~Mercury~ They investigated, Alucard drawing the circle unto the ground with a piece of black chalk. Their friends were in danger; Karis and Catherine, they
had to save them.
"It is done," Alucard said, dropping the piece of chalk as he went to fasten his boots,
"this will take us all to his demiplane." Bartimaeus was a raven, cautiously glancing over the circle to check for any mistakes; clearly, he found none, as each geometry of the circle, every curve and corner, was drawn to perfection.
"And what do we have to expect? Do you even know where this is?" he eventually asked.
"I cannot gather much else.""It's just us and him. Not much else to expect," Ashley commented as she sheathed her dark blade, eyes glinting a mysterious purple as the Voidwalker stepped onto the circle.
"But clearly, he isn't alone. That would be foolish," Bernhardt said from the corner, smoking a cigarette before the fight as he leaned against the wall. His voice was calm, as it always was.
"This is stuupid. We could be teleported straight into a pit of death or something," Kaiser said.
"Yeah. And not to mention, we're missing three of our members. Including the healer.""We can do it. What have we not been through? Icarus may have been our strongest, Hilda our most variable, and Alice the most supportive, but we can still make it through.""...if you say so," Dalia finally spoke, standing into the circle.
Alucard rubbed his gloves together, his maroon eyes and pale skin reflecting the light as he faced his palms onto the edges of the circle. A purple light filled the room, their souls and bodies whisked away from the ground as they suddenly sensed a sudden darkness. A perpetual fog that permeated every inch of this strange world.
"It's too dense...""Not dense enough for us. East!" Alucard called out, Ea's eye glowing suddenly. Kaiser sprang up, a wave of nanomachines jousting upwards a metallic shield that blocked a blade from the darkness. In the darkness, a blue glow appeared that marked lines down an odd blade.
"Never get enough of us, do you..?" Bartimaeus said, his form of a massive armored golem in the center of the ring of heroes.
"How could I? Such an offer made by the Bewitcher simply cannot be denied," the demon said in a chuckle behind the darkness, his voice the facade of an old man. The blue light lifted with the sword as it glowed with power,
"Breach!"A line of energy shot out from the ground, pushing away the fog to reveal a tall stone tower, clouds masking the peak of it. Each combatant dodged out the way as the energy shot into the side, cutting deep into the stone wall as it rumbled down into an opening to an empty room with a spiral staircase laddering up the center.
"Up the tower, they're up there!"With alacrity they dodged another Breach into the tower, the beam sliding right past Dalia as she scrambled to the staircase with the others. They ran up each step, each level of the tower containing different things; a kitchen, a dining room, barracks, until they saw the cloudy pitch black sky above as the ascended, wind blowing in them as they caught sight of the maroon robes of Anthony Vladimir, the Bewitcher. Chained into the tower besides him were Karis and Catherine, laying on the ground bruised and beaten.
"Hello, Alucard and friends," The Bewitcher said with a malicious grin, drawing a rapier from its sheathe. How could he take them all on, with a sword?
They charged, magic and guns and swords going all out onto him, each attack he dodged or parried with his rapier. Finally, Dalia brought upon him a curse which caused him to fumble his parry, forcing him to the ground with Kaiser's blade at his throat.
"That was easy. Looks like the demon ditched him," he remarked, staring down at the Bewitcher.
"Don't get cocky, boy. Need I remind you your PLACE!"Suddenly a screech rang out, causing Kaiser and everybody else to drop to their knees as they covered their ears. Dark tendrils then uprooted the stone bricks, wrapping around each hero and pulling them to the ground. Alucard, Ashley, and Bartimaeus each teleported against the anti-magic tendrils, facing off the Bewitcher. Alucard was the first to dash forward with the Voidcrosser, the blade swinging at his brother.
"Fatal flaw, brother. Didn't father teach you to watch your sides?" Alucard suddenly jerked his head to the left, meeting a strong punch from Osmodious which brought standing at the edge of the tower.
Bartimaeus changed into a towering golem swinging at the Bewitcher, only to be blocked by the demonic speeds of Osmodeus. Fist and sword clashed together, sparks flying as Osmodeus pushed into the parry, finally slicing away Bartimaeus's hand with a glow of his blade; the severed part faded away in a blue-green light. When Bartimaeus went to swing with his other hand, Osmodeus grasped it with a grin in his red eyes. With the brute force of a titan, he swung Bartimaeus over the Bewitcher's head and sliding towards Alucard; it was only him shapeshifting into the form of Ashley that saved Alucard from being pushed over. Now groaning behind his soulmate (quite literally), Bartimaeus stood up and wiped the black blood from her face. She stood, pulling out her katana and swinging it into position. The real Ashley turned to him, and nodded; Bartimaeus suddenly dashed forth towards the Bewitcher, wind and dust bellowing behind her as she aimed her katana with precision matching the Voidwalker herself.
