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I apologize for this, but I had a lot of fight scene ready to rock worlds ...
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ISLAND OF SOLEN
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*CRUNCH!*
A cold wave of air washed over his armor. The floor was still there, flicking in and out from the reflection of his symbol's wavering glow. His gauntlets were still there, propping himself up off the flooding flat-rock. He was not dead. That was … good?
He still felt very rusty, but he could at least move his head enough to look up. Saradomin, for some reason, was launched backwards from where he stood into the mountain wall behind him with enough force to almost imbed himself inside the rock.
What? What had happened? Did Saradomin suddenly have a change of heart? Or did somebody else-
"I swear, Alex! Taking on opponents with hopelessly higher skills than your own? You know way better than that!"
That voice! Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Dex Sonar, master of majiya, stood in front of the doorway with one clawed hand outstretched towards Saradomin, who was fruitlessly struggling to pull himself out of the stone wall.
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"Dex, Saradomin just revealed himself to be a double-agent for the Unknown." Alex said.
Dex slyly smiled. His hood was off and his ears were pointed upright in aggravation. The rain above him pelted some sort of invisible, spherical barrier around him, keeping him from getting wet.
"Riiiight." he said, "See, here I thought you guys were just having a friendly contest to see who could kill each other first."
Alex groaned, "Dex, this is no time to be funny."
"Dang right it ain't!" Dex shouted, nudging a large leather lump at his foot, "Now hurry up and contact HIM while I keep your lord distracted!"
Alex remembered. His altar, which was somehow untouched by all the fighting, rested in front of the doors at Dex's feet. He dashed over and almost threw his energy in, making the symbol glow while Dex stepped towards Saradomin and held up both glowing hands to keep him restrained. Concentrating perhaps the hardest he had ever done, he worked fast to establish connection and call K.
"NOOOO!" Saradomin shouted. The altar jumped, but the connection succeeded. Alex felt a familiar presence of energy.
"K! Is that you?" Alex shouted.
"You will NOT contact him! Not again!" Saradomin's voice resonated in his head. He had intercepted the connection, which was not at all hard considering he was only a few feet away.
Funny. The one time in a while he managed to successfully contact Saradomin …
The star on his altar exploded with a surge of energy, and Alex was thrown back. Dex took minor notice, as the fragments bounced off his barrier like the rain.
"You're not gonna let us, huh?" Dex asked, hovering his other hand to make Alex's kit fly behind the door for safety.
With a violent burst of effort, Saradomin broke free of Dex's restraint and dashed at him in one instant. His sword was drawn up and he heaved it down on top of where Dex stood.
*WAAANG!*
A sudden blast of energy in the round, transparent barrier around him made the sword bounce off and strike Saradomin's own head. He dropped the sword and clutched it with both hands in pain.
"You've got NO idea how much I've always wanted to do that." Dex laughed. Another blast of majiya, and the stunned Saradomin was hurled over the mountain and out of sight.
Alex watched, but snapped to in an instant.
"Dex, we gotta get out of here and contact-"
"No, he'll keep following us." Dex shook his head, "That was so you would get up and get ready to fight."
Alex looked down at himself. He was barely able to move, and his star flickered with a feeble light. He was on his last legs, and clearly in no condition for battle. He quickly rummaged through his pack, found an energy potion, and nearly broke the vial open on his visor to get the liquid in. It helped his ability to move, but he was still heavily damaged and barely hanging on.
Not just that, his power was gone. Looking at the tip of the spear, he saw that the star on the tip no longer glowed its assuring white light. Saradomin had completely drained the artifact of its power, and it now resembled nothing more than an ordinary dragon-tipped spear.
"You expect me to fight like this?" he asked.
"Well, yeah?" Dex said, "You don't fight, you're an easy target. What have the humans been teaching you over the years?"
Alex stammered for an answer, "That if you cannot fight-"
There was a sudden explosion of light and both warriors were split up. In between, the smoke cleared, and Saradomin appeared. He had shrunk in size to roughly twice Alex's, and Alex guessed it had to do with the injury Dex inflicted on him. Clearly his loss of size meant loss of power. Pureblade also shrank to the appropriate size to make up for its master's loss.
But if Saradomin had to take so much power to recover from getting hit with his own weapon … perhaps they could win after all.
Saradomin rocketed right for Dex, who lifted off the ground and casually floated sideways, diverting Saradomin away from Alex. The Holy Lord swung horizontally with one hand, and another barrier deflected it, but it didn't bounce this time. Seizing the moment of vulnerability, Saradomin reached forward and grasped Dex by the neck. Dex, in response, yanked himself up and over, and with a flick of his tail, Saradomin's head was driven into the ground.
