Well, here it is. One of the shittiest things I’ve written in years. Enjoy.
The Final Saga Part 126: Ascension
By d_Galloway
The defensive forces at the city’s center were quickly being shoved back. For all the gunfire, powers, and spells being hurled about, the sheer size and durability of Naar’s soldiers proved far more resilient for the vast bulk of the forces. There was no way of realizing just how MUCH damage that blasted third gate had caused, both to the city’s infrastructure and the heroes’ morale. And with no means of closing the things, the city’s downfall seemed close at hand…
Galloway had expected some sort of empowering, a ritual to bind some of the Lorestones’ powers to himself or to power up the Sommerswerd or whatever. As far as he could tell, these kind of things always happened just before the end, solely so the overpowered hero could engage the equally overpowered villain in a climatic final showdown. In other words, all the stuff the RPGCers had been doing since all this crap started.
What really happened was quite a bit different. The sky suddenly brightened, shining like a thousand fluorescent light bulbs. Beams of sunlight suddenly became visible, crystallizing and shimmering before everyone. The gathered crowd quickly looked away, shielding their eyes from the impromptu tanning booth. Only Lone Wolf remained staring ahead, seemingly unaffected by the changes around him.
The Lorestones began to shine and glow, at an intensity to rival everything else going on. Galloway began to sweat profusely, both from the rising temperature and the sheer pants-wetting shit going on around him. The only thing keeping him from tearing out like a bat out of hell was his desire to finally finish this fight, by any means necessary.
The rays of sunlight slowly converged together, forming a massive shield of focused brightness. The heat grew ever more intense, especially inside the now sauna-esque bubble. Just as it appeared that everything was about to go up in flames, however, the bubble simply exploded, bathing everything in a suddenly cool blanket of white energy. If Galloway was still there, nobody could see him.
Shortly before the battle had begun, the forces stationed in RPG Town were deployed in their designated positions. Every single soldier, mage, digimon, etc. was fully committed to the defense of the pathways leading into RPGCity itself. Unfortunately, the town itself was pretty much defenseless; as Sin had suggested, there was no way to protect both it and RPGCity with their meager armies. He didn’t even have enough manpower to stage a full evacuation; about three-quarters of the populous was still in the vicinity, trying to find some place to hide from the oncoming storm.
When the dust cleared, all that remained were Valkyrie Esker, Gemini, kirokokori, Rio, and about three squads. Esker was busy studying the maps, plotting out their best position; kiro, meanwhile, was busy scouting out something to blow up. Only Gemini was actually wandering around, checking out his old haunts before they would be buried under a sea of dark armies.
The tense silence continued for several more minutes of packing and planning…until Gemini finally spoke up. “So…why are we running, again?”
Esker sighed and rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look up from her maps. “Sin’s orders.”
“But…don’t you think this is a waste?” Gemini pointed towards the distant skyscraper: the RPGC Television Station/Tower. “Give me thirty minutes, and I could give everyone the most accurate reports imaginable.” He pointed towards the only entrance in town. “We could easily set up a defense around here. The enemy won’t be expecting anyone here; we could just crush them as they come rolling in.”
“And what will that accomplish? Things have gone to shit in RPGCity. We’re needed there above anything else.”
“But…”
Esker spun about, her fist slamming into Gemini’s jaw. The chains of her gauntlets ripped at his flesh, drawing a small amount of blood. The mage simply reeled around and stepped back, kiro quickly rushing to help support him. “Do you think I really like this? Do I really want to lead everyone into a death trap? Do I WANT to leave everyone in this town to die? No, I don’t! But we have a job to do! RPGCity’s protection is more important!”
“Um…Val?” said kiro. “I…think we should at least use the station.”
“What do you know, you brat?!” Kiro ducked behind Gemini, sobbing gently. “I haven’t survived for a thousand years by taking advice from children! Now, get in the-”
“If we’re going by age, I think I still outrank you,” said Gemini. Val slowly walked towards the mage, Gungnir readied. “I have a few thousands-year-old monster living in me right now. He’s the one that told me about the tower.”
