Ch 53: On the Sidelines No More

Despite a powerful showing, Grey is unable to best Nova alone. At the Doctor's mercy, Grey refuses to give in, and suddenly the others arrive to help, Amy at the forefront as his shield.

            Having barely raised a weak field of psychic energy and Corrupted EDE around himself just in time, Dr. Nova snuck out from the aftermath of Grey’s attack, giggling madly as he thought, “It’s like he has some form of natural talent to use just about any ability he can come up with! The use of EDE Dissipation without a catalyst of Crystallized EDE, enhancing his punches, kicks, and jumps with his Void Charge, using Void Energy to bypass EDE type affinity restrictions! Not to mention separately retaining the EDE of his own swords within a specific part of his body, or using Scott’s Lockdown after seeing it only once! Now to top it off, he’s used his own version of Additio, just as he used alterations of the Professor’s incantations in his battle against Alastor!” 

Suddenly a wave of silver power shot through the clearing smoke, and quickly Dr. Nova charged a foot with EDE and kicked it away, then formed a wall of psychic energy to block with as Grey appeared in a blur of speed and struck out. Locking eyes with Grey through the transparent wall of psychic energy, Dr. Nova said, “Finally trying to kill me I see?!” Seeing a look of realization in Grey’s eyes, the Doctor chuckled and said, “It’s not like there’s anything wrong with that you know! Forget Scott! Dig into your hatred, unleash your rage! Don’t you see it yet? The moment you cast aside that hesitation you became unstoppable! I want to see more of that power!” The Doctor raised a hand and a wave of psychic force shot through the barrier and knocked Grey away.

            Flying after Grey, Dr. Nova pummeled him with a powerful uppercut, sending waves of pain shooting through Grey’s nerves as the Doctor’s hand contacted his skin. Absorbing his swords into his hands, Grey quickly fired back with a punch straight to Dr. Nova’s face. Tumbling backward through the air, as Dr. Nova pulled himself together, he tried to block as Grey flew at him with a Void Charge punch, but was pummeled again and again as Grey lashed out. Taking another punch, Dr. Nova giggled and said, “Back to fisticuffs again? Even if I did tell you where he is, it’s far too late for you to mend fences with him!” Grabbing Dr. Nova by the collar, Grey slammed his fist into the Doctor’s face again and shouted, “Shut up!” Releasing the Doctor, Grey kicked him away from him, quickly gathering EDE and firing a barrage of True EDE spheres after him. Halting himself as he fell away from Grey, the Doctor once again used his Psycho Reject, and as his psychic pulse froze the spheres in place, Dr. Nova wiped his bloody lip as he looked up and called out, “The clock is ticking you know! Scott’s Lockdown lasts several hours, but that crude version you used earlier won’t even last that long! I can already feel my full powers returning, and I’m sure you can tell my psychic delusions are taking hold of you again…”

Gritting his teeth as he glanced at the twisting scenery around him, Grey thought, “He’s right. All this time I’ve been managing to stay focused and use my new senses to keep track of where I am, but I can’t keep it up…” Grinning madly, Dr. Nova started gathering EDE as he said, “You’ve put up a good fight, but you could really do better. The problem is that you don’t understand the secret behind your power. I don’t understand why myself, but when you combined those two auras, you created a form of power I thought only existed in fairy tales, something much more mysterious than simple light and darkness!” Having gathered a great amount of EDE, Dr. Nova raised his hands before him and used all that power to form five psychic orbs that combined into a single orb of psychic energy. 

Quickly Grey separated his swords from his arms and began gathering EDE of his own, his blades beginning to shine with silvery power. Glaring at Dr. Nova, Grey said, “Right now I don’t care what kind of power this is! Scott’s my friend, and I won’t stop until I make things right with him! Now tell me where he is or get the hell out of my way!” Laughing, Dr. Nova said, “Oh don’t worry…” As his orb grew into an enormous orb of psychic energy, Dr. Nova sent it flying at Grey as he shouted, “You’ll both be my prized specimens!” Swinging both of his swords, Grey unleashed the power within as a powerful Ein Soph Aur that rushed to meet Dr. Nova’s psychic orb. The two attacks collided, and the skies above Marsalia Isle were lit up by a shining blast of power.