Until suddenly, everything ended. Only a meter from the Bewitcher, another blade was sunk within Bartimaeus's flesh; it seared and burned as a white glow emenated from it. The sword of a divine being, made holy by a god's will. Bernhardt stood in stance as he masterfully blocked Bartimaeus's charge; though a deep red color instead colored Bernhardt's normally white, holy eyes. Clearly, something was wrong.
"You fool! What are you doing!?" Bartimaeus snapped, rage in his eyes as he shook from Bernhardt's steadfast position.
"I-I.. can't control myself; it's the Bewitcher, he's..." Bernhardt stammered as he batted away Bartimaeus's sword and swung forth; but as Bartimaeus moved to parry the strike, Bernhardt changed his angle in a mere moment, precedenting Bartimaeus's action already. Bartimaeus dissappeared and reappeared by Alucard, grunting in pain as he held both the wounds Bernhardt had created; by two strikes from a sword of creation, Bartimaeus already felt himself wavering from the world. He could nearly felt the void call out to him, not even tuning to the sound of Ashley slashing and parrying at Osmodeus. He only layed next to Alucard, turning to him. He thought, it is time, at last; now was the chance.
~Chaos~ With one swift strike, his katana plunged deep within the chest of Alucard. Alucard gasped in pain and surprise at the sudden betrayal, his eyes widening in horror as he screamed. His teammates turned in horror, struggling to move underneath the dark tendrils that prohibited their magic. A strange magic, purple and grim, began to work as from Alucard swirled shocks of darkness. A flash in the distance, dark blue suddenly enveloping Bartimaeus and Alucard as a flurry of Ashley's strikes suddenly resolved in a very instant in time, all blocked by Bartimaeus's blade as a shower of sparks lashed across. Bartimaeus knew that he should not be hit; by the hands of a Voidwalker's wrath, her essence would be rended apart and erased from existance for eternity.
Swiftly, the void being split apart herself to narrowly avoid a verticle slash from Ashley, wrath in her eyes as she continued. The two Bartimaeus Ashley clones faced her off and began a coordinated counter attack, dashing forward and crossing each other as dust plumed in the air. Swiftly, Ashley parried two blows from both sides with her katana and her wristguard. Bartimaeus's shadows connected once more and they quickly morphed into one as she began the fierce counterattack, a flurry of sparks flying from the unseen battle between them. Bartimaeus dodged and parried with skill parallel to Ashley, not risking attack by her blade. Still writhing in the ground, Alucard let out another groan of pain as he clenched at his chest, his already pale face practically whitening to that of a dead man; he could not move, the energy coarsing within him too great to allow a struggle as it worked its malevolent effect, his soul beginning to slowly tear away from him.
With a single spark of light, the other members of Team Northsdale snapped apart the tendrils that constrained them and dashed at Bartimaeus. Facing off the entirety of his former allies, he erected a barrier that dissipated a blast of Tobias's dark magic and and a curse of Dalia's machination, his form with great alacrity dashing to the side to avoid Kaiser's railgun and his katana swiftly flicking to deflect the precise shot of Linda's rifle, the bullet harmlessly tinking off. Bartimaeus's form glowed with great power as he suddenly grew multiples stronger than he once was, his eyes glowing a dark purple hue as he faced off the ones he pretended to call friends.
"We thought you were.. you were our ally!" Kaiser yelled, his hands clenched together in a fist as his skin visibly boiled from excited nanites.
"All part of the plan, metalhead. Millions of years of preparation, all for this? I feel like a villain of some kind... Oh wait, I AM!" Bartimaeus said before she gave a terrible laugh, her form wavering as suddenly next to him morphed five other beings, terrible and emanating with unseen power. A false recreation of Lolgrammoth, the being standing in his dark chariot as his whip hovered menacingly in the air. The large, lank standing mummy whose eyes glowed purple with the secret power of Amazeroth. The massive warhorse of Selkihm stood as he unslung his terrible scythe, his eyes glowing an eerie blue-green as apparations flowed past his hooves. The short, glossy form of Icarus stood unsheating her blade, eyes blank instead of blue. Finally, standing next to Bartimaeus in the form of Ashley was the illusion of Void himself, wavering and shaking like a glitch in a video game.
"Hauntlessillusionscometopass,yourworstvictoriesstandinginyourway!" Lolgrammoth's apparation said in a few mere seconds, nearly unintelligible by most of their ears.
