Never Change

[gantzgun74]

Gantz watched as all of his friends vanished around him, teleporting off to parts unknown. He let out panting breaths as he looked to Olivia, his eyes widening in a great amount of horror. "R-Red..."

Before he had vanished, Gantz had more then seen the look of absolute terror on the Climber's face when he saw what Red had become. The mannequin looked absolutely traumatized. Gantz honestly wished that this whole thing wouldn't come to one more of his friends getting turned into these freaks...

Realization struck when he found Zero still lying on the ground, out cold... Why did he-?

Then he heard Rayleigh's order and turned to look. "......" He was silent for a long hard moment.... Wally made it out okay... Maybe... "C-can you help her?"

Some part in him REALLY wanted to wail into Zero for doing this, he wanted to honest to god kill him for turning Red into what she was... However, knowledge that Zero didn't know what his gauntlet could do, and the fact that he could barely move possibly from the shock, made sure he stayed rooted in place.

"Red... Please let her be okay..."

[doctorzero]

Raleigh actually smiled at his question. "When this ordeal is over, Red will be safe and sound."

He pointed at Olivia threateningly. "YOU, on the other hand, will be ANYTHING BUT in a moment!"

Olivia was frozen in ice before she could react. Raleigh snapped his fingers.

CRAAACK!

The ice shattered, inflicting several wounds. Raleigh leaped forward at speeds Gantz could barely see, grabbing Olivia and throwing her into the ceiling.

"You have made a great mistake, Thadeus!" he yelled. "I've been having a bad enough day already! But I really must thank you..."

He outstretched an arm. "For giving me a punching bag."

FWOOOOOM!

He threw his arm up, conjuring a massive pillar of flame to rise up and hit Olivia, roasting her body. As soon as it finished and dissipated, she fell down.

She didn't QUITE hit the ground.

Raleigh jumped up and grabbed her again, turning in midair and throwing her at the front doors. Before she hit, they slammed shut, causing her to slam into them.

The entire house groaned in protest, upset at Raleigh's actions. "Oh, shut it," the man said irritably.

Any other action was interrupted by the multitude of vines heading towards Raleigh. None of them made contact as he vanished and reappeared behind Olivia.

He said nothing as he unleashed a beam of light from his land, hitting Olivia directly as she screamed in pain.

---

Zero was just barely clinging to consciousness as he awoke. Slowly and painfully, he looked up at what was going on.

The first thing that caught his attention was his greatest enemy fighting some kind of monster.

But it was the monster itself that made him doubletake.

"...M-Margaret?" he croaked, before passing out again.

---

"All these years I loved you, yet you never noticed! You never CARED! Why, Zero, why?! WHY?! WHY WON'T YOU LOOK AT ME?!"

[gantzgun74]

....... Gantz could only look on in awe as Rayleigh proceeded to lay the smackdown on Olivia... He recognized many of the moves he was using having seen them once so long ago... When Rayleigh himself challenged Gantz to a fight.

Only now...

"... He was just toying with me before..." The realization MORE then hit Gantz like a ton of bricks. Perhaps he HAD suspected that that was the case, but maybe back then, he just didn't care too much. However, time on Ivalice had changed him...

A twinge of insult appeared in his expression, but he quickly shook it off. After spending all of that time with Kavma, he had the vague feeling that not even THIS was the full extent of what he could do.

"...M-Margaret?"

Gantz quickly looked to Zero and found that he lost consciousness once more...

However, his curiosity was piqued...

Who was Margaret?

[doctorzero]

Olivia sharply turned, outraged at the nerve of this sycophant, ready to show him true to--

And her face was grabbed by Raleigh.

"Give her back."

Olivia was thrown across the room, crashing into the staircase.

Raleigh began to cross the room, ready to continue delivering the beatdown to the abomination.

