Translator
The fight ended after no more than five minutes once they entered the throne room.
Despite everything, the Azure Striker and the Adept Slayer were not prepared.
Each taking on their own path, both hero and anti-hero managed to push through the bastion of the Gardens, destroying any soldiers, adepts and mechs they found in their way with thunder and light.
Any knight they met, copy or not met the same fate, coincidentally these rematches consisted of each protagonist facing the adepts that the other managed to get to first. Unfortunately neither of them gained anything from this as the Azure Striker has already mastered his septima and any ex-weapon Copen could make from the adepts are ones he doesn't have the time to do in the finale.
Finally both of them met each other at the final part of the Garden, both of them fought each other immediately after. Whittling away what remained of their energy in the process as the Adept Slayer absolutely refuses to bend his principles with an integrity that's almost noble if it wasn't so stupid.
"Why are you this blasted stubborn?!" Gunvolt groans in frustration and fatigue as he jumps around and about the room, returning a barrage shot of darts to compensate for the plasma bullet hell. His face contorted in disgust and determination that he reserves for the worst of his foes. "How many times do I need to say this: WE. BOTH. WANT. THE. SAME. THING. SO LAY OFF IT!"
"Spare me your poison, snake. The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy!" Copen replies with a snarl and heavily breathes in an out, having had no time to rest in this treacherous place and taking in the immense g-force to chase after the Striker actively harming him in his current state. "No matter what happens, I won't let any adept touch my sister again! And besides that...you just don't get it do you? You've already failed to save a girl once, I won't let your karma infect my own!"
That doesn't make any sense, but does succeed in enraging Gunvolt, "COPEN!" he shouts as a sudden burst of newfound electricity and energy within is found and he moves to end the fight with a straightforward dash and a chant ready to unleash all of his might into one last Grand Strizer.
"GUNVOLT!" The shouting match and burst of energy is reciprocated, both of them knowing that as long as one lives the other won't have peace. Copen is about to use a Shred Storm to end it all.
"Falling Love!" but their clash is interrupted by a storm of pink spikes trying to impale them both at the last second, realizing this, the two adversaries turn their back to each other in an out of character move to unleash their attacks towards the ceiling instead. Preventing their impalement.
"Aw, a shame you haven't perished in each other's arms." A female Zonda clone appears at Gunvolt's side while a male clone appears in front of Copen. "But to have two foes united in their hate towards little old us…" the woman trails off, so the man can finish. "Isn't that a kind of love?"
"The only thing this racist jerk loves is shooting minorities." Gunvolt shrugs in disgust, still back to back with the person he speaks off like in those action movies, but also ready to flash-field fry the bastard the moment he tries something suspicious. "That and being stubborn, no matter how dumb."
"I could say same about this lightning rod and how his view on the world is childish at best and outright delusional at the worst." Copen returns the insult but doesn't move to attack him, most likely because fighting three adepts at once is a bit much for even him. "That said, I gain no satisfaction from putting down monsters like you, only once all adepts are a myth will I rest."
"You're still a racist asshole no matter how you sway it." Gunvolt refutes.
"And you're a pathetic shonen hero wannabe." Copen returns back.
"Hey! STOP IGNORING ME!" Lola shouts, finally fed up at how the moment the two of them exchanged eye-contact, she basically stopped existing in their worldly rivalry. "Boss, don't be like that! If you tire yourself out we can't save Mytyl! So swallow your pride, accept the help and go back to killing each other once the world is no longer in danger!" she says in a scolding tone.
"B-beautiful!" Male Zonda pulls out a handkerchief to wipe his tears at the sight of the two boys glaring at each other and coming to a 'temporary' truce. "It's the start of a wonderful bromance!"
"Oh, enemies turned to lovers, I sure do love it!" Female Zonda agrees, swooning in place.
"Shut the hell up!" Both boys say at once, starting the fight once and for all.
