Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You're about to see for yourself" Kokujo answered Reishi's query, falling silent as the memory began to play itself out.

Through the misty trees and the patter of the rain, a soft sobbing could be heard. As the illusion of the temple finished manifesting, it could be seen coming from a small boy, kneeling hunched over on the grass. Beside him was a worn looking packing knife, it's razor point - stained with blood that slowly seeped in small streams into the surrounding dampness - and a couple of bodies, lying collapsed around him. The bodies faces were blurred, indistinguishable, their identities seemly either long forgotten by Jack and Kokujo, or simply not cared for to begin with.

"I killed them..." the boy half choked out through his sobs, seemingly to himself "I killed them both". There was a odd edge to his words though, they sounded less like distraught lamentation, and more a reassurance that what he had done was indeed true.

"So are you crying because you regret killing them?"

Another voice, a darker and somewhat amused sounding tone, one that would ring familiar to the Lunar Hope crew. If he had not spoken, one might have not even seen the dark figure, hiding in plain sight amidst the darkness and shadows on the dripping trees. Kokujo... just as he was those seven years ago. Watching from the side, present Kokujo clenched a fist in restrained anger - disgust even, as he looked upon the vision of his former self. The arrogant, corrupted shell of a human being, that self assured sneer as the past version of himself stepped forward, becoming more visible as he gazed down at the crying child. Yet Kokujo could only stand and continue to watch.



The boy took his hands from his face, not seeming to even care about the mysterious appearance of the shadow man at his side. Even though with time and madness Jack's face had been twisted, the likeness stood out enough to be obvious. Was this how Jack and Kokujo met?



"No... I had to... they had to die" Jack sniffed, looking forlornly down at his own blood-stained hands, still trembling. His voice, through broken by his tears, seemed eerily collected, accepting fully his situation. "I just couldn't stand it any more" his brow furrowed from grief to anger "Those bastards... I would have happily run them through again"

"Heh, so then you cry because you fear, the consequences of your actions?" The past vision of Kokujo seemed entertained by this.

The dialogue at least had stifled most of the younger Jack's tears, or perhaps they had just melded with those pouring from the sky above. He scrunched his face in a scowl, a look of pure hatred welling in his eyes to replace the tears that now dried into the redness of his face. "What do they know about me?! I know what they'll do, they'll point at me, call me a murderer, a criminal, tell me I'm insane! They don't understand anything, those hypocritical adults! They refused to do anything, it's their fault this happened!" He appeared on the verge of a second decent into tears "They won't accept it, why can't they accept that some people don't deserve to live!!?" He shouted, as as he did, he twisted round, as if to yell the words defiantly up at whoever this person beside him was. He halted suddenly as he caught sight of Kokujo, frozen in a mix of fear and awe at the dark interloper smirking down at him, the shadows around him seeming to shift and swirl like the figure was the centre of some kind of unseen gravity that the darkness itself bent to by sheer force of his presence. Seeing the one he'd been speaking to seemed to snap young Jack back to reality, like he had just realised he wasn't speaking to himself or some crazy dream and the voice had been real.

Past Kokujo leaned over a little to make eye contact with his single grayed eye, though there was the feeling, even through this projection of the past, that there was something else watching the boy, from behind the band over Kokujo's other eye.

"Of course" Said Kokujo "Of course they won't understand, they won't acknowledge that the world is full of scum, of darkness, because they're afraid" Kokujo's nasty smirk split into a rather unsettling grin "They're so weak and fragile, and that makes them paranoid 'I don't want to die' 'what if he kills me too?'. They fear death so much, that it drives them to obsession. They fear the sins of others even as they justify their own as a means to safeguard their own greedy interests. they enclose themselves in their little bubbles of hypocrisy, and they'll never accept that others deserve death, because, what if one day it's them?" Kokujo let out a chilly laugh "The only way to truly be strong in this world, is to make the pain and darkness within it, a part of yourself". Past Kokujo extended a pale hand downwards to Jack "I like that look of hatred in your eyes, I can see the darkness seething freely within you. I am Kokujo Atradeus, follow me, dedicate yourself to my service, and I'll show you how to tear this world and its petty 'justice' down" He glanced at the small nametag on the school uniform Jack was wearing, as it was momentarily caught by what little light refracted its way through the blanket of drizzle around them "What do you say... Jack Egor?"