His grip did not release, though. Dex swayed from side to side, trying to pull his body out of Saradomin's crushing grip. He hammered Saradomin a second time, but Saradomin finally had Pureblade back into position and pointed at Dex's head. It was thrust forward, and Alex almost covered his eyes, unable to look, but Dex saved himself by opening a small majiya portal in front of his face. Alex saw the blade come out on the other end - right into Saradomin's behind.
"YAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGH!"
Saradomin finally let go, and Dex wasted no time in getting some distance. Pureblade just managed to come back out of the portals before they closed.
*BAM!*
A bolt of lightning struck the ground just inches from where Dex floated. Saradomin, enraged more than Alex had ever before witnessed, held his sword up with both hands like a barbarian's victory cheer. The clouds overhead intensified, shrouding the entire battlefield in darkness, and a huge series of lightning bolts crashed down at and around Dex. He retaliated by vanishing within a split-second portal and appearing elsewhere, jumping around several times away from the lightning before getting Saradomin from behind and smashing his head down into the ground. Another burst of effort, and Saradomin skidding down through the ground, leaving a large trench in his wake.
*BAM!*
Another great blast of lightning missed Dex by inches, and the explosion of energy launched him backwards.
And there, Alex stood, unable to do anything. Both combatants were moving too fast and utilizing long-ranged tech. Without his lightning abilities to take effect, Alex was confined to mid-range fighting.
Unwilling to go down without a fight or let Dex hog all the glory of battle, he rummaged some more through his backpack. Since the altar was destroyed and the explosion took out most of his pack, he tore away a large strip of leather and folded it over several times to create a much more portable belt. He picked out some choice potions, namely explosive potions and smoke bombs (for good measure, he even included the potion he almost gave to Sartranomin), chugged down the remaining intact two energy potions, and abandoned the rest of his pack altogether.
Saradomin yanked his face out of the ground, flipped himself around, and swung both arms down towards Dex. The arms themselves were harmless, but Dex had to teleport again to avoid the giant boulders that came crashing down from the top of the mountain. Released from his control, Saradomin flipped himself back up and swung the blade horizontally with supersonic speed, creating a great wave of energy. Dex took the blow, which exploded against his barrier and launched him back into the wall. From the clearing steam, Dex pulled himself out of a perfect half-sphere indent with relative ease and landed on the ground.
But he was too slow. Saradomin charged once more with his sword in front. Dex raised his hands, but Saradomin was too fast.
*BOOOOM!*
A small fiery explosion engulfed his head and he was averted sideways slightly, embedding Pureblade into the wall right next to Dex, who stared with a look of surprise. There was a loud smashing of glass, and both combatants suddenly found themselves bathed in a large, thick cloud of dark green smoke. Saradomin caught himself upright, yanked the blade out of the wall and drove it down into the gas, but it struck nothing but rock.
The smoke cleared, and the Holy Lord turned to see Alex near the cliffside with Dex slung over his shoulder, still slightly perplexed, and pointing his spear defensively. The three energy potions were enough to get him battle-ready again, and he once again forced himself full of will. Dex, finally realizing that he just had his life saved, jumped off Alex's back and properly aligned himself again enough to recreate the barrier around him.
"You touch me again, your helmet becomes a dinner plate." Dex threatened.
"You're welcome." Alex sighed, not taking his eyes off Saradomin.
Slowly, the wind subsided, and the battlefield was silent save for the rapid pounding of rain on stone. Saradomin stood upright, breathing lightly, but acknowledging that the two of them were a force to be taken seriously. He gazed over them with a lesser, more confined rage. No more trying to murder. He was now bent on the destruction of these two anomalies that stood before him, ready for his next move.
All warriors parted again.
The dark look that Saradomin gave him. It chilled him to the core. Never did Saradomin have to resort to such measures as he was about to go.
A vast orb of light exploded into his hand, and he shrank a bit more. He was still taller than Alex by a margin, but any further loss of power would change that. It crackled with rays of light spewing out bolts of electricity.
*SLAM!*
The orb was smashed into the ground, and an eruption of light blasted out of the resulting fissures. Through the feeble afterglow of the faded explosion, Alex saw a series of large rocks bounced up and out of the plateau ground and landed in front, forming a large square in front of Saradomin. The rocks stood upright, about the same height as Alex, and Saradomin stood behind the array, catching a breather.
A strange maneuver, Alex thought. Was Saradomin simply trying to make the battlefield difficult to negotiate? Surely Saradomin believed that doing this would be more of an advantage to Alex and Dex due to their comparatively smaller sizes, able to weave in, out, and over the rocks with ease as they served as obstacles against the larger Saradomin.
But come a flash of lightning, and Alex was yet again frozen in horror. They weren't mere rocks he was looking at right now. An array of yellow lights shone from the upper tips of each stone, flickering behind thin, protective bars.
