Apocalypse Device

Florence was walking through the woods, minding his own business, when out of nowhere a large green gateway appeared. A familiar looking figure tumbled out of the other side and the gate vanished just as soon as it appeared. Florence looked at the figure infront of him. It seemed to be Daniel.

When Daniel finally came to, Florence asked him about the gate. He claimed it was some sort of time traveling device and that he had come from the not-so-distant future to warn Florence about some sort of "Apocalypse Device" that Gustav was about to finish.

"What about Dark?" Florence asked, "Isn't stopping Gustav usually her job? Why would you need to go back in time when you could just-"

"You don't understand. If Dark could've stopped the machine, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Could have? You mean..."

Daniel nodded solemnly.

"But how do you expect me to stop it if she couldn't?"

"Well, it isn't active right now. If we can destroy it before it's finished then no one will die."

Florence wasn't too sure about all this, but he agreed anyways. He only did it for the good of the world. If the weapon was really as powerful as Daniel described it could easily be a doomsday weapon and something like that in the hands of Gustav was not a good thing.

"Say, where do you think Gustav gets all this stuff anyways?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like, he always has some sort of evil device that he inexplicably obtained that causes nothing but disaster. How does he manage to keep getting his hands on all this stuff?"

"Do you have any examples?"

"..." Florence thought for a moment. "The Oracle for one. I guess he sort of took over the facility, but the rest of the things he has are just unnatural. And now he just sort of has a weapon of mass destruction?"

"I guess it is kinda weird."

By now they had arrived at the lab. Upon entry something else occurred to Florence.

"How are we supposed to find this thing anyway?"

"I know where it is. There shouldn't be any guards either. After the war Gustav lost practically everything."

And so Florence followed Daniel through the corridors of the lab. As they ventured further in Florence began to feel uneasy. It was as if they were being followed, but each time he glanced over his shoulder he saw the emptiness of the winding passageways. He began to wonder how long it had been  since this place was used. Perhaps it was haunted by the spirits of the people who were experimented on.

As a Reaper he was obligated to help lost souls pass on, but he didn't sense anyone nearby and he couldn't see them either. There was just the feeling of being followed. A large rusty door soon came into sight. Florence picked it was probably rusted shut, so he pushed it open forcefully.

The hinges snapped and the door fell forward with a loud slam. Florence looked at Daniel for a moment. There were no indications that anyone had heard the noise so he began to relax a little. At that moment an alarm went off.

"Intruder alert!" An automated voice called over some sort of intercom. Loud noises echoed from both sides of the corridor as large door fell from the roof to seal in the intruders. The doors weren't metal, but rather some weird material that seemed far more difficult to break. It only took moments for Daniel and Florence to get sealed in.

Florence examined the door for a moment before hitting it as hard as he could. The impact had no effect on the door, but hurt his hand considerably.

"What do we do now?" Florence asked. "These door don't seem like something we can just bust down."

"I suppose we sit here and wait." Daniel said. "And since we're probably going to die here anyways, I suppose I can tell you the truth."

Daniel began to mutate and change unto he looked exactly like another familiar figure.

"Gustav! I should have known. This was all some sort of trick. A plan to prevent me from stopping your ultimate doomsday device."

"No, you have to listen to me. I was being completely honest when I told you that we have to stop that device. If we don't-"

"If we don't stop it, the person you've being trying to get rid of for years will be dead. Why exactly would you not want that?"

"You don't understand. After the machine kills everyone, something horrible happens. She is unleashed upon all the world."

"She?"

"Yes. Once all of my enemies are gone, she says that she has no more use for me and leaves, taking the Apocalypse Device with her. Of course, once she left I could finally look at the world in a less jaded way. I realized that what I had done, what I've been doing my whole life, was wrong. I had to go back and stop her from destroying the world, as well as to make sure I didn't kill anyone else."

"So what you're saying is..."

Loud footsteps could be heard, most likely from the floor below.

"Who was that?"

"How should I know?"