            Having shielded his eyes from the blast, as the light from the explosion created by their two attacks faded, Grey found he had lost sight of Dr. Nova. Then Grey’s eyes went wide as he sensed him coming, and turning as he swerved to the side, Grey watched as Dr. Nova sped past him, having come from behind with a flying kick. Pulling out of his kick, Dr. Nova whirled around and dodged as Grey swung with his sword in a reckless slash. Quickly Dr. Nova grabbed hold of Grey’s arm and said, “Psycho Shock!” An invisible surge of psychic energy shot from his hand into Grey’s body, and Dr. Nova started giggling madly at the look on Grey’s face as he found he could not move, his body temporarily paralyzed. Floating away as he continued cackling to himself, Dr. Nova began channeling EDE into his hand, and the EDE quickly crystallized into a sharp spike of solid psychic energy. 

The paralysis starting to wear off, as Grey struggled to move his arms, he managed to mutter, “Damn… you…!” Raising his other hand in the air, psychic energy shot out of the Doctor’s hand into the air around him and formed into more spikes, and Dr. Nova grinned widely as he said, “It’s been enlightening, but I’m afraid I’m late for a very important date! I’m almost positive someone as stubborn as you can survive my Mind Spikes, but if not, rest assured that I’ll donate your body to Science!” As the Doctor motioned with his hand at Grey, his spikes shot out at their target, and barely managing to raise a sword, Grey muttered, “Rutilus Astrum Contego!” 

A star shaped shield of light energy appeared, but the sharp ends of the spikes pierced through the shield and into Grey’s flesh. Thankfully, the shield reduced the force of the spikes’ impact, but they still had managed to stab deep into various parts of Grey’s body. Speeding through the air at Grey as he grasped at one of the spikes weakly in an attempt to remove it, Dr. Nova rammed Grey in the face with his elbow. Losing hold of his swords, Grey’s strength was fading and he was steadily losing blood as the spikes evaporated. As he tumbled through the air, he could not find the energy to right himself, and crashing painfully into the paved cement of a wide open area of the amusement park, Grey raised a hand up to the sky as though to take hold of something as he said, “D****t… I just wanted…”

            Letting his hand fall to his side, Grey groaned in pain as he laid on the ground and choked, “All I wanted… was for Scott and me to be friends again…” Staring up at the warped skies, Dr. Nova’s illusions consuming his mind, Grey muttered, “Still, if Scott really hates me, is there really anything I could do?” Touching down beside him, Dr. Nova said, “If you fall here, you’ll never know. Whatever power you have left, now is the time to use it!” Closing his eyes, certain he was too disoriented to stand, Grey muttered, “Sorry Doc. Show’s over…” Raising a hand, Dr. Nova used psychic power to send him flying into a pile of cement bricks. Walking over to where Grey lay amongst the broken bricks, Dr. Nova reached down and grabbed him by the neck. Pulling him up, the Doctor looked Grey in the eye as he said, “Your heart is stronger than this! You’ve fought long and hard to save your friend, you cannot give in now! If you cherish your friendship, take those feelings and turn them into power! That’s your power, the power of Grey of the Infinite!” 

Staring back at him in great confusion, Grey wondered, “What’s going on? Why is he trying so hard to encourage me?” Whirling him around suddenly, Dr. Nova hurled Grey away from him and clutched his head for a moment. Then, chuckling slightly, the Doctor muttered to himself, “It seems I will need to deal with the good doctor permanently once this is over…” Glancing at Grey, who started struggling to pick himself back up off the ground, Dr. Nova said, “Oh, what’s this? Weren’t you finally giving up? Don’t pay much mind to my ramblings, why don’t we just hurry along to the Vinculus and find some experiments for you to participate in?” As the world churned around him, managing to get up on one knee, Grey said, “Keep dreaming b*****d…” As Grey looked up, there was fire in his silver eyes as he said, “I will beat you!”

            With a humoring smile, Dr. Nova said, “Yes, yes, such a convincing line from someone in your state. Honestly though, I’m afraid I have a schedule to keep. If you won’t admit defeat…” The Doctor raised his hand, and as he started channeling EDE into it, there was a menacing look in his eyes as he said, “I’ll just have to skip straight to the dissections!” However, Dr. Nova’s eyes suddenly narrowed and he quickly held out his hand and formed a wall of psychic power as rounds of crystal bullets hailed at him. Rushing up behind Grey with Alexander and Richter behind her, Amy leaped over Grey, flipping once in the air and then using a burst of psychic force to propel herself at Dr. Nova with a powerful kick that shattered his psychic wall. 