"I'm not going to bother to ask if you have any idea what kind of misery and pain you've inflicted on those who've have the bad luck to come across you." His tone reflected the anger he was feeling. "Because I know you revel in it. But this is the last straw. I barely tolerated your presence when I realized you were here, but that toleration diminished every single time you ruined someone's life. To do so to Red--when she had almost recovered from her ordeal--is something that I will not--"

He stopped. The floorboards had actually warped around his feet, immobilizing him. Rather than be further upset by this, he sighed in exasperation and snapped his fingers.

The floor underneath him burst into flames. So did Olivia, who shrieked as she flew up into the air, twisting and writhing, trying to put the VERY hot flames out.

After waiting a moment, Raleigh deemed himself able to move and stepped forward, looking up at Olivia.

"I really don't have time for your shenanigans, Giygas," he said in a bored tone.

He raised his hand. The floor exploded in front of him, the floorboards rising up into the air and hitting Olivia, driving her into the ceiling.

"And now to show that I have no time for your nonsense."


With a single gesture, Olivia was slammed into the ground.

"Either release her, or I will destroy you."

Olivia reacted by flying up and spinning rapidly, trying to draw Raleigh in. Oddly enough, despite everything else--debris, furniture, etc--being sucked towards her and being obliterated on contact, he was the only one who didn't seem to be affected.

"So be it."

He made another gesture. Several swords of light materialized around her in a circle, spinning rapidly before stopping.

"Execute it."

They all drove forward into her, each coming out the other side.

RAAAAAAAAAEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAARH!

[gantzgun74]

As all of this craziness went on, Gantz had managed to regain his ability to move and looked away from the fight, turning to Zero as he lay on the ground. As he looked down at him, his thoughts turned back to what he had heard earlier...

'Margaret'....

Where had he heard that name before?

........... Realization struck.

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

Alice i# ######## ##en she ##nts ## be a#d co##c#n##ng a## ru#e when she's not. S## h#s ##e a#r of # pe#son w#o s##ply has ##d it w#t# t#e n#ns##se a###nd ##r--iro##c, co##idering her ###ice of read### ma##ri#l. Regardless, she's ch##en to b# fri##d#y to me for the ###e being, though w#####r it's for her #w# agenda or t##t she ge###nely w##ts to ##lp me I c#n#ot fi##re out. S## rem##ds me ## Margaret, in # w#y

...............

'S## rem##ds me ## Margaret, in # w#y'.

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

He HAD heard that name before!! From that piece of paper! But how did Zero know about Margaret? Gantz had formed many theories about that paper since the last time he saw it. About why Zero had it when it was some kind of progress report...

... However the truth struck him.

Maybe it wasn't a progress report...

Maybe... Maybe it was a journal entry. Gantz remembered keeping a journal himself. Sure those journals got him in trouble at least once, but he kept them regardless.

Was it possible that those papers were both... Zero's journal entries?

........................................

....................................................

Right now, Gantz was somewhat mind-fucked... He didn't even know Bryan was LEGIBLE enough to READ much less write. The thoughts of him being born with a football and a bad attitude just ran too deep.

SHING!!!!

The young man jumped and quickly turned back to the fight... And he found Kavma stabbing Olivia through with big golden swords. "What- what the hell?!?!" He wanted to believe Kavma knew what he was doing... But this wasn't inspiring too much confidence.

[doctorzero]

Sadly, the attack didn't seem to do much other than anger it.

Olivia flew up into the air, enraged, lashing out at Raleigh with her vines.

"You're really not helping your situation by provoking me. I could be acting much worse, you know."

Olivia whirled to see Raleigh not three inches from her face. Her reaction?

Blow an icy mist that froze him completely solid.

Oh for heaven's sake, Raleigh thought, exasperated.

[gantzgun74]

In Gantz's perspective, it looked like Rayleigh was temporarily incapacitated, meaning that Olivia now had three possible target's after that. Either stick around and focus on Rayleigh....

Olivia turned to him and Zero, still unconscious on the ground.

Or go for the easier prey- well this just fricken SUCKED.

Gantz took a step back and drew Soul Calibur, ready to fight back. "Soul... Have you perfected that technique I suggested to you?" As he said this, he secretly eyed Soul Edge near the downed Zero... He just needed an oppurtunity to grab it...

