SSQ 1 AND ITS END
Kuja: "The book is empty. A blank world. Lifeless too, though it can obtain a new life. With your memories, you may use this opportunity..." he sits down, dipping the pen in an ink well briefly, "... to re-write the book however you wish, and rebuild your lost world. So tell me..." The sinister look having left his eyes, he looked over his shoulders at the Questers and smiled knowingly. "How shall we begin?"
Metal Man: "Well." He looked around a bit at the other Questers, himself. "That's a tall order... I'll have to think, as it seems as if the last world inherited some of my insanity. And I wouldn't want to cause that in this one..."
Kuja: "Do not worry. We have all the time in the world, since the old one is... gone." He sat down in an aged chair. "Besides, with the two of us, this task should be but a trifle difficult."
Metal Man: "I wouldn't underestimate it, Kuja. I've had choices like this before, and they didn't go very well. If they had, well, I wouldn't be here." He adjusted one of his cybernetic hands, then put the hand to his chin, as he was deep in thought. "Hmmm..."
Aribar looked at the two leaders, then offered his own thoughts. "Sorry if this sounds daft, but... why does Kuja of all people have to hold the pen?"
Kuja's glared at Aribar. "Only I know how to use it properly. Last time you tried to use it, well..." he glanced at the sleeping Julian, who sat in an armchair of his own, not interested in any of this. "The world ceased to exist." Kuja smirked.
Metal Man pondered The Book: it was on an ornate wooden pedestal to the side of Kuja. It was also blank; an infinite sea of blank pages, in fact. He thought of all the battles, the pain, and the evil he had braved to get here. And then he wondered...
Can Kuja be trusted?
He turned to Kuja. "You rendered a great service to us when you brought us here and rescued us from the aftermath of The Book's death. But... what's stopping you from taking over the world again? You've reasoned well as to why you should use the pen. But you never gave us any assurances about your thirst for world conquest, did you?"
The elder mage straightened up in his chair and pointed at Metal Man, admonishing him. "No! Not at all!" He then hesitated, then lowered his voice slightly, to show that he was still in control. "...What I mean, is that we are all equals. The pen will not work with one of us by our selves. Even if I wanted to control the world, I couldn't--its great expanses are far too large for me to vicariously project my fantasies upon." He scowled. "Are you still upset about that incident, many years ago? It was all for the this pen... it was an unfortunate accident that it had to involve you."
Metal Man remembered that event. There, all his old friends save three were destroyed by incredibly powerful magic. He could still see Kuja's murderous smirk in his mind. And despite what the mage had said... he could never trust in Kuja. He curled his right hand into a fist and resolved to TAKE the pen by force... then realized he didn't know how to use the pen, anyway! Sighing in defeat, he bowed his head. "I don't trust you, but I don't as of yet have a way to do this by myself. So I'll give you a chance... ONE chance. So what exactly do we have to do to in order to make this new world thing you keep talkin' about?"
The other Questers in the room looked towards Kuja. They had been waiting on this for far too long for their liking. They could scarcely wait any longer--even an hour to create an entire universe would be too much. They craved more battles, more adventures. They had no time for this dowdy stuff. Well... all except for Aribar, had a wary look in his eyes--a look of someone far beyond his years.
Kuja pressed some buttons on the remote. He activated various indecipherable runes. "With the power of this remote, all that was the old world can be replaced with the new. All we need do is think of what we want, and it shall be made... but it requires more than one to complete. A bit of an issue with the design, you see... it was never fully tested by its owners."
Metal Man shrugged, and glanced at the remote. He wondered what Kuja could be hiding with all of that over-elaborate enunciation. "Then let's start, shall we?"
Kuja got up and stood over the Book. "I will start, since it was I who recovered the device's prophecies." He produced an old, faded instruction manual--much like one for a toy. He couldn't help but snort at how ridiculous he looked holding it--but he knew its true power and put it away, lest anyone else take it from him.
Aribar stood, glancing at the remote, then Metal, then Kuja. "Uh... that manual... couldn't you have just given it to--"
"No." Kuja stood firm and did not budge. "Now, we begin." He cleared his throat. "Oh fighter remote, the world we live in has been destroyed. We formally request to begin a new..." He paused, frowning at the absurdity of this term he knew he must use. "...game..."
Metal contemplated. "If someone so uncomfortable with the Fighter Remote can yet use it with the instruction manual, that must mean..." He began to formulate a plan in his head.
In the background, Kuja droned on. "...and we have some different ideas, this time. Ones that will not end in it exploding. Far better ideas. No more Wing Fortress. No more Atlantis. No more Sardis Mongul. And also no more--"
A door suddenly slammed open.
Almost everyone peered at the visitor, who was but a short blue gumball person: Gibby. He spoke in a strangely deep-for-his-size voice. "Hi guys! Sorry I was out, but--"
He was interrupted in turn by the Fighter Remote. The children's plaything with godly power glowed and struck the empty book's blank pages with blue energy. Kuja's words emerged on the page, and the Book began to open a portal above its outstretched pages. Kuja stared deeply at the book, smirking devilishly yet again. "The work has begun, Questers. Now it is... your turn."
