Chapter Nine of Adrift in Despair - Now with snarky comments!
Ivan + Sheba: (rapping on door) LET US IN!
Me: For the last time, GO AWAY! You two have seriously worn out your welcome!
Mia: So here's where you two trouble makers have been! What have you been up to all this time?
Ivan: O.O It was all Garet's idea!
Sheba: He convinced us to come pester the author to give us makeout scenes!
Mia: -.-;;;;; That was six chapters ago!
Sheba: But she’s evil we tell you! Finally someone agrees with me!
Ivan: We’re trying to put an end to her evil-ness! Good luck. She’s like a cockroach; just won’t die.
Mia: Quiet! You two are coming back with me NOW! And then there will be hot orgies!
Me: ^_^ I knew my reinforcements would come eventually!
Disclaimer: Oh skip it. I'm so sick of these things I could scream! Funny, that’s my thought about these chapters.
*Despair’s End*
Something tingled in the back of Isaac’s mind. Spidey-sense!You haven’t won yet, hero, the serpentine voice said to him. If you think your angel is enough to drive me away, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m not going to let you escape!
"Look out!" Isaac shouted, shoving his friends aside. All six of them? Quite a feat. A split second later, a tremendous blast of black energy shot out of the sky, forming a huge crater where they’d all been. Everyone looked up to see Despair’s mysterious black form descend from above. Second coming? It had grown even larger in size and had taken on a shape similar to that of a dragon. The hollow red eyes pulsed with light briefly as it stared the group down.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Garet asked.
"That would be the shadow demon, Despair," said Ivan fearfully. "It wasn’t nearly this big before. Wait for it… How did it get to be so huge?" That’s what she said!
"I am a creature born of sorrow, guilt, self-hatred, and loneliness," Despair hissed. "As the soul I am linked to succumbs to all of these feelings, my power multiplies to unheard levels. I may have lost the vessel I craved for the moment, but I have fed off of enough of the required emotions to gain the power I need to make it mine forever!" Okay, seriously? This stuff is so bad that it’s like my sense of humor is brutally violated with a mace whenever I read it. I can’t even come up with a joke here.
"So this thing was created by Isaac’s feelings?" Sheba inquired.
"Boy, Isaac," said Garet. "Leave it to you to never do anything half-assed." That was actually kind of funny. But then, there’s Garet for you!
"Well, anything worth doing is worth doing well," Isaac joked through his teeth. But he was inwardly quite relieved that the others could see the creature too. Mass hallucination! He drew his sword as they all backed away from it.
"Do you mean to fight me, hero?" Despair implored. *takes a shot* Hey, you know, I’m twenty-one now. I’ll have to actually start playing my own drinking game for realsies and see how plastered I get. "Your resistance is futile. You will be assi- actually, the reference loses its humor considering that it’s Despair’s actual motive, basically. I will win this battle no matter what you do!"
"But this time he won’t be fighting alone," Jenna said, brandishing her staff. "We’re willing to make you pay for what you’ve done to our Isaac!"
The others nodded in agreement, pulling out their own weapons. ”You have my sword!” “And my bow!” “And my axe!” “And my mace!” Despair laughed at them. “You nerds!” "Your Isaac? Ha! He is mine my precious, and there’s nothing any of you can do to change that!" It opened its mouth and exhaled a ball of darkly-colored fire. Picard immediately countered with Deluge to block the flames and the others spread themselves out to surround Despair and hit it from all sides. Despair ducked, and the Adepts hit and killed each other. From behind, Sheba and Ivan cast Spark Plasma and Destruct Ray, while from the front Garet and Jenna blasted it with Flare Storm and Inferno. Mia used Ice Missile from another direction, and Isaac attempted to cast Ragnarok but couldn’t focus his power. The creature had separated from him, but not before it had exhausted most of his energy reserves. *insert homoerotic joke about how Isaac’s energy reserves had been exhausted*
When the flames, ice and lightening had faded away, Despair grinned at them unharmed. It looked down at Isaac. "Feeling tired, hero?" It opened its hand and a bunch of black vines shot out of the palm, wrapping around Isaac’s right arm and sword. *insert bondage joke here* "Why fight this useless battle? You’ll only prolong the inevitable."
Garet hacked through the vines effortlessly, muscles rippling and bulging under his sweat-soaked shirt, highlighting his built figure and- Ahem. Sorry. Several more attacks erupted from behind Despair. First Jenna’s Fiery Blast, then Tempest and Shine Plasma from Sheba and Ivan, and then Freeze Prism and Glacier from Picard and Mia. Just as these Psynergies were about to connect, Despair dissipated into a mist, vanishing into the atmosphere, leaving the Adepts’ attacks without targets and causing them to accidentally kill each other. A moment later, it reformed itself unseen behind some of its attackers. Surprise buttsex! It unleashed a furious blast of power, hitting Ivan and Jenna dead-on and throwing them up against a clump of fallen trees. When the others reacted, Despair vanished from sight again.
"Cheap shot," Jenna groaned, slowly rising. "Come on out and fight fair!" Mia cast Wish to refresh she and Ivan. Bad grammar, tsk tsk.
"That thing moves just like a shadow," Picard observed. Piers is a regular poet there. A shadow that moves like a shadow. What imagery.