The Doctor barely managed to stop her foot with his arm, and quickly Amy pushed off it and flipped backwards in the air to land gracefully in front of Grey. Clutching his arm, Dr. Nova grinned and said, “Well, well, if it isn’t the Sage of Memories!” Upon Amy’s arrival, the illusory world returned to normal around him, and looking up at her in disbelief, Grey said, “A-Amy?!” Her gaze remaining fixed cautiously on Dr. Nova, Amy said, “Alexander, he’s hurt!” Walking up beside Grey, Alexander knelt down and said, “I will heal his critical injuries immediately! Can you hold off Schwartz until we’re ready to escape?” Nodding, Amy said, “Leave it to me!”

            Struggling to stand, Grey exclaimed, “No way! I won’t let you- AGH!” Taking hold of Grey as he nearly fell over, Alexander shouted, “Hold still! You’re in no condition to move!” As Alexander started to heal him, Grey muttered, “What the hell’s going on?! You’re actually gonna sit here and heal me while Amy fights Nova?!” Stepping up on Grey’s other side, Richter said, “She won’t fight alone!” Glancing at Amy, Alexander said, “I have my own misgivings, but whatever has happened while we were gone, she has gained a significant amount of power. Against Schwartz, or should I say Dr. Nova, the power of the Sage of Memories is our best chance to level the playing field.” Struggling against Alexander’s hold as his wounds were feeling better, Grey said, “So we just throw everything on her?! Where are the others?! I can’t just sit here and watch this!” Watching them squabble with an amused look, Dr. Nova said, “You should listen to him Alexander. It won’t take me long to deal with a fresh recruit like that one…” 

Glaring at Dr. Nova from behind his shades, Alexander said, “The Sages of Light were Angelorum Lux’s impenetrable shield. Amy’s strength and her ability to protect her mind and the minds of others is not something to be underestimated by a psychic ability user like yourself Schwartz. We could not leave Saria and Bella unguarded, not to mention Mythra and Fox are both too drained to fight after their battle. I’ve entrusted them all to Serius. I would have sent Richter back as well, but…” Richter and Alexander simply exchanged angry stares for a brief moment. Glancing back at Grey, Amy said, “Grey, it’s alright.” Looking up at her in surprise, Grey said, “But…!” Turning back to Dr. Nova, Amy said, “Grey, you’re always the one who risks his life for us, and I’m always the one who has to sit on the sidelines. I understand how you feel right now, the fear, the anxiety… I know nothing I say will make that feeling go away, but now that I have the power to fight for what I care about…” As a powerful aura gathered around her, Amy clenched her fists and shouted, “I will fight with all my heart!”

            Gathering EDE, Dr. Nova started laughing. Then he suddenly raised a hand at Richter, and as though he’d been struck buy a hover truck, Richter went sailing through the air. Bouncing off the side of an unfinished building, Richter landed sprawled out on his stomach. Looking back at where Richter lay motionless, Grey exclaimed, “Richter!” With a deranged look in his eyes, Dr. Nova said, “I have no interest in you Colonel. Although I suppose I can make a slight change in my schedule for you, Sage of Memories!” Quickly Alexander dragged Grey behind a piece of debris a safe distance away as Amy rushed at Dr. Nova and leaped into the air with a sweeping jump kick. Reaching out with his hand, Dr. Nova grabbed hold of her leg and swung her around before hurling her in the opposite direction from Grey and the others. Regaining control quickly, Amy landed on her feet and formed a layer of psychic energy around her arm to block as Dr. Nova rushed at her with an EDE charged punch. 

As they began exchanging psychically enhanced blows, Dr. Nova said, “So you know how to fight after all! Could it be that you’ve used memories of the former sages to learn their combat skills? Don’t they teach high school girls these days to know better than to cheat?” Slamming her knee into Dr. Nova’s gut, then catching him in the face with a roundhouse kick, as he staggered back Amy smirked and said, “Aren’t you the one trying to read my mind? That’s pretty cheap if you ask me!” Wiping blood from his mouth as he backed away, Dr. Nova chuckled and said, “Cheeky, especially for someone who was nothing only a short while ago…” Jumping up and using bursts of psychic power to propel herself into a spinning drill kick, Amy shot straight across the distance between them like a bullet. Dr. Nova barely had time to block her drill kick with his arm, and the force was so great that she pushed him sliding back across the ground, the Doctor struggling to gain any traction. 

