Hey there!
I've got a special gift for you!
From: An anonymous benefactor
Message: #14) Gamma Meets Alpha
A shadow had descended on the world of Gaia. All was in turmoil. The dark God Nyx was freed and wrecking havoc, threatening the very existence of those who called the land home. In a desperate scramble, the shopkeepers came together to pull their resources and devise a plan. It was decided, with Brennivin's help, they would draw strength from all willing to lend it and project it upon Gino - the only one capable of sealing the deity once again. The towns evacuated, their citizens relocated to focus their ambition in one grand, unifying effort... Among them, your mind empties of all distractions, priming itself on the sole intent of defeating Nyx...and restoring the land to its former glory...
Meanwhile, in the heart of Barton, a worried soul investigates a deep trench of destruction that carved a crooked path through the city. The streets were barren under a gray sky. The girl, better known as Solsi, the Radiant Anon, bent down to study the sweltering chemical burns. They melted the pavement of the streets and sent a toxic odor into the air. Her nose crinkled from the assaulting fumes. The burnt rubber was starting to harden, but she couldn't get too near it. She stood up again and took a long, slow scan of her surroundings. Cars were welded in half, their metal frames curdled in a bulbous fashion around the cleave. The fallen bricks of nearby homes and businesses looked like lumps of wet clay. Something devastating had been here, and recently.
Moving quickly and cautiously she followed the trail of carnage to the city limits where it spread unabashed by any public structure. A cold shudder ran through her body and she hugged her arms, following the winding path with her eyes till it disappeared on the horizon. Blots of hot fire ate away at the still-living grass in the west field. Whatever passed through was strong enough to ignite it. She didn't have much time, but as and where she could she gathered large, flat rocks and smothered the flames as she progressed. Heading north, she suspected the war torn path to lead to the hands of Nyx himself, but as the Great Wall of Gambino rose in the distance, a very different figure came into view...
A man brimming with energy had his back to her. A lump started to form in her throat as she realized who it was. He was back, but he was different. He had grown somehow taller, and his physique was noticeably broader. He didn't appear stronger...more like...swollen. The radiation he emitted flared in short, erratic bursts like a balloon ready to pop. A balloon, or a grenade... He hadn't noticed her. Her eyes flew ahead to his assumed destination. Her heart nearly stopped when her sights settled on the Warp Portal. If he was allowed to reach it...there was no telling what would happen. Summoning her wand into her hand she shot a blast of light between him and the contraption. His feet stopped in the grass, leaving dark scorched prints in his wake. The longer he stood in one place the closer the blades got to becoming flames. There was an ominous pause, and he slowly turned. Solsi could feel the air wobble as he moved to acknowledge her.
"You," he said darkly, the only dark part of the glowing, green giant. His once juvenile voice had deepened and developed an echo it provided itself. Goosebumps formed over the surface of her arms as the reverberation lapped against her several times. Memories instantly flooded her of the time they clashed at NPCon. He'd managed to escape the battle and catch her unawares several weeks later on her way to visit a friend. He had changed then too... Whatever transformation he was undergoing had clearly gotten worse. Phantom sensations warmed her skin painfully. The last time...she'd barely walked away from... To see her now, his expression was unreadable, but she detected a very real sense of fury. "I thought I disposed of you." he said simply, so simply it was terrifying. She swallowed hard. "Think again."
He started toward her. She leapt back, trying to maintain a safe distance. His aura was thick and destructive in a wide perimeter around him. It felt as though she'd disintegrate just by falling in too close a range. She grit her teeth. "You can't stop this," he informed her with force in his words. "All will come into fruition." What was he talking about? Nyx? Some kind of prophesy or plan? No... His eyes told all. It was just the insatiable rantings of a madman convinced of his own jibberish. "You just can't see the big picture." Her feet shuffled backwards, channeling her fear. Part of her wanted to run, run far and run fast...but the rest of her knew, it had to stop here. If it didn't... She didn't want to...she just couldn't think of it.
