The Overlord Saga
Vol III. The Armageddon Prophecy
Part I - Leviathan
Chapter 1: Across the Globe
Rome, Italy. It was a tourist’s haven, the streets packed with pedestrians as they traversed the ancient city. Somewhere in the backdrop, the Colosseum reigned supreme, looming as a monstrous shadow. Roads bustling with traffic, the sidewalks flooded with citizens and travelers alike- it was a standard day. Ancient buildings stood, crumbling but strong despite their rugged appearance. The sky was cloudless overhead, and showed no signs of rain. A tiny breeze tickled between the structures, the shade at least twenty degrees cooler than the sunned portions of the road. Car horns sounded, somewhere a police siren was going off, and murmuring of different tongues filled the air.
It seemed so quaint, how the mortals walked in their ignorance. The natives with their high-classed brands of clothing, the tourists with their T-shirts and jackets wrapped around their middle... And then, the other group. Cutting through the crowds like some dagger, they walked, despite the heat, in dark jackets, sweeping the ground as if to mock the Matrix’s Neo and Trinity. They walked in a triangle formation, increasing in numbers as they went down from their leader- the starting point that seemed to dictate where they walked. Normally, the police would have a fit at the sight of such a rough looking crowd, but even they didn’t seem to want to intervene. The streets were overruled.
The leader was a girl, eyes masked by a pair of aviators that glinted with a hint of blue. Her black boots thudded against the concrete, pants tucked within the rim of her shoe wear. To her left, there was another youthful looking, black-clad girl, light burgundy hair tied back into a ponytail. Her eyes shifted around the crowds more suspiciously behind her sunglasses. Adjacent to her was a dark-haired boy, his swagger of a walk enough to turn heads (perhaps not in the way intended), half of his face concealed by a porcelain mask. Behind him, another girl that appeared to be African American, next to a tall blonde boy, who was sandwiched against yet another girl with a poof of a ponytail. Somewhere behind her, there was a boy with dark brown hair, shuffling along rather passively (well, passively compared to his leader’s aggressive strides forward), though next to a small girl with a turtle tucked under one arm (his name was Charlie) with that one hair tone where no one could tell if she was actually blonde or just had really light brown hair. The list of people stretched on, covering half the sidewalk and pushing bystanders aside rather roughly.
They spoked in hushed voices, if at all, the suspicious girl merely muttering, “Two. Second story. Three o’clock.” The leader seemed to understand, breaking out of the shadows and into the intersection of a rather busy street. Another mutter from somewhere in the crowd, “Five. Approaching from our left.” And another, “We’re surrounded.”
The leader stopped as soon as she caught sight of something- or someone. Behind her shades, she glowered over the tops of people’s heads, her eyes fixed on a man standing in the crowds, the tufts of his blonde, spiked hair sticking up. A shifty glance up and to her right and she caught sight of a wavering silhouette, the glint of metal, and her hand snapped to her side, drawing out some 2-foot, black rod from her belt. The crowd began to stir uncomfortably, the sound of a gunshot only confirming their fears- there would be a fight. With a twirl of the rod over her head, the leader blocked the shot, a puffed wave of crimson smog melting the bullet before it made contact. A flick of a switch, and a compartment on the rod slid out to reveal that it was a metallic staff.
Crowd falling away from the black-coated group, the sea of people parted between the brunette girl and the spiky-haired, blonde boy, a longsword drawn into his hand. A flicker of a smile could be seen on her face, but it faded quickly. “I’ll take him,” the suspicious one began a step forward, but the masked boy grabbed her shoulder.
“We’ll take him together,” he insisted.
“No. He’s mine. Spread around the block. Find the gunmen. I smell McCoy behind this,” the leader whispered beneath her breath.
“False One!” The Insurgent Leader declared, his voice loud in the quieted square. The two rivals faced off, the Insurgent Leader taking a few confident steps forward, “You’ve a lot of nerve, leaving your Fortress like this unguarded. Didn’t you just get it back?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?” came the snide response, “It’s the Overlord. Get it right.” A click of a button on her staff, and a scythe’s blade slid out on the staff, sharpened and flecked with old blood stains. The Overlord and the Insurgent Leader stopped walking ten yards from each other, standing amidst the street and under the stop lights. “I decided to come on the offensive... Hope you don’t mind.”
“I lured you here. You’re just falling into my trap,” the Insurgent Leader retorted.
