Two Can Play At That Game

Chapter 1

A Never-ending War


Dead clouds of gray filled his sight. It blotted out a sky that would have been mixed with stars; what could have arguably been a stellar view…

If it wouldn't have been ruined by the surrounding embers and corpses that dotted the land. The acrid smell of smoke mixed with blood engulfed everything, which would've made him gag if he wasn't already used to the scent by now.

His eyes wandered the remnants of a battlefield. Bodies of his allies were strewn around, their deaths caused by a multitude of reasons—some more so than others.

His leadership? No, he did the best he could with whatever he had. He'd even say he made the most use out of them all before it happened. If they were dead, then they simply weren't cut out for combat at this level, having outlived their usefulness. They would've died sooner or later against her. Still… he won't deny they died because of him.

But then, were they weak? As if. He had gathered the strongest people around the world—anyone he could convince to join him, whether it was through merit, money, faith, or just plain desperation… he made sure to use every means to get powerful allies that could fight his battles for him. Allies that would move heaven and hell, just for him. Allies that he had painstakingly fostered trust in him. And look what that trust got them.

A Grand Master Swordsman who sought a higher peak after cleaving mountains in two. That peak was far too high, and he paid the price with his favorite sword shoved through his chest.

A far too cheery Saintess, someone who could revive those at death's door and keep the person going as if they had never once been harmed in their life, was left out to bleed amongst the many bodies she had tried to save. She died slowly, and in pain as she cried for her goddess and mother with her last breath.

An Archwizard that everyone around the globe called a prodigy among prodigies. Guess even geniuses of that level couldn't handle having the power of a miniature sun thrown their way. He can't blame him. He wouldn't be able to handle even one being sent his way. It was a miracle the wizard could take four.

So no. His side was anything but weak. But what did any of that mean against pure, overwhelming, awesome power? Raw strength that could doze through most of his plans and preparations without any care. That was the type of opposition they had faced. A monster that could shrug off attacks like nothing.

But thankfully, not all his preparations were in vain; he made contingencies and preparations for those very issues. The other side had lost everyone else as well. Neither side came out unscathed; neither side was coming out of this battle at all. He'd made sure of that.

The one to end it all… or at least that's what's been said the past three worlds.

A viscous cough ripped through his throat, flecks of blood spilling out as his breaths were short and raspy. The tightening in his chest worsened with each moment. He was sure his lung had collapsed. If he didn't die from choking on the smoke and ashes, then he'd soon die from his stump of a leg that his life was oozing out from.

Fires all around kept spreading, eating away at the leftovers of their battle. The ashes that rained down on him sometimes entered his mouth, leaving a charred, bitter sensation that felt like sandpaper. He continued coughing, spitting and blowing away embers and ashes as he surveyed the area. There were too many bodies to count, and even more remnants of vaporized corpses to even estimate, but he kept looking. Searching.

All this death.. all this chaos… and all he could think of was…

'Did I get her?'

It was a foolish question. One he already had the answer to.

Rubble several meters away began to shift from movement beneath. From the debris came someone he was all too familiar with. The reason this war was happening. The source of all his troubles. A person that he could not live in the same world with.

Guess even his last resort was too weak to finish her off.

The woman crawled to her feet and swept away her blood-soaked hair with her remaining hand. Her bloodshot eyes spotted him and she proceeded to yell, "You bastard! To think you would have planned a suicide attack!" Two short laughs came along with a manic grin. Bits of her flesh were burnt, and he could even see the insides of her mouth through her cheek. She looked around the desolate field, an ashen sword catching her attention, and after a brief moment, she picked it up and began limping towards him.

"Haha... Is that all you had left? I guess I expected too much from you..." she began boasting. "Look around and see just how pointless this all was. Hundreds of thousands of people! All dead because of us! How many times do I have to tell you: You. Can't. Win! You're just delaying the inevitable! From the day we first reincarnated, you were destined to lose! No man, woman, or child will ever stop me! What makes you think having friends would get you through this? Strength in numbers is a lie! I've proven that to you time and time again, and yet you just don't learn. How many more must I tear through to get to you?! You bug-like bastard."

He forced out a snort and scoffed. "Bug-like bastard? That's funny… coming from the human cockroach that just won't keel over and die already."

