Chapter 35: Emperor Tullegolar Strikes Back
Chapter 35: Emperor Tullegolar Strikes Back DikiyobaThe perfected rat was bringing down Spiderwebbers left and right. First it shot Slartucker. Then it shot Lenar. The Silent Assassin lunged forward furiously, but was shot a moment later.
Drakefyre cast divine warrior and started hacking his way through the rats towards it. Meanwhile, MagmaDragoon barreled his way through the rats and knocked the bow out of the perfected rat's paws. The perfected rat retaliated by clawing through MagmaDragoon's armor in a single blow, killing him.
---
Saunders led the fluffy turtles back into the fluffy turtle pit and left.
Zephyr Tempest sat watching Zorro play Ocean Bound. "Hmm. Maybe I should revive some people. But who? I know--I'll revive Ephesos, so he can help revive more people. I'm pretty sure he had copper." Zephyr Tempest summoned some copper and combined it with Galactic Core.
Emperor Tullegolar was revived.
"But... but I was sure that Ephesos had copper!" Zephyr Tempest said.
"He did... until I crossed his name off the chart and put mine on instead."
"Why?"
"Because I knew that I was likely to get killed eventually and once that happened, I wouldn't be revived anytime soon. But I also knew that Ephesos was likely to get killed sooner or later and the only way to revive him was through the chart. So I took the liberty of replacing my name with his. Now, how is everyone doing against the rats?"
"Um... not so good," Zephyr Tempest said.
"What? You're losing to a bunch of rats! This is ridiculous! I could probably beat their leader without a weapon and blindfolded. But I won't. Instead, I'll challenge it, and you'll blast it with a spell as soon as it accepts."
"I don't think that will work, Tullegolar."
"Nonsense. Of course it will. Come on."
Zephyr Tempest set Galactic Core on the table and followed Emperor Tullegolar. Zorro shook his head has he lost yet another game of Ocean Bound.
---
Dintiradan stood at the back of the forum, well away from the perfected rat. He whacked a red rat with Homeland. "I have an idea!" Dintiradan looked around. "And no one to implement it for me. How sad is it that I am an Evil Overlord with no Legion of Terror?"
Nioca cast smite. "What is it, Dinti?"
"The Deth Ray, of course. That'll take out the perfected rat. Come help me set it up."
Dintiradan and Nioca entered the Tech Support Forum and pulled out the box containing the parts of the Deth Ray and began assembling it.
Emperor Tullegolar ran through the forum with Zephyr Tempest trailing along behind.
"I wonder what he's up to?" Nioca said.
Dintiradan screwed two pieces together. "I don't know. Go find out."
Nioca entered the Announcements Forum and saw Emperor Tullegolar push through the surviving Spiderwebbers towards the rats. "Hold it, hold it!"
"Tullegolar! Why are you alive?" Drakefyre demanded.
"To put these rats back in their place like you haven't been able to. I won't call you all weak... but you are."
The battle stopped. The perfected rat stood over the body of Andraste. "What do you want, human?" it sneered.
"A concluding resolution that will bring about a new world order where the strong are in power and the weak are either dead or serving the strong, just as it should be. But I'll settle for reminding you and the rest of your weakling followers exactly why we humans are superior to you in every way, rat."
The rats squeaked in fury. However, many of the Spiderwebbers looked distinctly nervous.
"Are you sure we should be letting him talk?" Riibu asked.
"I have no idea." said the Stew Boy.
"You humans are worse than I thought. It is our duty to punish you for your crimes against nature," the perfected rat said.
"Weak! You know us humans are better than you are. Otherwise, why would you use magic and weapons? Those are human things. You use them because they are better than anything you have. They're better than anything you will ever have."
This time it was the rats' turn to look nervous.
"Then I will prove your 'superiority' by killing you!" The perfected rat charged towards Emperor Tullegolar.
Nioca returned to the Tech Support Forum. "Emperor Tullegolar and the perfected rat are fighting one-on-one."
Dintiradan sighed and shook his head. "It's obvious neither one of them has read the Evil Overlord Guidebook. Here, plug this in." Dintiradan handed Nioca the cord. "And then tell Stareye and Drakefyre to retreat if the rat wins."
---
As the perfected rat lunged toward Emperor Tullegolar, Zephyr Tempest cast an ice lances spell at it. The spell knocked the perfected rat down.
"Cheater!" The perfected rat leapt back up and cast a firebolt. It hit Zephyr Tempest.
Emperor Tullegolar attacked the perfected rat. The perfected rat rose onto its hind legs and grabbed the slith spear's handle. They glared at each other and attempted to pull the spear out of the other's hands.