"Well, based on the direction they were going and the speed they were running at, I'd say they were headed to the doomsday device. So, since you are Gustav, who gets there first."

"... Daniel I think, but he doesn't last very long."

As noise like an explosion echoed from further ahead. The flames came into sight not long later, melting through the doors as if they were cheap plastic. It was obvious that if those came into contact with Gustav or Florence they would be killed instantly. Florence sent up a barrier of Grey energy all around them and braced for impact.

The wall of fire hit the barrier with such great force that Florence was practically knocked off his feet. Fortunately, the barrier held just long enough for the flames to die down. Florence got back to his feet.

"I take it he's..."

"Yep." Gustav said. "Poor boy. He never stood a chance."

"Well I'm not letting anyone else die on my watch. Come on, it can't be much farther."

Florence ran down the hall. He didn't notice that Gustav wasn't keeping up with him until he reached the room. Upon entry he encountered the Gustav from this time and a very odd machine.

"Hello." Gustav greeted him, casual as always.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I'm going to stop you once and for all." Florence said. He wasn't really feeling like small talk.

Gustav chuckled. "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but my Apocalypse Device is unstoppable. Not only that, but it's already active."

"What?!? But I thought-"

"You thought wrong." A voice came from behind him. Florence spun around just in time to take a battleaxe to the side. It sparkled with a familiar evil.

"Like it? Katra lent it to me." The future Gustav pulled the battleaxe from Florence's side and Florence collapsed. "The truth is, in the not too distant future you make a pact with Ragnarok and become far too powerful. Because of that, I had to eliminate you. The Apocalypse Device you see before you and everything else has all been an illusion, played on your feeble mind by the power of the Oracle. The fact of the matter is, I played you. And now, you shall die." Gustav raised the battleaxe over his head, but as he brought it down a divine light surrounded Florence. The axe hit the light and stopped instantly, as if it had hit a hard rock. When the light faded away, Florence was gone.

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Yeah.

Awwwwww chiz. Will there be more? Also. I'm not sure a living Dark would let Gustav actually live. Or be in a 30 mile radius.

Florence shut his eyes as a blinding light surrounded him. What Happened? Am I dead? He wondered. The last thing he knew Gustav was about to kill him. Now he was surrounded by bright light. It seemed to be the most logical assumption.

"Those who walk the righteous path shall be rewarded for their loyalty with eternal life; those who falter, those who trip and fall, those who surrender or chose the unholy path shall be rewarded also, but with eternal damnation." And unfamiliar voice spoke. "But how can one tell the difference between being forced to walk the world forever and eternal damnation?"

When Florence opened his eyes he found the light had faded and he was now laying in the forest. His wounds had healed. "Who are you?" He asked, looking around for the speaker. He found someone, standing not too far away, facing away from him.

"A messenger." They replied. "An Archangel. The eternally damned perhaps. You tell me." Florence noticed they had a large wing growing out of their back made of white feathers. He wasn't sure how he had missed it until now.

"Archangel? What do you mean? Are you a servant of Gaia?"

"In life, I was not but a monster. In death, I am the same. And yet, I have seen the light. I was one of them, among the holy servants of Gaia herself, but then, something changed. I am unsure what I am now, but one fact remains true. People hate me all the same."

Florence was confused. This story made little sense. How could a monster achieve eternal life? This man hardly seemed evil anyways. There was no way he could have ever been truly evil. No one could ever become an angel and have been evil in life, it just didn't work that way.

"Florence. You are favored by Gaia herself, and yet you would risk throwing that away. Why?"

"You know my name?" Florence couldn't make any sense of it. "What are you talking about, throwing it away?"

"In life you weren't a sinner, were you? And yet you face eternal damnation as well. Is it possible that the system is flawed. Even the others, once you know them, are hardly worthy of a second chance."

Florence found it difficult to argue. Damien and Felix were hardly saints, but Reapers took people's souls, they didn't need to be angels, did they?