She was missing half an arm, and had holes, burns, and scars riddled through her ragged body. Her gaping wounds stopped closing up a while ago, but it was only temporary, and it didn't seem to prevent her from moving around and functioning at all. You could chop off all her limbs and she'd normally be fine. That inhuman durability was what always made her a pain in the ass to fight, which was why this was his one chance to finish her, with an all-out explosion that caught everyone and everything in the blast zone.

The chance that he had taken, and botched.

He should've known she wouldn't have died in the blast. There would have been a notification from his system to tell him if she had perished, and when he woke up to silence, he was just holding onto false hope at that point. It's hard to believe she could withstand a blast of that caliber, but here she was.

'Damn it… Damn it! What the hell am I missing? That explosion had enough power to level the entire continent! Does she have a resistance against this type of attack? No, then she wouldn't have panicked so hard when I revealed the bomb. I was close! So damn close! I should have focused it all into a specific point! That would have surely ended her! I was too afraid that she'd escape the blast radius.'

Without telling anyone, he had set up a payload on one of his people. The person themself didn't even know about it. They had gotten in the way of one of her attacks to defend him, and that was the most opportune moment to set it off. It was a drastic measure, but one that could guarantee a critical and decisive strike. The barrier he had set up mitigated the blast enough to leave him barely alive, and as long as he was still breathing and she wasn't, he would have won! It would have all been over! He could finally liv—

"—Ghk!"

He hadn't realized how close she had gotten. The sword she held had come down and drove itself into his remaining leg, at the thigh. The pain was dull at this point, but he could still feel the pressure and burning that came with it. He stared up into her eyes that bore down at him. Eyes that he could tell were completely focused on him, and the glee that he could see in them.

The blade was soon removed, with her wrenching it out to cause as much agony as possible. He won't lie, it hurt like hell having your leg carved into, but he held back his scream. Making any obvious noise of displeasure would only feed into her amusement, and he'd rather eat shit than be a squeaky toy for her to mess with. Which is why he bit his tongue as she plunged her blade down into his leg again. And again. And again...

"You! Damn! Bastard!" she emphasized with each stab, blood erupting each time. "After all this time! After all these god-forsaken years! ...I! ...Finally! ...WIN!!!" She raised the blade higher than before, and stabbed him right through the gut.

"GhAacck!" He couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer. She twisted the sword as she pushed it further in, then began wrenching it again like a lever, from side to side with a grotesque squelch. He writhed in the agony exploding within him, choked gasps and weak whines echoing into the dreary sky. To add insult to further injury, she stomped hard on his leg and grinded it beneath her heel. The limb might as well have been severed at that point.

'Damn bitch!' he cursed at her. A satisfied grin came over her face as she slowly removed the blade, letting him feel every inch of it. He glared at her, but it only made her chuckle.

"Those eyes of yours… you still haven't given up?" She continued looking down at him, now with scorn, making her utter disdain for him completely clear. "Don't you get it? It's over! So go ahead and cry! Whine! Let it all out and show me how much of a pathetic whelp you are! Come on! Tell me how much it pains you to lose to me! It's your last chance after all. Your death certainly won't be quick with or without it, but the pain will probably end sooner, don't you think?"

She stared expectantly at him, waiting for him to say something. She could've finished him off already, but of course she would pull something like this. She wouldn't accept anything other than complete and total victory, that's just how she was. And to hear his own admission of defeat would probably be the cherry on top for her.

". . ." He only met her gaze with an equal amount of hate.

She snorted. "Should've known. But an easy death is too good for a bastard like you anyway. Don't you agree…?" Her mouth twisted into a curled smile, derisive amusement filling her gaze. "Oh, dear, Brother of mine."

It sickened him to his core to hear that from her of all people. She only said that to get a reaction out of him, and from the way she was grinning and began laughing, he could only assume his face betrayed his pitiful attempts to conceal anything.

Brother. How long had it been since his Sister ever called him that in any positive manner? Not since their original death.

No… it was even before that. She hated him even before they died and came to their first world.

Were they ever truly family? It really was a distant memory now.

But none of that mattered currently… He was on the other end of the sword, unable to do anything about it as his sister cackled into the sky. She must have been drunk off her supposed victory. Her emotions must be going haywire right now, perhaps something mixed with contentment, shame, anger, success, and too much else to name as he was bleeding out. He knew it was all directed at him, those complicated feelings. Though, he doubted there was any warmth left in her heart; that weak ember long since flickered out.