Metal's mind was elsewhere. "I need to get that instruction manual and modify what has been written before it can be finalized. Maybe I just need a distraction first..." Pretending that this false display removed his distrust, Metal smiled emptily to Gibby. He used that false charm he had used long ago, when he pretended to be the daring leader while robbing the Stadium blind. "Come on Gibby, we're remakin' the world. Better get your two cents in, before time's up and I make a world full of Gobbu."
Gibby frowned, hearing a joke he'd sooner never hear again, told in an especially hollow tone. "Really?" He muttered under his breath. "Don't get no respect, not even from you..." Then he shook his head and replied, "All right, all right. I'll go ahead, but only because I have some particular ideas in mind."
And so, the Questers, one by one, named their wants. Aribar's in particular was mumbled, leaving the others to wonder just what had to be kept so secret. Julian, who was still asleep, did not get his chance. Metal was strangely absent during all of this, walking in the background and not actually reaching for the pen at any point.
The portal was now open; the world creation work done, Kuja again took the floor. "Now you can enter this new world. After you enter, then your leader and I shall have some... words."
Metal wasn't even directly in sight to acknowledge the statement, but Kuja was too busy making sure the Questers went along with what he said to notice. The Questers just accepted what Kuja had said, mostly. Aribar wasn't entirely convinced, but figured he couldn't stop Kuja even if he wanted to, at least not yet. The Questers walked in, with Gibby dragging Julian's unconscious body in; and soon the room was nearly empty.
"Now Metal. There's something we have to... talk... about?" Kuja looked around. "How could I possibly have lost such a large and loud entity in my own personal study? Am I getting carele--"
"Yes, yes we do." It was Metal, holding the instructions to the Fighter Remote. He'd snatched them while Kuja was distracted.
"...Give that back, Metal."
"No."
Kuja's mind filled with dread. What does he know? What could he be planning? He isn't even the one who killed me, so what does he even want? "...You made a great number of mistakes in your old world, Metal being. Therefore, it only makes sense... that you should not lead these Questers. You cannot do anything of use with those instructions, and attempting to make use of the remote will only REPEAT the fate of the previous world you were in."
"Is that so? The world that you manipulated from beyond the grave to go increasingly insane? The one where all the people dedicated to worshiping you went out of their way to attack and ruin anything good we did? The one where you waited until after everything was done to suspiciously offer us a hand, while telling us it was all our fault?" He flapped the instruction manually mockingly at Kuja. "I am the leader of these people; I have seen them through countless wars, and--"
"...And destroyed the world. There's nothing to be said about i--"
"Nonsense! You were there, manipulating it behind the scenes. You did the same before you murdered my friends with the Quester Hunters! Once a Quester Hunter, always a Quester Hunter. You think I would willingly enter THIS--" He gestured at the portal-- "When you had your lackey Zio create a literal portal to HELL and tried to send the Questers there back then?"
Kuja let out a deep laugh. "Oh... this is too rich. You're trying to engage me in an argument? Fine. Let us bicker. A few moments more won't harm your friends or our plans for this world. But I warn you... it's clear your creators did not outfit you for rhetorical combat. For one, all your cards are on the table for me to see. So... I can handle them one by one."
"I'd like to see you try."
Kuja walked first to a book that had the QH logo on it, with the crossed out Q logo to be specific on there. Kuja opened the dusty tome and flipped through its pages. "...the Quester Hunters were formed to destroy the Questers, for they had imbalanced the world. Their powers and fighting for the 'Good' Smashers had rendered the wishes of the 'Evil' ones irrevelant. If they were not put in their place quickly, there would no longer be any fights at all to be had, and those who were Evil would become extinct. Though the Quester Hunters died in their Quest for balance, they managed to take many Questers with them, and so, for a time, balance was had, even if their organization had to die in the process."
"You're comparing the value of my close friend Star Steel to a worthless vampiric monstrosity named Meier Link. You really think that's going to convince me?"
"Not in isolation, no. But listen just a bit longer, and tell me what you think." Kuja smiled poisonously and put the QH book away. He then picked up 'The tale of Revenant Ruvyn.' "It was that Revenant Ruvyn wished to make right the mistakes that Kuja had made. For Kuja had erred in solely relying on zombies. Zombies, after all, did not understand the grand mission that was to be done. So Revenant Ruvyn helped bring the Solarians into the fold. Along with his valiant work, he made sure any would-be zombies would actually obey orders. For the Axiom of Balance was to bring about a true balance rather than erroneously trying to give Nintendus over to zombies and demons. He died for this, but he managed to resurrect Kuj--"
"This is where I draw the line and say, 'no more'. It was ILLIAN who allowed this to happen, and Lynk who assisted him. Revenant Ruvyn repeatedly ranted uselessly about your value to the world while the Questers either beat him down or worked around him. No amount of resurrections could cause Revenant Ruvyn to have any sort of coherent message!"
