Ch 52: The Mad Genius

Sending Scott away, Dr. Nova joins the fray. Struggling to capture him alive, well aware he may be the only one who can free Scott's mind, Grey is in for a rough fight against an original Revenant.

            The devices on his wrists spinning again, Scott said, “No Doctor! I can still fight! I’m just getting started!” Suddenly the devices stopped and Scott dropped to his knees, eyes wide and shaking violently as he clenched his teeth and grunted as though he was suppressing great pain. Confused by his sudden fit, Grey said, “What the hell?! Scott, what’s wrong?!” As he started to move towards Scott though, Dr. Nova said, “Not another step Grey, or I’ll do much more to him than simply inflicting pain.” Stopping, Grey looked back at him in rage as he said, “What are you doing to him?!” With a slight laugh, Dr. Nova replied, “I could swear I just told you… I’m inflicting pain on him, a punishment for disobeying. The nano-machines within him stimulate his body’s nerves in order to generate that pain, all through commands I send them using my psychic abilities. In other words, you can forget about saving him Grey. He belongs to me now, and if he doesn’t obey I can simply destroy him.” As Scott recovered, Dr. Nova called out to him, “If you understand now, use your teleportation device and head to the Vinculus. We’ll be ready to depart as soon as I’ve finished with things here.” Withdrawing a device from one of his belt pouches, Scott muttered, “Yes sir…” Dropping a sword and reaching out with his hand as he rushed to stop Scott, Grey shouted, “No, Scott wait!” Scott pushed a button on the device and disappeared. Stopping before the place his former friend had been, Grey clenched his fist and muttered, “Scott…” 

Turning to face Dr. Nova, Grey called his sword flying back to his hand and said, “Now I’m really gonna kick your a*s!” With a humoring smile, Dr. Nova said, “You just keep thinking that.” Rushing at the Doctor, his blades shining with a silvery element, as Grey drew near he stopped suddenly as he briefly saw the invisible psychic power surging around Dr. Nova. Yet he was unable to avoid in time as he was pummeled again and again by what felt like a fist. Finally one powerful punch knocked Grey away, and watching him struggle up, his hands still in his pockets, Dr. Nova said, “I’m afraid I don’t expect much from a battle with you Grey. This new power of yours is fascinating though! I may just dub it True EDE, after your corresponding True Edge enchantment. Ah, but as I was saying, inept as you are with your own psychic capabilities, you have little chance against me. Don’t worry though! I’m not planning to kill you… Alastor may believe it’s best to simply destroy you and use a reverse of the Binding method to steal Deus Amictus from your exposed soul, but no matter what he says now, you’re just far too valuable a subject!”

            The two stood there staring each other down, and sensing the Doctor’s aura, Grey thought, “He’s strong, maybe even more so than Alastor without his vessel. Still, whatever he’s done to Scott, Nova may be the only one who can undo it…” Getting impatient, Dr. Nova said, “Hesitating? Here I thought you’d be so overconfident!” Suddenly the Doctor disappeared and reappeared right within striking range of Grey, and with his hands still tucked into his pockets, he knocked Grey spinning with a roundhouse kick. Then psychic punches riddled Grey’s body again, and as he took blow after blow, he thought, “What was up with that?! I couldn’t see it at all! It had to be something like teleportation! I didn’t sense his aura move either, it just disappeared and reappeared. When I fought Gisette there was a slight delay between her disappearance and reappearance, but that s**t he just pulled now was instant! How the hell do I counter something like that?!” Another powerful psychic strike knocked Grey away, and as Grey wiped his bloody lip and struggled up again, Dr. Nova said, “I’m afraid with your current abilities you can’t.” 

The possibility having slipped his mind, as he realized it, Grey quickly said, “Mind reading!” Starting to walk towards Grey, Dr. Nova grinned as he said, “Oh I can do much more than that…” Suddenly Grey started feeling dizzy, and as the world itself seemed to bend and twist, he could no longer see the Doctor clearly even with his silver eyes. Clenching his eyes shut, Grey thought, “I’ve got to take back control here! It’s nothing but an illusion of my mind!” Dr. Nova’s voice called out, “You can tell yourself it isn’t real all you like. It won’t change anything. Your mind is what perceives reality, and even your peculiar new senses rely on it to function.” Suddenly Grey felt himself being beaten by Dr. Nova’s psychic fists. Taking blow after blow, Grey thought, “There has to be a way! I have psychic powers of my own, so if I could just make them a little stronger, I could fight back!” Dr. Nova’s attack knocked Grey flat on his back, and as he managed to get back to his feet again despite the twisting motions of the world around him, Grey heard the Doctor call out, “Oh that’s quite impossible. I know we’ve just begun, but I’m a busy man. Unless you want me to beat you to a pulp with my Psycho Fist, I think it might be time to discuss your surrender. Don’t worry though, the terms really aren’t at all unfair. I won’t ask you to rejoin Altera Veritas. All you have to do is become my test subject. I might dissect you eventually, but in the pursuit of science such sacrifices are sometimes necessary…” 