Jack gazed down at the dampened soil for a moment, thinking, though not for too long. He gazed back up at the past Kokujo "It's pronounced; Igor..." Jack reached out and grabbed Kokujo's outstretched hand "Kokujo-sama" his face now set into the disturbing, sadistic grin of his current self.

Suddenly, the rain and greenery was gone, the memory seemed to morph and distort, changing to another time and place. There was a the shrill sound, the clack of a wooden hammer. Ornate wooden stands and throngs of faceless suited figured morphed to life from the flowing energies, a court room of some sort. "Jack Igor, you have been called today, at the behest of the Gaia Supreme Court, to answer to charges to wit: Multiple accounts of homicide, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against Gaian citizens, practice of necromancy-"

"I plead guilty, on all charges" An older Jack, looking more the age he did now, looked up. He didn't even wait for the judge to finish, he simply grinned at him in his unstable manner, but if one were to look closely, they could see the anguish he was trying to hide. "I don't care... I enjoyed what I did, I enjoyed every second, everyone I killed, every moment of fear and pain, I made it a part of me... all for you" he finished in a hushed tone, it seemed he addressed not the judge, but another.

Kokujo watched the proceedings, hidden from the view of any prying eyes, but Jack knew he was there, watching, sneering self-importantly at him like he always did.

"My invisibility spell doesn't last forever you know" Another familiar voice, this time female piped up from Kokujo's side. Isilvara yawned boredly, making a show of covering her mouth in hopes to draw Kokujo's attention to this fact "It seems like an awful waste though, I never really liked that silly little human, but he was quite a loyal tool" Izzy said, shifting her weight and moving a slim hand under her chin in an elegant thinking posture.

"Very well then, Mr. Igor. For your unremorseful and heinous criminal actions, this court has no other choice but to sentence you to death. Effective immediately, you be incarcerated in Death Row pending the administering of your sentence" Another bang resounded as the Judge once again brought his gavel down.

"I don't really care, a tool that breaks is no use, regardless how useful it was in the past" Kokujo shrugged back to Isilvara, making a good effort to ignore her usual vain gestures "In the end, he was just a fun experiment. He's far too unstable to use any more. But it's kinda funny, don't you think?" He turned his head towards Izzy "When all's said and done he ends up right back at the situation that he feared the most to begin with, except now, the consequences are far worse than if he had simply given in from the start" A gleefully mocking laugh followed "I do enjoy a little good Irony, don't you?"

"Why of course, Kokujo-sama, such useless people deserve no less" Isilvara replied with her own, more politely restrained chuckle, though made no attempt to make it seem any less mocking.

Kokujo turned with a billow of his dark wispy coat to exit "Indeed, but just don't forget..." he began, cruel smirk unfaltering "That applies to you as well, should you prove too weak".

Isilvara simply met his sinister words with her own defiant smile "Oh? And what then, if I end up surpassing you? Kokujo-sama?" She suggested slyly.

Kokujo simply laughed once more, as if the idea was preposterous to the extreme. To think, anyone could challenge him. "I really do appreciate your sense of humour Isilvara, but in any case, you wanted to tell me something before?"

"Ah yes, I saw a very strange man last time I was in the Chatterbox region. 'Animanga Man' or something. He claimed to be a super hero, sounds pretty fun don't you think? I sort of want to have a better look" Izzy reported.

"Super hero? Hah, sounds ridiculous"

The memory ended at this point, fading away back into the grimy industrial steel of the workshop.

*Kold watched the scene with Jack. Watching past Kokujo made him draw parallels to Yokoshima. Manipulating weak-minded people to do his bidding. It's reminiscent of how Lady Ruby did everything for Yokoshima only to be thrown away when she became unstable.*

"Isilvara? Animangaman? That takes me back..."