"Too bad it isn’t as harmless as a shadow," Sheba added. … Followed up by a brilliant observation by Sheba, whose actually witty lines in the game are replaced by … this.
Everyone braced themselves for more surprise buttsex and looked around, waiting for the demon to make its next move. The sinister laugh echoed around them, gradually coming closer and then dying away. It was taunting them, waiting for them to make one fatal mistake. Naturally, this got under Garet and Jenna’s skins the most, and the two craned their necks impatiently as they searched for some visible sign of the creature.
Suddenly, more of the black vines sprouted up from the ground underneath Isaac, wrapping around him and lifting him up. The dragon-shaped shadow appeared beside him, glaring at him with its soulless eyes. He glared back defiantly but couldn’t do much else while he was trapped. The others attacked Despair again, except for Mia who aimed a blast of ice at the vines. It bounced off of them, and Despair dodged the rest of the onslaught. It twisted its neck to get right in Mia’s face.
"Your love for him won’t amount to anything in the end," it mocked her. "You’re fighting for the curse of a failed and worthless man. Give him up. You’ll be happier without him." Despair tossed its hair and gave her a roguish grin. “You need someone who can show you just how good love can be.”
"You just don’t get it do you?" Mia implored *takes a shot*, smirking at the beast. "This power you despise so much will be your undoing." And she probably means it literally, too. She’ll realize her power as a Heart Adept and blast Despair with an actual beam of pure love.
Picard expertly threw his sword like a guided missile. Dang, that’s… highly, highly improbable. It sliced through the vines and Isaac dropped to the ground, hitting at the wrong angle and snapping his neck. Despair and this sporker snickered and disappeared again.
"Why is it toying with us this way?" Ivan asked. Because you’re a bunch of lamers.
"It’s working on my last nerve," Garet added.
"It delights in confusing and tormenting people," said Isaac. "I don’t know how to defeat it. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever encountered." Probably because it’s a shoddy plot device, and Camelot wouldn’t stoop so low as to include something like Despair here in their games.
"Picard, you said you’ve heard of Psynergy Eaters before," Sheba said. "You wouldn’t by chance know of any weaknesses they may have?" That way we can attack them for MASSIVE DAMAGE!
"No, I’m sorry," Picard replied. "All of the old stories mentioned them in passing as horrible creatures-the bane of all Adepts. If anyone ever encountered these things in the past, it’s likely that no one lived to tell about it." And so the old stories came from… where, exactly?
"Swell," Jenna said. "Now what?" DANCE PARTY! *jitterbugs*
Another surge of power fell from the sky with the force of a large whale suddenly called into existence by an improbability drive, hurling the whole group several feet. The demon cackled at them but didn’t show itself. It had self-esteem issues. Mia cast Wish again made lemonade to refresh everyone, but she was immediately hit with a blow from behind. Surprise buttsex again? Dang, Despair’s getting desperate. She fell into Isaac, who made an attempt to heal do her but still didn’t have the power for it You know, I keep getting these e-mails offering pills for that sort of thing, I can forward them to you, so Picard used Ply on her instead.
"Thank you," Isaac said to Picard.
Picard nodded. "I wish I had a Psy Crystal for you, but they’re all back in the village." Oh, don’t worry, in these stories, Psy Crystals are useless anyway.
"We could use about a dozen of those Crystals right now," said Sheba. "This fight isn’t getting any easier."
"I’m so useless in a battle without my Psynergy," Isaac lamented quietly. "I created this thing and I can’t even help you fight it!" Cry moar, noob.
"Don’t worry, Isaac," Mia said sweetly. "You’ve protected me so many times during our travels-maybe for once I can protect you." *sniggers* Yeah, you keep thinking that, Sugar Queen.
Garet chuckled. "Hey, Isaac, I never pegged you as one to need protection from a girl!"
Isaac made a face. "Shut up, Garet."
"Well at least Isaac is strong enough to admit to his own limitations," said Mia, glaring at Garet. Lies! A real man never admits weakness! It goes against the guy code, like sharing your feelings and not liking beer.
"She’s got you dead to rights there, Garet!" Jenna teased.
"Jenna, I swear," Garet growled. "One of these days…!" You’ll smack her around until she realizes her place is in the kitchen?
They were interrupted by Despair’s cackle. It formed a huge orb of energy and sent it down towards the group. The orb split off into seven smaller blasts, hitting everyone and hurling each of them in various directions. They smacked into rocks and trees with great force. And then the demon was gone without a trace again.
"This is getting old really fast," Jenna moaned. Took the words right out of my mouth. "We have to kill that beast before it beats us all to a pulp!"
"When I get my hands on that thing I’m going to rip it apart piece by piece," Garet declared, massaging his shoulder. "I can’t stand dirty cheaters!"
Mia cast Wish Well, which helped a little. "Keep focused, everyone. It’s waiting for us to grow impatient and catch us when we’re off guard."
"How are we going to stop this thing?" Ivan wondered aloud. "None of our attacks even slow it down when they connect."
"And most of the time they aren’t even connecting," Sheba added.
Picard scratched his head. "Perhaps since it behaves like a shadow, it’s vulnerable to light?"
"And all of our Psynergy wasn’t bright enough for it?" Jenna demanded. "Sheba’s Spark Plasma is enough to give someone a seizure!" Spark Plasma: Like Japanese cartoons in a way.
