The Insurgent Leader was sitting in the armory, running the newly forged Muramasa over a wheel, cringing as sparks flew from the friction. He was hoping to sharpen the sword even more before he confronted the Overlord again. When it had snapped into two during the last real fight (he didn't consider the fight where she had been powerless an actual battle but more of a 'struggle') with the Overlord, he hadn't had much time to really prepare the new version of Muramasa. But now, he knew it was flawless.
"Eric's back," Insurgent Agent popped his head in. "He doesn't have the Overlord!"
"Doesn't?" the Insurgent Leader frowned, looking back at the younger Insurgent. Agent was one of his two heirs that had recently been selected from the ranks. Along with Norris, Agent had been a promising recruit from the beginning, and upon hearing that the Overlord had already selected an heir if she were to die in battle, the Insurgent Leader figured it was best to be safe than sorry. Norris, he imagined, was out with some of the other troops, maybe for a drink (though the Insurgent Leader certainly hoped not) or maybe for some extra battle training.
"No, he says the Overlord has powers again!" Agent replied, "The Nemesis is debriefing him right now. But they need you to be there!"
"Understood..." the Insurgent Leader nodded, rising from his stool and sheathing Muramasa. He took a few steps forward, but felt himself sway on his feet, overwhelmed by exhaustion. As Insurgent Agent reached out to catch him, the Insurgent Leader grabbed the wall instead, his eyes wide in shock. Glancing down at his right hand, he ripped off his glove to see some odd black symbol etch itself into his flesh. In terror, he gasped, holding his own hand away from him and unblinkingly staring at the dark mark. He felt his skin twitch and spasm, but suddenly cease moving, the black symbol remaining on his skin. A few moments later, the Insurgent Leader realized he felt normal, the sudden fatigue having left him.
"Insurgent Leader!" Agent shouted in horror, "What's happening!?"
The Insurgent Leader covered his hand quickly, then pointed at Agent, "You didn't see that." He said blandly, then began to step outside. Agent caught him by the arm, beginning to protest. The Insurgent Leader shoved him away, then began storming down the hall, a flood of thoughts invading his mind. 'That's not normal...' He thought in fright, 'What if Agent tells everyone that I'm sick? Am I sick? I'm not sick! I can't be sick!' He pushed the doors open into the throne room, huffing a bit disdainfully as he went. The Fortress was always so cold nowadays- all because the Nemesis decreed that it must be so. Why, the Insurgent Leader had no idea.
The Nemesis was standing next to Eric, looking rather dismayed. Pharisee was a bloody mess, clutching his wounded arm tight to his chest. The Insurgent Leader cast a gander at the still perfectly frozen Theurgist, but tore his gaze away regretfully. "What's going on?" he demanded, his dark eyes resting on the Nemesis.
"Your general has failed to bring me the Overlord," the Nemesis growled, sitting down exasperatedly in his throne. "As has Pharisee. They've appeared to have had their asses get handed to them... By a bitch."
"A ... what?" the Insurgent Leader asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No... It wasn't a bitch," Pharisee interrupted.
"It wasn't?" the Nemesis raised an eyebrow.
"Well, technically speaking, I suppose she could be called that..." Eric muttered under his breath.
"It was a witch, sir," Pharisee corrected the Nemesis.
"A bitch witch?" the Nemesis asked.
"Sure," Eric nodded, "We'll go with that."
"So you were defeated by a POWERLESS Overlord and a bitch-witch," the Nemesis remarked, "Further hampered my plots, allowed the Overlord to not only reach the Sanctum, but receive a blessing from Jesus Christ. And then, you both were promptly defeated by her because she had reinforcements. And you two are so pathetic that you came crawling back for medical attention?" He tutted, then added, "Pharisee, go fetch the Rebel Commander. Tell him that I need to speak with him immediately. Actually, while you're at it, bring Blondie, too." As Pharisee sulked off to go fulfill his duties, the Nemesis turned to face Eric, a malicious glint in his eyes.
The Insurgent Leader stood there awkwardly, trying to remember why the Nemesis needed him to be present. "I can go find the Overlord," he suggested, "I know all of her secret bases... I know where she'll be hiding."
"It's no mystery. She's still at the Sanctum. Jester has set up a surveillance on the army already. They're building a campsite right where we want them," the Nemesis said passively, "You're to stay here, Thomas. Until I say otherwise."
"What...?" the Insurgent Leader stammered.