*Kold knows Horizon is going to sample his memories, and welcomes it this time. Kold briefly recalls several events. It's different than the previous scenes because Kold isn't focusing on them, but rather the chain of events from Kokujo's introduction to the Guardians of Gaia. The scenes flash by quickly, lingering just long enough to catch a glimpse of something familiar until it morphs into the next memory. A few words and phrases can be heard in the mix as well. They're very contextual, so only those who were around at the time will remember.*

"Isilvara! You're my sister!"............."You STILL have that same hairstyle, Korudo-kun? Don't you get tired of that?"............."Evildoer! What do you think you're doing here!?" "Relax Animangalad. Welcome Kokujo. Join the party."....."Welcome to the Neko Noodle Hut! I'm MelonCandy. :3"...."No thanks. I don't need a teacher."..........."Take this! All of our combined power! The Genki Dama!"........"Skeith and Innis, eh? Hmph, how annoying. To deal with them, I'll form an alliance with you...for now."........."For Justice! And Pocky!"......."Kyla, can I have a room for the night?" ".....Kold, you don't have a body right now." "Shut up! >/<" ...."Kold is incapacitated. Ha ha ha! Enjoy the afterlife, fool!"........"'Jade'"........."You're pissing me off! Isilvara's always going on about how powerful you are. Stop boasting and bring it already! I'll kick your a**."................"I finally won....! .......hey....what's happening to you...?! What is that thing...?!" "Yes..you are correct to fear me, for I am Corbenik!"........."Mint tea."..........."I am the OVERDUDE! PH334 M33!!111!"

*Kold focuses and tries to not let his nostalgia take too long.*

"Kokujo. As far as I know you don't have personal reason to hate Yokoshima as much as the rest of us, but you do anyway. Could it be because he reminds you of how you used to be?"

*he addresses Jack* "I still don't really get how Kokujo tried to kill you there. Or is there more that I'm not getting here?"

*Kold still waits for Kokujo to answer his question about how much involvement Kokujo wants from his allies in this case. But before he can ask again, Reishi gives his speech...not really sure how to respond to that. He turns to Kokujo to see how he handles it first before saying anything about it. Though he is glad Reishi is giving Kokujo some sort of support. It's rare to see Kokujo so obviously bothered by something after all.*

Raiden stands silent. With nothing further to add. Either they will have to fight Jack, or they won't. Until that's decided, he readies himself for either situation.

Light a fire to the fang that cannot be reached. So that I do not have to see that star. So that I do not slit this throat.

*Kyla recites her personal mantra as Hien's sheath vanishes in coils of crimson flame. At first, Kyla considers keeping with her usual strategy of waiting for her opponent to move...but this time, she decides to take a risk. The idea is to try and create an opening for the others. An angry scowl appears on Kyla's face.*

Nobody...nobody refers to me as Kokujo's minion.

*Her expression changes to a broad grin, and she says something that she hasn't said in a long time, feeling very much like her old self*

Don't underestimate me.

*Using golden step, Kyla vanishes in a flash and re-appears right behind Jack. Flames flicker on Hien's blade as Kyla slashes horizontally upwards.*

*Reishi looks disappointed, but not surprised.* "I see. You have convinced yourself that your way of thinking is the only way, and you choose to live for someone else. Though I suppose the idea of trying to surpass Kokujo is more than I would have expected at this point. Perhaps someday, there may be hope for you after all. Remember my words Jack Igor, someday they may help you rebuild that foundation to stand on your own. Even if you have given up on peace for yourself, I have not."

*Reishi glows pale green, preparing his ghost summoning*

"This world is one of lies, and the only truths we have are what we choose to believe in. The ones you have chosen for yourself stand in our way, so this conflict is inevitable."

*He raises his hands to the sky, then bows dramatically. This appears to be part of the summoning process. His breathing becomes labored. This particular ghost summoning seems to drain a vast amount of energy from him*


"Supreme Ghost Summoing: Queen Persephone."



"You...who are you again? 'Ray-Sheet' or some drivel? Such audacity. A mere amateur has brought us here. You cannot even conjure properly. We resemble a mere Ghost Princess, let alone the true magnificence of Persephone-sama. High matriarch, beloved Queen, and powerful specter." *she sighs* "But we are not without patience. Speak. What trifles must we endure?"

