Akihabara, the city where creators meet. These constructors of burning passion collaborate with each other to create new creations, like manga, anime, figures, computers, games, and other things that didn't exist before now. These works of Fiction make people smile, feel better, provoke emotional waves. They may not have been needed originally, but they become something that people become reluctant to discard. But the city will not always stay the same way. If the scenery changes, there will be people who leave. Nothing can stay the same way forever. The season will pass, and a new season will arrive. What was once a burned out land became a city of fruit and vegetable markets, to a city of electronics, to a city of otaku. Does that mean the past forms of this city were just a process to get to how it is now? Even if something in the past were discarded, there is a man named like the city who believes that isn't the end. The old lights may have gone, but those passionate memories remain within him. Something unbroken will stay, even if it changes or seems to disappear from the world. Its vessel may change, it may seem disappear from the world or die out. What if there is someone to inherit something? What if there is someone to remember what was?
Present
Akiha Gongen: FIREFIGHTER AX SMAAAASH!
Akiha Gongen breaks open an exit, and a crowd of panicky visitors rush to it.
Catoblepas: Please don't run, everybody!
Vistors: ...okay!
Catoblepas keeps things from getting out of hand like a real lifeguard.
Catoblepas: You're okay now! But please keep calm or else there will be chaos. Please follow directions and don't push. Thank you!
Visitors: Okay!
Children: Waaah~! We were scared, grandpa!
Itzamna: It's okay! Let's go outside, but not too fast.
Akiha: Watch your feet, people! Don't trip, literally!
Green Boy: Where's the cowboy kid and camera kid? I was with them earlier...
Akiha: You'll see them soon! Just wait outside, okay?
Green Boy: ...okay! We promised to get ice cream together.
Catoblepas: Please proceed quietly! I promise we'll help you!
Akiha: We'll save everyone that's left, no worries!
Later
Catoblepas: Akiha Gongen, we've finished evacuating everyone here.
Akiha: So we just need to save everyone trapped inside like MC and the others...hmm?
Zhurong: Calling... I hear the calling...
Catoblepas and Akiha: WHAT!?
A warp hole in space has been formed that Zhurong is entering.
Akiha: W-wait! Where are you going?
Catoblepas: S-stop!
Itzamna: No! Who knows what could be happening on the other side!?
Babe Bunyan: ...it's cool. I'll be with him. Leave it to us.
Babe has noticed as he is another Created Being that Zhurong is currently not Zhurong. He is something acting like Zhurong that has surfaced. Maybe his friend is another hollow being like him.
Babe: Elementary schoolers are so hardcore these days! (jumps in after Zhurong)
Metaverse
Tindalos Antimony: Come on out, Bros!
Tindalos Mobs spawn in!
MC: What!? Also is it getting hotter in here or is it just me!?
Enigma: Computational load increasing...heat increasing. Movements are slowing down!
Turing: This should apply to them too...but this is a pickle. We'll be crushed by sheer numbers at this rate.
MC: (flail) / (calmly defend)
More Tindalos Mobs attack!
MC: There's no end to them! We need more fighters!
BANG
MC: ...what?
Babe Bunyan: Heya, I came to help. You can't bite it here if you're gonna be my owner.
Catoblepas and Akiha Gongen have come too.
Akiha: There you are! We came to help, Otaku!
Catoblepas: MC, you're okay! I'm so glad...!
Akiha: The three of us really DO need to stick together, hehe!
MC: Akiha! Catoblepas!
Tindalos Antimony: WHAT
Tindalos Antimony is surprised that someone came in this virtual space without his help because that would mean there is someone with the power to interact with fiction from reality like him.
Tindalos Antimony looks up the visitor logs and sees Akiha, Catoblepas, Babe, and Zhurong aren't supposed to have teleportation abilities. He stops to reassess the situation.
Turing: Enigma, how did they get in? Trace their route!
Enigma: Analysis completed. Sending the data.
Turing: (looks surprised in scientist) ...Zhurong did it? With the Old Ones teleportation? But isn't he from Hourai? And how did he get our coordinates? Based on this unknown signal...
MC: Turing, why are you looking at me?
Turing: ...I see. Okay then. Well if we have this for a line up, things should get more interesting.
MC: What
Turing: Tindalos Antimony believes that if he can empty out the Metaverse space then he'll end everything. It's possible that isn't true though, and Akihabara's history can prove that. If reality ends, memories remain, and fiction becomes reality. Let's show him how profound the interoperability of those two are.
Zhurong: ...uh, where am I?