Kuja sighed and shut the book. "But do you notice the pattern? Each adventure, the world did NOT explode. Any destruction was temporary and needed to set up the next. Whether you like it or not, my presence was one that helped ensure the world remained existing. Besides... a curious hole in your logic. You spoke of yourself in the third person. Is it not easier to believe Ruvyn did it? Why would you harm your own people, then speak of yourself in the third person? Unless... unless you really are a danger to them." He took out another book. "This Illian, you spoke of, yes! The Adventures of Illian MacGregor!" He took the bejeweled book and threw it on the ground, as it opened up.
"I... there was a part you do not know, Kuja."
"Oh, but I do. I was a God, remember? So I saw it all. You switched places with Illian. Your real name hidden, as it occurred before I had true omniscience, but I knew from Illian's actions that he was not you. You lacked what it took to make things happen the way they were supposed to. And who do you suppose contacted Illian?"
"Well I thought it was me but..."
"Hahaha, no! You didn't have that kind of power. To send a summoning across dimensions? Ruvyn only needed to wear your armor and feign a call for help and Illian came over without question! Sure, he led to the murderous death of Ruvyn and me both, but without him, as you yourself said, I wouldn't have come to power. He himself understood!"
Metal paused, momentarily shaken by the allegations. "I... but..."
"So the reason I'm so important is because the person you would have called for help, had you the chance, even knew I was necessary to the cycle of worlds! So. You may have stolen that instruction manual, but now, tell me. Tell me. Without my help, without this 'Illian's help', what precisely will you do, nameless 'Metal Man'? Your Questers are in that portal, the ones you claim you can lead! And yet you had to rely on a psychologically unstable psychopath to handle it for you, in the most direst hour of need. Well? Do you need him to bail you out again? I wonder if he will once again let me rule! Such a fun game he played, even if at the end it got a bit painful. Maybe I'll beat him this time--but, he and I are truly adults who know how this game goes. You on the other hand, are childish, wrapped up in your... love of your lost friends. Pah! People are disposable, you know it. You don't even remember half of the Questers you've initiated either, do you?"
"I... don't know... except... one thing."
"It better be one hell of a thing, because I have pages and pages more of evidence." Kuja threw down the books of the 'IIF Chronicles', the 'Astral Realm Wars' and 'The Death of Charles Magellean' as well as 'Genetia and Ferran: A Tale In Pointlessness', and one last book that was unfinished labeled 'The Rise and Fall of the False Original Quest Group, By Doctor Proctor.' "Time and time again, without the steady hand of me or Illian, the ship went wildly astray. What is this nonsense? Tell me, does any of it make any sense to you? Even Julian could see through your terrible leadership, let alone what indirect 'writing' you wrought with your accidental waking dream nonsense! And this... THIS is what you want them to experience more of? Maybe I should. Maybe I should walk away and let you torture them with this inane nonsense, to watch you BREAK from the realization YOU are the worst thing that ever happened to the Questers, 'Metal', if that IS your real name!"
"My name... is not Metal Man. And I am not some fool to be trifled with." He held up the clock on his wrist. "I've fought in countless wars, I've seen multiple dimensions. I've died more times than you could ever count, and come back every time. You say you've done this a few times... I've done it a few billion times."
"Pah. And yet what you did there was the best you could do? Spare me that rubbi--"
"You tampered with my mind when you forced me to use Trance against my will! Dr. Wily infected me with Slytock before then! My memories were destroyed by a process I am still trying to recall to this day!"
"Then how much of the real you are you, really? Are you even one billionth of the person who did whatever you claim to do? I don't have all day; thanks for reminding me of how many precious seconds have been wasted listening to your DRIVEL."
"Oh, but there IS a point... one which you've accidentally helped me deliver. You see, this realm isn't Nintendus -- isn't in that Book you tampered with many times over. So I've begun to remember things."
"Is that so?" For a moment, even Kuja was curious. "Then do you remember enough to know you were a fool to oppose me? Or perhaps that you're constitutionally incapable to lead anyone? Anything else... you can save it, I have a world to generate and improve, and... well, you know. I might be amenable to you standing here and not interfering at all. Perhaps you're finally recovering from your insanity and can accept when somebody is helping you from your own unstable thoughts--"
"You couldn't be any more wrong if you tried. I remembered some of who I truly am, I that would NEVER take such orders from you. I destroyed the entire world before I let anyone compromise who I am. And I continued fighting after everyone else had died, for all of those who I believed in. Now I will do the same and take the fight to you, Kuja." He clenched his fist, his eyes glowing with an unnatural blue light. "For my unknown homeland, for the Questers! I will drive your evil away so that it will never be seen again!" The Sword of Light materialized in his right arm and a small wind began to blow in Kuja's study, causing Metal's tattered cape to flap in the wind.
"Can't you hold back on violence for just a moment? Your mind is clearly broken, by your own admission. You don't even know who you really are. You are nothing but fragmented thoughts. Perhaps if you were more of a person, you could actually create a real universe worth existing. Otherwise, well, you won't escape me. Everything you create will ultimately fail. And what's the point in that, except to torture your dear friends worse than I ever could?"
"I will wield every fragment of my shattered mind to tear you into trillions of specks of burning ash, perjuring murderer! I hear the cries of all who you killed... they demand justice. The fires of justice will claim you just as they have this manual!" Holding the Fighter Remote instructions tightly, Metal remembered his flaming uppercut move from so long ago... and the furious flames enveloped his metal hand and burnt the instructions to the Fighter Remote. Kuja futilely lunged for them, but all he got were useless fragments.