Pushing off his arm, Amy flipped backwards and channeled EDE into her fists. Landing on her feet she burst forward and fired twin punches. Raising his hands, Dr. Nova stopped her fists with his open palms, and taking hold of her fists with a mad grin, he said, “Right into my Psycho Fist!” Amy was pummeled by fists of invisible psychic power, and as the assault ended Dr. Nova struck with a knee kick to Amy’s gut. The Doctor released her, and as Amy staggered back, he channeled EDE into his fist and said, “Well, that was rather boring…” The Doctor lunged with an EDE charged punch, but with a glow in her eyes Amy said, “Psycho Fist!” The Doctor could not believe it as he was struck by his own attack.

            Blown away by his own Psycho Fist, Dr. Nova landed sprawled on his back, and as he got up off the ground and dusted himself off, Dr. Nova said, “Ah yes, Reflect.” Gathering EDE, as he unleashed psychic energy from his body that formed into more of his Mind Spikes, the Doctor said, “You can replicate some of your opponet’s simpler abilities with it, but since it requires you to be struck first, it’s quite the double edged sword…” With a wave of his hand his spikes flew through the air at Amy, but concentrating quickly Amy used telekinesis to guide them away from her. As the spikes streamed by, Amy said, “You’ll have to try harder than that!” 

Laughing quietly, Dr. Nova replied, “Do you really think that I’m trying to begin with? I am interested in your powers, but you really don’t have the experience or skill to make good use of them. I have been honing my skills for far longer than you’ve been alive, little girl. It’s far from necessary for me to use all my strength against you or even Grey. I don’t get irritated easily, but…” Bursting forward at Amy with a mad grin on his face, Dr. Nova threw a punch. Amy formed a barrier around her arm and tried to block, but the powerful punch smashed through her defenses and sent her bouncing across the ground. Flexing his fist as he walked over to her sprawled out on the ground, Dr. Nova continued, “I think you need to learn your place!” 

Amy rolled aside and back to her feet as he leaped into the air and came down where she had been with a stomping kick that smashed a small crater in the ground. The Doctor quickly formed a sphere of psychic energy in his hand and flung it at her, and Amy barely reacted in time to deflect it with telekinesis. Yet in the short time it had taken her, Dr. Nova closed the distance and began to pummel her with punches and kicks, activating her body’s pain receptors every time he made contact with her body. Finishing with his Psycho Fist, Dr. Nova seemed victorious as Amy landed sprawled out on the ground with a groan of pain.

            As Amy started to struggle up, Dr. Nova said, “You get an ‘A’ for effort my dear, but do us both a favor and stay down. You’re far too naïve and inexperienced to take on someone like me. After all, I’m just plain crazy!” Gathering EDE, Amy formed it into a mass of EDE that crystallized into a leather glove upon her right hand, her Insigne Memoriae. Summoning the golem’s memory shard, Amy inserted it into the socket of the glove and balled that hand into a fist as she said, “I worked hard, trained by myself every night, just trying to get one step closer to fighting alongside Grey and the others! Maybe it didn’t take me a thousand years to get where I am, but I made the effort and here I am! I won’t run away!” 

Eyeing her gloved hand, the Doctor thought, “Insigne Memoriae, the Memory Emblem.” Then Dr. Nova slowly started towards her, grinning widely as he said, “A touching story! I almost shed a tear you know! I have no Anima Weapon of my own, given the twisted state of my inner self, but I assure you I have no need for one. The variable of the memory shards makes your little toy there rather unpredictable, but considering the user, I doubt I have much to worry about…” Pulling her fist back, Amy channeled EDE into her gloved hand and slammed it into the ground, smashing a crater into it as her now earth empowered fist unleashed a wave of kinetic force that poured into the ground. Shooting towards Dr. Nova, rolling like a wave in the ocean, the ground violently rose up as the wave of force rolled through it. Caught by surprise, Doctor Nova was thrown into the air as the wave passed through the ground beneath him. 