It turned out to be quite a fight, of course they won, but the way their attacks and rhythm managed to get into sync when they're working together was almost like they were life-long buddy cops.
Then out came the real Zonda who monologues, stole all the shards and turned into a fairy goddess capable of influencing reality itself with her newly evolved Wonderland/Reverie Mirror.
Who promptly kicked their asses in, because they were tired and neither reached their full potential.
Gunvolt manages to scoop Lola into his arms as she deactivates from taking one too many hits. He looked worn and torn, eyes once blue and bright, now a cold shade of fatigue with his body armor rimmed with red, a sure sign that he's bleeding and needs to stop it- and fast. His exposed face and belly the culprit with their injuries. Ones he has to ignore to continue evading lest he'd gain more.
Some of it smeared onto Lola's pod form. Though she came online again after a few moments and tries to float to rejoin the battle. A clear testament to her fighting spirit for doing the impossible.
Copen was not so lucky.
Zonda had moved too quickly, too sneakily as she teleported behind him, Copen found his feet leaving the floor while a purple barrier surrounds them and a cup rises from beneath him where once was a card he failed to notice. The same cards as the ones circling around it as it bursts into energy and were it not for Zonda's clawed hands wrapping around his throat with supernatural strength then he would have escaped the subsequent life-draining torture inflict onto him.
Immediately his skin feels like it's on fire and as if his organs are boiling from the inside, refusing to let the real-time sight of him skin turning dry affect him, Copen enforces enough of his will over his survival instincts to pull out his gun and shoot against the only exposed skin Zonda has.
Her face, belly and thighs. Even though his body continued to scream in protest, Copen scrabbled to say the code phrase to activate an ex-weapon on his own only to see all the pods outside the barrier. Gunvolt and Lola are frantically shooting at the cup in an attempt to save him but it's way too slow.
So in the end, it was just him and his gun, and the gun was doing less and less damage as he ran out of air, his aim turning feebler over time. Or perhaps the goddess's new skin is bullet proof anyway.
From the corner of his eye he notices Gunvolt chat with Lola and then start barreling towards them. Lola's eyes widen in surprise as if she can't believe what they're about to do but follows along.
With a scream of her own, she blasted Gunvolt with Stellar Spark, who in turn uses the energy to unleash a bunch of chains around the arena alongside the force-field, who promptly blast thunder.
The barrier shatters after he did that. Yet it was no use. Zonda merely had to flick her hand to create yet another one and then increased it's suction range to force the two of them to back off again.
"Try that again and I will impale you where you stand," She smugly replies with her electronic voice, then visibly raises an eyebrow. "Why are you trying to save this piece of scum anyway? Isn't it far more profitable for you if he were to perish? Why not wait and gather your strength instead?"
Gunvolt doesn't answer, simply pressing on. Preparing yet another attack to take her down.
"So you won't answer?" Zonda replies dissapointed, and then twisted her clawed hand tighter on Copen's throat just enough so that he passed out.
It was Game Over, Copen thought, he has failed.
He didn't think he would wake up again. When he did, Copen found that his waist, wrist, and ankles were bound in heavy manacles, and that he was forced to kneel before the same throne. He tries to stand up but found out that his chains were too short for that, most likely to prevent any escaping.
His armor and weapons have been stripped off, leaving him only in his short pants and white t-shirt. His socks were doing very little to protect his feet from the cold and harsh floor.
"Ah, Copen. You're finally awake," came Zonda's half-human-half-robot voice.
It echoed and Copen fidgeted around, trying to find the source. The throne room felt quiet, with no life other than himself. Underneath him the tiled floor was like ice, a big contrast to the heat of his body, still warm from the exertion. Not much time could have passed, then, only enough to bind him. His throat burned with the consequence of being strangled, windpipes nearly crushed to bits.
Still, that didn't stop the burning flame of determination from appearing in his eyes, already investigating the room for any potential escape or clue. Which he finds by the absence of any signs of Gunvolt or Lola. Could they be dead? No, if they were, their bodies would be flaunted to him.