”Monster? I take offense to that.”
Gemini quickly chose to ignore the Phoenix’s latest remarks. “If things have really gone to hell, then that means Sin’s gonna need all the intel he can get his hands on. If we can just hold out long enough to get a feed to him, he might be able to find a weakness.”
“But…that…”
“I’m with the unholy abomination,” said kiro. “If we can get that thing working, we might be able to turn everything around.”
“And since I have no say in this, I can stick around,” said Rio.
Esker looked around for a few seconds, eyeing the determination in everyone’s eyes. Finally, she let out a wearied sigh. “Alright. Squads one and two, start setting up fortifications around the town entrance. Squad three, look for a back way out of here. Once that tower starts up, we’ll need to beeline it out of this shithole in a hurry. Gemini, you take the kids and start working on that tower.”
Galloway continued to wander through the endless white void, searching desperately for some other kind of life. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally got his answer: the mighty form of the moon goddess Ishir. There was no sign of an obvious entrance, either; the all-mighty being simply faded into existence, seemingly pulling apart the emptiness and reassembling it with but a thought. The whole spectacle brought back memories of last night’s little run-in with Kai…and filled Galloway with dread.
“Fear not, Kai Lord. I am not here to smite you. Not today, in any case.”
The words did little to relax Galloway’s guard. “You gave me that tape. You knew Kai was behind everything this whole time. And you…you let him and Naar fight out this blasted war. Why?”
“It was a necessary evil. I never wished to see this level of destruction; alas, it was necessary for Aon’s survival.”
“And…how does Aon’s well-being concern me?”
“You already know of your world’s importance. Had Kai or Naar conquered all of Aon, they would have an army great enough to wage total war. Remember, we are of the Old Gods; no matter how many reincarnations, our power will always engulf those of our offspring. If either were unopposed, it would have tipped the balance too far, and the gods would be at war once again.”
Galloway sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “So…you were using both Kai and Naar for billions of years, all so they could not destroy some little universe that didn’t even exist back then.”
Ishir waved her arms; above her, the white space split away, revealing a picture of the great planar universe of Aon. “At first, yes, I was freely manipulating both. However, things grew out of hand.” The image changed to a picture of a massive, blob-like creature being cast into a flaming pit by a golden warrior. “Naar’s forces were defeated, and he was banished to the Plane of Darkness. From there, he twisted and manipulated every world. I was forced to ally myself with Kai to prevent Magnamund from being destroyed.”
“I know Lone Wolf disrupted Naar’s schemes, but…how do I factor into this?”
“After Lone Wolf’s ascension, we needed a means to distracting Naar. Kai and I managed to hide some of his power on another world, weakening him enough to desire to seek it out. This led him on a path to other dimensions.”
“You…sacrificed entire worlds to save Aon?”
“It was not enough. We had to stop Naar once and for all. There was one problem; Lone Wolf was ascended, and thus could not fight the dark god immediately. We needed a new Kai Lord, one destined to defeat Naar, if only temporarily.”
“And…that was me.”
“We planned everything in advance…save for Kaizer’s genetic manipulations.”
Galloway hung his head lower than ever before. “I…I don’t know what to say. All this time, I’ve been someone’s plaything.”
Ishir touched Galloway’s chin, pulling his face back into view. “I am sorry, but…all this was necessary. There was no other way to bring about order. I have a compromise, however. Aid us this last time, and we will find a way to change your fate.” A smile spread across Galloway’s face at the words.
The light dissipated, restoring the sight of everyone in the Black Mage Village. Galloway still stood in the center of the circle…and at the same time, something was different. His body was surrounded by a light gold aura, his eyes a completely blank white, his posture more slacked and relaxed than ever before. With trepidation, Lone Wolf approached his young apprentice. “Galloway. Galloway, are you all right?”
Galloway slowly lifted his head, his unnatural sight locking onto his master’s face. “Master Lone Wolf. Ready yourself. There is war to be waged.”
THE END OF PART 126
Next time: The Battle of RPG Town.