"I'm not an idiot. I know your connection with the Overlord," the Nemesis said lightly, his armored head turning to look at the stunned Insurgent Leader. He chuckled, then added, "So typical. You even look like her when you're angry. Like right now." Ignoring Eric's confused expression, the Nemesis extended a hand, summoning a large, blue-crested sword. It floated a few moments, then landed in his grasp. Looking over the blue-gray blade, he added, "I would not put you in charge of hunting the Overlord even if there was no other way."
"I signed the contract! I won't betray you!" the Insurgent Leader yelled.
"And you may find, when the time comes, it will be hard for you to stand by and watch as your sister-" the Nemesis began.
"SISTER!?" Eric gaped.
"-is brutally defeated by MY hand," the Nemesis finished calmly, "But that is a conversation for a different time. General Eric, I... will allot you one last chance to defeat the person who ruined your life." He offered the blade to the Insurgent General, a cunning smile behind his helmet. Eric reached out and grabbed the hilt of the sword, feeling a sudden surge of magic strike him. He took a deep breath, trembling uncontrollably as a thin line of light blue magic wrapped itself around his hands.
"W-what are you doing!?" the Insurgent Leader took a few steps forward, grabbing the hilt of Muramasa as he did so.
"Stay back!" the Nemesis barked, then glanced down at Eric, "You will defeat the Overlord... Bring her to me... And you will not die. This isn't a wish, Eric, it's an order. A command... One that you will be forced to obey. And if you should refuse..." the Nemesis let his voice trail off for pure dramatic purposes, "I'll let you imagine of all of the wonderful things I could do to you to make you suffer."
"Ew..." Eric commented. Standing off to the side, the Insurgent Leader facepalmed.
"You now have ice abilities... Because I am so generous," the Nemesis stepped away from the General, "You will take Blondie and all of the Insurgent captains along with the Rebel Commander. Tear the Sanctum forest to the ground until you've destroyed their camp. Kill the Underlings that refuse to cooperate. And bring me the Overlord- alive and ripe for the picking."
"Ripe for the...?" the Insurgent Leader facepalmed again.
"Yes... Sir..." Eric stammered, looking at the sword with the blue gem in its pommel. He sheathed it, swaying a bit on his feet. "I'll do whatever it takes." The Nemesis smiled and patted Eric on the head fondly.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
---
Sitting on a log next to the Overlord's Sanctum, the Evocator played with the purple ruffles on her black pinstripe dress. She glanced at where the tents had been set up, the Underlings lining up the ravine with their newly established campsite. A series of torches lined the middle of the ravine, lighting up the woods while it began to grow dark. The Sabotage Team was having quite a blast playing with one torches and a bottle of bug spray. The Evocator managed a laugh as China pressed down on the bug spray bottle, the mist hitting the flame and causing a large jet of flame to rush out. The Captain and the Lieutenant were immediately intrigued by this and began to attempt using a container of hairspray on another one of the flames. It took the Advisor's berating to get all of them to stop making miniature flame-throwers.
Emily, who had miraculously not been calling herself the Overlord, had been attempting to help the Soul-Keeper set up a tent. She appeared to have been having difficulties, only due to the Animal Tamer clinging onto her as she tried to set up a pole. The easily-distracted Soul-Keeper (who had not yet forsaken the dress despite complaints of seeing his pasty white thighs) was using one of the poles to dance on, much to the Ninja-Lord's displeasure.
"Would you please take that dress off!?" the Ninja-Lord exclaimed in frustration, "No one wants to see that!"
"I'll take it off! I'll take it all off!" the Soul-Keeper shouted back.
"No... I mean... your robes... PUT YOUR ROBES ON!" the Ninja-Lord yelled.
The Evocator smiled to herself, knowing that things were fairly normal despite the bizarre circumstances. The only thing that seemed missing was the Theurgist's witty statements every now and then. She sighed, glancing at the water and reaching down and poking at it with a stick.
"You really shouldn't poke Jesus," the Scribe said from where he was sitting on a large rock, somehow able to get internet reception on his laptop, "I'm sure he doesn't appreciate that."
The Evocator startled, gave the Scribe a bizarre look, then put the stick off to the side, "Probably right." She nodded, then stood up, dusting off her dress, then catching sight of Emily's shorts. For some reason, she hadn't noticed them before until now, but realized that her other clothes had gotten dirty and wet from falling into the Sanctum. Narrowing her eyes, the Evocator spied two words plastered on the backside of Emily's shorts- bright pink in contrast to the black material. The Evocator had to stifle a laugh as she read the words aloud, "Get low."
"Shhh... She hasn't realize it yet," Fabio whispered, putting a finger to his lips.
"That's awful..." the Pet commented, but giggled all the same.