Was this really the end? Had he really lost? He's had many close calls with his sister, but this time, it was too far gone to name this a close call. He may actually end up dying here.

His breathing grew weaker, eyes beginning to fall, the figure of his sister standing over him blurring as she positioned the blade over his heart.

A dark voice in the deep recesses of his mind beckoned him. 'Give up already', it said. He had long lost this battle, and everything he had done—everything he had achieved… was all worthless… pointless… Why bother clinging to life? What was his reason to keep fighting his own flesh and blood? Fighting hard enough to want to kill her?

'Do I need a reason to continue living? Her existence endangers mine. I have to keep living, no matter what. It's as simple as that.'

But was it really? There was something that tickled his brain. A distant memory that he couldn't fully make out with his mind muddled as is. But two words came through the haze.

"P̵̤̜͝ͅŗ̵̫͓̔o̵̗̤͆ͅm̸̻̓ͅi̶̠͛ŝ̶̛͔͕̞̾e̷̩̪͗͒͂ ̴̺͎̆̇m̶̹͚̮̎e̶̞̽͝.̵̦̯̳́.̵̨̄̎̈. ̶͉͉͆ "

'Promise? Promise who…?'

He didn't know. He couldn't recall. But… he could tell…whoever this person was… their words irked him like crazy. He wanted to remember whatever else they said, but it was nothing but static! It's like something was telling him, screaming at him, not to die.

An indignant fire sprout out from within his heart.

Die?

Says who?!

Like hell he will!

His eyes snapped wide open, watching the blade fall toward him like a guillotine. His heart raced suddenly. His mind and the leftover scrap of his body filled with a surge of adrenaline, his mind working overtime. He couldn't fully stop the blade or redirect it, but he had to try!

His charred and mangled arms snapped forward. His sister's eyes widened as she watched him attempt to block the blade with the palm of his hand, watching it pierce through, but somehow stopping only a scant few inches from his chest. His other hand gripped the blade itself, trying to push it away. It cut into his fingers, the blood spilling down the edge of the ashen blade.

There was a disbelief he could see on his sister's face, and he was probably making a similar look as well. He was never the gutsy type to attempt this kind of thing, but it was too late to back down now. If he was going to try this, he was going all the way.

"Just DIE ALREADY!!!" His sister snarled as she tried to force the blade further with just one arm, putting all her weight into it.

'No! Not to YOU of all people! I'll eventually see you in hell, but not right now, you piece of shit! Not while I can still move!'

The sword shook inside the palm of his left hand, seeking his heart. His hand throbbed immensely, the awful burning sensation he felt being flushed away by adrenaline. None of this pain mattered! He had to live! No matter what!

No matter the costs!

No matter the consequences!

He'll sacrifice everything if he has to!

As long as he can live!

But no matter how much he was willing to put on the line, he was never strong enough to truly contend with his sister's strength. She always had the advantage over him when it came to power—No! She had even more over him than just that! If she hadn't already been this heavily injured during their battle, then she would have easily ended him by now. He was just stalling at this point.

But if there was one thing he could rely on that he could edge out over her…

*Ding!

A screen formed in front of them both.

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[Notice!]

Time has run out.

Both users have been found alive.

Calculating Results…

Calculating….

Calculating….

…A Stalemate Has Been Reached…

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It was his luck.

His sister's breath hitched. Meanwhile, a bloodied and savage grin formed from his mouth.

"No…" She looked distraught. "NO!!!" But it was immediately consumed by a look of unfiltered rage. "No, no, NO! I have him right here, you shitty system! Just one more minute and he's finished! Don't do this!" she begged to the screen between them.

Frantically, the blade began to push into his skin, but he knew he'd be fine. This isn't the first time they've seen this message. There was no point in asking the system to change the results. Once this notification popped up, it was over.

There was nothing she could do to stop it. And she knew it.

"God damn it! Why couldn't you have appeared just a minute—no, half a minute later?! Don't you want this thing done with?! Don't you want a victor?! AAARRGHHH!!!"

His body began to unnaturally stiffen, and so did hers judging from the weaker pressure the sword had pressing down on him. Their bodies were locking up. They were moving onto what he liked to call the credits of this world, like a movie that was ending. No matter how much she spat, glared, and cursed at the system in front of them, it was time to move on to the next act.