*a rather depressing yet royal-looking ghost appears. She looks around and crosses her proverbial arms while looking at Reishi. Perhaps Reishi has had difficulty in the past controlling her. Unlike all of the other ghosts Reishi's used so far, this one has an attitude and a voice...a very condescending voice.*



"Your highness, I am still far too weak. These people are important to me. It's imperative that they reach their destination. I would have not thought to call you if I could do it on my own, and your power would certainly be invaluable."


*Persephone looks to Jack and makes a repulsed expression.*



"Horo horo horo horo...." *she laughs to herself* "A mere child thinks he can bargain with us? A dangerous move. However, we acknowledge your determination. You seem understand the gravity of this audience. You have amused us...but mostly we wish to remove that stitched meat creature over yonder. It is an eyesore. We are unsure if it warrants even an insult."

*Persephone enters Reishi's body (oh my....), and Reishi's appearance changes. He becomes somewhat of an Avatar of Queen Persephone in a humanoid form. It's still Reishi's body and personality on base levels, but they're combined with the spectral monarch's themes. It's a symbiotic relationship between her soul and his body.



"Soulbiosis: Spectral Monarch."

With Queen Persephone active, Reishi's ghost summoning is temporarily powered-up. In exchange for this power boost, Reishi's healing factor is severely limited. He can still heal automatically, but the amount of damage he can take is far less before his body becomes paralyzed.*


"With this power, I should be able to do this. High Ghost Summoning: Hillenberg the Soaring Netherlander!"



*a spirit conjures in the form of a ghost skeleton pirate. A pirate whose bones are made of ghost-"matter". He raises a proverbial eyebrow to Reishi, but shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "Fine....I was bored anyway". Hillenberg vanishes, then reappears to Jack's left side. He swings his spectral cutlass and a flood of ectoplasm emerges and rushes towards Jack. Think of it like a wave on the ocean, picking up speed,power, and size the more it moves. The wave collects the surrounding ghosts as it goes as well, adding to it. Since it's a spectre wave and not bound by the laws of water and gravity, it's not limited to the ground....though it's essentially the same basic idea. It will drain the energy of whoever it touches and add it to Reishi's. With that one technique, Hillenberg vanishes. Even with the boost, Reishi's not powerful enough to control a ghost like that for more than 1 technique per summoning (like a pre-Final Fantasy X summon).*


"High Ghost Summoning: Varia."



*a robotic-looking girl ghost appears and creates barriers around the Lunar Hope crew to protect them from the energy-draining wave of ghosts. Though it will only last until the wave ends, and only against the wave itself..not Jack's attacks.. Perhaps she was once a great hero in super-advanced space armor whose storyline was plagiaristically similar to the "Life Form-Not-From-Here" science fiction movies by Lidlee Scotch.*

Jack watched as Kyla drew her sword, preparing to strike. His attention was quickly stolen though, as he heard Raiden's comment. As the massive Veeb rose from below, it's head practically knocking on the ceiling pipes of the cramped workshop, Jack just seemed to drop his stance. His arms flopped to the side, and he gave Raiden possibly the most disappointed look that a psychopathic maniac could give "Glitter and fashion sense? But... I can't make diabolical undead minions with thaaat...".

There was a whoosh and the sound of slicing as Kyla's blade struck home on Jack while his guard was seemingly down. Despite hitting Jack with the full force of her attack, Kyla's blade had some trouble slicing through, creating only a shallow slash wound across Jack's back. It was like Jack's body was made of something tougher than regular human flesh.

"Heh" Jack's nasty smile sprung back. His hand shot out, just in time to catch the blade of Hien as the diagonal slash exited his body. His grip was vice-like, stronger than someone of his seemingly slight complexion should ever be. Even though his hand bled as he held the blade against Kyla's own strength, Jack hardly seemed to care. Heck, he seemed delighted with his new injuries. He didn't seem to be a zombie, but this reaction surely wasn't right for anyone alive.