"Aw, now THAT'S a low blow!" Dex argued aloud.
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It was the army! Saradomin's army! The army of spirits based off the personality of King Alexander the 43rd! Otherwise known as, the Alex 43 army. For the first time in history, the entire set of all 100 spirit members stood on the planet, close enough to be in formation.
"Your final brother has been corrupted by a rogue of the realm, and he is threatening all of us with his premature actions and decisions!" Saradomin preached, "For the sake of the planet and all that it houses, he must be destroyed!"
Each of the adamantite suits of armor brandished their weapons upwards.
"YOUR WISH SHALL BE ACHIEVED! YOUR WILL IS OUR OBJECTIVE!" they shouted, each of them in the exact same voice as Alex, who shuddered. He didn't need that reminder.
"60 warriors." Alex murmured to Dex over the rain, "30 rangers, and 6 magi. Another three are workers, but they still utilize melee. Magi are in the middle, in a line. Rangers in the back - they arc shots or they jump and fire direct. Each of them with their own specialty and strength. No two similar."
"99 enemies, and every last one of them willing to put their lives forward to prevent us from succeeding in saving their sorry hides." Dex sighed.
Alex slowly turned his spear forward to an attack stance, "I suppose now it's a good thing that you had a lot of practice turning me inside out."
Dex nodded and spoke sarcastically, "Yeah. Now I can go all out on adamantite armor and not care. This'll be fun."
The worst part about it was that upon his creation, he was given the memories, names, and personalities of all of them so that he could quickly advance and improve his own abilities. Upon fighting them, he would probably be able to identify each one and give them a formal farewell as he smashed their stars open.
"Just keep your staff on you, would ya?" Dex asked, "It's hard to tell apart when all my enemies look exactly like my ally."
As the original Alex predicted, they jumped into formation. The warriors, 60 in total, complimented their adamantite battle-axes with kite shields of identical substance. The rangers all wielded crossbows and held back, keeping themselves covered with their own kite shields. Only the magi, easily identifiable with their glowing metal staffs, did not boast shields, and stood within the large circle, protected from all sides.
"First barrage. Rangers strike with two volleys and the warriors charge during the second." Alex said, "Magi hold back until third wave."
As though on cue, the whizzing sound of speeding crossbow bolts complimented the storm. Dex thrust out both palms and a series of metal bolts halted in mid air in front of them both. Alex whipped his spear around, ready to strike.
A flash of lightning, and he saw the rangers had all jumped into the air to fire their second volley directly. Dex held his ground, but Alex prepared to dash. The front wave of warriors were advancing now in a hard dash, and after confident enough that Dex had caught the last of the second wave of bolts, he himself dashed into the fray.
The one in front. Swift 43. Known for his ground-speed and agility. Alex's spear slammed on Swift's shield, and the battle-axe came around. However, Alex whipped his spear around in a spinning crouch, ducking the axe, and slashing at Swift's legs. The dragon spear cleaved clean through the adamantite and sliced Swift in half. He followed it up by twirling his spear overhead and driving it down into the chest symbol.
*SMASH!*
The symbol exploded in a flash of light, and the armor ceased to function in an instant. Not even a scream was heard.
One down, 98 to go.
And he wasn't enjoying this.
A force behind him pushed him downward, and a wave of crossbow bolts, flying backwards, sailed over his head. Shields and plate-mails were punctured, and a few light bursts flashed amidst the front ranks. Already, Dex was beating Alex in score, but of course, this was one fight that Alex wanted to intentionally lose to Dex in kill-count. What did it matter now?
Two more Alex 43s drove their axes down on him and he thrusted his spear shaft horizontally at them, catching both weapons. With a swift push and pull, he made the battle-axes hook onto the shaft and yanked both spirits forward. The one on the left threw his shield up to turn the pull into a slam, but Alex kicked it back and used it to yank the other one even more. Disoriented, the one of the right stumbled downward and Alex drove his spear around, spun around to his backside, and plunged the spear-tip clean through its back.
The shielded one regained control of his axe and swung it horizontally. With the body still on his spear, Alex spun it in front and let the armor take the hit. The axe lodged into the rib section and Alex twirled his spear down, twisting the axe out of its grip. With a burst of strength, he brought the armor and axe around, overhead, and smashed it onto his opponent, crushing both armours and freeing his spear. A kick and a stomp, and his third explosion of light flashed into the darkness.
Rest in pieces, Smash and Clash 43s.
In came number 4. Muscleman 43. His arms and weapons considerably larger than the others, he slammed the axe down and the ground exploded where Alex just jumped off. He landed behind it, but it drove an elbow backward and knocked him back. Regaining his balance in a quick skip, he used the force to drive his spear at another spirit, impaling its helmet and tearing it right off the neck. He kicked the armor back to decelerate and whipped the helmet back at Muscleman, who shoved his shield up and smashed the helmet into pieces with brute force.