"It was only a suggestion," said Picard.
"Come on, Isaac, think of something!" Garet half-begged. "You’re the tactics master!" Yeah, Isaac likes it when you beg, doesn’t he?
Isaac sighed, not wanting to tell them that he was truly clueless for a change. This demon wouldn’t stop until it had destroyed every soul in its path. What could he do? He’d created this horrible thing and now he was powerless to stop it! None of his friends had been able to injure it with even their strongest attacks, and it moved too fast to rely on brute strength. What have I done? he asked himself. I brought this being into existence and now none of us can stop it!Well, you’ve just answered your own question there, haven’t you? This is all my fault! If only I weren’t so foolish and weak! Well… Yeah. You’ll get no sympathy from me.
"That’s right, hero," Despair’s voice echoed from the woods. "You will pay for your mistakes one way or the other. I take cash, check, and most credit cards. I’ll make sure of it." Six more orbs few down from the sky, hitting everyone except for Isaac. He helplessly watched as his friends were tossed about like limp rags until they all crashed into one another several feet away. None of them moved.
"Guys!" Isaac cried. He made a move to go to them but was halted by another blast from above, knocking him down. ”I, Despair, will knock you all down!” The demon appeared before him, laughing maniacally.
"You can’t do anything right!" it screeched through its laughter. "You’re a useless failure and you’ll never be able to protect anyone. Why didn’t you just leave them behind? They’d be so much safer without you."
Something suddenly clicked in Isaac’s mind. He rose and stared into the hollow red eyes, finally realizing precisely what this creature actually was. A poorly conceived and executed plot device? Not a "Psynergy Eater," though it had certainly begun as that. No, this thing had manifested itself into something far greater; something much more private and intimate. It was part of him. No, Isaac, you are the demons! This monster was the physical representation of all the sorrow and regret and daddy issues he had carried within him for all of these years. What had once been only embers of old fears had been prodded and nourished by his self-doubting and self-hatred and lust until it transformed into a force beyond his control. These old feelings that he’d been trying to run from for so long had surfaced in the shape of a deadly, omnipotent being, forever connected to him by his inability to fight it.
But not this time. Isaac glanced over at his fallen friends and knew that he couldn’t ask for their help again. He had to destroy this demon by himself. If he let it get away, it would keep trying to consume him and vanquish whatever else fell within its reach. Tossing the Gaia Blade aside, he turned to Despair with a look of pure courage and determination in his eyes.
"Are you finally giving up?" Despair asked. "At last! Now the story can finally end! I didn’t think you’d ever come to your senses!"
"I’m not afraid of you anymore," Isaac said. "You stirred up all of the guilt and sorrow I’ve kept buried for years, thinking that I didn’t have the strength to fight it. And I didn’t before-I let it wrack my soul And at this point Despair interrupted the monologue and ate Isaac, the end. until it almost devoured me. But I’m different now, and I’m not going to run from you a moment longer. I have all the power I need to defeat you."
"Do you? And where does this new power come from, hero?" “Bought it on QVC.”
"From my friends and Mia. I sacrificed them to the dark gods of the north for immortality and ULTIMATE POWER! They never lost faith in me even though I did. And now their power is my power, and it’s all I’m going to need."
"Pathetic," the demon chortled. It gave Isaac a deadly glare. "Go ahead-give me your best shot."
Tapping into the final reserves he possessed, Isaac summoned Blue Eyes White Dragon turned his palms skyward and started summoning all the Psynergy he could call up. The ground trembled slightly as it offered its might to its chosen guardian. Isaac glowed with golden light all over like the shining sun. Subtle simile is subtle. Despair snickered, not moving from where it floated before him.
"Is that all you have?" it asked. Hey, c’mon, Despair, the power to illuminate dark spaces is very useful if the light bulb is burned out in your basement and you can’t find a flashlight. Man, where do those things go? I swear, we keep flashlights in certain places around the house, but if the lights go out, the flashlight is either gone or the battery’s dead.
"Not quite," Isaac replied, grinning slightly. He shut his eyes and dug deeper within himself, looking for that last vein of power he knew lay hidden for dire situations. Rock fragments started to float off of the ground, reacting to the Venus Psynergy gathering nearby. As Isaac’s power increased, the rock fragments were attracted to his Psynergy and flew to him at high speed, lodging themselves in his flesh and killing him. The earth quaked with greater violence as Isaac’s aura grew brighter and brighter, spreading out and illuminating the twilight that had settled on the forest. Now the demon’s expression changed and it appeared less smug, though it still didn’t move from where it was.
A short distance away, the other Adepts began to stir, feeling the vibrations from the ground. Picard was the first to look up to see the golden light and the figure forming it. The raw waves of power created a strong wind that whistled through the trees. His eyes went wide with awe and fear as he realized what was happening.
“Sheba, what does the scanner say about his power level? "How is he doing that?" Ivan asked. "This power is unreal!"
“IT’S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAND!” "It’s dangerous!" Sheba added.
“What, nine thousand?! "I’ve never felt this much Psynergy all at once," said Jenna. "Not even from Saturos and Menardi!"
"Well if this doesn’t kill that thing nothing will," Garet said.