Soul seemed to consider this a moment. "Well... I suppose, that it could be an easy matter to form like you suggested. I have been used as a magical conduit before." Gantz nodded at this, and proceeded to charge magic into the blade.

"Okay good... We're gonna need that." He charged fire, electricity and ice magic into Soul Calibur, followed by a gigantic charge of Pure energy. If Olivia sensed this, she didn't show it and kept right on approaching. "Let's see, those vines suggest you're plant-based... But, I'm gonna need agility more then anything... So..." With that thought in mind, he charged a bunch of gravity spells into the blade. "Alright, punk... I know Red's somewhere in there... But if you come any closer, I'm not going to hold back." At this, the energy charge seemed to become complete, Soul Calibur suddenly glowing brightly, and Gantz's form becoming see-through.

[The Ghost Drive Command Style from Birth By Sleep... Or at least a fairly decent imitation.]

A vine shot at Gantz, to which he quickly phased out before it hit... SLICE!!!!! Soul Calibur's powerful magic charged blade easily sliced through Olivia's tentacle. "BACK!" Another tentacle shot out, but Gantz was way ahead of it, slicing through it easily and firing off a Giga-Flare spell.

BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

It didn't hit Ophelia near as hard as Kavma's earlier flame spell, but it still had a decent impact. "BACK YA ZALEC BACK!" As he did this, he looked back to Zero whom was still unconscious on the ground. At the moment, he kinda wished the bully was awake. Surely that gauntlet could do something to this freakshow. He turned back to find Olivia summoning up a frenzy of tentacles, to try and grab him, however, he vanished seconds before they all impacted, reappearing a bit away from where they had tried to grab him. "Come on, you're supposed to be some frickin Eldritch abomination?? Then why don't you actually try HITTING SOMETHING?" With a powerful slice, he cut through the numerous tentacles that had tried to grab him, before rushing to where Soul Edge sat on the ground.

"Wait-" Soul Calibur noticed this movement as Olivia let out a pained roar. "WHAT'RE YOU-?!?" The mage was quick to dodge another tentacle with a cart-wheel... Grabbing Soul Edge with the single hand he used to do so, and then jumping upwards, righting himself in time to slice a tentacle that had been aimed at him. "GAAAGH!!! YOU'RE DOING IT AGAIN!!! TOSS ASIDE THAT TAINTED AND BORISH CRETIN!!!"

Gantz landed and looked to find Olivia's tentacle coming close to grabbing Zero... "Shit-!!" He quickly rushed to help out...

No the irony of this situation WASN'T lost on the young man.

[doctorzero]

Once again, Soul Edge had stayed quieted throughout the whole ordeal, though now that Zero was comatose, he had no reason to now.

And thus he made sure to vent his spleen as Gantz wielded him AGAIN.

"UNHAND ME, you impertinent BRAT! I am not just some blade you can pick up at random! I REFUSE to work with that blasted sister of mine!"

The past 24 hours had taken a toll on his patience, what with Zero's blatant disrespect towards him, the loss of his body, and the sheer gall of Gantz actually USING him in tandem with his sister. Soul Calibur's insult did nothing to reduce his rage. Tainted and boorish?! Oh, that's RICH coming from you, you wh--


Thankfully, Raleigh cannot be contained.

KA CRACK!!!

The ice didn't even hit the floor before Raleigh stood in front of Zero, a finger pointing at Olivia's chest.

Almost instantanously, a massive beam enveloped Olivia completely, blasting through the entire mansion regardless of what walls and furniture were in the way, leaving a bunch of holes through the walls to outside. All this while Olivia writhed and shrieked.

As soon as the beam dissipated, Raleigh grabbed Olivia by the head and punched, sending her through the openings in the structure left behind. Before he could go after her or say anything to Gantz, though, the entire building trembled.




Rrrrrrrrrrrrra.aaaaaaaaaaaaalllEEEEii..GG.HhhhhhH...


The voice was deep, evil, and terrifying, and seemed to be coming from the mansion itself. Olivia emerged from the wreckage she had been thrown into, a light tinge of red aura around her.

