[IC] - All the World's a Game

[S121]

Realm of Darkness

John saw a disk of darkness going straight for his head.

Reacting quickly, John leaned far back and watched the disk fly inches from his head.

(Damn, that could have decapitated me...)

John held onto the darkness shell as tightly as he could, put away the RPG, and pulled out a Plasma grenade.

(Betcha can't stick it.), Cortana's voice echoed in John's head.

"Betcha I can stick it.", John said to Ansem as he pressed it against the Darkness shell and activated the grenade.

As soon as the grenade stuck, John summoned up his strength and launched himself upward, hitting the guardian's face on the way up.

John latched onto the back of the guardian's head and waited for the grenade to explode.

[Katrix]

Realm of Darkness

Ansem saw the grenade explode in front of his face. He lost most of the darkness at this point. Given another few minutes it would condense into something solid again.
He was now weakly protected by the guardian. "Have you ever considered the power off darkness tell me that. Just see the things i can do with it. It even goes as far as..."
A voice can be heard coming from far away. It's the voice of Cortana. "If I disappear she will never be fully recreated. In fact the Heartless will consume her. Turning her into something even worse than dead.
Just think about it. Whenever you kill another Heartless it could be that you are killing her. That is the power of Darkness"

[WriggleRid3r]

Realm of Darkness

---

"Yaaaaaaawn" Yukari let off a big yawn. "I'm bored. John, finish it off quick, or I'll end BOTH of you."

[Mega134]

Australia, Desert
_______________

Vergil watches the battle go on. He then sees Sniper and Snake get enshrouded with flames. Deciding to try and help them he attempts to get through the fiery wall, but is unable to due to the intensity of the flames. He then looks at the Yamato which is sheathed then back at the vortex. "Snake, Sniper I am tossing the Yamato in! Use it against him, but be warned of it's power! If a mortal uses it's power for too long it can be fatal!" Yelled Vergil as he tosses the Yamato through the Vortex of fire.

[S121]

Realm of Darkness

John could see that the protective shell was almost destroyed, so he leaped onto the shell.

Suddenly, Ansem began to speak.

"Have you ever considered the power off darkness tell me that. Just see the things i can do with it. It even goes as far as..."

John could hear Cortana's voice, only it wasn't in his head, it was filling the void!

"Chieeeeeef!", the voice rang out.

"If I disappear she will never be fully recreated. In fact the Heartless will consume her. Turning her into something even worse than dead.
Just think about it. Whenever you kill another Heartless it could be that you are killing her. That is the power of Darkness.", Ansem said.

John thought about the times Cortana and him shared, the battles they survived, what he went through to save her from the Gravemind.

John wanted nothing more than to just see her once more. John felt a tugging feeling in his heart as he felt the sorrow of her death wash over him. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he felt the darkness start to envelop his soul.

John lowered his head and retreated into his mind...

"They let me pick, did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw... but me. Can you guess? Luck. Was I wrong?"

"Get to the core...destroy it!"--"Prime the nuke!!"--"I will always take care of you"--"Place the bomb in the core"--"Save them! Destroy the Composer!"

"I'm not coming with you this time..."

"We were supposed to take care of each other..and we did!", Cortana's voice echoed in his head once more, giving him the strength to continue.

"I want her. I want her back so bad..., but I know that she died on the Didact's ship to save me. You may have the power to create an exact replica of her, but that is all; a replica, not her! For years I kept the pain of her death buried deep inside because I was weak. I was too weak to handle it on my own, but that was until I met everyone.

John then raised his head and looked directly into Ansem's eyes.

"They gave me the strength to see that it was NOT my fault. She wanted me to live, and that's what I intend to do!", John yelled as he punched through the Darkness shell and grabbed Ansem by the shirt.

John then pulled him out of the shell with all of his might.

[Katrix]

Realm of Darkness

Ansem looks and hears like he isn't able to speak. "How.. did you ... find .. the......light?" Ansem own body begins to fade away.
After his body have left him the only thing left is a brown robe, nothing else.


Then a Door to the Light opened behind them. "No.. you were ... supposed to be ... trapped ... here"

[S121]

Realm of Darkness

John turned around to look at the door, then to Yukari.

"What happened?", John asked.