Mia looked on with both worry and pride. She could sense a great valor within Isaac that she’d never felt before. Before he’d been too much of a pansy to be considered valorous. But the aura around him was dangerously potent, and she wasn’t sure if anyone could bring out that much Psynergy safely. Cheer up, Mia. Isaac’s the Gary Stu hero; if anyone can, it’s him. And since the author loves her sappy endings, you know it’ll all turn out well in the end.
"Amazing…" Picard trailed, sounding mystified and frightened all at once. "I never knew the Venus Clan possessed such awesome power." That’s because it doesn’t. Isaac gained this power from sacrificing virgins.
Brighter, stronger. Isaac felt warm and relaxed in the glow of his own power. Beautiful. He called out everything he had buried within him-his courage, his love, and even his sorrow and daddy issues latent homosexuality anger. All of it combined and swirled up within the golden glow. And finally, when he knew he couldn’t dig any deeper, he found that last hidden pool of power. That was the final key to defeating this monster once and for all. He opened his eyes and grinned confidently at Despair, who suddenly realized what had happened.
"You’re insane!" it cried. "If you release that much power all at once you’ll destroy yourself as well!" Oh no. What a tragedy that would be. Stop, Isaac. Stop this foolishness. /monotone
The others felt it too and jumped up. "NO!" Sheba, Jenna, Ivan and Picard shouted.
"Don’t do it!" Garet yelled. “I never got to tell you how I feel! I- I love you, Isaac!”
Isaac stopped. “Garet…?”
Garet rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. “Take my energy if you need to. Just don’t you dare die on me!” He grabbed Isaac and kissed him.
"Isaac, you can’t!" Mia screamed at the top of her voice.
Isaac turned to Mia. “I’m sorry, Mia. But my heart belongs to Garet.” And then the rest of the fic was hot Isaac/Garet. Despair was destroyed by the power of their love. The end!
But their pleas went unheard. Isaac set his eyes on the monster, ready to unleash everything he had to destroy it, no matter what the cost.
"Stop! Hammer time!" Despair ordered. "You can’t do this!"
"It ends now, demon," Isaac said. "I’m not going to let you control me anymore." He lifted his arms and pressed his palms towards his target. "You wanted my best shot so here it is. Grand Gaia!"
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The ground split open, encircling Isaac and Despair in a mighty conflagration of golden power. The glowing dome rose up and expanded from the very core of the earth itself, flattening everything it touched including Ivan, who was regrettably standing too close. Chunks of dirt, stones and broken tree branches flew through the air impaling Garet and Jenna. =( and the light from the Psynergy grew so bright that the other Adepts had to look away. And then a thundering crash, which shook all of the heavens, resounded from within the core of power.
"ISAAC!" the group shouted over the sound. Stop stealing my formatting! They looked back at the dome, which was gradually shrinking and leaving no sign of anything in its wake. The earth had revealed its true might to aid its trusted warrior, and the light from its center was warm, beautiful, and terrifying all at once. But such power couldn’t be called out without annihilating all that it touched. Everything, even the final courage of one Venus Adept came with a price. Okay, now, granted, Grand Gaia does have the sixth highest PP cost of all Psynergies in the games, but it’s 32 PP. That’s not a huge amount. And it’s certainly not going to kill its user. Otherwise, why would anyone bother using it? In conclusion, your conclusions suck. Get better Dei Ex Machina.
The final flashes of light faded away as the earth sealed its power beneath its surface again. Just like zombie being sealed back into its final resting place. The demon was gone for good, and the only thing left in the battlefield was the one who’d slain it. Isaac was covered with dust and debris and scorched in several places from his own Psynergy. Funny, I don’t remember Psynergy that damages the user when cast. He clutched the massive bleeding wound in his chest he'd suffered during the explosion, breathing hard but smiling tiredly at his victory. He'd won. How sweet it was. A tranquillity unlike anything he’d ever felt settled upon his soul. It was the peace he’d needed and longed for since this madness began and he welcomed its embrace. Without a word or even a sound, he collapsed in the dirt and was still. Yeah, sure, don’t think about how it was all your fault in the first place for bottling all your issues up and never talking about them, even when people offered to listen. Plus, you “won” by hurting and abandoning your friends by dying. Way to go, champ.
Serenity. Firefly fan?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Mia: *gasps* You killed my Isaac-chan!! *vomits* The fangirl Japanese… It burns…
Ivan: We tried to tell you she was evil! I know, right? I’ve been saying that this whole time!
Sheba: Do you believe us now?
Mia: Bring him back! Cool your jets, there’s still another chapter left. It’s not like Midnight’s going to make Isaac face the consequences for being such a pansy. Nah, any possibility of real conflict like that was thrown out the window way back in the last fic. Instead, happy endings for everyone!
Me: ^^; Mia, you’re supposed to be one of the rational ones! You did just kill her boyfriend. I’m pretty sure that’s an allowable excuse for irrational behavior in most cases. Just get back to wherever you came from and let me keep writing-and take them with you!
Mia: …Well, all right. I suppose I should be nice to you after all the great love scenes you’ve given to me. But if you hurt my Isaac-chan I’m going to come back and blast you into next week!
Me: …Er, OK, I guess.
Mia: Come on you two scamps (drags Ivan + Sheba by their ears).
Sheba + Ivan: Ow, ow, ow!