“You’d make an awful bad guy. Rule number one... Never tell your enemy the plan,” the Overlord responded, gaze flickering back at where she could see Tinkerbell and Canada among a group of Insurgents, unsheathing their blades. The Overlord’s eyes flicked back and forth amongst the Insurgents, catching glimpses of Batman, Agent, and Idico. This isn’t all of their troops... Under her breath, she instructed, “Ninja-Lord, get Agent. Soul-Keeper, put up a force field around the battle scene. No one leaves.”
The Insurgent Leader’s sword flashed in the sunlight, swinging towards the Overlord as it emitted two swooping, black beams. The Overlord knocked them away with her scythe, charging forward and jumping into the air. Taking up a defensive position, the Insurgent Leader watched as the Overlord came in for her landing, tip of the scythe bearing down upon the rebellious warrior. He jumped back, the scythe sinking into the concrete. A horizontal swipe yielded no blood- the Overlord ducked in time to send a hefty fist into the Insurgent Leader’s stomach. Winded for the moment, the Insurgent Leader stumbled back, allowing the Overlord time to haul her scythe from the ground.
Just like the good ol’ days... The Theurgist’s voice rang in her ears, a haughty laugh drawing her focus away from her rival. Jerking back into the present suddenly, she blocked the Insurgent Leader’s sword, back-pedaling to draw him away from where the Ninja-Lord had Agent pinned against the ground. Grappling in hand-to-hand combat (both had forsaken their swords), the Ninja-Lord’s iron grip (pun intended) held Agent fast into the ground, his spinal cord pressing into the cement. Gunfire drew the Ninja-Lord back suddenly, back-flipping and landing safely on a lamp post. Glaring up into the shadows of a building, she caught sight of another gunmen, her metal hand producing a pair of clawlike weapons from between her fingers. Leaping at the building, she grabbed a hold of a ledge on the second story, claws digging into the side of the building as she made her way up to a balcony.
Further gunfire made the process quite tedious, as she realized that there was some Insurgent yielding a machine gun that was facing her back. As a bullet clanged off of her iron hand, she began to slide downwards, sparks soaring every which way from her claws. Looking over her shoulder in horror as a red dot lined its way onto her chest, she began to push from the wall, back-flipping once more. There was the sound of something being fired- and then, an explosion. Heat seared her mostly covered face, throwing her back to the ground. Landing with a thud, the Ninja-Lord used the momentum to roll away from the building, gazing up at it as it began to sink into the earth.
“Ha! They hit their own building!” the Animal Tamer laughed, scratching Nard on the top of the head. His response was a simple stare, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
From the fifth story, the small form of Norris came flying out of a window, arms flailing in the air. Though his scream tore through the air, it was outmatched by another explosion, shaking the foundations of the building across the street. The forms of the Rebel Commander struggling against the Lieutenant could be seen. A shout from the top of the Colosseum could be heard as well, loud and booming, “THAT GUY!” The Captain, of course, pointing a finger at the Rebel Commander. Sometime while the Insurgent Leader summoned a platform to catch Norris, and while the Lieutenant began to sock the Rebel Commander in the face with a fist, the Ninja-Lord had locked blades with Agent one more time, ears still ringing from the explosion.
The Advisor was, in the mean time, having a shoot out with McCoy amidst the same building where the Lieutenant and the Rebel Commander were having their epic smack down. Norris had landed on the ground and was firing occasionally at where the Advisor was located, behind a window that led to a very confused, terrified office of citizens. McCoy grabbed her by the shoulders, throwing her through the glass and into midair. Grabbing onto the railing of the fire escape, the Advisor hauled herself (robes and all) over the safety rail, panting heavily. “I told her... this was a BAD idea...” she complained rather huffily.
“Well, this is fun,” Fish glanced at the Animal Tamer, one of his chains dangling Tinkerbell upside down. As the Insurgent struggled to get free, Fish merely tightened the chain, flicked his wrist, and sent the Insurgent launching into Canada. The Animal Tamer’s staff met the side of Norris’ head, though received a nasty gash in return. Fish immediately directed his attention to the Insurgent, charging forward and grabbing the small Insurgent with his clawed hands, lifting him up into the air.
McCoy came flying through the window after the Advisor, landing on the fire escape with her. The Advisor hopped over the rail, casting him a frightened look, landing on another balcony and firing as she did so. McCoy ducked, one of his hands holding onto his hat. As he began to jump after her, a lightning eagle came crashing into the wall next to him, its cry as loud as thunder. He caught a glance of the Evocator as she directed the eagle to strike again, its talons seeking the Insurgent’s throat. McCoy fired wildly at it, ducking away from its grasp. The Advisor used this time to get to the ground level, her shoes hitting the street rather gracefully next to the Soul-Keeper. “They’re everywhere! We ought to go!” She insisted, tugging on his sleeve.