A plan suddenly starting to dawn on him, Grey realized he had to put it into action before he himself had even worked out all the details. Smirking confidently, he said, “As appealing as that sounds Doc, I got a better idea…” Stopping his advance, as Dr. Nova sensed Grey generating more of his still active Void Energy, he found he could not read Grey’s mind anymore and exclaimed, “What?!” Grey charged one of his swords with leftover electrical energy from when he’d absorbed Scott’s attack, and then using the fact that it was still EDE, he absorbed the crystallized EDE of the sword directly into his fist in a technique he had never even considered until now. As it crackled with lightning, Grey charged that fist with Void Charge as well and moved as a blur of speed as he shouted, “Accelerate!” Grey followed his senses, somehow unaffected by the Doctor’s illusion, and swung his fist at the absolutely astounded Dr. Nova.

            The power of Grey’s punch sent Dr. Nova sliding backward, yet despite the force behind the strike the Doctor managed to keep himself balanced on his feet, and Grey noticed he still did not withdraw his hands from his pockets. As he came to a halt, Dr. Nova tilted his head back and started laughing. Continuing to laugh for a few moments, he at last tilted his head back down to stare at Grey as he exclaimed, “You fused your sword with your arm? I suppose it’s better than casting it aside, but if you think you’ll win like that, you’re crazier than I am!” The illusions around him lessened and he began to feel less dizzy, but Grey could see that his plan had not completely dispelled the Doctor’s power. At least able to see Dr. Nova clearly again, Grey said, “As much as I don’t like you, I plan on having you undo whatever you’ve done to my friend!” Dr. Nova simply chuckled to himself and said, “Well, however foolishly you wasted such a golden opportunity to kill me, I’m more interested in what you just did to stifle my illusions! I’ll admit I caught a little of it, but only the part about using Void Energy to briefly boost your psychic abilities, which shouldn’t have been possible anyways. I can only assume you developed the rest of the plan after that.” 

Flexing the hand he’d struck the Doctor with, Grey said, “In order to keep you out of my head, I had to boost my psychic abilities. I’ve never tried to use Void Energy to control the specific type of EDE being generated, but I was able to pull it off long enough to figure out where you were with my new eyes here.” Grey briefly motioned a finger to his silver eyes before continuing, “It only gave me a few seconds though, so I had to disable your abilities in a different way. I used the lightning I held back when I hit Scott with Reflux, and used it to launch a Void Charge punch combined with a copy of his Lockdown ability!” Flashing a grin, Grey added, “It worked better than I thought considering I’ve only seen Lockdown used once. I can only see you with my sixth sense, but that’s more than enough to take you down!”

            Beaming at him, Dr. Nova said, “To think you’d turn out to be such a prodigy! Amanus used Void Energy to produce a variety of effects, but it’s not documented that he ever developed enough control over it to generate specific types of EDE in order to bypass his level of affinity for that type!” Turning his gaze up to the night sky, Dr. Nova continued, “Professor Marcellus researched Void Energy and Corrupted EDE thoroughly before meeting his end at your hands you know. Alastor’s knowledge is great, but there are parts of the Nameless One’s mind even he cannot reach into, and he still cannot answer many of the great questions about how our world was reborn.” 

Turning his attention to Grey once more, there was a mad look in his eyes as Dr. Nova said, “What IS EDE?! Is it a form of magic, or something more?! What connection is there between it and life itself?! There are still many mysteries, but with every new development the nature of creation itself seems as though it’s almost within our grasp!” Leaping into the air suddenly, Dr. Nova came down at Grey with a powerful kick as he exclaimed, “It’s far too exciting!” With his free arm Grey blocked Dr. Nova’s kick, and as the Doctor pushed off his arm and leaped away, Grey channeled True EDE into his sword and flung a wave of silver power after him as he said, “You really are nuts! Isn’t it Altera Veritas’ goal to destroy our existence?! Why do you even care about its nature?!” Simply sidestepping as he landed back on his feet, as the energy wave missed him by mere inches, Dr. Nova replied, “Why?! It’s because I… am a man of Science!”