"NO! Look what you've done! Now I -- or even you -- can't finish it!" The wind blew away that which was left, as he began to lose his peaceful demeanor. "Thinking these thoughts that are meaningless, speaking about a pointless forgotten world that you killed, you're nothing, you know that, Metal? You're nothing! You just say nonsense to get your way and kill anyone in your path! That is not balanced, that is not a real adventure for anyone. I will put you in your place and then figure out how to clean up this latest mess you've created--not because I wanted to, but because this anarchic madness is your choice--one I will gladly inform your friends of once I've put everything back together. I'm sure they'll agree that you were a dangerous threat who needed to die!"
"A fascistic device that details our specific fates and denies us any alternative should never be used to write any 'story', period point blank. Now face your justice and don't be a coward, because I tire of you fleeing away and appearing decades later to act like some false 'sage' we should listen to!"
"Have it your way, impudent FOOL. FLARE STAR!"
Metal slashed the incoming plasma storm in two with the Sword of Light, causing it to eradicate most of the study but not him. He strode through the explosion towards Kuja, each step shaking the burning remnants.
"... ...ThundaJA!"
The lightning struck Metal's armor and was grounded, causing it to pass through him and into the carpet. The carpet was zapped to bits and pieces exploded off of it, but Metal simply paused to let the electricity finish moving away from him, then continued walking towards Kuja.
Sweat began to drip from Kuja's brow. "...Reflect! Mighty Guard! Auto-Life!"
Metal stabbed the barrier with the Sword of Light. The hissing of rival magics filled the room with a high pitched screech, as the Sword of Light slowly boiled off each layer of protection, moving ever closer to Kuja.
The mage balked, and backed away moments before the sword was to reach him. The barriers exploded violently as the shockwave pushed him back. "You asked for it! BAHAMUT! Lord of Dragons! BURN THIS FOOL TO ASHES, AS HE SO FOOLISHLY CLAIMED HE WOULD DO TO ME!"
The massive dragon came into view, smashing through one side of the study and interposing himself between Kuja and Metal. It began powering up a much more powerful Flare. Metal stared it directly in the eyes and pointed the Sword of Light at it, and began powering up an attack of his own. Somehow, despite being destroyed, the image of Nintendus appeared behind Metal, as the will of all the Questers past, present, and future could be seen flowing into the weapon.
Kuja gawked. "What... what is this? You're... you're a moron who cannot think a single coherent thought! Your stupid planet and worthless companions cannot... cannot overcome! My world, my powers... those were ALWAYS SUPERIOR!"
The Metal Man shouted in a vengeful scream "Let the combined might of ALL OF NINTENDUS COMBINED ROAR AND DESTROY EVEN THE KING OF DRAGONS!" and then released the singular fury of all of Nintendus, firing a prismatic beam of rainbows that shook the very firmament of reality at the elder dragon. Bahamut let loose his powerful flare, which for a moment obliterated the entire view of Metal... but then the view began to clear. The energies of all who had been destroyed flowed through Metal, making him an icon of something greater than any individual Eidolon. The Flare began to be pushed back, while Kuja shouted.
"No, NO! Kill him! Why are you not able to kill a single worthless foe? Why would the all powerful magic of my realm fail before the might of a worthless DEAD realm's? Your stories mean nothing, Metal! YOU mean nothing! Stop trying to exist--NO ONE WANTS YOU, NO ONE CARES ABOUT NINTENDUS!"
Metal continued to walk forwards, pushing the beam closer to Bahamut's face, as the dragon's beam fizzled out. Though instead of brutally annihilating the dragon immediately, he simply stepped forwards and spoke with an eerie calm. "I fight for Nintendus and the Questers. No two-bit dragon and fake mage could replace either of them. If this is contest of who deserves to exist, then I can say with certainty... we will rip you to shreds." The dragon was not intimidated by this; it had destroyed many planets and worlds before. It gripped onto Metal and began to try to rip him asunder-- Metal grabbed its claws with his own metallic hands and got into a titanic wrestling contest with it, as they tried to rip the other apart or at least leave the other open enough to attack the exposed breast of the other.
Kuja stared yet more, as if he'd just seen the strangest thing in his life. "You... what... but you're just a Quester!" He longed to intervene--but it took all his mana just to keep that dragon on the field!
"I WAS THE ULTIMATE WEAPON OF AN EVIL CIVILIZATION, KUJA--" boomed through the long-defunct megaphone in his suit, which he'd just remembered how to turn on, as the targeting reticules began to reappear on his helmet and an unknown civilization's logo appeared in the corner of his visor. "--MADE TO SLAY--" A momentary fracture in the Dragon's non-mechanically assisted divine power was detected. Metal headbutted the dragon in the chest, cracking one of its ribs and causing its magic flow to distort. It made a pained roar, and then went to counter with a Megaflare... and that was a bad idea.