Suddenly a surge of neon energy parted the air. Instinctively she ducked and rolled out of its way. She could feel a blast of sweltering heat surround her as if she dodged a hit from a flamethrower. Her palms dampened and she fumbled with her wand. Squinting hard she fired back a determined beam of light in his direction. Gamma puffed out his chest and took it head-on without complaint. His breath hitched a moment, but then he laughed. "Is that the best you can do? Pathetic." The Radiant Anon picked herself up. "You wish." Running around him in a wide arc she let loose a rapid fire sequence closing in from nearly every angle. With a careless sweep of his arm he not only did away with the beaming crescent but he unearthed a boulder to come tumbling down in her direction. "Ugh~" She grunted as she sidestepped the rock at the last second. Gamma didn't even try to move. As it barreled toward him next he merely raised a fist and the whole thing crumbled on impact. Despite the momentum, it didn't take more than a tap of pressure. Solsi's eyes widened. She did not want to wind up like that boulder... Without granting herself time to panic, she stormed him directly, building up a protective aura around herself as she ran. The two locked arms. Energies collided, and she could see his face clearly, but everything around was a blur. One eye squeezed shut as she grappled with him across the field, refusing to cave. "I...don't know where you're headed...but I'm not going...to let you near...that portal!" This she vowed. Gamma's casual eyes widened in surprise. "What now? Oh, I'm not going to use the portal..." he corrected with an escalated interest. "I'm going to assimilate it..."
Her heart sank. "What?" Gamma was already grossly unstable...if he was able to somehow merge with a device that traversed space in the blink of an eye, the whole fabric of their world could come undone. And Gaia already had its hands full dealing with Nyx... She had to give Gino a fighting chance, and put a stop to this. His grip tightened drastically. She could feel the light barrier coating her skin begin to weaken. Burns in the shape of his hands began to sizzle across her shoulders... She could feel her resolve evaporating into the air... Just as she was about to collapse, a glistening trail cut through the cloudy sky. The brightest star yet descended valiantly - escorting itself rather than being delivered. Her eyes locked upon it, and her body froze. As it neared, it turned out to be not one, but several. Their combined glow was intercepted by the rocks of the Great Wall. Solsi strained to keep her footing as the cluster landed. They merged to form a figure standing out against the horizon, a man she recognized from her high school mythology class. Perseus the warrior beamed on the ledge, only the faintest hint of his features able to be discerned. In one hand he held a sword, in the other...he held it up. Medusa's severed head. She winced slightly. She was looking right at him, and she knew he saw her. She gazed at him pleadingly and waited for him to spring into action, to relieve her of this burden, each agonizing second stretching out into eternity... But he did not. He offered only the gesture.
It slowly dawned on the magical girl that he was not there to save her. Well, as slow as it can be when time stands still. She blinked, casting her eyes back on Gamma, and in that moment, time and reality caught up with her. Her muscles tightened, and brow turned furious. "You are...bad light!" she cried at the top of her lungs. Drawing from reserves deep within herself, down past the furthest floor she knew her heart capable, Solsi beamed a light so bright it out-shined Gamma himself. His boiling insecurity accelerated. Like a contained explosion each of his molecules burned ruthlessly away in her arms. He tried to retract, but she held him in place, subjecting him to all the torment he willfully cast on others. His body was sent to bubbling - swelling and popping over and over until it finally parted ways altogether...and there was nothing left...but fumes in the wind...
Her light started to fade as it felt comfortable to. The residue of his rampage still littered the ground, but nothing more. He was gone. Like waking from a trance her expression turned from rage to terror. Her knees buckled and suddenly she was sitting on the ground, watching the last of the small fires lap listlessly in the breeze. She'd done the right thing...right? Beat the bad guy? So...why did she feel...so bad...? She'd always read about heroes growing up. She'd done more than that...she rooted for them...she envied them...but, now, those stories became real, and she was faced with the harsh, conflicting reality. Was a hero just a villain...to the villain? Maybe that didn't matter. Perhaps she was over thinking it. Maybe the world just needed her fists, plain and simple. She looked down at them. She...didn't want to hurt anyone...even the bad guys... Was that wrong? Suddenly, a hand placed itself lightly on her back, jolting her from her thoughts. Solsi looked up. The warrior Perseus was standing beside her with a sage, knowing expression. His eyes cradled her gaze with something a lot like sympathy. He didn't breathe a word, but, in a way, he didn't have to.
The townspeople kept their focus on defeating Nyx, drawing strength from all their fondest dreams and most passionate life goals. The way was paved and clear, the future spread out before them, before you, a light shining in each and every citizen.
<3,
Radiant Anon Solsi
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