Raleigh closed his eyes in frustration. "Aaron. Please let me borrow your weapons."

All said in a "do it or I set you aflame" tone.

[gantzgun74]

.................. Gantz didn't need to be told twice.

"Sorry guys!" He said this as quickly as possible, before jumping into action.

His first action was COMPLETELY based on NOT trusting Soul Edge for even a second. He knew better then anyone that the only reason he couldn't take his body and turn it into Azure Nightmare was because he had Soul Calibur on his person everytime he held the demon sword. With that in mind, he tossed Soul Edge into the air (The demon sword likely cursing in some ancient and foreign language all the while), before handing Calibur to Rayleigh.

"H-HEY!!! Don't just-!!" Soul Calibur was quite insulted at Gantz's sudden move. As much as she understood that Rayleigh was simply the stronger weilder, she expected Gantz to at least argue back or SOMETHING. His lack of doing ANYTHING regarding that was quite insulting. "What the HELL?!?"

Gantz however had another reason on his mind. He had few doubts he could win against Olivia with some effort... But fighting against Giygas? Yeah, that was beyond him and he knew it. "Just go along with it Soul!!"

Needless to say, when Rayleigh caught Soul Edge upon it coming down, Gantz watched the scene about to occur, his eyes wide...

This was going to be a hell of a show.

[doctorzero]

And what a show it was.

"WHAT ARE YOU--"

Raleigh caught both blades and flipped them into a reverse grip, entering a fighting stance as he stared down Olivia, who was getting up from the wreckage.

"Hope you don't mind, Elysium," he said quietly, "but I would like your assistance for a moment."



The entire building shook as Olivia glowed red, Giygas making her more powerful than was necessary. She flew towards Raleigh as she swung one of her vines at him.

"So, let me guess," Raleigh said coolly, suddenly at the top of the staircase, "Giygas is being upset that I'm further destroying his temporary abode, so he thought it would be a smart idea to try and control you so that he could do away with me.

"That is a very stupid idea."

Raleigh appeared in front of Olivia, hitting her with a downward slash, then an upward one before striking her torso with both blades, driving her back and sending her flying several feet.

Olivia did not take that well.

RAAAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEEEEEEIGH!!!!!!!!!!

Several streams of energy were fired from her 'skirt', hitting Raleigh dead on and causing him to stumble back a little. His only response was to sigh.

"For pity's sake."

A second later, he was in front of her, Soul Edge plunged into her chest.

"I am going to give you a choice, Thadeus. Release her. Otherwise I will make you regret it."

Olivia's response was to roar in his face.

"I'll take that as a no."

[gantzgun74]

Gantz watched in wide-eyed fascination as all of this went down, his eyes wide as he watched Raleigh dual-weild the two powerful swords and fought off Olivia, Giygas sending his power into the beast all the while. As all of this happened, Gantz looked from Raleigh to Zero, the young man still unconscious on the ground.

It was also around this time that the wizard took notice of a few of the remaining appliances around the house seemed to move about and move towards the young men, whilst Raleigh was busy with Olivia. Instictively Gantz reached for Soul Calibur only to remember that Raleigh was currently using her. ".... Well shit."

The appliances approached as Gantz quickly took out his backpack and quickly dug through it, digging out notebooks, pencils and charms before he finally pulled out what he was looking for. "There!!" With a smile, he pulled out his Serpent Rod, a staff that he could use for conducting magic.

A Grandfather clock approached Zero...

"Fission Firaga!"

Before it was blasted apart with a powerful fire spell. Gantz let out breaths as he quickly turned his attention to several items floating up and ready to attack him. "Okay, just need to keep these things back... It's sorta like that Magic training class Merlin did in Kingdom Hearts 1. Easy."

He quickly dodged aside as a dresser tried to smash him. "Hah! Thundaga!" The Thundaga trashed a number of the appliances while others approached. However Gantz just grinned as he prepared another spell. "Windcutter!!"

Gantz twirled around as wind element magic coursed through the Serpent Rod sending the appliances flying.