Kuja shielded his eyes as an immensely violent explosion occurred, the dragon torn asunder by its own primal energies gone wrong. Through the burning rubble... that damned man and his Nintendus engram stood, burning tremendously through it all. While still on fire... he walked towards Kuja with violence in his eyes.
Of course, Kuja was no fool. He'd been calculating how he'd deal with this menace the entire time. The magical strands that bound this man were exposed by his showcase of his abilities. And Kuja knew precisely how to trim those. "Oh... what a pity. All those memory wipes I'd helped conspire to hit you wore entirely off. Yes, yes, of COURSE I could detect the distorted mana within you. Why else did I want to collaborate, hmmm? One rogue weapon to another, I could tell. But... even if this is your true personality, it is just a bad match for you. You were always meant to be someone's loyal machina. Not some anarchy-spewing demagogue who overthrew the Gods. The Gods who always knew better, such as I!"
"My Smash Dex knows exactly what other abilities you have, Kuja. There's no point in trying to draw this out. Throw everything you've got at me, and when it isn't enough, then I will extinguish your candle and end this dreadful chapter of SSQ history."
"For once, we agree! Begone, foul tainted one! ULTIMA!"
There wasn't actually anything Metal could do against Ultima. He was obliterated, without a trace. Kuja stared again, making sure his cursed existence was gone. For the moment, it appeared to be true. Though... the mage was uncertain. "...There has to be a catch... unless he was bluffing? I never knew him to be a poker player..."
And indeed, he wasn't. Instead, the entire room began to shake violently, and... time and space was itself shattered for a moment. Metal stepped out of a rift that occurred back when he was hit, but took a moment to get back to the present, causing antimatter shockwaves to rip the entire already mostly destroyed study and Iifa tree to ribbons. Kuja was thrown outside of the area clear, as he watched the expanding sphere cause the sky itself to shatter, and the ground (what had been left of it under the tree) to also split apart. Pieces of everything were thrown everywhere, as Metal casually picked the Sword of Light up again from a random piece of tree it had been stuck in, then hopped down to where Kuja had landed with a nice and loud SLAM.
Kuja dusted himself off amongst the chaotic mess. "You do know I can conjure another study, right?"
"Can you?"
Kuja went to prove his point, but... the engrams for the study were gone and corrupted. As was that of the Iifa tree. He felt the absence as if it was never there, and clenched his teeth. "Why you..."
"You should be careful who you kill. It might actually be worse than just incapacitating them. Just a helpful suggestion." He summoned the engram and walked towards Kuja yet again.
The mage hated to admit it, but whatever on-death effect his foe was using would only ruin more of his stored engrams. So he made sure to modify his attack for this next one--to simply knock his foe prone and deprive him of usage of any of his limbs. "COMET!"
But Metal was no longer playing around. He reached into the mana itself and redirected it, causing ripples in reality. The Comet slammed into Kuja. While the mage stoically stood there and was not thrown, he definitely was running out of options. "You knew this would be used... so show me how you plan to counter ARK!"
The immense dragon-ship flew into view, targeting Metal with all of its various sensors. Metal's own sensors scanned ARK back, and formulated his own plan of defense. ARK launched his missiles, blanketing the sky itself, as they all flew down towards Metal. Metal... took out two large silver pistols and began shooting into the air with insane precision and speed. No--he literally accelerated the rate of time on his person such that he existed in a moment of stopped time. The missiles exploded before they ever reached him after an incredible shower of blue lasers intercepted them. For a moment, Metal stood there, wordlessly expressing his contempt as fragments of destroyed missiles landed everywhere.
Of course, ARK was a dragon, and there was one thing dragons liked to do -- fire big mouth-beams. And unlike Bahamut, ARK wasn't going to fly up close and give Metal access to his person to damage him. Kuja spread his hands out, mockingly. "So... you survive the initial blast. So what? I instructed him about your little cheating manuever earlier. You'll never reach him no matter what you do, Metal!"
Metal silently took out the Star Board. He remembered what Star Steel had told him long ago. He flicked a switch on it, connecting it to his reactor. And then he flew.
The beam of ARK was almost fully charged... then ready. ARK locked on fully and went to fire... but the target was now flying towards him at faster-than-sound speeds. The sonic boom threw off the targeting a bit and the initial fire only hit Metal in the shoulder, damaging his arm enough to make his left arm nearly useless. The correction of the aim then blasted off Metal's helmet and slashed his forehead. But he wanted to render Metal unable to attack further, not merely damage him. He aimed for the limbs much more directly...
Metal clenched his right fist and concentrated, moving to protect it above all else. The beam's glances hit his foot, lasering it off, damaged his remaining foot, took out a left knee joint, shattered one of his chestplates, and another burned his face and left him nearly blind. Still, even as all seemed lost, he forged on. Kuja for his part summoned his own energy streamers to try and take out Metal. Metal's vision dimmed, as he was hit over and over again; clearly, he would be KO'd quite soon, as even the unknown country's targeting reticules vanished from his in-eyeball implants. But there was one voice there that he saw...
He could see even without seeing, the mana of the dragon-ship... and Star Steel, guiding him there. Kuja himself stared in disbelief. "Stop that man! He's barely even alive! You could kill him in an instant, why aren't you at least knocking him out of the air! Did the ancient Spirans somehow forget how to do less-than-lethal warfare when they built you? Get him now before he kills us both!"