            Teleporting into striking range of Grey once more, Dr. Nova’s foot smashed a hole in the ground where Grey had stood as he brought it down in a downwards kick, Grey managing to evade just in time. Quickly Dr. Nova ripped it from the ground and spun with a spinning kick that knocked Grey off balance, and before he could even steady himself, the psychic punches of Dr. Nova’s Psycho Fist bombarded Grey once more. Knocked away by the finishing strike again, as Grey rolled back to his feet he thought, “He’s tough even without being able to read my mind. What I really want to know is why he’s keeping his hands in his pockets. It might just be a fighting style, but it seems weird…” 

Suddenly a piece of debris from the fallen ferris wheel flew at Grey from nowhere, and after he’d ducked it, he quickly realized Dr. Nova was using his psychic powers to lift all manner of crushed, twisted debris in the area into the air. A crazy look in his eyes, Dr. Nova called out, “If you’re going to keep hesitating, I’ll have to liven this up!” Grey leaped high into the air as a massive chunk of the ferris wheel rammed the ground where he’d been standing. Landing on top of a piece of debris, as Grey started hopping and flying from one floating object to another, he chanted, “Geminus Cesso, Porta Gladiis!” Then separating the EDE of his other sword from his arm and returning it to sword form, Grey armed it with a delayed spell as well, chanting, “Geminus Secundus Cesso, Septimo Spiritus Ventus!” Looking up, Grey hurled his first sword at a piece of floating stone debris, and the sword stabbed deep into the stone and remained stuck there. Then he channeled True EDE into his remaining sword and swapped it into his other hand as he waited for Dr. Nova.

            He did not have to wait long, as the Doctor suddenly teleported a short distance in front of him and willed several medium sized pieces of debris at him. Grey quickly shot them out of the sky with silver spheres of True EDE from his hand, and bursting through the resulting cloud of dust with a flying kick, Dr. Nova said, “It will take true genius to defeat me my boy!” Catching the doctor’s kick with his free hand, Grey swung him around and hurled him away. Sailing through the air away from Grey, Dr. Nova quickly teleported back into range of him, and coming at him with another kick, he said, “Guess who?!” Grey simply smirked as he ducked the kick and chanted, “Iacio!” This time it was Grey who instantly vanished, and landing where he had stood, Dr. Nova said, “What’s this?” Reappearing at the underside of the large floating piece of debris where he had placed his sword, Grey used his aura to hold himself there standing upside down upon the floating chunk of rock. With a swing of his sword, Grey unleashed the power he’d stored within it’s blade as his mighty Ein Soph Aur. Turning to see the powerful wave of silver energy coming down at him, the Doctor thought, “Did he figure it out already?” 

The doctor removed one of his gloved hands from his pocket, revealing he wore some strange device over his gloves. Raising that hand in defense, Dr. Nova created a wall of psychic energy between himself and Grey’s attack and poured all his power into it. As Grey’s attack struggled against the barrier, Grey raised his sword at Dr. Nova and unleashed his second spell, chanting, “Secundus Iacio!” Howling winds surrounded Grey’s blade, and charging the sword with EDE, he swung it downward and unleashed a wave of piercing wind. Speeding down at Dr. Nova, the wave struck his barrier and shattered it, but quickly pulling out his other hand Dr. Nova grabbed hold of Grey’s Ein Soph Aur with both hands. Struggling to hold it back for a moment, the Doctor finally mustered all his strength and hurled it aside.

            The pieces of debris that had been floating above the amusement park began crashing to the ground as Professor Nova ceased to concentrate on keeping them aloft. Staring down at the Doctor from the air, unable to believe he had caught and deflected the Ein Soph Aur with only his hands, Grey fused the EDE of both swords into his hands and thought, “I can’t give him time to recover! Once he’s down, I’ll MAKE him tell me where Scott is!” Hunched over and panting, Dr. Nova raised the hand he’d used to stop the Ein Soph Aur before him and stared at the destroyed device he wore upon it. In an extremely quiet voice that Grey could not hear, the Doctor muttered, “That was…” Dropping down from the sky, Grey shouted, “Accelerate!” Rushing at Dr. Nova as a blur of speed, Grey struck with a double punch to finish him. Raising both hands, Dr. Nova stopped Grey’s fists with his open palms and grabbed hold of them tightly as he looked up with a depraved look and exclaimed, “GENIUS!” 

Suddenly Grey felt as though fire was flowing from Dr. Nova’s hands into his body, his nerves erupting with pain as the Doctor used his mind to manipulate them, and Grey struggled to remove his fists from the Doctor’s grasp. Holding onto Grey’s fists, Dr. Nova ranted on, “You correctly guessed my teleportation had a recharge period I had to wait through in order to use it again, so you set up your little trap and lured me in, then quickly unleashed a combination of abilities within the short period I couldn’t avoid! As a bonus, you even forced me to sacrifice the source of my ability to teleport, the device I’d kept hidden within my pocket! For all I know, you even planned that as well!”

