The Flying City

[42zombies]

"The tower isn't accessible physically."

The voice no doubt startled them. Unless someone spoke-- and, indeed, the whole populace of New Babylon was tancturn-- the city was quiet as a church. The man who spoke stood behind the large group, wearing a cobalt jumpsuit like all of the other citizens. His face seemed stoic, and he had the same glazed-over look in his eyes.

"My name is Jeremiah. I am in charge of this section of the city." The man bowed his head politely, each motion rehearsed. "I welcome you to New Babylon. Our Lord Eddward rarely welcomes guests."

[nintendonut1]

"Lord Eddwa...?" Eddy stood confused until he noticed Double D's slight wince, and was quickly reminded. "...Oh. Didn't know he was called by his name here."

Edd shook off his shivers, addresing the man. "...Thank you... Jeremiah. How, then, do we access the main tower?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

The others hadn't noticed the brown haired woman really, which was to her advantage. It was better they didn't really notice her. That they thought she was just some other random person the Wizard had wronged.

She managed to hear the 'Lord Eddward' comment, but it meant nothing to her; she didn't know Double D personally, or so she was acting. She was only here because of the Wizard.

-----------

"Gantz van Drake!!"

Ford had spotted the other mage and was running over to him, looking like he wanted to fight. But before Ford could make it over there, Flamel seized his arm and closed the distance between the two groups. He assessed the group of three. The two star-crossed lovers were here too. He looked toward Gantz, and his expression didn't change as he spoke.

"We're here for the same reason you are," Flamel stated. "As long as we are inside this city, we are here as allies. Agreed?"

Ford struggled a bit at Flamel's grip, and was giving Gantz a rather strong glare.

"Yes, I would rather we didn't have to break into the tower through other means," Flamel stated without turning around to face Jeremiah, revealing he had been listening to the other man at the same time he had been speaking to Gantz.

[42zombies]

"The tower is only accessible by the Lord Eddward's teleportation." Jeremiah explained politely. "He will most-likely summon you all once the final guest arrives. I apologize for any inconvenience." The man bowed his head again.

"Jeremiah!" A voice, feminine and young, called out. Jeremiah turned to a female figure in a similar uniform standing in the doorway of one of the houses. "Come inside, Jeremiah! Lord Eddward's allowing us to choose our own meals this evening!"

Jeremiah began to smile. "I'm sorry; I have business to attend to." He said calmly. "I hope you enjoy your audience with the Wizard." With that, he turned and ran towards his house.

[gantzgun74]

Gantz watched as Jeremiah ran home looking happy as can be... He shook his head pitifully, starting to feel sorry for him, he looked like such a nice guy... Sighing, he turned to Flamel and Ford, not giving Ford the satisfaction of returning the glare he shot his way. "Sounds good to me old man." This was followed, however, by pointing to his eyes then pointing at them both. "But forgive me if I act suspicious around you, but I've made similar deals before and a good amount of them went south, a little after; you understand."

Otto rolled his eyes. "This 's really starting to get on my nerves... Jeremiah said he was waiting for the final guest to arrive, before he meets with us..." He growled a little. "What did that man mean by that?"

A shake of the head and a shrug was Misty's response. "I'm not sure... We've got everyone here that joined us, don't we?"

The Mage of all Trades shrugged. "I'd imagine so but... after hearing that... I'm not sure..."

"GANTZ!!!!!"

The boy's eyes widened to ludicrous levels, before he turned around.

Rosaline quickly closed the distance between herself and Gantz and tackled the boy down. "There you are!! Me and Wally have been looking everywhere for you!!"

"ROSE?!?!?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!?!?" He jumped to his feet, and helped Rosaline up. "I told you to stay with the others!"

"And I'm telling you; 'no way in the underworld'." She narrowed her eyes, frowning slightly. After a moment, a kind smile appeared on her face. "We're a team, Gantz. And I'm not about to let you take on something like this without more help. Wally agrees with me."

Otto's eyes widened to unbelievable levels. "Wally's here too?!?!"

Rosaline glared at Otto a moment, before motioning around. "Well YEAH. He's right-"

However, Wally was nowhere to be found... .... ... ... ... ...

"Huh? Where'd he go?"