Meanwhile, Metal saw Star Steel. The faint, ghostly entity pointed to the volatile power core of ARK, and then said in ghostly tones, "It's almost over... just a little bit further... then we can be free of this..."
ARK powered up at full power, preferring to ignore Kuja if it meant it could avoid the hideously high mass of metal from impacting it. Even KO'd, Metal was likely to kill it, and its self preservation programming outweighed its masters' cruel intentions. It fired its beam directly at Metal, and that should have simply forced a repeat of earlier, drawing the battle out ever further, but--
Before it could fire, Star Steel pointed a path only he could see, utilizing the faint wake of aether left by the dragon's movements and the resulting beam. Metal moved to intentionally use the force of the beam to richochet his body and Star Board directly into the dragon. A painful experience, but in the blink of an eye...
ARK was blasted straight through by an out of control Metal Man weighing still around a ton, straight in the reactor. He fell from the sky and fell to pieces in an atomic explosion. Somewhere nearby, Metal also fell, not in the best of body either. Kuja shook his fist and, despite his better judgment, walked to the craters.
There he beheld the one-legged, one-armed, un-helmeted partially-exposed chest reactor Metal struggling to get up near the extremely dead ARK. He chuckled to himself. "So... there IS a limit to the bravado. You may refuse to give in, but that doesn't mean you can win against me. I still have Eden and Neo Bahamut and Leviathan."
"It... is true that you have more backup in that sense than I do. But it isn't... people who have the most firepower who always win."
Kuja scoffed. "Really? Even a man who can weaponize his own death to potentially trick me into destroying my home realm cannot win if I play my pieces properly. Meanwhile, you use one dire last stand after another to minorly inconvenience me. Pitiful. I realized after all this time a spell I learned when I first was created could have saved me all this trouble. I read the tome for it on the way here, since I'd long forgotten it. It's true; I can't do anything about you. If I kill you, you come back. If I brainwash you, you eventually break free. But if I just left you here..." His lips curled into that smirk again. "...Then even if you mastered interdimensional travel, I could ensure your friends are never anywhere for you to find them again. I could ensure I too am unfindable. Then you could relish this 'victory' forever... alone, as you always should have been, you defective shipwreck!"
"But what are you really, Kuja? Are you even the one known as Kuja?"
"I beg your pardon, malfunctioning wreckage. You think I'm not?"
Metal took out his Smash Dex, threw it at Kuja's feet, and began playing out scenes from the life of the known actual Kuja. About his creation, his life, his struggles with Zidane. And most importantly, his redemption.
Kuja watched... then kicked it away. "Bah! Obvious fabrications meant to trick me when I'm about to triumph over you once and for all!"
"Think about it... what were you even doing before you came to our realm? I showed that I had a history, forgotten by me as it is. Where is Zidane? Where are all of them? When you've won, is there anyone or anything that even will care about you other than your mindless slaves?"
"I... ...don't care. It doesn't matter!"
"Then why did you care about bringing that to our realm, you said it was superior to us in every way? How can those people both be superior and not even worth mentioning or bringing to our realm in the first place?"
"...I was talking about the SPELLS, you moron!"
"So is that all there is... spells? Nothing else? No people. No relations. No friends. Nothing?"
"I..." Kuja tried to remember, but there was nothing there. "I..." He thought about who he might've been doing this for other than himself. "...The Questers will be benefited, and I could work with THEM, just not you..."
"The same people you ridiculed such as Julian? The ones who can only please you by dying horrifically? You would enjoy working with them, really?"
"I..." He paused some more. "I can't believe I've almost fallen for this nonsense! A single sleep spell, and it could be over! Yes! I think I will use that right now!"
"You really are that afraid of understanding why you do this, Kuja? You'd just cast sleep to try to run away from it?"
"No, no, no! I don't hear it anymore! Go away! Sleep!"
Distracted by this discussion, Kuja's concentration slipped. The spell did not land, as a ghostly hand helped Metal stand up, and he begin slowly stumbling towards Kuja. "You can't run away from your lack of a past, no matter how many bodies you throw into the chasm where it should be."
"Sleep, dammit! Begone! BEGONE!" He cast the spell much more, and Metal began to droop, but was held up again by the presence.
"I... *yawns* I... admit it, Kuja, my hatred has been extinguished. I now only have pity. For someone so afraid of their past they'd destroy entire worlds to get away from it. I was close to doing that once myself out of self-preservation, and I've been regretting it ever since... *yawns again* what... what's your excuse?"
"You... you! You won't leave me alone! Why! Why do you not leave me be! My plans are better than yours, my world is better than yours... I have always been better than YOU in every way that mattered. I was the true person who should have led the Questers! Me! And me ALONE! Why do you people meddle in my plans? Why do... why do..." He began to see glitches in his vision. "Why do I have to..."
Metal began to use the Sword of Light as a crutch, as he continued to approach. "Why do you have to do this in the first place, Kuja, is the question you should be asking yourself. Who is making you do this... why not do literally anything other than this?"