He held his spear up defensively as the brute charged at him. But suddenly, he literally tore himself in half with a blink of eerie purple light, leaving its star to fall loose and bounce harmlessly onto the ground.
Alex was about to shout a retort about being unfair to Dex when he then saw that Dex was holding off almost a dozen of them on his own. His ability to even see Alex was in trouble, much less direct attention over to help, was spectacular, and Alex simply settled with smashing the star under his foot without a second thought.
The second wave struck. In from above came Flyboy 43, with adamantite sheets under his arms to catch the air and glide down upon his opponents. For the flaps, though, he had sacrificed his shield, and after knocking his axe offset with the shaft of his spear, he had no troubles with flipping his spear upright and letting Flyboy fall chest-first onto the tip, ending his airborne antics for good. Seeing another A43 charging recklessly towards him (Reckless 43; go figure), he let the body fall towards him and kicked his spear through the corpse in a hidden attack, scoring a direct hit and instant death.
Alex jumped over Flyboy's corpse and hoisted the spear up. With two bodies on either end, he whipped it around and launched the both of them into the second charging wave.
"HRRRAAAAAAH!"
Something exploded behind him, and the air was filled with flying armor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dex partially illuminated by several isolated stars, which he held hovering in front and spinning rapidly around him. He was planning on using them as weapons now. Clever, he supposed, but still somewhat disrespectful.
*BOOOOM!*
An eruption of fire lit the entire battlefield in a harsh orange glow. The Fire mage, FlameMaker 43, had conjured up a great fireball and hurled it at the duo overtop the third wave. Dex, reacting quickly, created a reverse-portal (two portal entrances overtop the other, facing the same way) to suck in the fireball and simultaneously send it back at the army. But every last one of them reacted accordingly and dove to the side, scattering the formation away from the explosion of scorching heat. A wave of warmth washed over Alex, and for a moment, he felt a bit better.
Time to return the favour. A group of five warriors charged at him, and he reacted smoothly and cooly. With a burst of effort, he drove his spear horizontally forward in a shove-stance, but the five of them overwhelmed his strength and launched him backwards.
As expected. There was a flash of lightning, and they were just able to see the suspended vial of liquid he had dropped shine a foreboding orange before it smashed itself onto the stone ground.
*BOOOOM!*
All five warriors were shattered from the explosion, and pieces flew everywhere. Their stars sailed in multiple directions before striking a hard surface at high velocity and shattering. Alex landed and regained his balance just in time to casually whip his spear around and cleave a flying core in half as it shot toward him.
Dex struck again. He raised both hands up and created a large portal high overhead.
*WOOOOOOOOSH!*
Suddenly, a wave of glowing, molten rock burst out and rained flaming magma upon the crowd, blasting the surrounding downpour into steam. Several magi shot water spells at key points and saved the majority of them, but some were engulfed and melted in a heartbeat. Alex simply turned and stared.
"What?" Dex asked, not making eye contact, "I've been to the bottom of the Karamja volcano. So what?"
Before Dex finished talking, he heard the familiar whizzing sound. He spun his spear around as fast as he could, whacking away bolts.
*THOCK!*
A sharp pain pierced his right shoulderblade. He yanked the embedded bolt out and scoffed humorously at its quartz-gemmed tip. Had to be Crippler 43, as his own specially enchanted bolts caused their victims' muscles to swell and grow heavy, effectively slowing them down or even stunning them the stronger they are.
Fortunately, Alex did not have physical muscles, and the hole in his shoulder blade was the only damage he was taking from the clever ranger. He dashed at the crowd of warriors covering the rangers and drove his spear down from overhead in a crush attack. A shield met the spear, but contact was not made, for Alex, at the last moment, spun his body around, flipped his spear around horizontally, and drove the hilt into the exposed warrior from around his back. He saw the rain around him reflect a flash of light, and yanked the 90-degrees backward and into the undersides of his shoulderblades from behind to defend his backside from the two battle-axes driving down upon him.
Grabbing the spear with extended arms, he twirled his body again, yanking one warrior down to all fours with a caught axe. He flipped one arm down to grasp the spear-end and force it forwards, stabbing the other in the chest. The resulting explosion gave his spear extra force to bounce off and get driven into the backside of the fallen warrior. The star was shoved out from behind, and the body went inert.
He started counting down to himself. Three … two …
He rolled over the second body, grabbing the star in the process and thrusting it in front. A split-second after pulling the maneuver, the familiar pink glow of a quartz-tipped bolt impaled the star he held up defensively in front. It blew up, burning his hand slightly, but it was nothing at this point. Wrenching the shield out of the corpse's hand, he dove at Crippler and slammed it against his own. His spear went around and into the shield-arm, and a prying backwards dislodged the arm altogether. With his shield recovered, he twirled it around, catching it down on the crossbow hand, twisted it back with a cross-step, and caught the ranger in an arm-lock from behind.