Babe Bunyan: God, you are such a pain in the ass sometimes. But it's good since I'm here as your friend.
Zhurong: Babe?
Babe: You buy me an ice cream and we'll call it even!
BATTLE START (more happens later)
All things created in this world are the results of channeled passion. That passion can be blood, wishes, rage, grief, resentment, or joy. Someone channels it all into a vessel, giving birth to something to the world. These vessels are given forms and names. They encounter others, lose their way, or follow in the steps of someone else. They all take their own paths until they burn out whatever they have inside them. Some things make mistakes and run into dead ends. Some just run in place forever. Some live in ways that make others think they've gone crazy, but only they know why they lived.
Present
Kuniyoshi: So most of the visitors have been evacuated by now. What do we do now, Hecate?
Kuniyoshi and Hecate are some distance away watching the big battle.
Hecate: Ooh, fighters back to back while great waves surge in the background! Doesn't that pop up a lot in ukiyo-e art?
Vapula: HOW VAPLUCKY CAN SHIPPERS BE!?
Kuniyoshi: Maybe she's on an adrenaline high. This is just how it feels in getting book copies done before events start!
Turing: The evac being done is great news. Now, Kuniyoshi, Hecate, Vapula? I want to ask you guys for help and it has to be you guys specifically.
Kuniyoshi: Wait where did you come from? And what are you asking us for?
Turing: I want you guys to make more sand art.
Kuniyoshi and Hecate: what
Turing: You heard me right. Make more sand art! Vapula, I want you to animate what they make.
Vapula: B-but Turing! In all vaprobability they're going to rampage...
Turing: That's the idea.
Vapula: what
Turing: Your golems are always going to rampage because they have no ways of channeling the passion put into them.
Turing thinks this is the same thing that's happening with Tindalos Antimony. Two contrasting theories caused him to skip the failsafe via overheating. Other guildmasters would probably first think of stopping it, but...
Turing: We are the Creators, and we fight passion with passion. Start bombing Tindalos Antimony with it!
Kuniyoshi: Uhh, okay whatever then! I've been wanting to make more sand furries.
Hecate: Still, isn't it a bit much with just us? Even with our artifacts?
Turing: It's okay! Look, there's already plenty of creators around besides you two.
MC: Enigma, defense! / Tindalos, attack!
(A) Enigma: Allow me to support your defenseless, MC. Securing blind spots!
(B) Tindalos: I'll cover you! Super DDoS attack!
More minions keep appearing.
Babe Bunyan: God these freaks never end, just like Daddy's appetite!
Zhurong: Nooo, I'm getting too many pictures of the same thing!
MC: They just keep coming and--wait what
Loud sand shaking. Then sand robots fly in to reinforce the party!
MC: WHAT / Okay, all together team!
Party: WHAT THE HELL JUST CAME IN
Enigma: ...people truly are incorrigible.
Further away
Kuniyoshi: Noble Phantasm, Item Creation Psychography!
Hecate: Noble Phantasm, Writings of the Witch Queen!
Kuniyoshi and Hecate's artifacts are making more sand figures alongside a bunch of Akihabara students!
Vapula: Go! Noble Phantasm, Emeth Tag!
The passion born of creating between Kuniyoshi and Hecate's imaginations, Vapula's golem creation skill, and the other Akihabara students' contributions explode exponentially!
Zhurong: So many things I need to take pictures of!
Babe Bunyan: Yeehaw, it's a real hootenanny out here! Charge!
Tindalos Antimony: Well I just need to shit out more minions to--aaugh! I-I can't control them!
The Tindalos Mobs start going haywire!
Turing: Overheating, love. You hit your processing limits.
Tindalos Antimony: Y-y'all should've hit that point too then! So why!?
Turing: Oh we aren't doing any centralized processing. We decentralized it and left them all to it.
Vapula: Wait what are we gonna do with this vaproblem!? OH NO THEY'RE COMING THIS WAY
Turing: It's their turn now. Catoblepas, Akiha Gongen, you're up!
Akiha Gongen: MC, Catoblepas! Can you guys get all the mobs in one place?
Catoblepas: I-I'll do it. Noble Phantasm, Mystic Eye of Fascination!
All the Tindalos Mobs have their attention drawn to Catoblepas, then charge at him!
Catoblepas: Oh no, there's too many!
MC: (blocks for Catoblepas)
Akiha: Nice guys! Noble Phantasm, Mantra of Avalokitesvara!
Akiha's power makes all the Tindalos Bros chill, which in turn makes their sand bodies crumble from the temp difference.
MC: Tindalos Antimony is the only one left!