"Y̸͔̔̓̀͗ͨo͈̫̺͎̱̿̀͡u͍͚̱̼̜̣̹ͤ ̶̙̥͎͌ͅś͇̻̠̱̭̈́̇͋̍ͫ̕h̪͚̻͚̟̓͒ò͈̹̰̠͉ͮ͆ͫ̒͜ǘ̫̥̬͉̣͍̅̓ͮ̎l͎̙͇̳̯ͩͤ̑͂̾d͈̻̫̣͈̲ͬ̄ͥ̅̈́͌ ͭͭ̃͑ͪ̀ḥ̵̗͕̥͉̯͗ͅa̧̰̟ͪ̂ͦv̛̼̫͇͎̤͕̉̑̍ēͧ̔ ͕̃͗ͬͭͪj̢ͦ̏͋̅̋ͅo̻̙͙̻ͬ́̈ͩ͂͋ͣ̕in̶̞̱̜͕e̳̦̪̥̝̪̞͊ͣͦ̍ͤ͜d̉ ̱͎̮̪̌͒ͅŵ̤̘͉̼̞̤͌it̺ͤ̂h͙̺̺̝͍̭ͦ͂̌ͮ ̢̥̬͓̗̺̙̅ͫͯ̀ͩm̠̈́ͤ̽͗ͣe̻̮̘̭̼̼̱ͩ͜ ̏ͨ̀ͮ͊͋̚͏̘̦̗̥w̸͉͇ͮͥ̚ͅh̯̺͎͈̮̋͌e͙͉̭̭n͇̺̺̱̼̱ͯ͂̆ͫ́͂ ̬̔ͯͬ̏͜y͚̞ͭ͋̌o̮ͨͣ̋͘ṳͦ̽ͨͦ ̪̣̦͎̐ͪ̒h̠̮͎̘̄̈͟a̜͈̙̩̍ͭ̈́͡d̟̦̘ ̠͂̈́́ẗ̶̗͙̪͎͔̘̋̃͊͋ͦh̦̹̦͓̆ͣ̍̑ȅ͎̜̈́ ̦͉̮̭͉̒ͯ̉́̋͝c͎̭̗͇ͮ̾ͣh̦̣̞̼̭̋̊̏̇͌a͔̭̫̻̜̽n̆̔ͥͧ̒ͥ̓͏̣͕c̥̻̤̹̹ͥ́̏̏ͥ̆e̱̊̏ͫ͊̽ͧͅ,̺̟̦̦͖̀͋̇̐̑̒ ̶͕̪̍̔̍̿́A͚̯̣̙͖l̸̬͒ͧ̑̓u̳͎̮͓͎̟͊̊̇ͥͦ̇c̝̫̜͙̫͚̠̿̾̄͋͒̂a̧͔͈̻r͖͍̜̪̖̯͈̈̍ͥ̀d̳̳͛̅̕.̬̘̹̹͓ͫ̈́ ̷̳̼̼̈́̏ͨ͑S͉̕ô̷̖̰͍ͯ̅̾͑ͪ͋ ̷̘͙̤̖̻̺̙̐ͬṁ̸͚̞͍̱̼̿ͩu̯͎͉͗ͩc̷͎̪ͭ̍h̵̯̙͍̀͑ ͕p̢͔̙͖̚o̧͕̞̜̦̤̟ͫ̅̈́͗ͥͥ̽t̵̝̳̻̣̬̣e̙̳ͦ̿ͤ̈ņ̦͎̯͎̥͛̈́̌̌̒͊t͍̬̭̲̣̓ī̥̫̻̣̹̕ȧ̬̫̟̔ͣ̑̈̏l̗̞͍̗̹̯͂͂͑̽ͦ̇̒,̬̦͔̠͔̃͡" Amazeroth's apparation said in a condescending tone, the mummified form towering above them as its eyes glowed in power.
"I, warden of souls, will trample you once more in fear!" Selkihm's apparation yelled in a booming voice as he swung his scythe forth, the chain clanking and hanging as his restless eyes glared upon the heroes.
"I don't need friends. I only need her," Icarus said as she raised her blade, its metal glinting in the light as her blank eyes stared ahead.
"I will never help you. Time and time again I will watch this pathetic world rise and fall, just as heroes do," Void said in a low voice resembling that of a tree; Ashley would note the obvious discrepancy in his tender voice. She clenched her blade in anger; such a defacement.
"And now, you will finally fall. His soul cultivated for millions of years in the void, starved of life and speech, the liberty of death taken from him long ago. To be honest, you all were foolish. Deep down within his mind, he lost sanity long ago. And now, it is the end of the story for you. No happy endings, no love. Just painful truth and death. I can't even recall a time I ever truthfully called any of you a friend," Bartimaeus monologued with an insidious smirk crept over his face. Grunting and raising his head, Alucard spoke with the pained voice of a dying man:
"What... what about her... what about Shade!? W-What about us.. we.. we were allies, bonded over millenia longer than humanity as even existed..." Bartimaeus gave a chuckle and shook his head, smiling and glancing over at Alucard.