"Nice shot, Crippler." Alex whispered to the helpless ranger.
"Thanks." Crippler said, closing his eyes in defeat, "Keep up the fight, comrade."
Alex honoured him with a quick and painless death by spinning him in front and driving the spear forward with one arm square and smoothly into the chest. He slid his new shield down his arm and gripped the spear with both hands, ready for the next target.
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The army was half-exhausted when Alex caught a glimpse of Saradomin in meditation way in the back. He was feeding all the spirits his power, and with every kill, he found it getting harder and harder with each one. With each kill they made, Saradomin could focus more power on the rest.
Best save the workers for last, in that case.
He suddenly felt an energy signature coming from his feet, and was just in time to leap away before a great blast of lightning came crashing down from the heavens. He whipped his spear in front and rapidly twirled it to deflect several crossbow bolts before having to evade a spiralling blast of enchanted rock.
Four warriors lunged at him, and he jammed his spear into the ground to propel himself upwards. Equipping his staff, he unleashed a fatiguing, but much-needed blast of force, propelling the warriors away as he landed. Upon hitting the ground, he kicked up his spear and, with one free hand, heaved it into the crowd of rangers. A strangely satisfying burst of light flashed among the ranks, and with another burst of majiya, he yanked the spear back, carrying a body along with it.
Alas, poor Snapshot 43. Good at reaction, not at reacting.
Instead of catching the spear, he ducked it and let it strike one of the fighters behind him. It didn't hit home, but it was enough power to disorient his attack long enough for Alex to jab one leg with the back-end of his staff to open his defence and thrust the pointed edge of his kite shield in to finish it off.
Remembering the two remaining warriors, he heaved his shield backwards and deflected a battle-axe swung horizontally. The other one came in a feint overtop, and Alex leapt back, missing the blow by inches. Another horizontal swing, and Alex dove underneath, double-kicking the warrior back with his free hand grasping its axe. It flew back, but Alex now had a new momentary weapon. He regained his footing, bashed the shield against the other warrior to thwart its vertical slice, and slammed his battle-axe into the chest. To follow it up, he seized the opportunity of the weaponless warrior's moment of vulnerability and threw the axe into his centreline, and the resulting explosion knocked it off its feet, dead before even hitting the ground.
*SSSHHHKKKKIIINCH!*
That was a very odd sound. Averting his gaze quickly, he saw Dex had created a portal that, strangely enough, expelled a great, spiky frenzy of ice growing directly from it. It spread around the battlefield like wildfire, impaling targets that weren't quick enough to dodge and half-freezing the ones that were to itself. Once it began to subside, Dex dispelled the portal and proceeded to imbed a warrior into the rocky wall using 5 of his comrade's cores while the ice remained, covering the battlefield. Alex decided he would rather not learn how Dex found a world so cold that ice literally grew like creeper vines.
He regained his spear and tossed Snapshot 43 into the crowd. The body of armor was blasted by a spear of flame, and the magi decided it was their turn to shine. Four of them called forth their respective elements while the other two worked their specialties: curses and enchantments. A great shield of lightning surrounded the group just after a frenzy of spells erupted from their staffs and devastated the area.
Fortunately, with the magi shield, Alex could see the remainder of the army in the dark downpour. A large group of warriors remained, covering the surprisingly few rangers left standing. Dex had been focusing on the rangers, using his own ranged advantage against the melee-based warriors, and Alex found it considerably easier to fight without having to twirl his spear defensively every 5 seconds.
Ah, speaking of which …
Alex spun his spear and clashed away the volley of bolts. He had been considerably lucky with deflecting crossbow bolts all throughout this battle. Perhaps the rangers were hesitant on firing on their own comrade, and when they did fire, they made it easy for him. Remembering Crippler 43's response to his compliment, he almost didn't doubt that his brethren fully understood why he was their enemy despite Saradomin's preaching, and were only able to fight due to their vow to never thwart Saradomin's will.
Like he was doing right now. For all he knew, they envied him.
Alex caught the shields of two more warriors, jumped the first axe strike, and flipped over and around them. But they were quick to react, and spun their weapons around for a much more powerful attack, and Alex spun his spear to deflect the force. In came a third warrior, and he sliced his razor-sharp axe down upon him. He transferred his spear to one hand and held his shield up for defence, but the axe cleaved it squarely in half.
As expected from Shieldbreaker 43. Alex forgot about the two warriors momentarily and drove his spear into the exposed warrior's torso area, striking his target. That was your last shield, good buddy. At least it was a nice, clean cut.
