Chapter 299: Eyes Over Your Reality (1/2)

Gemini kneeled down, helping the last of the children bandage up before handing out rations. ”Please hand these out equally and make them last. We don't have much left.”

”Gemini.”

Rising to her name, she turned, finding Harmony and Tempo returning from another supply run. ”Ah, you two. Aren't I glad to see you two safe, any good news?”

”Bah, we hardly have anything to call news. The city is more or less picked clean. Those Titans haven't vanished in the slightest. Together with the others, we manage to pull down one, but it's going to take weeks, maybe months, to rid this city of them.”

Gemini gave it some thought, frowning. ”Time, we don't have. Damn it.”

Harmony dropped a small bag of supplies looking at the camp. ”I'm not sure how much longer we can keep everyone happy. We're running dangerously low; where are Emil and Jinx?”

”Still out there looking. Not like they'd do us much good….” Gemini spoke before pausing, feeling a sharp pain rip through her chest. Falling to her knees, she began panting with a horrified look on her face. ”No….”

”Gemini! What's wrong? Speak, woman.” Tempo ordered.

Holding her hand forward, she stared on, worried. ”There's no way. Someone just took a Stage. The essence and force from it were sinister and driven by power…. We need to get everyone out of here.”

”Are you serious? Are they attacking again?”

”Something worse. Someone stole one of the Stages' powers. Someone evil and sly. If we stick around here any longer, we might all perish.”

Tempo rose to his feet, nodding. ”You heard the woman, we're packing up! Take only what you need and get moving. We don't have long!”

Helped up by Harmony, Gemini turned to the city whispering. ”Everyone…. Please be safe.”

****

The dust had settled, leaving the forces of good crippled on the floor dazed. Eyes Over You Reality hovered above the others, a purple aura bleeding off him. His eyes, pure yellow, matched with a crazed smile. Zinnia stood up, horrified, shaking her hand. ”This couldn't be any worse….”

Everyone stared at the Stage of Grief conflicted as Henry met their concern with a clap. ”Well done, well done, all of you. If it wasn't for you, I'd never have gained this power. But this is a blessing in disguise. All my patience and losses have led me to this.”

Riley clutched her hand, firing off an explosion knocking Henry back. ”What happened doesn't matter! This only makes the ordeal easier for us; this is our chance before the bastard figures out how to use his new power. We take him down!”

Zinnia turned, still seeing Jehovah desperately crawling away, panting. ”What about the girl?”

”Who cares about the girl. We'll be joining her if we don't deal with the threat in front of us.” Jinx barked, clocking her guns. ”Trusting this son of a bitch was a dumb idea from the start. Let's make up for those mistakes now, shall we?”

Emil stepped forward, creating an origami spitting. ”You've beaten him once, Zinnia. We can do it again.”

”This won't be like last time. Things have changed, Emil, old boy. Everything has changed!”

Lasers appeared all around Henry, glitching out more so than normal. Emil smirked at these illusions, not allowing himself to fall for them. Running at Henry, the lasers fired, grazing his legs. Tumbling to the floor, Emil rolled over, lying on his back, wincing. Burn marks were implanted on his leg, making him flinch. ”There's no way….”

Spikes began appearing from the ground as Zinnia stepped back, fearing the worse. ”Oh God, everyone! The illusions are real! Don't let them touch you!”

Rile flew up, avoiding the spikes barking in spite. ”Just great! The harmless Jester is now a real danger.” Riley was caught off guard, smashed back by a giant hammer launched through serval houses, avoiding serval more attacks.

”Riley!” Zinnia yelled, turning back to Henry. ”Not good!” Blasting the area with lightning, each one dwindled slowly, leaving Henry with nothing but a scratch. ”Shit!”

Emil jumped back, tackling Zinnia out of the way of serval gunshots from EOYR. ”The stage is targeting us like moths to alight. What do we do, leader?”

Zinnia stared on, whispering. ”I didn't think this….” She stopped noticing the girl was now in the line of sight of Henry. ”Emil, the girl.”