you the power to go into the worlds, I gave it to him as well." The Observer said. "I told you all ready about the crisis, and how I was trying to find a solution, but it seems that in the end I started it."
I think we were both trying to hold back our frustration. But the Reaper noticed that he was just about gone. "So, Nugai, before I fully fade, I know of one way, killing your body on one side. The Reaper lost his ability to transfer between the two worlds, when he came here just away from death's door."
And then, the Reaper completely vanished. And just like that the legacy of The Reaper, was over.
"That is one way." The Observer said. "Of course, the stress on your body while transferring between worlds, probably would kill you. He was lucky that he somehow survived."
"And how else can you take it away?" I asked.
He just sighed. "Just like I gave it to you, I can take it away. That's all there is to it, however, I can't take away the ability of anyone who has been dragged into the world like the Reaper. We'll call them Second Generation world hoppers."
"I see." I said. "So, the founder of Zenith no longer has his ability to cross over."
"Right, I saw his ambition, and how he would stop at nothing to complete it. But it seemed that taking it away only motivated him further."
"But what's stopping him from getting it back from being dragged in?" I asked.
"Strangely, if someone loses their power, they can no longer gain it back. I can't even give it back to them." The Observer said. He streched out his hand. "Now then, I think we should get out of here before the bombs explode and kill you."
I reached up for his hand and got up, suddenly I noticed that I was extremely exhausted. I was unable to actually walk normally. "We have plenty of time." The Observer said. He went underneath my armpit and helped me walk as though I had a broken foot or a sprained ankle. "Now let's walk and talk."
Off in the distance we heard several bombs explode.
"I guess I was more exhausted then I thought." I sighed.
"I'm guessing that the adrenaline wore off once you won." The Observer said.
"So, can you tell me why you had a spare eye just lying around for me to use?" I wondered.
"In case of an emergency. If it came down to it, to construct my own body to do an assassination on whoever started Fantasia." The Observer said. "That, and a few other reasons."
"Such as?"
"That isn't important right now." He said.
I could feel my consciousness beginning to fade. I was a bit worried that if I fell asleep, he wouldn't be able to transport me back to Smashville. "Keep talking." I said.
He looked at me a bit confused. "Well... I don't know what to talk about..."
"You told me that you knew who the leader of Zenith is." I said.
"Yes, but, he's set everything in motion. Even without him, Fantasia will come to pass." The Observer said.
"What can I do to stop it?" I asked.
"I don't know." He said. "That's up to you to figure out."
We continued our small talk until we got out of the building. Saki, Isaac, Little Mac, Kat and Ana rushed towards me. They were all glaring at The Observer.
"Who's that?" Saki asked.
"He's an ally." I managed to say. "We have to get back to Smashville, there are a bunch of bombs set to go off any second now."
Their faces were covered with horror and we began to walk away. Little Mac went to get a ship, and pulled it quite a distance away. I guess they didn't want any sudden explosions to damage the ship. Kat and Ana jumped into the ship.
The last thing I remember was Saki and Isaac grabbing me and putting me into a chair. Then arguing rather loudly about who was going to get Captain Faclon's Blue Falcon. I soon fell asleep, and didn't wake up until the last day...
Yes, I'm skipping day 32-34.
Explanation time:
The quick version: Because I can.
The long version: Well... this was actually supposed to be day 33. Long story short, it got bumped up slightly. And since the Smashers aren't in Smashville... yeah... I think this was all the shoving the Smashers aside that I would be able to do in this story.
The Star in the eye... I seem to remember getting the idea from a piece of Pokemon Black White 2 fanart. It just had the playable characters, and one of their eyes just had a star in the pupil.