"Tsk, attacking me from the back. How nasty, how horrible... good on ya!" Jack said gleefully. With a twist of his body he practically dragged Kyla by her sword, shoving her between himself and the wave of wailing specters Reishi's summon had unleashed. Kyla wouldn't be hurt, but the shield Reishi put up to protect her would act as a wall between Jack and the very piratey attack.

He whirled back round, raising an arm towards Veeb as the air blasts approached "Steel Shadows" he declared, using an old favouite of Kokujo's. Taking a portion of the abundant darkness in the grim workshop, he hastily fashioned it into a makeshift half-dome barrier. The wind attacks would be buffered enough that the punch-like blows would do little to phase Jack as they impacted off his stitched up body. "Don't think I'm like you, constricted by this human form, my experimentation on myself affords me certain perks" The Glacial Magnum punched through the shadow barrier and Jack quickly shifted, the projectile just skimming past his head. A hand was brought up, cupping around the sphere as it flew, bringing it round, redirecting it with its own momentum "I've given myself the reflexes and agility of a cat" He tensed as he curved the orb round in an arc, like a shot put, bracing "And the muscle fiber of an ogre" he said as he hurled the glacial magnum with a tremendous force at Kokujo.

Kokujo was gone though, fading into the shadows as Kold's redirected attack smashed through the patchwork metalwork in the background. "How foolish to create a conduit for me..." Kokujo was suddenly back, phasing out of the very shadows Jack had used. Jack took a defensive stance, raising a hand in a claw-like motion to counter, but Kokujo simply dashed past him, trailing a hand briefly through the shadow wall Jack had summoned. The dark energy shifted and twisted as Kokujo commandeered it from the less experienced shadow user. The blackness now swirled around Jack, morphing into shadowy stands and they encircled him and then quickly taking solid form again into sharp, cruel edges, razor wire. Kokujo stopped a little ways to Jack's side, clutching two ends of the coiling shadow strands "Kingsnake Razor" Kokujo tugged sharply on the two ends, causing the coils of shadow wire surrounding Jack to suddenly constrict inwards, aiming to catch him in the centre, and simultaneously cut him to shreds.

Jack's unnaturally enhanced reactions saved him one more though, sinking into the shadows himself just as the dark razor wire whirred by overhead, cutting through the nearest metal pipes like butter with their serrated edges. Kokujo was apparently prepared for this however, jumping into a back flip over the patch of darkness Jack had retreated into. As he came down, the shadow wire changed form again, streaming to him and condensing for a short moment into an orb in Kokujo's hand. Kokujo slammed it down, forcing the energy into the shadow portal Jack had left.

A few meters away Jack burst out from the shadows, apparently ejected by the force. He was followed by an array of dark blades, though like Kyla's own sword, the edges seemed to scratch off Jack, as if deflected by the sheer density of whatever nonsense Jack had packed into his own ragtag body.

"Hahahaa~ Nice shot Kokujo-sama, your skills with the darkness are as potent as always" Jack backed off a little, jumping up onto a piece of the old machinery. "But you lot just don't get it, not at all. You're all so limited, with those silly natural bodies. You need to spend time pushing yourself and training and all you can achieve is limited by you shell, your race, your evolutionary traits" Jack was all mad smiles as usual "But I found a way round that. Instead of slaving away like a lemon for diminishing returns, I just take it from others" He ran a hand across some of the stitching on his face "And add it straight on to myself. In this body, I've collected the greatest strengths, the finest attributes, of the most powerful creatures in all Gaia. All of their strengths are mine now, and soon, yours will be too!". As Jack ranted, he moved to flip a large breaker switch with his foot. The machine he was standing on buzzed to life, seeming to send jolts of energy out through suspended wiring to other parts of the lab. "And you know what, I discovered the best hobby ever in the process" Jack stated, as horrifying, shambling apparitions began skulking and groaning out of the metalwork towards the crew. Undead creatures, seeming to be created from stitched together bits of - well - just about everything. Animal, humanoid, insect, and some had parts that didn't look like they even should belong to anything living. "Making these Chimeras out of the spare parts... master Faust is a bit OCD, so it's super amusing...". Well, now things started to make a little more sense. The stitches on Jack, the creepy body parts in jars, who knows how long the man had been taking 'parts' from hapless victims of Faust.