Me: Sweet freedom! Next chapter-the conclusion! Sweet freedom, indeed! One more chapter, and I’m free of this fic!
Me: For the last time, GO AWAY! You two have seriously worn out your welcome!
Mia: So here's where you two trouble makers have been! What have you been up to all this time?
Ivan: O.O It was all Garet's idea!
Sheba: He convinced us to come pester the author to give us makeout scenes!
Mia: -.-;;;;; That was six chapters ago!
Sheba: But she’s evil we tell you! Finally someone agrees with me!
Ivan: We’re trying to put an end to her evil-ness! Good luck. She’s like a cockroach; just won’t die.
Mia: Quiet! You two are coming back with me NOW! And then there will be hot orgies!
Me: ^_^ I knew my reinforcements would come eventually!
Disclaimer: Oh skip it. I'm so sick of these things I could scream! Funny, that’s my thought about these chapters.
*Despair’s End*
Something tingled in the back of Isaac’s mind. Spidey-sense!You haven’t won yet, hero, the serpentine voice said to him. If you think your angel is enough to drive me away, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m not going to let you escape!
"Look out!" Isaac shouted, shoving his friends aside. All six of them? Quite a feat. A split second later, a tremendous blast of black energy shot out of the sky, forming a huge crater where they’d all been. Everyone looked up to see Despair’s mysterious black form descend from above. Second coming? It had grown even larger in size and had taken on a shape similar to that of a dragon. The hollow red eyes pulsed with light briefly as it stared the group down.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Garet asked.
"That would be the shadow demon, Despair," said Ivan fearfully. "It wasn’t nearly this big before. Wait for it… How did it get to be so huge?" That’s what she said!
"I am a creature born of sorrow, guilt, self-hatred, and loneliness," Despair hissed. "As the soul I am linked to succumbs to all of these feelings, my power multiplies to unheard levels. I may have lost the vessel I craved for the moment, but I have fed off of enough of the required emotions to gain the power I need to make it mine forever!" Okay, seriously? This stuff is so bad that it’s like my sense of humor is brutally violated with a mace whenever I read it. I can’t even come up with a joke here.
"So this thing was created by Isaac’s feelings?" Sheba inquired.
"Boy, Isaac," said Garet. "Leave it to you to never do anything half-assed." That was actually kind of funny. But then, there’s Garet for you!
"Well, anything worth doing is worth doing well," Isaac joked through his teeth. But he was inwardly quite relieved that the others could see the creature too. Mass hallucination! He drew his sword as they all backed away from it.
"Do you mean to fight me, hero?" Despair implored. *takes a shot* Hey, you know, I’m twenty-one now. I’ll have to actually start playing my own drinking game for realsies and see how plastered I get. "Your resistance is futile. You will be assi- actually, the reference loses its humor considering that it’s Despair’s actual motive, basically. I will win this battle no matter what you do!"
"But this time he won’t be fighting alone," Jenna said, brandishing her staff. "We’re willing to make you pay for what you’ve done to our Isaac!"
The others nodded in agreement, pulling out their own weapons. ”You have my sword!” “And my bow!” “And my axe!” “And my mace!” Despair laughed at them. “You nerds!” "Your Isaac? Ha! He is mine my precious, and there’s nothing any of you can do to change that!" It opened its mouth and exhaled a ball of darkly-colored fire. Picard immediately countered with Deluge to block the flames and the others spread themselves out to surround Despair and hit it from all sides. Despair ducked, and the Adepts hit and killed each other. From behind, Sheba and Ivan cast Spark Plasma and Destruct Ray, while from the front Garet and Jenna blasted it with Flare Storm and Inferno. Mia used Ice Missile from another direction, and Isaac attempted to cast Ragnarok but couldn’t focus his power. The creature had separated from him, but not before it had exhausted most of his energy reserves. *insert homoerotic joke about how Isaac’s energy reserves had been exhausted*
When the flames, ice and lightening had faded away, Despair grinned at them unharmed. It looked down at Isaac. "Feeling tired, hero?" It opened its hand and a bunch of black vines shot out of the palm, wrapping around Isaac’s right arm and sword. *insert bondage joke here* "Why fight this useless battle? You’ll only prolong the inevitable."
Garet hacked through the vines effortlessly, muscles rippling and bulging under his sweat-soaked shirt, highlighting his built figure and- Ahem. Sorry. Several more attacks erupted from behind Despair. First Jenna’s Fiery Blast, then Tempest and Shine Plasma from Sheba and Ivan, and then Freeze Prism and Glacier from Picard and Mia. Just as these Psynergies were about to connect, Despair dissipated into a mist, vanishing into the atmosphere, leaving the Adepts’ attacks without targets and causing them to accidentally kill each other. A moment later, it reformed itself unseen behind some of its attackers. Surprise buttsex! It unleashed a furious blast of power, hitting Ivan and Jenna dead-on and throwing them up against a clump of fallen trees. When the others reacted, Despair vanished from sight again.
"Cheap shot," Jenna groaned, slowly rising. "Come on out and fight fair!" Mia cast Wish to refresh she and Ivan. Bad grammar, tsk tsk.
"That thing moves just like a shadow," Picard observed. Piers is a regular poet there. A shadow that moves like a shadow. What imagery.
"Too bad it isn’t as harmless as a shadow," Sheba added. … Followed up by a brilliant observation by Sheba, whose actually witty lines in the game are replaced by … this.