And he couldn't be any more thankful for it coming to his rescue.

The hand that held the shaft of the blade awkwardly moved, shifting away from the frozen sword and moving towards his sister. It was incredibly slow, painfully so, but he managed to send her one last message before they fully froze up. He normally wouldn't ever consider doing something like this, but he was far too consumed by the adrenaline to care right now.

She glared deeply at him, unable to move her mouth anymore. Her eyes promised pain like never before, but the frustration he could see in them made him laugh inside. It seems she got the message.

From the middle finger that was directed to her face, to the awful smile he had as she glared back at his audacity. Their messages to each other were clear.

*Ding!

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

[World Transfer Activating]

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

'See you in the next world, bitch!'

'You FUCKER!!!'

A great light expanded from the screen between them and quickly consumed them, leaving nothing behind in the remnants of a destroyed world.

. . .


. . .

White was all he could see for a while. The sensation of being detached from your own body was never a pleasant one, but it was something he'd experienced before, and had hoped to not experience again. But alas, what can you do? During this state of transfer, he couldn't move a single finger. Although, it was more accurate to say he didn't have a finger. Not anymore. Not yet.

It was like you were tied up in a straight jacket with absolutely no room to wriggle in, leaving you in a complete stasis even if you were wide awake and knew how to move, but couldn't. It felt like walls were pressing down on you, keeping you low and straight, no matter how much you wanted to bend even a single limb. Like your body wasn't your own, or didn't belong to you. It was enough to make someone go insane if left alone here long enough.

Oppressing was a word he could use. That's how it felt whenever he was forced to undergo a world transfer.

And from one white light…

Gradually, the white that encapsulated his entire vision began to fade.

…To another.

Giant faded figures loomed over him with a glaring light pointed right at him. He would have told them to get that light out of his face if the only noises he could make weren't babbles and whining. He couldn't make out all the details, but he could surmise what was happening. From the cloth swaddling his whole form, tiny as it may feel, to the giants that looked down at him, and the warm body he could faintly feel through the fabric.

He was reborn again.

And from the looks of it…

He met the gaze of another baby next to him, weakly staring at him with icy blue eyes, with far too much maturity within them to think it was just a simple newborn. They were both carefully cradled together in the arms of a woman with snowy white hair.

Faint words began to filter through to his ears, muffled as if they were speaking through water.

"Congratulations Miss Schnee on the successful birth of beautiful twins."

He wasn't the only one reborn. As expected. They meet again in such a twisted fashion. The label of 'Siblings' was always a constant whenever they transferred, and it stuck this time around too. It must have been some sick joke set up by the system.

Family again… What a twisted family this will become. He could almost feel sorry for what would happen in the future.

He may have been on the receiving end of the blade previously, but this time… he'll be the one who comes out on top.

He swore it as drowsiness hit him in an abrupt wave, ushering him into a deep sleep he hadn't had in days.


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Round 4

Set

= = = = =


Author's Note:

Heya. New story, who dis?

Typically, I think I usually write crossover stories most of the time, but I wanted to experiment and try my hand at writing an OC again. Two of them. And also try making them anything other than good people. Oh, they're supposed to be bad. In a good way. Hopefully. If that makes any sense. I don't even know what I'm talking about...

This story idea has been in my head for too long(and a couple of others as well that I need to rid myself of) and if I didn't get this out into the open and out of mind then it was gonna keep bothering me. I think I should focus on another certain fic, but if I ever feel like it, this one may get updated. Though, I never do update frequently or consistently. But, I will say that Chapter 2 is already pretty much done.

When will I release it?

. . . . .

Uhh. Whenever I feel like it I guess. Could be soon, could be way later. Let's wait and see.

Honestly, I don't know what to expect from this story, and I don't expect much. Kinda hoping this will, for some reason, get me back into the mood of writing at least some chapters for my other fic. Can't promise this'll be good, but if you decide to stick around, maybe—just maybe—we'll see where this path leads together, eh?

Feel free to share your thoughts as a review if you want. It's always interesting to hear others' opinions, be they compliments, criticisms, etc. Though, there's probably not much to mull over in this chapter.

System will be explored a little more in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading. Hope you've enjoyed. See you in the next chapter.