As he fought, he found it harder and harder to pull off maneuvers. His energy potion was nearly exhausted, and the rusty joint feeling was coming back to him. He finished off the two warriors by stunning both of their defences, trapping one's axe behind his spear, yanking it down to slam into its comrade's star, and destroying its own with a 360 spin and stab.
The remainder of the warriors and rangers held back to protect the as-of-yet untouched magi and workers. They no longer had the overwhelming numbers to directly attack them, and were bunkering down around the barrier. Saradomin continued to meditate within his own barrier, well out of the way, and appeared to give no concern as to how the battle was going.
Alex counted. There were only about 30 of them left. He had taken down a solid 16 himself, and Dex finished off the rest. A few stragglers were still trapped in the ice, but they could not do anything to free themselves. To think he came this far, and had outmatched so many of his brethren. And yet, he could not take down one lowly sea monster by himself.
Dex held his arms up overhead and another lava portal opened up, splashing all throughout the arena and blasting the ice into steam. It thickened to a hazy fog, obscuring the vision of everything within 5 feet of itself. Good for staying hidden, but now Alex couldn't see anything himself.
A tap on his shoulder, and he forced himself not to spin around and impale on instinct. Dex floated over and whispered in his ear.
"Focus on the magi." he told Alex, "I'll take the warriors."
That's right, Dex did not need to see to fight. Most of his art was done with his eyes closed, after all. That, and despite the fog, Alex knew exactly where the shield was. Simply enough, he just had to charge forward, smash down anything in his way, and use his own resistance to lightning to pass through and take the magi down.
A loud yelling came through the fog, and Alex dashed forward. Wits about him and instincts intact, he held his spear in front and kept it pointed around him, expecting an attack to come from any direction. But nothing came at him. Dex probably cleared him a straight path.
Like a lighthouse beacon, the vibrant flashing of the shield pierced through the fog after several tense seconds. Hoping that it was not a physical barrier, he charged forward and leapt into the field of energy. Fortunately, luck was with him, and after a slightly numbing wave washed over him, he landed with his spear at the ready and found himself facing all 9 Alex 43s in a fog-less, rainless, brightly lit dome of lightning energy produced by one of the mages, who stood focusing on his staff to maintain the shield. Alex guessed its purpose was to protect them from Dex, who posed much more of a long-ranged threat than he did.
The 5 other magi held their staffs at the ready while the workers, Miner, Crafter, and Smither, each of them brandishing their own "unique" adamantite weapons (pickaxe, chisel, hammer), stepped forward. They were the mages' only defence now, and despite being mere workers, Alex knew that they boasted strength and precision in their abilities. Not just that, but Saradomin was pumping them more energy than ever now that there remained so few warriors. This was not going to be an easy fight.
Miner struck first. His great pickaxe was swung horizontally, and Alex leapt back, almost touching the barrier again. Several light sparks bounced off his armor, and he anticipated the next attack almost too early. Miner swung with one hand, but stopped it with the other and twisted the force diagonally upwards once he saw Alex jump forward. The pick caught onto his foot and he was yanked down onto the ground, chest-first.
Slamming his gauntlet onto the ground, he caught himself upright and twirled his spear around under him with all the force he could muster. The spear caught under Miner's leg, and he too was thrown down. Alex landed his feet in a low squat, and was just in time to drive his spear lengthwise upwards to stop Smither's hammer. He clashed with the weapon half a dozen times while being turned away from Miner, who got up in a hurry to aid his fellow worker.
Instinct reminding him that there were three of them, Alex drove his spear backwards randomly and was surprised to feel it impale. Crafter had attempted to back-stab Alex with his chisel, but he caught him right in the wrist of his weapon-hand. Quickly thinking, he drove the spear around and slammed it into the ground, and Crafter was forced downward. He would've stabbed him right then and there when Miner suddenly jumped at him with the pickaxe in front and drove him back down to the ground again. He lost his grip on the spear, and it bounced off to the side.
Miner heaved the tool around and slammed it down towards his symbol, but Alex kicked sideways and the axe slammed into the ground right beside him. Smither followed up by driving his hammer down onto his legs, but Alex used the kick's momentum to twist himself around and onto all fours, leaving the hammer to make an equally lethal dent in the ground. Alex reached behind him and pulled his staff out, driving it back into Miner's gut, and twisting himself around to slam it across Smither's head.
With both stunned, Alex regained his feet, but one of the magi launched a wave of fire at him. With no choice, he took the hit, and was launched back toward the barrier wall. He stabbed his spear into the ground below him to catch himself and regain his footing, and was just in time to evade a blast of bright stars that the curse magi, Curse 43, shot at him. He didn't recall the spell used at all, and decided it was in his best interest that he not experiment at this time.