Zeviz tapped Archmagus Micael on the shoulder.
"What?" Archmagus Micael asked.
"We should go revive people."
They stepped into the Tech Support Forum, passing Nioca on the way.
Nioca approached Drakefyre and Stareye. "Um, Dintiradan has the Deth Ray set up in the Tech Support Forum. He wants everyone to retreat if the perfected rat wins so that he can blast it," Nioca said.
"All right." Stareye began pulling Spiderwebbers back towards the Tech Support Forum.
Nioca returned to Tech Support Forum. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Positive." Dintiradan quickly aimed the Deth Ray at Nioca. "By the way, I think you should know I really hate being called Dinti." Dintiradan fired. Nioca was killed instantly.
---
Meanwhile, Archmagus Micael, Zeviz, and Zorro were in the process of reviving people.
The Silent Assassin mimed a tree and pointed to Galactic Core.
"The Silent Assassin demands to know why you haven't revived Ephesos yet," Lenar said.
"Because I haven't found his element yet." Archmagus Micael looked over the chart. "Oh. It's right here. Tullegolar crossed it off." Archmagus Micael crossed off Emperor Tullegolar's name, wrote in Ephesos's name, and gave dysprosium to Emperor Tullegolar.
Zorro combined tin with Galactic Core and revived Synergy.
"Revive Randomizer next," Synergy said.
Zorro picked up a chunk of copper. "I'm just reviving people from whatever elements I get."
Ephesos was revived. "Yay! I'm back!"
"Who's still dead, Ephesos?" Zeviz asked.
"Let's see... Arancaytar, Tyranicus, and Slartucker. And, um..."
"That's enough for now. What are their elements, Micael?"
---
Down in the Miscellaneous Forum, everyone waited to be revived.
"Do you think that means we've won?" Tyranicus asked.
"No way, not with that perfected rat," Slartucker said.
Nikki edged towards Arancaytar. "Let's sneak into the shadows. Maybe they'll forget about us and we can finally be alone together!"
Arancaytar backed away. "No way!" He disappeared in a flash of light.
Nikki sighed in disappointment.
"How long do you think it'll take us to be revived?" Nemesis asked.
"I don't know," Garrison said.
---
Emperor Tullegolar saw the Spiderwebbers begin to retreat. "Hey! You're not supposed to leave, you're supposed to attack the perfected rat with me!"
The perfected rat freed a paw and attempted to claw Emperor Tullegolar. Emperor Tullegolar let go of the slith spear and ducked away. He began searching for the mechanical pencil.
"It's gone! Where is it?"
The last of the Spiderwebbers left. The perfected rat tossed the slith spear aside and dropped to all fours. Emperor Tullegolar found the key to the Moderator Board. He ran for the Moderator Board, managed to unlock the door, step inside, and slam it shut.
"I'll take care of him, you kill the others!" the perfected rat said.
The remaining giant, mung, green, white, blue, and red rats charged into the Tech Support Forum. The perfected rat backed up and ran at the locked Moderator Board.
---
In the General Forum, Nioca, Nemesis and Garrison were the last to be revived.
"Where is everyone else?" Nemesis asked, seeing that he, Zorro, Zeviz, Archmagus Micael, Garrison, and Nioca, were the only ones present.
"They're in the Tech Support Forum. Let's join them," Archmagus Micael said.
"But what about Delicious Vlish? He's still down there," Nioca said.
"We don't have the time to create antihelium at the moment," Zeviz said.
They entered the Tech Support Forum and joined everyone else standing around the Deth Ray.
"We still need Zorro and a mage to stay back with Galactic Core," Drakefyre said.
"Randomizer hasn't done that yet," Zephyr Tempest said.
"But... I want to spray acid more rats!" Randomizer said.
Zorro grabbed Randomizer by the arm and dragged him into General. Filth Finder and Garbage Gatherer emerged from the shadows and joined the Spiderwebbers. Alorael snatched his sniper rifle away from Jumpin' Salmon.
The rats entered and stopped short, disheartened by the reappearance of all the Spiderwebbers they thought were dead, two giant cockroaches, and a strange mechanical device.
---
Emperor Tullegolar grabbed Nemesis's crossbow and kicked the sword. "Come on, work on your own!" He retreated behind the Administrator Panel and loaded a bolt.
Wham! The perfected rat slammed into the door, knocking it down. Emperor Tullegolar fired the bolt and loaded another. The perfected rat pulled the bolt out and charged towards Emperor Tullegolar. Emperor Tullegolar fired another bolt. The perfected rat glowed white for a moment as it healed itself.