“Er... The Overlord told me not to...” the Soul-Keeper began, casting a glance at where the Overlord was clashing blades with the Insurgent Leader at the front of the Colosseum. “I mean... If things get bad, then maybe...”
“HELLO. Look around, Soul-Keeper! Things are pretty bad...” the Advisor persisted. She cast an odd glance at where the Apprentice was fighting alongside the Grasshopper, the former’s stereo blasting a very passionate ‘Blow Me Away’ by Breaking Benjamin. She glanced back at the Soul-Keeper, eyebrows raised.
“I errr... Oh... Uhhhh...” the Soul-Keeper scratched the back of his neck, “I mean... OH, LOOK, A DISTRACTION!” He pointed behind the Advisor, who promptly turned around. Darting away in his flowing, dresslike attire, the Soul-Keeper was immediately lost amongst the chaos.
The Overlord and the Insurgent Leader had reached the pit of the Colosseum within minutes, dueling within the shadows of the ancient marvel. You know... I never understand why you picked a scythe as a weapon. I mean... Look at it. It’s rather clunky if you ask me, the Theurgist sounded bored. In response, the Overlord thought back, You bored? Wanna take over for awhile and I’ll start critiquing your life for a change. Oh wait... You don’t have a life. The Theurgist’s indignation could be felt rather strongly. Was that supposed to be ambiguous?
With a smile, the Overlord said, “Yes.” Hooking Muramasa’s hilt with her scythe, the Overlord flipped the blade out of the Insurgent Leader’s hands, watching as it flashed through the sun and sank into the sand on the far end of the Colosseum. Pointing her scythe at the Insurgent Leader’s chest, a smirk crossed her face, “Now, I win!” She said rather lightly, taking a few steps forward. However, the Insurgent Leader was not done. Crouching to the ground, he punched through the sand, a darkness spreading throughout the Colosseum as mist did, grabbing at the Overlord’s legs.
“Or not,” the Insurgent Leader grinned, a shock wave through the earth sending the Overlord to the ground.
“This is rather... unpleasant...” the Overlord tried to stand but found that arms of black mist were pressing down against her. Struggling against the vapors, she grabbed her scythe, attempting to use it to haul herself up.
“Oh dear...” the Soul-Keeper remarked, standing in the doorway of the Colosseum, “I... Uhhhhh... H-hey... Overlord? Do you need any help?”
“I’M FINE!” the Overlord snapped, making a slicing motion with her arm. “Incidere!” A gash in the mist formed, an explosion of black and fiery red dispelling the fog. She rose, licking away a droplet of blood that had formed on her bottom lip and glared at the Insurgent Leader defiantly, “You’re mine. You’ve always been mine to take down...”
“I feel special,” the Insurgent Leader retorted.
“Oh... You are,” the Overlord charged forward, scythe in both hands. The Insurgent Leader held out both hands, half-clenched as if pushing something towards the Overlord. There was a shout... An explosion... And the Soul-Keeper’s gasp of horror. Everything went suddenly very white for the Overlord, the scene of the Colosseum in Rome fading out entirely.
You know... I COULD help... If you’d let me... the Theurgist’s voice snapped her back into the present, blinking a few times to find... the Eiffel Tower looming down upon her. She blinked again. What? Sitting up, clasping her head, and looking around, she spied the rest of the Insurgents and Underlings, rising from the ground stiffly. The Lieutenant was covered in blood, though the Overlord guessed from his semi-joyful look, it wasn’t all his. The Rebel Commander didn’t look so great either. She turned and looked at the Insurgent Leader, still lapping at the blood on her lip with her tongue. Grabbing her scythe and stalking towards him, she was not surprised to find him up and ready for battle. As the others resumed the fight, the Overlord charged forward, the Theurgist’s memories swooping through her mind’s eye very briefly. She felt his spirit surge and charge up, fire flickering at her fingertips. As it swirled and slashed towards the Insurgent Leader, he leapt up, nimbly sheathing his sword and climbing the northeast leg of the tower.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” the Overlord stated dully, then began her pursuit, weaving amidst the complicated iron and structures that comprised of the tower’s leg. Scythe reverting back to rod form, the Overlord hopped after the Insurgent Leader, following his trail perfectly until they reached the first level of the tower, a simple platform. As the citizens pressed against the rails in shock and horror, the Overlord walked calmly towards the Insurgent Leader, eyes alight with malice behind her sunglasses.