-----------------------------

"ROSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Meanwhile in another section of the city, Wally was aimlessly wandering around, looking about as lost as could be. With a frown on his face, he continued looking around, hoping to find the person he had traveled with. "ROSE!!!!!!! COME ON SHEILAH, THROW ME A BONE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[42zombies]

What city?

Wally and the others were no longer in the city, as they found themselves standing in a large room made out of what appeared to be glass. There was no furniture-- only a large, glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It had been placed perfectly in the center, as if by a man with an obsession with symmetry.

"Welcome to New Babylon."

The chilling voice originated behind them, coming from the villain they all hated so much. The Wizard stared at them all calmly, calculating what to do in case of any possible situation. "I hope you have been impressed with my fair city."

[Felix Falora]

"Your city is impressively... haunting, chilling, frightening, scary, bothering, disturbing, and any other synonym to describe it," Masahiro said.

"Errr..." Felix couldn't top that.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Flamel only regarded Gantz with the same flat expression he always did as he said he was watching them. "You underestimate my age. I have had these deals go south for the same reasons you have." And with that, he turned away and appeared to ignore anything else the group did. Ford continued glaring at Gantz.

Flamel didn't even blink as the group suddenly found themselves somewhere they certainly hadn't been thirty seconds before. Really, at this point, Flamel was rivaling the Wizard in stoicness. Ford didn't really react either. The brown-haired woman certainly did, though.

"Woah! Holy crap!" she yelled. Flamel only gave her a slight sideways glance and then went on to answering the Wizard's question.

"It's perfectly orderly. Every aspect of life controlled. Everything kept clean, orderly, and under your complete control," Flamel said. "No free will at all. Everyone praising their complete tyrant Lord Eddward, better known as the Wizard."

Ford composed himself for now. They had a complete bastard to address. He pulled his large brimmed hat down over his eyes as he added to what Flamel said.

"It's a prison. These people don't even realize they're being controlled either, because you're controlling their basic thoughts and emotions," Ford said. "It's a despicable kind of control. They're imprisoned, and they're blinded so far they can't see their chains. They're happy, but only because you make them so."

It was pretty clear what Ford and Flamel's opinion of the Wizard was at that.

[nintendonut1]

"GAHH!!" Ed and Eddy embraced each other in shock at their abrupt change in scenery. They then looked at each other and quickly pulled away, coughing.

Double D's heart skipped a beat. There he was. Not two feet away. There stood his... future self. In the flesh.

Steeling his nerves, Double D took a deep breath, stepping forward in a slow walk. "...To be perfectly honest with you, Wizard... I don't like it one bit."

[42zombies]

The Wizard was quiet for a bit. He looked Felix in the eye, then Flamel, and then, finally Eddward.

"You wouldn't understand." He said calmly. "If I didn't control everything, they would be unhappy. This way, they only have to think about the little things; they can forget about..." the Wizard suddenly grew very quiet. "... their lives before.

"Would you rather they were like the people outside? Leading sad, unfulfilling lives with only one destination?" The Wizard looked behind him, past the impenetrable glass wall and through to the city behind it. "Here, people don't die; they don't hurt. It is the first step in making all other dimensions this way."

The Wizard was quiet again. He seemed to be thinking about something.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Flamel's stoic expression changed to one of anger as the Wizard spoke. It hadn't actually changed until he mentioned that the people here wouldn't die. Ford's changed at the same moment Flamel's did. Flamel was glaring at the Wizard as he spoke.

"Immortality is a curse, not a blessing," Flamel spat. "You have removed the element of change, Wizard. What you have done is an offense against nature itself. Your people, with their inability to feel any emotion other than what you allow them too, with their inability to feel pain or hunger... There will always be pain. Always death. Without these, you take away what makes them human."

"This is a wall, Wizard. Your 'utopia' is simply a frozen world, without change or evolution, and your 'people' are less than human," Ford growled. "And what will happen when you make every world in the multiverse like this and it comes to its inevitable end? You'll take the rest of the multiverse with you."

He pulled his hat back down over his eyes. "All things come to an end, Wizard. You're just too far in denial to accept that."

Flamel nodded at his partner's statements and turned back toward the Wizard. "It's a shame. Our goals are so similar, yet so different. Now talk. Why did you summon us here?"