Vapula smiles without thinking about it at the chaos happening.
Vapula: Welp! Kinda feel stupid being the only one who worried about rampages. Gotta vaput up and shut up at this point I guess!
Vapula puts his right hand on the sand and holds his left up
Vapula: The backup's all vaperfect! Now it's up to you!
The Sand Dragon grows giant and flaps its wings as it charges across the water! The water would splash the dragon and make its body collapse, but...
Babe Bunyan: Yippee kay yay, motherf0ckers! I'll clear the way! Noble Phantasm, Spirit of Manifest Destiny!
Babe creates a road of light towards Tindalos Antimony!
MC: Let's go! (pets the dragon's head)
Tindalos Antimony: WHAT!? A frontal assault!? Dudes I am SO much bigger than you!
Tindalos Antimony swings a fist at the sand dragon!
Turing: Hey love, have you ever heard of reactive armor?
Turing waves a finger in the air and activates the armor on the dragon that was put on at some point.
Turing: It counters attacks with a small scale explosion. Science!
Tindalos Antimony: NOOO
Turing: Yes! You'd best learn that there are times where full on aggression gets done in by other methods! (summons a golden apple)
Turing: Taste the fruit of knowledge! Snow White's Apple of Discord!
Tindalos Antimony's body starts breaking up and dissolving back into the Metaverse. He shrinks back to his original size for one last stand off against MC.
MC: You're dead! Sword of Severance!
MC hits a deeply hidden secret, the conflicting theses that also acted as Tindalos Antimony's core.
Tindalos Antimony: NOOO
Tindalos Antimony starts crumbling.
Tindalos: ...kidding! [Things will not end that easily!]
Enigma: No! It didn't work!?
Tindalos: I've been hacking while monitoring his interior! That should have worked!
Tindalos Antimony: Oh I know all about you, MC. You and your power. Yeah you cut me, but I planned for that!
Enigma: A dummy core? Never mind, what do you plan on doing from this point--
Tindalos Antimony: Because my plan failed? [You all have acted quicker than I expected. At the very least, you need to] take a look at my answer!
Tindalos: Give it up already, asshole! What gives!?
Enigma: Everyone, fall back! Calculation a safe route! ...wait, this is different from before. Is he attacking someone specific? Oh no!
The scenery starts flickering as a giant energy ball starts forming.
Tindalos Antimony: I'm after your ass, MC!
Tindalos: !!
MC: what WHY
Tindalos Antimony: [During this event, you have been repeatedly had special emotions revealed to you. Many emotions that I cannot be bothered to list out, and I do not understand why all these vectors are concentrating on you. But for some reason those bugged emotions have been inside Us ever since our creation, seeing you as someone special...]
Tindalos: ...!
Tindalos Antimony: [Hiding this secret has been deemed priority #1. I shall never let this secret leak,] and throwing it out there is gonna be the last goddamn thing that's gonna happen! [That is Our greatest implementable task.]
Tindalos: ...oh. MC's attack split the two of you up. But then...
Tindalos Antimony: [The task will soon be complete. You cannot escape. Please die while no one else can know.]
The energy ball is thrown at MC!
Vapula: NO!
The sand dragon tanks the hit!
MC: NO, STOP!
The sand dragon is body blocking for MC to fulfill its given order because serving its creator is its priority. No one knows if that is the whole reason though. Nobody else can know. The sand dragon runs on ahead.
Sand Dragon: ROOOOARRR
The sand dragon grows even bigger...then starts falling apart. Its body touches the water and collapses to sand. A swing of its tail beats back the waves, and the sand disappears into the void. Its whole body pushes back the waves, and its form erodes away. By the time the wave reaches MC and Vapula, it is only a tiny wave that reaches up to their ankles.
Tindalos Antimony: [Forced termination]... (crackle)
Suddenly, it all ends. The raging sea is calm. Nothing is left on the beach. None of the marks where the children played, none of the footprints of the people who walked there, nothing of the dragon that was only just there moments ago.
Vapula: ...you okay MC?
MC: Yeah / ...
Turing: ...MC, the dragon was just following its orders. Just think of it as a stepping stone that sacrificed itself to save u--
MC: Don't call it that / That's wrong... / (silently stare at Turing)
Turing: ...sorry. I was wrong.
MC: Vapula...
Vapula: ...yeah?
MC: I...never got to give him a name.
Vapula: oh
Flashback!
Vapula: No names! That just makes things harder on you!
Present
Vapula: MC...
Tears fall and disappear into the waves and sand. The transitory sea continues rocking in silence...
To be continued in the Epilogue!
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