An explosion from the Rebel Commander’s grenade launcher shook the tower, but it stayed firmly rooted to the spot. The Overlord’s eyes flickered to the children and families stuck on the first level, a smile creeping about her features, “Oh, look what we have here, Tommy. Lots of souls, ripe for the taking... It’d be nice to have some younger members in my ranks, wouldn’t you say?” There was a slightly deranged sounding laugh inserted after this, the Overlord selecting a young boy from the audience. “What ‘bout this guy?”
“You’re despicable!” the Insurgent Leader snarled angrily, “How could you? How do you even live with yourself?”
“Quite easily, I can assure you,” the Overlord retorted, shoving the boy back into his mother’s arms roughly, “You know, it’d be a shame if all of these people were to say... Meet their deaths rather tragically because of you. You know, you’re free to give up your soul any time you want...”
“And what makes you so different that Warwick again?” the Insurgent Leader snapped. The Overlord’s eye twitched and suddenly, she surged forward, magic sparking through her veins as she summoned a massive fireball. The fire slammed into one of the tower’s legs, causing it to creak loudly. The Insurgent Leader began climbing up the tower even more, sending a few orbs of magic flying back at the Overlord. Though she dodged them, it hampered her climb significantly.
That was pretty low. Even for him, the Theurgist admitted, clearly sensing his partner’s rage as she clawed her way up the tower. As they reached the next level, the Overlord pulled out her scythe, though not before setting part of the level on fire. The Insurgent Leader rushed at her, sparks flying from both of their blades. The grounds around the tower had caught fire, the intense heat licking at the tower’s legs. A few explosions rocked the Eiffel Tower back and forth- the Overlord knew it would fall at this rate.
The Insurgent Leader and the Overlord exchanged more blows, the Overlord forced back towards the railing of the second floor. As the Insurgent Leader made a move to stab her, she jumped over the edge, the tip of the sword missing her by inches. As she fell, the Overlord sent a flurry of fire spells at the tower’s structure, satisfied as its creaking increased. Crashing through platforms to slow her falling speed, the Overlord finally managed to get to the ground in a relatively graceful manner (and by ‘relatively graceful’, I mean, she landed on her butt). But in satisfaction, the Overlord began to strike the metal of the tower’s legs, the specialized blade slicing through the metal with ease. As the tower began to shudder and collapse, the Overlord looked up at where the Insurgent Leader leaned over the rail, glaring down at her with angry brown eyes. A flash of a grin and the Overlord felt triumph flow over her.
Another blinding swirl of light and the Overlord was knocked off her feet, feeling her form fly through space and landing with a thud on the ground at some foreign destination. Rolling over and glancing up at the massive palace before her, the Overlord heard the words come from the Ninja-Lord, “The Taj Mahal? Really?” As she began to rise, a burst of thunder emitted from the Soul-Keeper’s staff, lighting the nearby gardens on fire. “I grow weary of this,” the Overlord remarked, glancing at the Evocator from behind her sunglasses. She turned, catching sight of the Insurgent Leader picking himself off the ground.
“This is new,” the Insurgent Leader observed the surroundings as he rose to his full height (which was now an inch taller than his sister). The Overlord shrugged and swung her scythe at him, catching him off-guard. He rolled to the side, kicking out at her leg. She stumbled but away from him, moving her scythe to where it blocked his knife attack. As more fire flew from her fingers, the fire in the gardens intensified, destroying everything it touched.
“So... We blew up the Colosseum. We toppled the Eiffel Tower... And now we’re burning the Taj Mahal?” the Animal Tamer asked Fish, eyebrows raised. “What next?”
She had spoke too soon. After a few blows from the Insurgent Leader’s sword, the Overlord felt herself lurched through space, landing face-first into the grass. Standing up this time revealed that the weather was slightly chilly, and she was standing amidst the Stonehenge. Throwing her hands into the air in frustration, the Overlord turned to scold her unruly second-in-command when the Insurgent Leader barreled into her, slamming her into one of the nearby rock formations. She gritted her teeth, sparks and flares spilling from her hands and catching the grass on fire. A few shudders from grenades made the rocks sway, and the Overlord sighed heavily. “Really, this wasn’t what I had in mind for-” And she felt herself get thrown once more into a space warp.