Leaping into the air after him, Amy folded her hands together above her head and brought them down at Dr. Nova as she shouted, “Stone Hammer!” Tumbling through the air, Dr. Nova quickly formed a psychic barrier to block her strike, but shattering the wall of psychic energy like it was nothing, Amy plowed straight into Dr. Nova’s chest with her earth empowered strike, and like a speeding bullet he went crashing into the ground. Using a burst of psychic power, Amy propelled herself after him, but raising his legs Dr. Nova caught her in the stomach with a double kick. Jumping to his feet, Dr. Nova chased after her as she sailed backwards through the air. Flipping in the air and readying her earth empowered fist, Amy pointed herself at Dr. Nova and propelled herself at him with a burst of psychic force once again. Leaping straight at her, Dr. Nova readied an EDE charged punch of his own, and as they met each of them exchanged their powerful punches directly to the other’s face. A blast of psychic power from the Doctor’s fist blew Amy back into the air, but at the same time the earthen might of Amy’s fist sent Dr. Nova crashing back to the ground.

            Landing on her feet, Amy dropped to one knee and panted, wiping the blood from her nose and watching as the Doctor struggled to get off the ground. On his hands and knees, Dr. Nova spat blood from his mouth as he said, “Perhaps I’ve underestimated you after all. It’s truly a pity, but…” As his aura became dark and more powerful, Dr. Nova slowly stood and looked up to stare at Amy with a sinister look in his eyes as he said, “Once I’m through with you, I don’t think there will be anything left to dissect…” Frightened by the look in Dr. Nova’s eyes, Amy took a step back. Grinning madly, Dr. Nova said, “What’s this? Going to run away after all? Oh no, no, no… It’s much too late for that!” 

Suddenly sensing a great gathering of EDE, Dr. Nova glanced back and up to the skies as Richter, flying upon one of his crystal walls, aimed down at him with his Fragminis Caelum’s dual barreled pistols and shouted, “Charge complete! Cannon of Heaven!” A mighty beam of prism colored energy shot from the glowing barrels of his pistols, and as the beam came down at him, Dr. Nova turned and met it with the open palm of his right hand. The Doctor disappeared in a prismatic explosion, and for a moment it seemed like that was the end of the battle. But as the light of the blast faded, the ringing of a cell phone could be heard, and then as a beep announced it was answered, Dr. Nova’s voice could be heard saying, “Yes, well… Things have gone a bit differently from what I had planned. Oh stop your whimpering Ferid, this changes nothing! Go ahead and launch the Vinculus without me.” The dust clearing, his right arm burned and bleeding, Dr. Nova put away his cell phone and glanced up at Richter with a mad grin as he said, “It seems I’ve underestimated you as well Colonel! How careless of me!”

            Hanging her head out a window of Gibolu’s hover transport as it hovered across the sea, sensing the battle that was going on at Marsalia Isle, Mythra said, “Can’t this thing move any faster?!” In the seat next to her, Rufus said, “I think we’re lucky it can double as a hover barge in the first place…” Leaning back in his own seat, Schmitt said, “Still, ya think Alexander might’ve been a bit hasty sendin ya’ll back when there’s a battle to be fought? Hope he knows what he’s doin…” Standing in the aisle with eyes closed in concentration, Serius said, “He’s letting his past with Schwartz cloud his judgment. Gambling on Amy’s newly unlocked abilities is too reckless.” Sitting with Saria on the opposite side from Mythra and the others, Bella said, “Nova attended my evaluation meetings. Instructor Patch told me to avoid him as much as possible…” 

Fidgeting with her hands in her lap, Saria said, “B-but Dr. Nova seemed so nice, and he saved Scott’s life…” Serius and Mythra remained silent, still unsure how they could explain to Saria that Scott had become an enemy. Groaning in the row of seats he laid upon, weakened from using Arma Fusile, Fox said, “I’d never seen him fight before myself, but Nova is supposed to be one of Alastor’s strongest. If he goes all out, who knows what’ll happen.” Irritated by his pessimism, Mythra said, “Oh, you’re still not dead Fox?” Smiling to himself, Fox said, “Nope, not dead. Just lazy.” Laughing, Schmitt said, “Least he’s honest…” 

Crossing his arms with a slightly frustrated look, Serius said, “At any rate, hopefully we arrive in time to get them out of there in one piece as Alexander has planned.” Reaching a hand up and scratching his chin a moment, Fox said, “Still, I kinda doubt he’ll really get serious no matter how things look. Something about Nova told me he was just the kind of guy who doesn’t take anything seriously…” With a chuckle, Rufus said, “Kinda like you?” Just as Fox sat up with an indignant look, Saria suddenly said, “E-everyone, out there in the water! What is that?”