[doctorzero]

"Bryan?"

He turned to look at his friend, who had turned away from the laptop to look at him. "Is there anything I can do? I hate to see you like this--"

Bryan sighed and turned back to the window. "Aaron, it's okay. My father is just an asshole who likes to play favorites. Last thing I want is for you to go near him. But...I appreciate the concern."

"I'd be a pretty crappy friend if I wasn't worried," Aaron replied.

Bryan smiled. "...thanks."

---

I need to finish this quickly.

A drawn out battle with Olivia was not on Raleigh's agenda. Even with both soul blades, he knew he could pummel her til doomsday and it wouldn't have any lasting effect.

I need to get her out of there.

He gave a single glance to Gantz. He was certainly taking care of himself and Zero, though any minute now Olivia was likely to override Giygas' control and...well, best not to think about it.

"Calibur, Edge," he spoke up, "I am about to throw you both to pin my opponent to the wall. No hard feelings."

"Don't you DARE, you INSECT!!"

Of course, when talking to Soul Edge of all things...

[gantzgun74]

"Hey there geek boy!"

Aaron looked up from his computer, where he had been working on some Fanfiction previously, to see his visitor. The face was all too familiar since he had seen it so many times before. Immediately, Aaron's expression went flat. "How can I help you, brainless?"

Bryan's eyes narrowed a great deal at this. "Save the smart-ass remarks, I got some homework for ya! You know the drill-"

The young man waved off further commentary. "Right right, since we haven't hit one of the older cliche's yet. So let's see here, are we aiming for C+'s or should I just pretend I'm you then go from there?"

The football player growled. "Don't make me hurt you geek, I need a good grade for the next game-"

"You DO realize the teacher's going to realize something's up if you ace your homework assignments and yet flunk your tests right?"

Bryan responded by punching him in the shoulder.

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

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT-"

Of course Soul had a pretty good idea that saying that wouldn't have been useful in any cases. Her case was further supported when Raleigh actually DID toss her and her brother clean at Olivia.

With Gantz, he continued keeping the furniture back, blasting it all to kingdom come. "I actually cannot BELIEVE I'm protecting Bryan..." He muttered to himself as he bashed a mirror. "Nope no bad luck here!" He followed it up by burning the remains.

[doctorzero]

"That is the choice which I've laid out for you."

Bryan still looked suspicious. "Seems like a cruddy choice if you ask me. And how do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't," Raleigh said bluntly. "But you must realize that almost half the nation is out for your blood. Staying here would most likely result in your death."

Bryan didn't respond.

"So? Your answer?"

Bryan sighed. "I need a minute to think it over..."

---

Olivia writhed and shrieked as she struggled to free herself. She wasn't having very much luck in that department.

Raleigh couldn't care less about her discomfort, though. He walked up to her and grabbed her face, causing something to crack.

"You have a broken little girl inside that twisted shell of yours," he said quietly. "And if you aren't going to let her go, then I will pry her from your grip. It will not be nice. It will not be pleasant.

For you."

He paused. "Gantz," he called to the other, "keep her busy."

And the world turned white.

---

It was an endless sea of red and black.

Colors shifting, twisting, turning like oil mixed with water. There was no solid ground, but Raleigh could stand just fine. Even if physics didn't apply here, he never really payed much attention to them.

He seemed alone at first. Turning around disproved that fact almost immediately.

[shadow=red,left,300]"RALEIGH!"[/shadow]

He didn't smile. "Hello, Thadeus."



What floated before him was Red. Well, if she had grown twenty times in size and wore a larger, sleeveless version of her coat. Her eyes were closed, as if sleeping.

It wasn't the real Red, of course. Just a shell fixed up to fool him. The real one was most likely within, comatose.

[shadow=red,left,300]"You have committed a most heinous act."[/shadow]

The mouth didn't move.

"Once again, you astound me with your holier than thou demeanor," Raleigh replied, sounding bored. "But enlighten me, how exactly is attempting to save a poor girl from being mentally raped by the likes of you 'heinous'?"