And this time, it was the Redwood Forest, beautiful and flourishing as could be. However, this was followed by one of the Captain’s lesser intelligent moments as he drew his flame launcher. I need not go into detail what ensued. After the Redwood Forest, came the Great Wall of China.
The Lieutenant kicked the Rebel Commander off of him, looking down to see that there was a knife protruding awkwardly from his ribcage. Sinking back into the stone walltop, the Lieutenant took in deep breaths, hands shaking as he began to lose feeling in them. “Lieutenant!” A nearby Zombie cadet ran to his side, eyes wide in horror, “C-Captain! CAPTAIN! The Lieutenant is down!”
“We need to retreat! Overlord! We’re starting to lose Underlings left and right!” the Advisor yelled over the melee, the Overlord turning away from where she had blasted the Insurgent Leader back a few yards in time to see the Captain barrel through the crowd, a wild gleam in his eyes. Covered in blood, he threw Tinkerbell off the side of the wall, shouting incoherently as he raced towards the fallen Lieutenant.
There was a silent rage in the Captain’s eyes- one that the Overlord understood and knew all too well. A spark of curiosity caused her to turn, unable to remove her gaze from the enraged Captain as he grabbed his rifle from its holster, pulling it out with some terrifying roar. His pupils began to shrink, almost fading from view entirely. As he began to aimlessly fire, the Overlord ducked, swooping into action. Grabbing the Soul-Keeper, she hissed into his ear, “Get everyone out of here. Don’t question it, just get everyone back to the Fortress. I’m calling for a retreat.” And then, she grabbed the Ninja-Lord’s shoulder, “Find the Evocator and get her to heal the Lieutenant. I’ll try to calm the Captain down.”
Without even waiting for a nod, the Overlord bounded away, running down the length of the wall and grabbing the Captain’s arm. As he turned to fire at her, she caught a glimpse of his eyes- faintly glowing in some freakish fury. The Overlord skirted to the side as he pulled the trigger on his rifle, bullets spraying the wall. “Whoops. Missed me.”
The Captain, blinded by his rage, began to fire once more at her, unsatisfied as she dodged once more. Charging at her aimlessly, he swung his weapon as a blunt weapon, trying to club her atop the skull. The Overlord ducked, throwing her arms forward to strike him, but yielded no result. He’s just too big! she realized in horror, one of his hands snaking around her throat. As she was lifted into the air, a sudden rush of memories flooded her mind, particularly the image of the Nemesis lifting her into the air in a similar fashion. Scythe clattering to the ground, the Overlord grabbed the Captain’s wrists with her much smaller hands, the image of her troops retreating faded off into the distance and foggy to her senses. The only thing that seemed immediate was her berserk Captain. If you die... we’re both screwed! the Theurgist yelled into her ears.
I need to live. I need to live... I need to live... He’ll come to his senses eventually... I just have to stall. I have to live... the Overlord’s thoughts were racing through her mind, feet kicking out but doing no damage. It was as if he couldn’t feel pain. Still, her fingers and knuckles were white with the strength being put into grasping his wrists, words forming at her lips. Be careful what you’re- the Theurgist started to warn, but she cut him off, “PUNGO!” As the Captain suddenly drew back, a spurt of crimson covered the Overlord’s face, warranting a grimace.
The Captain fell back, grabbing his chest in agony. His pupils flashed in and out of focus, staring at the gray sky. The Overlord fell to the ground, shaking but relatively unharmed. She looked at the Captain, horror freezing her up again as she caught sight of the bloodied mess. Dear Lord... What did you do to him!? the Theurgist’s tone was serious. The Overlord crawled over to the Captain, grabbing his gaping chest wound with a hand and pressing against it with her own palms. He spasmed and twitched, falling onto his back. Eyes rolling back into his head, he was unconscious, though his body seemed to still be screaming in pain. Overlord... What did you do? What have you done? What are you getting yourself into!?
“I... This wasn’t supposed to...” the Overlord looked over her shoulder at the portal that wavered before her, back to the Fortress. Fighting back the urge to use a string of curse words (primarily so this story isn’t rated R), the Overlord suddenly pushed forth a blast of healing magic into the Captain’s chest, feeling incredibly dizzy. However, as she did this, she felt a sudden explosion of pain in her back, as if she’d been struck by something. Lurching forward, she clutched onto the Captain’s bloodied shirt, gnashing her teeth together and rocking back and forth, tears in her eyes. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, Alexi.”
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