As the animal-people-zombie-things lunged haphazardly to attack the Lunar Hope gang, Jack leapt from his perch, coming down in a powerful falling kick towards Reishi. He must have figured Reishi, as the groups support and resident ghastly stuff expert, would probably be the most danger to his creations, so it seemed he was looking to take him out of the picture first.



While Jack was spouting about how awesome he was, Corbenik had climbed up Veeb, and was sitting next to Raiden. He prodded him in the ankle a few times to get his attention, and then a few more times just to annoy him a little "Heeey, hey fruitroll, look over there" He pointed a fuzzy digit towards Reishi "Reishi's wearing a man dress... a maress?... a mess? Whatever, buuuuut you do man-dresses too right? Riiiight?" Corbenik waggled his eyebrows in the most conspicuous way he could muster "And you know how you ditched that one camp music dude-who-you-might-have-actually-had-somethin'-going-with-but-you-were-a-retard-and-he-hates-you-now? That guy? Yeah, weeeeell" Corbenik made very obvious head motions in the direction of Reishi "He's maybe dead, sort of possessed and like, a bajillion years old but, just sayin'. Just super sayin' man..." he hinted, though maybe not so much hinted as bludgeoned Raiden with the suggestion "All the more experience, all the more skeletons in his closet..." Corbenik stopped to think about that for a moment "Actually I'm not even sure what I was hinting at with that one, but I'm sure someone somewhere would find that suggestive" He assured himself.

*as the Glacial Magnum touches his hand briefly, the piercing coldness of the frosty mass begins to quickly freeze Jack's hand down to the bone. He may have avoided the brunt of the attack, but cryomancy doesn't need to be 100% precise for it to work. Kold focuses to speed up the process.*

"I don't care how strong your muscles are, they'll freeze and rot just as quickly."

*Kold notices several chimera surround him. They close in to attack at the same time.*

"Icespadas: Typhoon Stance." *Patches of ice form underneath the chimeras, then flicker. In that moment, large ice swords rise from the ground and pierces the chimeras where they stand. Each sword is about 8 feet tall, and about 3 feet thick. It's a refined version of the Ice Pillar attack Kold used a while back. Instead of ice stalagmites, they're in the shape of swords. Though it seems Kold may have more than one "stance" for this new technique.*

*One of the chimeras breaks free, managing to avoid being impaled. It appears to be a man bear pig combination. It roarsqueals, though it almost resembles a lecture about the dangers of global warming. While this is going on, the ManBearPig chimera slashes at Kold with bear claws and people thumbs.*

"Whoa, I didn't think those were real. Go figure." *Kold dodges and cuts off the monstrosity's thumbs*

*The creature is outraged, and has lost what remained of its humanity. For you see...the thumbs belonged to a famous controller pad player in a worldwide fighting video game tournament. Those thumbs spent countless hours practicing, and eventually prevailing over people with arcade joystick controllers. They became legendary appendages, to those who cared. With those gone, the monster has no human qualities and begins to rampage. No one but you will know his suffering.*

"I don't know what your deal is....but I don't have time for this..."*Kold makes a frozen puddle, and the chimera slips and flies towards Veeb's foot while looking very sad.*

*Kold takes an offensive stance and rushes Jack while he's distracted by Reishi. He forms ice under his feet and thrusts himself forward with a Slip Dash. This is done silently, like a ninja.... ninja *

*An ice pillar forms below him and launches him into the air. ((kinda like in inFAMOUS Cole can do that with his ice powers.)) Kold prepares a diving battou slash from a 45 degree angle at Jack's 7 o'clock (back-left-ish), only drawing when he's within range. Kold seems to be falling slightly slower than he should, and it's hard to tell...but it's almost as if Kold's slightly transluscent. There's a drip of water that falls from the blade as Kold slashes.*

*The ice pillar continues to gain momentum, and also changes shape. It now resembles Kold. This Kold looks more solid and is gaining momentum more quickly, altering his trajectory slightly for just the right angle. He mirrors the air Kold's movements, but on the ground. A shadow of frost, clearly inspired by a friendly rival.*

"Eis Doppel." (Ice Double)