[shadow=red,left,300]"The child has been misled by the Recusant. Her father has decided to lead her on her true path."[/shadow]

"You're not her father. You're not anyone's father, I and our mutual friend have been pounding that into your head for so long now. I understand that such a concept is beyond you, but I'm actually getting tired of it."

[shadow=red,left,300]"You would commit the crime of aiding the Recusant in taking her from me."[/shadow]

"Gantz considers her like a sister. And besides that, this is my own fault to begin with. You would rather make her into a bloodthirsty, emotionless, memoryless killing machine that those quacks were trying to make her be."

[shadow=red,left,300]"It was the path I chose for her. As her father, I have that right."[/shadow]

"Gantz has been trying to help her. As her guardian, he has the right to be concerned for her mental health."

[shadow=red,left,300]"You speak nonsense, Raleigh."[/shadow]

"So are you."

[shadow=red,left,300]"The alien Giygas has accepted me as his father. As you stand here, the Recusant is defenseless against him."[/shadow]

It was at this point Raleigh grinned. "Oh, he should have help with that in the next two minutes. Gantz is a strong boy. He'll manage until then. But enough babble."

(Music stops)

He took a step forward. "I'm taking her back."

---

Raleigh was just standing there, perfectly still. Neither he nor Olivia moved. It was like someone hit the pause button.

The Giygas possessed objects, on the other hand...

[gantzgun74]

"What?!? Watch after who?! Raleigh?!? RALEIGH!!! KAVMA HOLD ON A SECOND-!!!" Raleigh froze along with Olivia... ".... Great... This is just perfect..." CRASH!!! "GACK!!!!!"

He looked to find TV's with arms and legs charging at him, timers blinking on their moniters. "Brilliant... BARRIER!!!" He casted the barrier just in time to block the TV's path. They blew up like a bunch of Kamikaze bombers. "GRRK!!" Gantz flinched back as the barrier vanished the young man on the floor. "Dammit, I'm gonna have a headache after this..."

He looked up to see the furniture regrouping on him... And he could almost see a red haze surrounding them...

"Gugh..." He got back up to his feet as he glared at the furniture. "You can do whatever the hell you want with me... But so long as I draw breath, you will NOT PASS. Even if I AM protecting the asshole that made my life hell!! AND DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?!? BECAUSE THAT'S JUST THE KIND OF GUY I AM!!!!!" He started charging a spell. "MEGA FLARE!!!!!!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fireball encompassed the room, blowing away the furniture completely. Gantz stood on his feet, flinching as his magic reserves started to go. He was quick to pull out an elixer. "You're not getting rid of me! Not eve-"

He felt something strike him back.

"GACK!!!!!!" He slammed against the wall next to Bryan... He couldn't see what had hit him...

Or maybe... He had no way of comprehending it. "So... The big boss wants a piece huh?" He got back to his feet, even though the elixer he was downing wasn't doing much. "Sorry pal. But you're gonna have to do a little better then THAT."

"IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS!!!"

A psychic wave SLAMMED Gantz and... Wait... What was-?!? HE WAS STILL STANDING?!

Giygas couldn't understand... How was this possible?!? This child wasn't like Ness!!! He was entirely different!!! HOW COULD HE-!?

That was when the spirit saw it... Gantz had his hands folded together with his head bowed. "Sorry... But I do whatever it takes... And this is what it'll take to put you down." He continued praying fervently...

Giygas could almost see the light reflecting off of him... And at that moment, his prayers were joined by others, surprising the spirit, and pushing it back, honest to god HURTING it. Giygas let out a horrible SCREAM as the light grew and grew, evaporating his misty red form away the more it stretched out.

In Gantz's mind though...

He only heard Rosaline's voice... followed by Jaron's... Then Max's... The Climber's... Misty's... Tarosuke's (Though he sounded a bit annoyed)... His family in Clan Highwind... All of the friends he had made on his adventures... All of the friends he had made on Dimensional Island....

.... Wait.... Was that...

............

...........................

.....................................

Red?