His spear still out of reach, Alex launched a wave of majiya at the battle magi, throwing them off their feet. He didn't touch the Enchantment mage, since he was too busy holding up the shield and, if anything, keeping him dry. Smither slammed at him with the sharp end of his hammer, and Alex whipped his staff around to divert the attack. Smither then swung it back, and Alex blocked it vertically, pushing one leg back in a good stance to take the hit. Wicked strong material, this staff.
Miner went for Alex's legs, and Alex hopped the attack. With a quick backward trot, he heel-kicked Miner in the shoulder and drove his staff all the way around and slammed it down on the other. It left quite a dent, but not nearly enough to be of any real effect. A flash to his left, and he jumped forward and down to dig the enchanted boulder the Earth mage hurled at him.
He was now close enough to recall his dead spear, and proceeded to do so. The Wind mage, Airblaster 43, threw a harsh gust at him, and blew him backwards back at the two workers. Both of them stood to intercept on each side, swinging their weapons as though to bounce Alex back at them.
His free hand grasped something cold. His spear was back in his hand. Still in mid-air, he twirled it around by the edge of the hilt and slammed it across Smither's head. Miner still had a clear shot, and he took it. His pickaxe caught the inside of Alex's left shoulder and he was yanked out of the air and slammed hard onto the ground.
It hurt. Everything around him grew blurry for a moment, but it focused fast enough to see Miner pull his pickaxe out of Alex's shoulder-blade and heave it down on him while standing on his legs. Alex held both staff and spear up in both hands to catch the axe, and he found himself staring almost too closely at the sharp, well-worn tip of the pick.
With every ounce of might he had, he pulled the weapons back over his head, pulling and unbalancing Miner slightly. Miner tried to regain his position by landing on Alex's chest, but with his legs freed, he twisted them both around and in front of Miner, catching both feet on the shoulders, and shoving Miner off.
In came Smither, driving his hammer down from the side. Thinking fast, Alex propped his staff upright on the ground, and it caught under Smither's armpit. Using it like a prop, the hammer lost its range, and all the force went into Smither's arm instead. Letting go of the staff, Alex heaved himself up into a low stance and drove his spear into the trapped worker's torso.
*SMASH!*
Not a very fitting end to one of Gielinor's master smiths, he mourned as he regained his staff from the motionless suit of armor and de-equipped it.
Miner wanted revenge. With a loud yell, he swung his pickaxe with all his might at Alex, who had to jump back to avoid getting something smashed and warped. The Water and Earth mages, Waterflayer and Earthraiser 43, had an opening, and fired their respective elemental attacks. Alex ducked the boulder and spun himself around the water darts, and smoothly transitioned himself to front-flip over Miner's next attack and over his head. In mid-flip, he stuck his spear into Miner's visor, hooking it by one of the lower spiked, and driving it down with his full body weight. The worker was yanked backwards and down after the spear caught his torso after cleaving clean through the helmet and splitting it almost in half. Still standing on the spear, Alex whipped his staff back out and slammed the orb onto Miner's symbol. It smashed on the second blow, and the second worker was down.
A flash of fire shone off the fallen warrior's armor, and Alex jumped down onto his chest, letting the surge of flame pass over him and scorch his back slightly. With his staff de-equipped once again, he yanked his spear up, and like a trebuchet, heaved Miner's body and over, throwing it into the group of magi and causing them to scatter. He followed up by dashing into the crowd and impaling the Water mage's star before the body was able to bounce a second time.
Airblaster swung his staff at him, and it clashed with his spear. He spun his spear around the staff, keeping it in contact, slamming the hilt onto the mage's head and prying the staff down with the pointed end. He then purposely made the spear slip across the visor and locked it in between the mage's arms, stepping around and behind, and trapping one arm in an armlock.
The Earth mage launched a magical stalactite at him, and he spun the trapped Wind mage around to avoid the blow. From behind, he kicked the Wind mage as hard as he could in the back, and it was launched at the Earth mage. With a spin and a heave, he then launched his spear right into the centre of their torsos.
*SMASH! SMASH!*
What a beautiful throw. It perfectly impaled the Wind mage's star from behind, and proceeded to go through it and into the Earth mage. He re-equipped his staff and held it defensively at the two remaining magi, but was too late. Curse 43 had already cast the same strange star spell, and Alex was engulfed in shining, dizzying light.
Suddenly, he yelped with pain and dropped his staff. It felt like it had suddenly super-heated into a molten material, despite it not having changed in form or luminosity. The sparks of light were surrounding his hands, and were no doubt preventing him from gripping a weapon. Obviously, he was now defenceless, and Earthraiser wasted no time launching a fanned-out barrage of stone spikes at him. Evasion was not an option.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Bearing the pain, Alex pulled out another explosive vial and immediately whipped it at Curse 43. The mage was unable to dodge in time, and was lost to the fiery blast of destruction. With the caster down, the curse dispelled, and Alex wasted no time in immediately grabbing his staff and stopped the necessary minority of spikes in mid-air to prevent impalement. With a burst of focus, he flipped them around and returned them to sender, impaling Earthraiser in several key points and finishing him by dashing up to and jabbing him in the star with the hilt of his staff.