So are they alive then? He doesn't know, but mentally decides it's best to assume they escaped anyway. He needs morale and focus to survive after all and the loss in one means loss in the other.
Also, the both of them have always been tough bastards. That he can admit with no reluctance, so they must have escaped even if Copen isn't sure how. Best he doesn't though in case the newly made goddess of everything he wishes to destroy spawns some mind-read machine into reality.
They might still be in the Garden. Though with Zonda preoccupied with him, they at least wouldn't have to worry about her. As much as he hates it, he has no choice but to rely on them to take his sister to safety and then come back for him. Mytyl has to be fine too right? Seeing as she isn't here.
If so then, Good. Even if he is fated to die today, as long as Mytyl lives and they still have a chance to take down Zonda. Then he can't say he hasn't lived his life according to the promise he made.
He'll die with honor and his father and mother will definitely be proud of him, even if he failed.
The final insult he can give the adept after all is to die with dignity. So he closes his eyes and waits.
"I want to give you something special," Zonda crooned, appearing out of nowhere. For a moment he has to resist the urge to do a spit take as her ridiculously cosplay-like appearance is re-sighted.
Wings shaped like hearts that can transform into other card shapes, hair that twirls about everywhere like a bizarre mix between sugar cream and that carnival junk. A dress made of card like structures hat doesn't cover anything, boots that are bizarrely pink and pointy below which are two tail-like belts attached to with their own black point, it all finally ended by the most stripperic costume followed by two pink ribbons on her forehead. The only normal design are her clawed gloves and even then, the entire costume in its entire sight looks like some evil jester escaped from some bad drawing board rather than the Dark Fairy that will bring heaven thing she's going for.
Oh and her eyes are pure purple now, as if that's anything special either. A for effort I guess.
Dissing her fashion aside, Copen doesn't fail to notice her dangerous, silky tone, like a knife wrapped in cloth. As a fun-bane incarnate he was loathe to play along but if it meant that Lola and Mytyl had more time to escape, then he would gladly be the butt of a cruel joke for the sake of it.
"And here I thought you were going to wipe out humanity, starting with me." Copen replies, one eyebrow half-raised with an expression that no sane man would give to their would-be torturer.
But who said he was sane anyway? Even though his voice was far worse than he expected and that every word out of his mouth was an effort. He will not stop being who he is, no matter the result.
Zonda smirked a knowing smile at that. Copen is human. He is strong and fast, a sharp tactician and a genius scientist, and the will of every righteous man to put down the foul monsters, but he did not have what it takes to escape right now. They both know this, so why hasn't she killed him yet?
"You are indeed my enemy, it would be foolish of me to not strike you down now." She agrees.
In a blink, Zonda was in front of Copen, sharp hands holding onto his face like a villain would to a princess, yet also threatening to pierce the skin if Copen moved in any other way than what Zonda wanted. With extreme shame Copen let his face be turned from side to side, the inspection methodical, precise and agonizingly slow as if she enjoyed every second of his growing discomfort.
Copen believed she was just trying to assert her dominance over him, so he was surprised when he felt a hot breath of air fluttering against his face. Then he realizes that she is actually smelling him.
And from the way she's acting, it's like she's enjoying it. As if she's sniffing a nice perfume.
What in the heavens.
"But as you may recall, I have come to the conclusion that your hate also counts as love." Zonda muses, her eyes glaring into his own with a bizarre fever? Mood? He doesn't know. "And to be honest, I am fond and despise you at the same time as well. Ergo in my own words and logic.."
"I am in love with you. And isn't that kind of taboo love not the most exciting kind?"
Copen recoils immediately, taken off guard by the statement. His cheeks stung where Zonda's claws cut them yet she made no move against his rebellion. Her eyes instead following the trickles of blood flowing down Copen's cheek as they end their journey with a drip against his collar.