Everyone braced themselves for more surprise buttsex and looked around, waiting for the demon to make its next move. The sinister laugh echoed around them, gradually coming closer and then dying away. It was taunting them, waiting for them to make one fatal mistake. Naturally, this got under Garet and Jenna’s skins the most, and the two craned their necks impatiently as they searched for some visible sign of the creature.
Suddenly, more of the black vines sprouted up from the ground underneath Isaac, wrapping around him and lifting him up. The dragon-shaped shadow appeared beside him, glaring at him with its soulless eyes. He glared back defiantly but couldn’t do much else while he was trapped. The others attacked Despair again, except for Mia who aimed a blast of ice at the vines. It bounced off of them, and Despair dodged the rest of the onslaught. It twisted its neck to get right in Mia’s face.
"Your love for him won’t amount to anything in the end," it mocked her. "You’re fighting for the curse of a failed and worthless man. Give him up. You’ll be happier without him." Despair tossed its hair and gave her a roguish grin. “You need someone who can show you just how good love can be.”
"You just don’t get it do you?" Mia implored *takes a shot*, smirking at the beast. "This power you despise so much will be your undoing." And she probably means it literally, too. She’ll realize her power as a Heart Adept and blast Despair with an actual beam of pure love.
Picard expertly threw his sword like a guided missile. Dang, that’s… highly, highly improbable. It sliced through the vines and Isaac dropped to the ground, hitting at the wrong angle and snapping his neck. Despair and this sporker snickered and disappeared again.
"Why is it toying with us this way?" Ivan asked. Because you’re a bunch of lamers.
"It’s working on my last nerve," Garet added.
"It delights in confusing and tormenting people," said Isaac. "I don’t know how to defeat it. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever encountered." Probably because it’s a shoddy plot device, and Camelot wouldn’t stoop so low as to include something like Despair here in their games.
"Picard, you said you’ve heard of Psynergy Eaters before," Sheba said. "You wouldn’t by chance know of any weaknesses they may have?" That way we can attack them for MASSIVE DAMAGE!
"No, I’m sorry," Picard replied. "All of the old stories mentioned them in passing as horrible creatures-the bane of all Adepts. If anyone ever encountered these things in the past, it’s likely that no one lived to tell about it." And so the old stories came from… where, exactly?
"Swell," Jenna said. "Now what?" DANCE PARTY! *jitterbugs*
Another surge of power fell from the sky with the force of a large whale suddenly called into existence by an improbability drive, hurling the whole group several feet. The demon cackled at them but didn’t show itself. It had self-esteem issues. Mia cast Wish again made lemonade to refresh everyone, but she was immediately hit with a blow from behind. Surprise buttsex again? Dang, Despair’s getting desperate. She fell into Isaac, who made an attempt to heal do her but still didn’t have the power for it You know, I keep getting these e-mails offering pills for that sort of thing, I can forward them to you, so Picard used Ply on her instead.
"Thank you," Isaac said to Picard.
Picard nodded. "I wish I had a Psy Crystal for you, but they’re all back in the village." Oh, don’t worry, in these stories, Psy Crystals are useless anyway.
"We could use about a dozen of those Crystals right now," said Sheba. "This fight isn’t getting any easier."
"I’m so useless in a battle without my Psynergy," Isaac lamented quietly. "I created this thing and I can’t even help you fight it!" Cry moar, noob.
"Don’t worry, Isaac," Mia said sweetly. "You’ve protected me so many times during our travels-maybe for once I can protect you." *sniggers* Yeah, you keep thinking that, Sugar Queen.
Garet chuckled. "Hey, Isaac, I never pegged you as one to need protection from a girl!"
Isaac made a face. "Shut up, Garet."
"Well at least Isaac is strong enough to admit to his own limitations," said Mia, glaring at Garet. Lies! A real man never admits weakness! It goes against the guy code, like sharing your feelings and not liking beer.
"She’s got you dead to rights there, Garet!" Jenna teased.
"Jenna, I swear," Garet growled. "One of these days…!" You’ll smack her around until she realizes her place is in the kitchen?
They were interrupted by Despair’s cackle. It formed a huge orb of energy and sent it down towards the group. The orb split off into seven smaller blasts, hitting everyone and hurling each of them in various directions. They smacked into rocks and trees with great force. And then the demon was gone without a trace again.
"This is getting old really fast," Jenna moaned. Took the words right out of my mouth. "We have to kill that beast before it beats us all to a pulp!"
"When I get my hands on that thing I’m going to rip it apart piece by piece," Garet declared, massaging his shoulder. "I can’t stand dirty cheaters!"
Mia cast Wish Well, which helped a little. "Keep focused, everyone. It’s waiting for us to grow impatient and catch us when we’re off guard."
"How are we going to stop this thing?" Ivan wondered aloud. "None of our attacks even slow it down when they connect."
"And most of the time they aren’t even connecting," Sheba added.
Picard scratched his head. "Perhaps since it behaves like a shadow, it’s vulnerable to light?"
"And all of our Psynergy wasn’t bright enough for it?" Jenna demanded. "Sheba’s Spark Plasma is enough to give someone a seizure!" Spark Plasma: Like Japanese cartoons in a way.
"It was only a suggestion," said Picard.