Alex hesitated before pulling his staff out of Earthraiser's chest. He was almost at his limit now, and his body knew it. Using all those majiya attacks definitely didn't help, and he almost had to force his arms to re-sheath his staff.
One final Alex 43 remained- no, two. Crafter had been standing by, keeping Enchantment 43 covered. Both spirits has their eyes on Alex, and Enchanter prepared to pull his staff out of the field of energy, but Crafter stopped him by holding his chisel in front. He had hammered the hole out of his wrist and was once again battle-ready.
But he didn't immediately attack. Instead, he bowed his head and, to Alex's utter surprise, began to speak.
"I don't know why Saradomin is angered by you, but I can't see any corruption in your eyes. I was watching you suffer with every one of your fallen brothers, and I envy your ability to continue standing."
He walked forward defensively despite his tone of voice, almost as though he could not control his body.
"I must obey Saradomin's will." he said, "But that does not mean I don't have my own."
Alex approached. He too held his staff at the ready.
"I … want to believe that you are doing the right thing." Crafter said, and his voice carried some restraint, "So please. Do what you must."
Crafter struck with a stab, and Alex caught the chisel in one arm, preventing it from being driven into his chest. One of the easiest attacks he had to avoid.
"After you kill me, please take my chisel and use it." Crafter begged with closed eyes and bowed head, "At least it is not controlled by a false belief. It can help you."
Alex almost wanted to just stop, curse fate, and let the chisel end it once and for all, but he found himself able to just settle with sadness and honour.
"Thank you." he said, finally glad that at least one of his brothers saw him as a true comrade. He gently pushed Crafter's head back with the staff, yanking the chisel from his grasp, and drove the sharp instrument into the defenceless worker. He was dead in an instant, and Alex let the body fall. It splashed onto the wet rock and lay as perhaps one of the most intact bodies in the entire battlefield.
Enchantment 43 watched, but did not move or speak. He did not respond when Alex de-equipped both staff and chisel, sliding the craftsman tool into one of the vial slots of his belt like a sword. He did not react to Alex prying his spear out from the two fallen magi. He did not reply to Alex approaching him and offering an apology. He simply stood there with his staff emitting the defensive energy, and took the blow for what he hoped was the right choice made by his brother.
Once the star exploded, the barrier did too, and Alex saw that the fog was gone. Once again, he was drenched with rain and darkness. A crash of lightning lit up the battlefield, and he looked around.
Dead. They were all dead. Every last one. Not a single, solitary dot of light shone through the heaps of busted, twisted suits of armor that littered the entire battlefield. Many of them were covered in ashen rock, and many others twisted into an unidentifiable shape. The one time he was finally able to meet his brothers, he had to kill them.
And kill them he did. Once again, he was a lone sibling. He really wanted to have met them. Chatted with them. Exchanged tips and pointers with nearly every skill imaginable. He even wanted to spar with a few, learn some nifty fighting techniques. Heck, he wanted a few of them to best him in combat. Wouldn't have really mattered, because they were brothers, after all.
But he could not do that now, because he killed them all. He killed them all because they were forced to stop him from doing something almost identical to committing suicide.
What had he done?
Dex was leaning onto the stone wall with one hand, gasping for breath. Crafter and Enchantment were the last ones to fall, by the looks of things. An explosion of light then flashed to the right, and Alex averted his gaze to where Saradomin sat.
He had vanished.
Alex closed his eyes and braced himself.
*BAAAAAAAMMMM!*
Alex jumped away as Pureblade slammed the ground where he stood. Saradomin immediately transferred the sword to one hand and used the other to blast the helpless spirit with a laser of energy, blasting him back and all the way into the opposite wall.
"Never had I thought you would become such a destructive force!" Saradomin bellowed, moving his hand around and clutching something in the air. Where it was pointed, Alex saw a giant, round boulder dislodge itself from the top of the mountain and zoom over to his Lord's clenched hand.
"Your end had come!" Saradomin shouted, "For the Unknown, and the security of the realm! PERISH!"
And he hurled the boulder at the immobilized, vulnerable, and helpless spirit. The boulder was to crush him and bury him deep into the mountain to be forgotten until the end of time. Just like all the events that had pulled him from his daily routine. The battle at Edgeville. The Menaphite excavation. The meeting of Venos.
That was all his memory now, and to be silenced forever: everything was to be forgotten.
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