The silence refused to be broken and though he was very tempted to give her the many, many lines he has about how monsters can't love or how he'd never return her disgusting feelings. He sees the look in her face and realizes that no matter what he says she'd be delighted regardless. And besides, his answer would be extremely obvious, so he says nothing and just glares at her with stoical fury.
"I suppose that works as an answer, ah...what a novel sensation. Not only am I on the verge of creating a new paradise but the boy I like returns my feelings as well. What a grand today is"
That was it. Copen could not take that answer, no matter how much of a taunt it is.
"Shut up," he snarls. "I will never love you, I hate you, I hate you in this life and the next."
"Oh, its too soon for marriage." she replies, "Besides, we'll have lots of time to know each other."
"So that's your plan then? Keep me in a cell until I die of old age? Be your boy toy?" Copen rasps.
It felt like he was swallowing needles with every word and had to restrain in any fear he felt.
Zonda smiles, and Copen does not like the cruelty hidden in the smug grin that she's trying to pass off as the pure smile of a maiden in love. "And let you fade away? I said I wanted it to be exciting."
Copen was knocked backwards so fast that when he fell, he barely kept the back of his head from cracking against the floor. Dazed by the air being forced from his lungs, he didn't have any sense left to struggle before Zonda pinned him down with her wings. Easily using them to keep him still.
Copen couldn't move, Zonda's strength completely trapped him. His own hands slammed above his head so firmly that for a moment Copen thought they had been broken. He wheezed as Zonda used her belts to pin his legs, then with zero shame simply sat on top of his waist like she owned him.
"I'm not a chair and if this goes any further, I'll bite my tongue off." Copen warns, struggling.
Two diamond swords appeared and impaled Copen's hands, breaking his wrists as well.
"You monster," he snarled back, head sweating and completely red from the pain. His pain tolerance already pushed close to the limit, alongside the sheer sense of loss at losing his hands.
"Don't be a baby, they'll heal." Zonda smiles again, clearly enjoying this.
Copen didn't know how they would heal, let alone cleanly. Unless she planned to use her septima to do so just so she can casually break them again and again, and oh god she has sadistic tendencies.
"You've lost, Copen. You're mine now."
The way Zonda said it made it clear he was more of a toy than a prisoner.
Then she came closer, their bodies lying to closely together that Copen could feel every detail of Zonda against him. It made his skin crawl and want to vomit. At least she's as flat as a board.
"I wonder what you'll become…" those words and the way her wings turned pitch black and then sharper and sharper as they closed onto his skin made him force himself to suppress the new pangs of fear flooding through him. It was only natural to fear the unfamiliar but the adrenaline pumping through his vein by his terrified heart weren't helping things blood-flow wise. Zonda just smirks.
Then the wings finally pierced into his skin, and the adrenaline made it worse, most likely pumping his blood directly to Zonda if the way he's feeling colder and colder as she moans says anything. Almost like vampire really and like one entranced by their...whatever this is, she lets go of Copen's useless hands, clutches his body closer and lifts his torso in a twisted version of a lover's embrace.
"How marvelous…" says Zonda, as she slowly recovers from her ecstasy. "To drain the blood...no, the very life from someone is a sensation no earthly food can compare to. Allow me to repay you."
Her wings stab him again, and again, littering his body with marks like a gigantic wasp stung him.
Then instead of feeling cold, he felt hot, blazing hot, as if his own body is being set on fire. Which it could be, seeing how his skin starts to turn red and takes damage from the forced infusion, Copen's mind races a thousand thoughts as he tries to guess what the hell she's forcing into him.
"Enjoy it." Zonda commands then answers the question. "With the power of Wonderland, nothing is impossible. My desires are now the rules that reality has to obey, probability is certainty and so…"
"Let's see how long it will take to turn you into an adept, the thing you hate the most."
April Fools, lads and laddettes.