[Katrix]

Realm of Darkness

Ansem pointed at the darkest direction in the Realm of Darkness.
"Look as hard ... as you are ... able. You'll not ... find ... even the smallest .... glimmer of .... light! From ... those dark depths .... are all hearts .... born! Even ......... yours"
The robe begins to fall together as he is talking.

[S121]

Realm of Darkness

John looked at Ansem and said, "I may have darkness in my heart, but then again, so does everybody. What matters is what you do with it. Will you let it consume you, or will you choose something different? I choose to never become like you. I will never let the darkness take my heart. I will never let it consume me!"

John then pulled out his pistol and fired danmaku at Ansem until he had completely dissipated.

[WriggleRid3r]

Realm of Darkness

---

"I didn't do anything." Yukari smirked. "That was all you. You defeated him all by yourself."
Yukari saw a flicker through John's helmet. It was clear as day.
"I don't need to be a Satori to see this..." Yukari said. "You want to be stronger, right? Stronger so that you can protect those you care for?"

---

Wilderness, Australia

---

"I might not be able to see you, little pup." Rengar said as his enemy zipped around in the blizzard. "But I can smell you."
Rengar prepared an enhances bola. Normal bola would slow the targets down, but this bola would stop them at their track. Rengar sniffed the air, and detected something titanium.
"Easy prey!" Rengar guffawed as he threw the bola at his enemy.

---

"Snake, catch the sword and try to slow this bird down!" Sniper shouted as he ran to seek a higher place. He used his prized jarate to clear a path to a hill nearby, and ran through it, escaping the halo of fire.

[Katrix]

Realm of Darkness

Even tough Ansem was not physically around anymore his voice could still be heard.

"You john have potential to use that darkness. I have granted you the power to use the power of darkness.
To use it or not is your choice. I'll be waiting, John... for you to sense it and yield to the darkness in your heart!"

[NeoFox]

Wilderness - Australia
_____________________

Blizzard Wolfgang had managed to evade the bola, but just barely. "You are quite skilled! Though not as skilled as that blasted hunter!" Said Blizzard Wolfgang as he lets out another howl. As he let's out another howl the blizzard gets more and more intense.

Blaze Heatnix lets out another loud shriek. This time the vortex is getting even more intense, and is becoming larger. "You can't survive these flames!" He yelled as fireballs start spewing out of the top of the vortex like a volcano, and towards Snipers and Vergil's location.

[S121]

Realm of Darkness

"I don't need to be a Satori to see this..." Yukari said. "You want to be stronger, right? Stronger so that you can protect those you care for?"

"I don't ever want to see my friends get hurt. The only way that I know how to protect them is with my strength.", John said in a sincere tone to Yukari.

All of a sudden, John heard a voice in the air.

"You John, have potential to use that darkness. I have granted you the power to use the power of darkness.
To use it or not is your choice. I'll be waiting, John... for you to sense it and yield to the darkness in your heart!"

It was Ansem's voice! Even though John killed him, he could still be heard.

[WriggleRid3r]

Realm of Darkness

---

"Listen, John. I like you, not only because you took care of Yuuka and fixed Gensokyo and saved Chen and all that, but because of how you behave. Your beliefs. I like it. I want to help you reach the greater height." Yukari said as a portal back to the Old Hell opened. "When you get to Hawaii tomorrow, contact me through this."

Yukari handed John a purple crystal with an eyeball instead. The eyeball whirred and looked around, confused of what's going on. It seemed alive... but dead at the same time.

---

The Bridge People No Longer Crosses

---

"Okay, let's get to work!" Utsuho shouted. But the problem was, Utsuho didn't know a thing about building bridges. Neither did Cirno nor Reimu.
"Is there any architects around here?" Utsuho asked as she looked around. She looked at X, who was dazing near the wrecked bridge. "How about you? Do you know how to build bridges?"

[NeoFox]

The Bridge People No Longer Crosses
_______________________________

X shakes his head at the sound of Utsuho's voice. He quickly stands up and wipes the dust off his armor. "Oh. Sorry, I do not know how to repair bridges... I don't even know how I got here..." Replied X as he looks at the surrounding area. That weird portal had disappeared, and everything is a wreck.