[gantzgun74]

Gantz considered what the Wizard said, something catching his attention.

"Your crazy." Came Otto with a deep dark frown. "You call this place paradise? Bah... I'd hate to see what YOU call a ruined society in that case." Otto's emotions were clearly the same as the others.

"Wizard... No... Eddward."

Gantz walked up, eyes narrowed. "Listen... I can appreciate what your trying to do here."

?!?

"In this system, no-one feels pain, no-one suffers, their is no war, that's true. In fact, many people wish that the world could be like that. As thus, you HAVE created a perfect world..."

All was silent.

"However you created it the WRONG WAY." Gantz's expression softened. "Listen, I get where your coming from, I even know someone that tried something similar to this, but that doesn't excuse that what your doing is wrong." He shook his head. "This world you created, it looks good... On the surface. And frankly, and I CAN'T believe I'm about to say this, but I agree with Ford when he says this place is a prison. Anything created that requires the sacrifice of free-will is just NOT worth the price." After a moment, he crossed his arms. "I'm likely wasting breath trying to convey my point, so I'll just finish with this... There IS NO SUCH THING as Perfection. And this world you created, it's not perfect; it's corrupt. You CAN'T have life without hurt or death, and you CAN'T have HAPPINESS without disappointment every now and again. It's just not done. You call your people happy... But what I think you fail to realize is that this happiness is completely and utterly EMPTY."

Rosaline, whom had stayed silent the entire time, spoke up when Gantz finished. "The lives the people had before? They probably were sad, disappointing... But at least it was a REAL life, unlike this tragic farce that you continue to force on them for whatever stupid personal reason you may have." She narrowed her eyes for emphasis.

[42zombies]

The Wizard listened calmly and patiently to every word that came out of Flamel's mouth. All of the scalding criticism; all of the truth tha the Wizard was fighting to change. It was almost enough to make him break into a rage...

... Until Gantz spoke out.

The Wizard, who could predict the future a million times over, and who could read the mind of anyone in New Babylon, was taken aback by Gantz's sudden understanding. Shocked into silence for a moment, it took him a while to gather his thoughts.

"... It's started, then."

With a sigh, the Wizard lifted his hand and summoned a large, magnificent table. A feast was spread out on the table-- delicious foods beyond the imagination of most people. The Wizard wordlessly took his seat at the head of the table.

"I fear you've killed the mood," the Wizard muttered. "I didn't summon you to discuss ethics. I had hoped that once you saw my city you would come to see things the way I do." He sighed. "That's why I summoned one of my enemies, as well."

[nintendonut1]

"Well, tough!" Eddy scoffed, elbowing Ed when he began to stare at all the delicious-looking food, drooling. "You're an evil S.O.B., your city sucks, and you can take your feast and shope it up your...!"

He, and perhaps many others, did a double-take when Double D was the first to take his seat at the table.

"Wha...Sockhead, what're you doing!?"

"...please, don't be rude," he lightly chided, his expression unreadable. He kept those defenses up.

"Don't be... have you heard a WORD anyone's sai...!?"

"All of it," he calmly inturrupted, taking his napkin and folding it properly in his lap. "And I have nothing to say that hasn't been said already. I'm not a parrot. What I AM is famished after crossing that desert."

Eddy stared at him unbelievably. What the hell was he DOING? Was he giving in to the Wizard!? Did he have PITY because they were technically the same person? If this was some angle Double D was trying to get it, it was completely lost on Eddy.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Flamel scowled as the Wizard summoned the table, but complied and sat down at it. Ford sat down next to him, and the brown haired woman sat down at a seat nearby the Wizard. She was still scowling at him. Flamel, however, tucked a napkin into his collar and place a steak on his plate. He was in the middle of calmly slicing it into a few pieces when he put his knife and fork down and looked at the others.

"I'm aware that we all probably know who each other is, but I feel we should introduce ourselves," Flamel said. "I'll start. I am Nicholas Flamel, the Immortal Alchemist."

Ford hadn't touched his food. "Ford Blackstaff. The Mage of Time." Really, Ford didn't look hungry at all.

The brown haired woman had been eying the food warily. "...Miriam Anderson." She wasn't going to touch it until she made sure it wasn't poisoned.