"Come on, Isaac, think of something!" Garet half-begged. "You’re the tactics master!" Yeah, Isaac likes it when you beg, doesn’t he?
Isaac sighed, not wanting to tell them that he was truly clueless for a change. This demon wouldn’t stop until it had destroyed every soul in its path. What could he do? He’d created this horrible thing and now he was powerless to stop it! None of his friends had been able to injure it with even their strongest attacks, and it moved too fast to rely on brute strength. What have I done? he asked himself. I brought this being into existence and now none of us can stop it!Well, you’ve just answered your own question there, haven’t you? This is all my fault! If only I weren’t so foolish and weak! Well… Yeah. You’ll get no sympathy from me.
"That’s right, hero," Despair’s voice echoed from the woods. "You will pay for your mistakes one way or the other. I take cash, check, and most credit cards. I’ll make sure of it." Six more orbs few down from the sky, hitting everyone except for Isaac. He helplessly watched as his friends were tossed about like limp rags until they all crashed into one another several feet away. None of them moved.
"Guys!" Isaac cried. He made a move to go to them but was halted by another blast from above, knocking him down. ”I, Despair, will knock you all down!” The demon appeared before him, laughing maniacally.
"You can’t do anything right!" it screeched through its laughter. "You’re a useless failure and you’ll never be able to protect anyone. Why didn’t you just leave them behind? They’d be so much safer without you."
Something suddenly clicked in Isaac’s mind. He rose and stared into the hollow red eyes, finally realizing precisely what this creature actually was. A poorly conceived and executed plot device? Not a "Psynergy Eater," though it had certainly begun as that. No, this thing had manifested itself into something far greater; something much more private and intimate. It was part of him. No, Isaac, you are the demons! This monster was the physical representation of all the sorrow and regret and daddy issues he had carried within him for all of these years. What had once been only embers of old fears had been prodded and nourished by his self-doubting and self-hatred and lust until it transformed into a force beyond his control. These old feelings that he’d been trying to run from for so long had surfaced in the shape of a deadly, omnipotent being, forever connected to him by his inability to fight it.
But not this time. Isaac glanced over at his fallen friends and knew that he couldn’t ask for their help again. He had to destroy this demon by himself. If he let it get away, it would keep trying to consume him and vanquish whatever else fell within its reach. Tossing the Gaia Blade aside, he turned to Despair with a look of pure courage and determination in his eyes.
"Are you finally giving up?" Despair asked. "At last! Now the story can finally end! I didn’t think you’d ever come to your senses!"
"I’m not afraid of you anymore," Isaac said. "You stirred up all of the guilt and sorrow I’ve kept buried for years, thinking that I didn’t have the strength to fight it. And I didn’t before-I let it wrack my soul And at this point Despair interrupted the monologue and ate Isaac, the end. until it almost devoured me. But I’m different now, and I’m not going to run from you a moment longer. I have all the power I need to defeat you."
"Do you? And where does this new power come from, hero?" “Bought it on QVC.”
"From my friends and Mia. I sacrificed them to the dark gods of the north for immortality and ULTIMATE POWER! They never lost faith in me even though I did. And now their power is my power, and it’s all I’m going to need."
"Pathetic," the demon chortled. It gave Isaac a deadly glare. "Go ahead-give me your best shot."
Tapping into the final reserves he possessed, Isaac summoned Blue Eyes White Dragon turned his palms skyward and started summoning all the Psynergy he could call up. The ground trembled slightly as it offered its might to its chosen guardian. Isaac glowed with golden light all over like the shining sun. Subtle simile is subtle. Despair snickered, not moving from where it floated before him.
"Is that all you have?" it asked. Hey, c’mon, Despair, the power to illuminate dark spaces is very useful if the light bulb is burned out in your basement and you can’t find a flashlight. Man, where do those things go? I swear, we keep flashlights in certain places around the house, but if the lights go out, the flashlight is either gone or the battery’s dead.
"Not quite," Isaac replied, grinning slightly. He shut his eyes and dug deeper within himself, looking for that last vein of power he knew lay hidden for dire situations. Rock fragments started to float off of the ground, reacting to the Venus Psynergy gathering nearby. As Isaac’s power increased, the rock fragments were attracted to his Psynergy and flew to him at high speed, lodging themselves in his flesh and killing him. The earth quaked with greater violence as Isaac’s aura grew brighter and brighter, spreading out and illuminating the twilight that had settled on the forest. Now the demon’s expression changed and it appeared less smug, though it still didn’t move from where it was.
A short distance away, the other Adepts began to stir, feeling the vibrations from the ground. Picard was the first to look up to see the golden light and the figure forming it. The raw waves of power created a strong wind that whistled through the trees. His eyes went wide with awe and fear as he realized what was happening.
“Sheba, what does the scanner say about his power level? "How is he doing that?" Ivan asked. "This power is unreal!"
“IT’S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAND!” "It’s dangerous!" Sheba added.
“What, nine thousand?! "I’ve never felt this much Psynergy all at once," said Jenna. "Not even from Saturos and Menardi!"
"Well if this doesn’t kill that thing nothing will," Garet said.