"As I said, Alucard. Painful truth. You should have known to never trust a being of the void. Personally, I think I taught you well. You summoned, you learned, you grew in power; only for it to culminate to this moment, the moment you repay me for the life I have given you. Basic summoning, Alucard; the void always takes more than it gives," Bartimaeus said. Then he turned over to Ashley as his barrier soaked the incoming projectiles of her allies,
"Must really suck for you, though. You probably just thought you found yet ANOTHER person to love, only to have them ripped away from you yet again. Probably wanted to live happily-ever-after with him, get married, have kids? What a dream. Call me Bartimaeus, dream crusher, because that's essentially what I have always done. I have had enough of your insults, your hatred of me. Enough talk, let's end this." he said with a sarcastic chuckle. They all then heard a distant chanting in the distance of some unknown language,
"Hurry it up, will you? Someone's trying to break it," Osmodeus said as he yawned, filing down his nails with a file jokingly.
"Right."Each form of Bartimaeus simueltaneously unleashed their power, Lolgrammoth dashing forward at sonic speeds at Kaiser, Amazeroth hurling a massive orb of darkness at them, Selkihm charging forward with the scream of restless spirits behind them, Icarus dashing forward as her blade ripped the ground, and Void simply raising a finger which glowed with the brightness of a sun,
~Miracle~Then, a miracle of not fate, but by fate's defiance. A portal tore open above them as a resounding chime was heard, mystic energy hurling out of it as Yomiko rolled through and spoke a word of power. Each of Bartimaeus's forms simultaneously missed their attack, fate changing to suit not the needs of her adversaries, but for her allies.
Bartimaeus's apparations came back together as he began to mold himself into a huge being, radiating the power of a god as it glowed a mystic blue-green light with brightness equivalent to a star. The tower-sized being let out a laugh that boomed throughout the entire plane.
"I WAS MOLDED IN THE CHAOTIC CESSPOOL THAT WAS THE VOID, THAT WHICH BIRTHED THIS EXISTENCE. NOT EVEN YOUR MOST POWERFUL MAGIC, GODS, HEROES, CAN SAVE YOU FROM THE SHITSTORM THAT I, BARTIMAEUS THE PRIMORDIAL OF CHAOS, WILL SHIT ON THIS EXISTENCE." They were forced to turn away as the blinding light raised its foot and stomped it unto the ground, the fabric of spacetime itself shattering under its whims. The tower shook as the ground quaked, a massive crack forming across the ground below it as the tower shattered, stones exploding apart as the fog in the air was instantly blown away by the force of the blow, both heroes and villains fighting atop the tower falling to the ground as a black void began to consume the edge of the demiplane. The demiplane began to dissipate into nonexistence as Bartimaeus began to consume it entirely, the once weak shapeshifter now turned into a powerful being of mass destruction that held the ability to destroy creation's fabric itself. And so it did, as the space in the demiplane began to ripple and shift.
~Cataclysm~ Alucard reached up with a cry of pain, holding onto the collapsing tower for his life as Ashley ran by him, grasping his hand.
"We need to get out of here, now! Can you hear me? Alucard, listen!" "Ashley, I can't... I can't stay much longer.. I'm trying to fight it, the last of my l-life force is being drained from me.. my magic, my power, my soul and my knowledge is b-being.. stolen by it.""Stop saying that! Fight it! You have friends, backing you, you can stop him!" Ashley cried out as she pulled him up, only for his body to fall limp and fall again as his body surged with the purple magic. Alucard let out a pained chuckle as he set a hand over his face:
"Wherever you go after this, Ashley... D-Don't forget me... never, i-in your life, lose.. hope... D-Do you hear me, Ashley..?"She gave a quick nod, fighting back the tears that tried to escape her
"T-Take.. the Voidcrosser, Ashley... take it, and don't forget me..." he grunted in pain as he paused, the life quickly draining from his red eyes as he reached a hand, glancing over to her.
"I love you, Ashley... I love you all... don't forget me."Silence. One of the Earth's most powerful sorcerers fell in dead silence, his dead eyes drained of all life and emotion itself.
Whiteness enveloped the entire world it seemed; all they could do was pray as the cataclysm came over the demiplane. In one final moment of hopelessness they gazed to each other, silently accepting their fate and the life they had. Perhaps what was to come after this, would be left for other heroes with other lives to fight. But for them? It seemed that the void was waiting for them; or something much worse, something locked with much more mystery.
Just as magic rose, it will fall.
And Team Northsdale will fall with it. 
Author
Topic: Rise of the Magic Girls v3 IC: Poof. (Read 756378 times)