"You are unfortunate. The Dagannoth would have ended your suffering if it weren't for that stray dragon, the sole survivor of a long gone species, saving your life. I wonder, would the same miracle be performed twice? There is only one way to know for sure. Regardless, if you don't cross people, how can you ever hope to gain power?"

Florence found it difficult to understand this person. There words made little sense. "Wait, are you the one who summoned the Dagannoth?"

The person turned their head and stared directly into his eyes. He froze. There was a look of pure hatred in their eyes. He also took note of the fact that their eyes were yellow. He had never seen that before. They turned away.

"It is rude to interrupt people when they are talking. That being said, my time in this plain is nearly up."

There was silence. Florence heard something like someone approaching. It was easy to tell in the forest. He tried to see who it was, but was distracted by the sound of flapping wings. He looked over to see the person had grown another wing, this one was black and looked almost like leather. They were being lifted off the ground by their wings, something which no human could ever do. A rift opened in the air and they flew into it. It closed as swiftly as it had appeared. Florence stood up.

A familiar figure stepped into the clearing. It was Cassandra. She rushed over to Florence and embraced him. He figured that since she hadn't seen him in a while she was probably worried. He also realized that she hadn't been there when he had returned to the cave previously, so she had probably missed the events that had transpired. He decided to explain everything to her, he felt she deserved that much. Of course, he left out the parts about Gustav and the device, as well as his encounter with the winged fellow.

She felt bad for him. He had expected this much. "You should go back. I'm sure everyone's over you killing Damien by now."

He sighed. "But don't you see, there's nothing back there for me. I mean, I can leave the dragon in the hands of Dark and Joshua, and that's the only real thing I've got to live for."

Cassandra looked offended. "Do I suddenly not exist anymore?!?"

"Well, I mean, you don't need me. You can take care of yourself now. Besides, even if they aren't your friends, you can count on the other Reapers. They all have ulterior motives, but they're not bad people."

"But, you can't just leave, can you? Even with nothing to live for, you can't just walk away from everyone you ever knew and act like you never existed."

"You don't understand. I killed someone. It wasn't even intentional. It just... took over. What if I kill someone I actually care about next time?"

"So that's it. You're worried. You think if you get stronger you'll be able to control your power." She sighed. "And you think that you'll be able to atone for your past."

Florence said nothing.

"Joshua told me that you've been seeing a strange man and this man was promising you power beyond belief." Cassandra looked ready to cry. "Please, please tell me you haven't sold your soul to him. It won't fix anything."

Florence looked at the ground. He couldn't stand to look at her anymore. He didn't have it in him to tell her. It was too late. He had sold his soul to Ragnarok.

She could tell by the way that he didn't answer. She shoved him to the ground. "You're such an idiot!" she shouted as tears ran down her cheeks. The words stung, but not as much as the sight of her crying. He watched her run off. He knew that once she got back to the cave she would explain to the others what he had done, the way he had turned his back on them all. He could have stopped her, but couldn't bring himself to stand.

He sat there for an undetermined amount of time when another familiar figure appeared from nothing. "Who cares what they think?" The person asked. He looked over at the girl standing beside him. He knew by now that she wasn't there, she was just a figment of his imagination that he had created to help him through the hardest times. "If they get in our way we can just kill them all."
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Combing many vague things together into one vague thing. Basically, Florence sold his soul for power. Also, this weird guy saved him and stuff. And hopefully that guy will come back at some point, but idk. Also, not sure if I clarified, but Florence and Cassandra are not dating. That would be weird.

Lol. And the girl. Remind you of someone? Someone Dark killed? Also, is the Oracle set, or can it suddenly awaken in a character (mine or yours)?

Well, the current Oracle is a large crystal made up of the harvested soul of Dragonslayers. If something were to happen to that, then the Oracle could awaken in anybody you choose.

Hmm.. someone Dark killed... I don't think I know of any of those.

*cough*Harvest*cough*

Umm, when did Dark kill her?

Back when DArk killed Gustav for the first time, after Sonya died, but before Zero.

Hmm...

Hmmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Kay.

Kaykay.

yep.

 

XD

 

:B