Mia looked on with both worry and pride. She could sense a great valor within Isaac that she’d never felt before. Before he’d been too much of a pansy to be considered valorous. But the aura around him was dangerously potent, and she wasn’t sure if anyone could bring out that much Psynergy safely. Cheer up, Mia. Isaac’s the Gary Stu hero; if anyone can, it’s him. And since the author loves her sappy endings, you know it’ll all turn out well in the end.
"Amazing…" Picard trailed, sounding mystified and frightened all at once. "I never knew the Venus Clan possessed such awesome power." That’s because it doesn’t. Isaac gained this power from sacrificing virgins.
Brighter, stronger. Isaac felt warm and relaxed in the glow of his own power. Beautiful. He called out everything he had buried within him-his courage, his love, and even his sorrow and daddy issues latent homosexuality anger. All of it combined and swirled up within the golden glow. And finally, when he knew he couldn’t dig any deeper, he found that last hidden pool of power. That was the final key to defeating this monster once and for all. He opened his eyes and grinned confidently at Despair, who suddenly realized what had happened.
"You’re insane!" it cried. "If you release that much power all at once you’ll destroy yourself as well!" Oh no. What a tragedy that would be. Stop, Isaac. Stop this foolishness. /monotone
The others felt it too and jumped up. "NO!" Sheba, Jenna, Ivan and Picard shouted.
"Don’t do it!" Garet yelled. “I never got to tell you how I feel! I- I love you, Isaac!”
Isaac stopped. “Garet…?”
Garet rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. “Take my energy if you need to. Just don’t you dare die on me!” He grabbed Isaac and kissed him.
"Isaac, you can’t!" Mia screamed at the top of her voice.
Isaac turned to Mia. “I’m sorry, Mia. But my heart belongs to Garet.” And then the rest of the fic was hot Isaac/Garet. Despair was destroyed by the power of their love. The end!
But their pleas went unheard. Isaac set his eyes on the monster, ready to unleash everything he had to destroy it, no matter what the cost.
"Stop! Hammer time!" Despair ordered. "You can’t do this!"
"It ends now, demon," Isaac said. "I’m not going to let you control me anymore." He lifted his arms and pressed his palms towards his target. "You wanted my best shot so here it is. Grand Gaia!"
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The ground split open, encircling Isaac and Despair in a mighty conflagration of golden power. The glowing dome rose up and expanded from the very core of the earth itself, flattening everything it touched including Ivan, who was regrettably standing too close. Chunks of dirt, stones and broken tree branches flew through the air impaling Garet and Jenna. =( and the light from the Psynergy grew so bright that the other Adepts had to look away. And then a thundering crash, which shook all of the heavens, resounded from within the core of power.
"ISAAC!" the group shouted over the sound. Stop stealing my formatting! They looked back at the dome, which was gradually shrinking and leaving no sign of anything in its wake. The earth had revealed its true might to aid its trusted warrior, and the light from its center was warm, beautiful, and terrifying all at once. But such power couldn’t be called out without annihilating all that it touched. Everything, even the final courage of one Venus Adept came with a price. Okay, now, granted, Grand Gaia does have the sixth highest PP cost of all Psynergies in the games, but it’s 32 PP. That’s not a huge amount. And it’s certainly not going to kill its user. Otherwise, why would anyone bother using it? In conclusion, your conclusions suck. Get better Dei Ex Machina.
The final flashes of light faded away as the earth sealed its power beneath its surface again. Just like zombie being sealed back into its final resting place. The demon was gone for good, and the only thing left in the battlefield was the one who’d slain it. Isaac was covered with dust and debris and scorched in several places from his own Psynergy. Funny, I don’t remember Psynergy that damages the user when cast. He clutched the massive bleeding wound in his chest he'd suffered during the explosion, breathing hard but smiling tiredly at his victory. He'd won. How sweet it was. A tranquillity unlike anything he’d ever felt settled upon his soul. It was the peace he’d needed and longed for since this madness began and he welcomed its embrace. Without a word or even a sound, he collapsed in the dirt and was still. Yeah, sure, don’t think about how it was all your fault in the first place for bottling all your issues up and never talking about them, even when people offered to listen. Plus, you “won” by hurting and abandoning your friends by dying. Way to go, champ.
Serenity. Firefly fan?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Mia: *gasps* You killed my Isaac-chan!! *vomits* The fangirl Japanese… It burns…
Ivan: We tried to tell you she was evil! I know, right? I’ve been saying that this whole time!
Sheba: Do you believe us now?
Mia: Bring him back! Cool your jets, there’s still another chapter left. It’s not like Midnight’s going to make Isaac face the consequences for being such a pansy. Nah, any possibility of real conflict like that was thrown out the window way back in the last fic. Instead, happy endings for everyone!
Me: ^^; Mia, you’re supposed to be one of the rational ones! You did just kill her boyfriend. I’m pretty sure that’s an allowable excuse for irrational behavior in most cases. Just get back to wherever you came from and let me keep writing-and take them with you!
Mia: …Well, all right. I suppose I should be nice to you after all the great love scenes you’ve given to me. But if you hurt my Isaac-chan I’m going to come back and blast you into next week!
Me: …Er, OK, I guess.
Mia: Come on you two scamps (drags Ivan + Sheba by their ears).
Sheba + Ivan: Ow, ow, ow!
Me: Sweet freedom! Next chapter-the conclusion! Sweet freedom, indeed! One more chapter, and I’m free of this fic!