            Suddenly pulling Grey in close, Dr. Nova slammed his head into Grey’s face with a brutal head butt, and then released Grey and let his Psycho Fist bombard him once more, finally laying him out flat on his back. Jumping into the air, Dr. Nova came down and slammed his knees into Grey’s chest, and as his ribs snapped, Grey could only gasp for air. The Doctor grabbed him by the sides of his head, and as Grey felt the excruciating nerve pain swallowing his head, he heard Dr. Nova say, “Even though you entered this fight knowing nothing about your newfound power, had you not held back, you might have won! That softness, that weakness… If you show that side of yourself to your enemies, you’ll only put your comrades in danger! Your father learned this all too well…” As Grey’s eyes went wide, the Doctor’s mad grin widened as well, and Dr. Nova said, “Oh, I didn’t tell you I know your real father, did I? Yes, I know him quite well, and despite what you may believe, he’s very much alive! He really is quite a pathetic man, not only did he let the woman he loved die, but he also abandoned his children out of fear of his own inability to protect what he cherished most! You have my condolences for being the son of such a pitiful man…” 

Grey’s face twisted with rage, and dust on the ground around them began to rise into the air and swirl around them, stirred up as Grey’s aura erupted with power. Looking around as Grey’s powerful aura swirled around them, Dr. Nova smirked and thought to himself, “It would seem I’ve touched a nerve.” Quickly he leaped off Grey, moving back out of range as a blast of True EDE radiated from Grey’s aura. Staring into the radiant blast, Dr. Nova thought, “He’s tapping further into the True EDE’s power again! Just as I presumed, there is a connection between it and his emotions!” Then another Ein Soph Aur shot at Dr. Nova from out of the aftermath, and the Doctor quickly flew up into the air and out of harms way. Suddenly shooting into the air as well, his blades in hand and shining with True EDE, Grey soared above Dr. Nova and then came down with a double slash of his swords as he cried out in rage, “NOVAAAAAA!”

            Raising an arm up, Dr. Nova formed a blade of psychic energy that extended from his hand and began to block as Grey unleashed a flurry of slashes and strikes. Sending the Dr. Nova sailing with a mighty strike, Grey shouted, “Accelerate!” Speeding about in the air, Grey started to knock him around in the sky, the Doctor barely managing to block as Grey came at him from every side in a blur of speed. Then knocking the Doctor sailing once again, Grey fired a barrage of True EDE spheres after him, and as the Doctor recovered he swerved out of their way. Controlling them with telekinesis, Grey sent them chasing after the Doctor as he chanted, “Geminus Cesso, Susicivus, Pluvia Eversio, Vultus Lux Quod Ignis!” As the spheres closed in on him, Dr. Nova shouted, “Psycho Reject!” The energy spheres froze in the air as a pulse of invisible psychic power radiated from his body and washed over them. The threat averted, he quickly turned his attention back to Grey, who was chanting, “Geminus Secundus Cesso, Susicivus, Pluvia Eversio, Vultus Lux Quod Ignis!” 

Raising a hand at Grey, Dr. Nova thought, “For a while now I’ve wondered… Alastor had mentioned an interest he’s taken in some power known as ‘strength of the heart’ that Grey is supposed to possess. It’s truly absurd, but for someone to change from a weak little brat like Grey was only a short few years ago to a warrior of this caliber… It’s truly a phenomenon that must be considered!” From his hand, Dr. Nova fired a powerful sphere of psychic energy at Grey, but Grey quickly activated his Flux restriction ability, absorbing the attack into his swirling aura. Then raising his swords at his sides as though they were wings, Grey chanted, “Iacio Quod Secundus Iacio!” On each sword appeared white runes, and from the tips of their blades burst torrents of light energy arrows. At first it seemed like Grey had failed to aim, the arrows shooting into the empty air to his sides, but then using telekinesis Grey commanded them to arc around and come at Dr. Nova from both sides. Chuckling, Dr. Nova said, “Psycho Reject!” An invisible psychic pulse radiated from his body and the arrows stopped in the air. Flashing a grin, Dr. Nova said, “Projectiles are nothing to me…”

            Dr. Nova thought he’d stopped Grey’s attack, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. As the arrows began to fall through the air they suddenly glowed bright red and exploded into balls of flame that tore through the skies back up at Dr. Nova. Remembering that the Susicivus incantation adds an extra ability to a spell, the Doctor said, “A fire based Susicivus! Any remaining energy from the first attack recombines into a barrage of fireballs!” Then he heard Grey call out, “Additio Verus!” Suddenly empowered with True EDE, the red fireballs turned silver and began to emit some form of EDE interference. Quickly Doctor Nova again shouted, “Psycho Reject!” The invisible psychic pulse radiated from the Doctor once more, but shining with silvery energy, the fireballs passed through it and closed in on their target. Eyes wide in wonder, Dr. Nova thought, “He’s completely nullified my Psycho Reject!” Moments later, Dr. Nova disappeared in a chain of silver explosions. Raising a sword at the explosion, Grey added a final touch and fired a beam of psychic energy from the tip of his blade as he shouted, “Reflux!”