"What's it say?" Fish asked, then blushed, "Oh......" He facepalmed, then glanced at the Evocator, turning a shade of red. "I didn't think she'd get those shorts..."
"The Soul-Keeper saved them especially for her," Prussia commented with a snicker.
"How typical," the Evocator laughed, stepping away from the Overlord's Sanctum. She looked at where a large 'Overlord's Army' flag waved in the center of the camp, recolored so where it was no longer red. Instead, it held a green hue, different from the powerful crimson that the Evocator was used to seeing. "We changed our colors...?"
"She's going to give a speech," the Ninja-Lord walked over, glancing at where Emily had finished setting up the tent. Upon glancing at the top of the tent, she noticed a large sign titled, 'THE DUNGEON', and facepalmed as the Soul-Keeper walked into it, singing a 'Angel of Music' as he did. "That'll be the last tent we can fit in the ravine. We don't want to give our position away..."
"If we haven't already," Fabio remarked sourly.
"Underlings! And friends," Emily turned away from the majority of the army, ignoring a few sniggers as the words on her shorts were read. As she glanced at them all once more, they silenced themselves, standing at attention. She hoisted herself up over the Overlord's Sanctum, standing above the sacred pool. Her eyes moved to the Evocator, who stood in the midst of the crowd, gazing at her with determined brown eyes. "Today, we begin anew. We've set up camp, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say that this army is more suited for a fortress than a ravine."
"Aye!" the Captain hollered.
Emily chuckled, arms folded as she looked down at the army waiting at her feet, "When I said that I gave up my title, I forgot one important thing. And that is that I lost a friend in that battle against the Nemesis. I was scared... that I would lose some of you as well. But I realize now, that even if we run, they will always be after us. Until we're dead or we're nothing but slaves ourselves! He'll keep sending troops after us, whether we call ourselves by titles of grandeur, or if we denounce everything that we are." She took a deep breath, letting the information sink in, "I'd rather protect my friends as they have protected me, than run off and let them fend for themselves. And I don't say this as the little ninja that defeated the Uberlord. I don't say this as the weakling that forsook all of you. I say this as the Overlord!"
There were a series of cheers, the Soul-Keeper lifting his staff in triumph. The Overlord held up her hand to quiet the crowd down, "So the Nemesis can consider this an official declaration of war. But the fact is that, by ourselves, we cannot defeat him or his collection of allies. We are too few in number. Therefore, beginning now, the Overlord's Army is to seek out warriors capable of matching the Nemesis' forces. Warriors that will benefit us greatly... It will take some doing, I can assure you, to build up an army that can match this... As they would call themselves, Dark Ice Brotherhood. But nothing is impossible. I refuse to believe that the Nemesis is invincible. I refuse to believe that it is in our destiny to sit on our asses and do nothing!" She exhaled loudly, then finished, "It is in our destiny to rise up, and, I can't even believe I'm saying this, fight the evil that has manifested itself in my negligence."
The Overlord cast her gaze out at the crowd, catching sight of a bluish-green form on the far side of the audience. She recognized the semi-transparent form, but couldn't take her eyes off of it. "Theurgist...?" she whispered, so quietly that the others couldn't hear her. In a blink, he had vanished, and she found herself staring at nothing.
"We'll get the classics on our side! Like... Chuck Norris!" the Lieutenant called out over the crowd's racket.
"CAN I HAVE KARAOKE POWERS?" the Apprentice yelled.
"And Jason Bourne!" the Captain chimed in.
"What about the Spartans?" the Ninja-Lord suggested.
"More ninjas," Kunoichi suggested.
"We could get dragons!" the Grasshopper exclaimed excitedly.
"Soul-Keeper!" the Overlord called, "What's angrier than a mother bear, more irritable than a stubbed toe, more stubborn than 20 donkeys, lies more than a pathological liar, and is scarier than PMSing woman?"
"... A band director?" the Soul-Keeper guessed.
"Good enough!" the Overlord hopped down, landing on the shores near the Overlord's Sanctum. She took a deep breath, and smiled, hugging the Soul-Keeper tightly. Casting a gander at the Evocator, she caught her approved gaze, and grinned. 'The Nemesis won't even know what hit him after this,' the Overlord thought. But as she looked at the crowd, she caught an anxious look from the Witch, who was staring up at a tree near the Sanctum. The Overlord turned and looked in time to see something run off.
"Spies?" the Overlord asked the Witch quietly.
"I'm afraid so," the Witch answered in an equally quiet voice.
"And?" the Overlord asked.
The Witch closed her eyes, then whispered, "There's something wrong. I see... Three girls, trapped on a boat. There are DIB forces closing in on them... Em... It's Jamie!"
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