"I... I don't know... I came here from another world that was destroyed... as a ghost, to make it the way it must be. It ought to be! It... it..."
"You were a ghost that became solid, much like an Unsent. Whatever purpose you had in your previous life is gone and--"
"Of course, that is why I must lead! Why I must..." He trailed off. "I don't care about this theoretical nonsense. I can just knock you down and leave, yes."
Metal grabbed on to Kuja when he went to leave, staring him in the eyes. But more importantly... irradiating him fatally with the reactor. "Perhaps knowing the truth of your existence is meaningless to us both, but putting an end to it... now that is something we both need. Let's be free, Kuja. Free of this meaningless curse you've brought upon us both."
He could taste the metal pins and needles in his mouth, an unfamiliar reaction, as his body began to malfunction and shut down. He coughed blood as he shoved Metal away. "CURAGA! ESUNA! ...What... what is this? What are YOU?"
"...I... thought your magic knew everything? Shouldn't you have detected the threat I posed? And then just cured it instantly? Your spells are superior to everything I could do... according to you, anyways..."
"No, you were... a doddering wreck of machina!"
"People die in industrial accidents all the time. Do the machines that kill them have to be in the best of shape or quality?"
"Pity, once this body dies, I'll just move away as a spirit and reincarnate again. Unsent or not, whatever I may be, my objective will not be stopped. I will control... I will..." His material body expired, falling to the ground, as his soul remained there. "I will begin again, as I said I would, and your friends will be my puppets to make me real again. It's just that simple. You never could stop me in the first place."
Metal nodded. "I actually couldn't. But what does it matter?"
"What does it matter? Do you understand how pointless this all has been? All this destruction... all this..." He trailed off as he saw all the spirits of the beings from Nintendus gathering about him. "..."
"Never was your body the foe. Both your body and my body... expendable objects we both murdered time and time again without effecting either of us materially. It was always the soul that actually mattered. And now... you're trapped in here with us. The people you butchered."
There Kuja could see. The Questers he killed, the inhabitants of Nintendus who were slain by Gerald Robotnik's death virus. The countless victims of Kuja's rampages and Quester Hunter organization. NOVA, SIMBER, and the various AIs he subjugated. Not to mention the various Solarians he had used. And the now countless dead Stadium staff and Smashers too. At the head of them was Ivan Robotnik, who had been the hapless administrator of Eisnaught. He pointed at his two eyes, then at Kuja, and made a wordless gesture.
The mage's spirit clenched his fists. "I... was ALWAYS... the true leader of your realm, Metal. Destroying me... will NEVER... change that fact!"
"Strong words from someone who said the only way to change Nintendus was to kill the Questers so his preferred people could take their place. So in your own words... Time to Die, Everybody!"
Metal pointed and gave the order; the furious spirits of Nintendus charged as one, with but one goal: to annihilate the one who had tormented them so. Kuja's indignant reaction to his words being used against him were lost in the fray.
The ensuing melee annihilated Kuja's soul, leaving it in so many fragments even a master of reality manipulation could never piece it back together. If it ever really was Kuja to begin with...
Metal beheld the destruction with a million mile stare. He himself was torn apart and barely alive. He looked at The Book and realized the predicament he was in. "Well... shit. I won, but how am I to make any of this make sense..." He fumbled at the ground and picked up the Pen from Kuja's corpse. Then he stumbled again, having lost too much of his blood--well, more like his combination antifreeze and lubricant--to function. In his desperate state, he considered even destroying himself so he could rubber-band back. But... that required energy he did not have.
"Is... is this it?" He stumbled and fell, but something caught him. No, wait... it was someONE.
"Oh, that is not something my pupil should say." Standing there with the orange cape and red eyes, it was Illian. He steadied Metal, and then looked at Kuja's corpse and smiled. "You succeeded, did you not?"
"I don't know the first thing about how to control this pen. And I had to destroy the instructions, because all I could see within was evil control mechanisms no different from... what we fought against long ago, if my distant clouded memories are correct."
Illian sat Metal down on the destroyed stump of the Iifa tree, then chuckled. "Exactly. So we just simply do not use it the way it is intended. Oh... I will do a few things... hmmm..." Illian cast a spell, and casually understood the workings of The Pen. "Yes... Time Cop Construction, it's just like their other devices. I'll take care of it."
"Wait. Shouldn't it be dangerous to be around the radiation from me? And... all of what Kuja said about you..."
"All Entirely correct. People are pieces on our chessboard. And I can already taste the effects of the radiation. But as for Kuja... Well, he made one mistake..." Illian pointed at Metal. "You were always my secret weapon. I couldn't get rid of Kuja permanently, but you did! And I am so proud of you. But you really do still need me to bail you out at times. Don't worry about that radiation." The waves of Crystal Purification rebuilt Metal's chassis and put him back in good order; Illian's magic had saved him yet again. "See? Good as new, both you and I."
"But I care about many of those people, Illian. Nintendus..."
"Is some past fiction we don't need to care about anymore. They served their purpose; they erased an undying unsent soul who had invaded from an unknown location. All this before he could potentially kill you or detect and interfere with me. Do you not understand? Those Nintedus people were all like Locos. Locos was a lunatic bent on killing ME and my entire kind over superstition planted in his head by Zeromus. His fondness for you only could exist because you're not a Solarian, but that's it. A genocidal maniac like him deserved his death a million times over! I could go on, you know. Don't get me started on people like--"
"He wasn't always that way--"
"Ah, yes. The more enlightened Charles Magellean, who merely saw the appearance of Solarians as a reason to go into a blood rage and speak Klingon, a language he shouldn't even know about in the first place. Indeed, I only know that language because I once visited 'Earth' and saw it... on the televisions they have there. ...Yes, a very civilized character people should have around and want to be with. But it is moot. You personally killed him, and that is over, my thoughts are just as ancilliary as those about Kuja. The Book, now, it beckons. Shall we play another game of chess, you and I?"
Metal blinked in confusion. "Wait, you and I?"
"Kuja was an inferior opponent. He beckoned me to play, but I had already beat him so decisively, all he deserved was that horrific worse than death fate you and the horrific remnants of Nintendus gave him. But now there is quite the opportunity! You and I, Metal! We can figure out who was right. I will make a world of horrors and hatred, and you can try to rescue it the same as you did Nintendus. If even the slightest good comes of this, then I will have lost, and have to perhaps give you some consideration on that 'people who matter' part. After all, this Book is so powerful. We COULD bring them back... but maybe alter the world so it isn't so annoying, you know?"
"I... I don't really think that's the right way to handle anything, Illian."
"Oh but it is. I mean you saw what happened when you tried to REASON with KUJA." He laughed derisively. "Nearly died! Had you instead headshot him mid-speech with phazon and then killed his phazon-corroded corpse, it would have been so much cleaner. Oh well. You'll learn... you'll see." He wrote several lines into The Book without even bothering to ask. "Oh, and those Questers, I am not fond of most of them. Don't mind if I cause most of them to leave, go insane, or die." He wrote carefully into The Book, these instructions. "Yeah. That's much better. I have some much more evil people who I think are better foils for you... I think I'll attract them by the dozens. Maybe allow an entire team of devils, demons and horrors to be the Questers instead. Think of it, no restrictions, no limits. They ought to be far better at killing than those morals-considering overthinkers. Mmmm. Yes... bring Panzer back and let her truly ruin some people's lives and end all the others... that's a much better world. You know, there's some other people I want to die that will probably try to interfere... I hope she or the devils kill them."
But Metal had begun to walk away from him, slowly moving towards The Book. His once mentor had taken on a strange hue as he continued to maniacally chatter to himself.
"...Kill entire civilizations... create people who want nothing but killing... redefine the creation of the Time Cops just so that we can kill them later on... ...yes... Majora's Mask... it's what I need to complete the plan... improved Chaos Emeralds... better Robotnik... hmmm... who knows what could exist if I let the planet just evolve a bit without my guidance after the initial conditions are set? ...Huh... there's some pre-existing words left in here... well, I can't seem to erase them, shouldn't matter. Now then..." He turned and saw Metal picking up The Book. "...Yeah, flinging my words at it isn't very efficient, bring that Book a bit closer Metal, I think I have some new powers I could add to you. Maybe make you able to become some super powered monster that eats people, or perhaps you can shoot eye lasers. So much possibility..."
"Illian... we started this journey to end tyranny, but you appear much more interested in bizarre details and demonic death rituals than helping anyone anymore. Did something happen?"
"Oh, I just saw how wretched people are for real, Metal. Why do you hold such misplaced faith in them? They are always going to fail you. Don't you remember what just happened? Kuja claimed to be helping, but he was actually some sort of fiend who needed to be slaughtered. Did you hold faith in him? ...But we can always help eachother. See, I even came here to help you."
"You let Kuja nearly murder me yet again."
"I already beat him, Metal! If you couldn't beat him with more of your memories back than the last time... well you deserved to die in that instance. And die you did! But you did the thing that beat Autumnus again. It's so splendid!" He gestured to the holes in reality permanently etched into Kuja's now abandoned realm.
"That's not the right way to handle these things... I've begun to realize..."
"Ah. Well, like I said, I'll just have to write some more into The Book for our battle!"
"No. I'm going in there and halting this madness, once and for all. Or dying trying. The people of Nintendus deserve better than to be forgotten. And the people of this new world will need saving, too." He grabbed the book fully, and vanished, leaving Illian standing there with the pen.
Illian stared at the gap, then shrugged. "When he inevitably fails and gets booted out here, I'll just kick his ass for mildly denting my perfect plans. I already went inside and made everything the way it ought to be before he could pull that stunt, anyways. Kuja got one thing right, he is such a foolish person. But I'll beat the foolishness out of him with what's inside that Book, I swear..." He walked by the wreckage and then stopped at the edge of the reality. "You know how it is, Illian always wins. And no matter how loud you scream, they can't hear you... only I can!" As Illian bizarrely stared to a fourth wall none could see, then warped out, leaving the curtain to fall on the ruined realm...
...And a new one to open, revealing the world... of ALSA.
SSQ^2 BEGINS