Emperor Tullegolar looked around. "Why isn't there a canister for aura of flames when you need one?" Emperor Tullegolar fired again.
The perfected rat knocked the crossbow out of his hands. It landed on the delete button of the Administrator Panel.
---
Suddenly, Imban vanished from existence. There was no obvious sign or cause. He was just gone.
"But... but how?" Marlenny stuttered.
"Everyone is doomed!" Nikki yelled.
"We are?" MagmaDragoon asked.
"What do you mean?" Garbage Gatherer asked.
The rats sensed the Spiderwebbers' nervousness and charged.
"Where's the perfected rat?" Dintiradan asked, "I can't use the Deth Ray on it if it's not here!"
A red rat darted over and unplugged it. The Deth Ray went dark. Dintiradan smashed it over the head with Homeland and ran over to plug it back in.
---
Emperor Tullegolar picked up the waveblade and slashed the perfected rat. The perfected rat clawed him and knocked him against the Administrator Panel. Emperor Tullegolar accidentally knocked a switch as he stood back up.
---
All the doors between forums swung open. The water rushed from the Nethergate Forum and into the Exile Trilogy Forum.
---
As the perfected rat raised its paw to claw Emperor Tullegolar again, Emperor Tullegolar drove the waveblade into its exposed chest. The perfected rat stumbled back, tearing the blade out of Emperor Tullegolar's hand.
"Ha!" Emperor Tullegolar said as it staggered about. "Now you see..."
The perfected rat cast a bolt of fire. Emperor Tullegolar fell behind the Administrator Panel and didn't get up again.
The perfected rat yanked the sword out and waited until it healed up. "Now what do you have to say, human?" It left.
Emperor Tullegolar waited a moment and then stood up. His robes were badly singed but he was otherwise unharmed. "You didn't really think that would kill me, did you?"
Drakefyre cast divine warrior and started hacking his way through the rats towards it. Meanwhile, MagmaDragoon barreled his way through the rats and knocked the bow out of the perfected rat's paws. The perfected rat retaliated by clawing through MagmaDragoon's armor in a single blow, killing him.
---
Saunders led the fluffy turtles back into the fluffy turtle pit and left.
Zephyr Tempest sat watching Zorro play Ocean Bound. "Hmm. Maybe I should revive some people. But who? I know--I'll revive Ephesos, so he can help revive more people. I'm pretty sure he had copper." Zephyr Tempest summoned some copper and combined it with Galactic Core.
Emperor Tullegolar was revived.
"But... but I was sure that Ephesos had copper!" Zephyr Tempest said.
"He did... until I crossed his name off the chart and put mine on instead."
"Why?"
"Because I knew that I was likely to get killed eventually and once that happened, I wouldn't be revived anytime soon. But I also knew that Ephesos was likely to get killed sooner or later and the only way to revive him was through the chart. So I took the liberty of replacing my name with his. Now, how is everyone doing against the rats?"
"Um... not so good," Zephyr Tempest said.
"What? You're losing to a bunch of rats! This is ridiculous! I could probably beat their leader without a weapon and blindfolded. But I won't. Instead, I'll challenge it, and you'll blast it with a spell as soon as it accepts."
"I don't think that will work, Tullegolar."
"Nonsense. Of course it will. Come on."
Zephyr Tempest set Galactic Core on the table and followed Emperor Tullegolar. Zorro shook his head has he lost yet another game of Ocean Bound.
---
Dintiradan stood at the back of the forum, well away from the perfected rat. He whacked a red rat with Homeland. "I have an idea!" Dintiradan looked around. "And no one to implement it for me. How sad is it that I am an Evil Overlord with no Legion of Terror?"
Nioca cast smite. "What is it, Dinti?"
"The Deth Ray, of course. That'll take out the perfected rat. Come help me set it up."
Dintiradan and Nioca entered the Tech Support Forum and pulled out the box containing the parts of the Deth Ray and began assembling it.
Emperor Tullegolar ran through the forum with Zephyr Tempest trailing along behind.
"I wonder what he's up to?" Nioca said.
Dintiradan screwed two pieces together. "I don't know. Go find out."
Nioca entered the Announcements Forum and saw Emperor Tullegolar push through the surviving Spiderwebbers towards the rats. "Hold it, hold it!"
"Tullegolar! Why are you alive?" Drakefyre demanded.
"To put these rats back in their place like you haven't been able to. I won't call you all weak... but you are."
The battle stopped. The perfected rat stood over the body of Andraste. "What do you want, human?" it sneered.
"A concluding resolution that will bring about a new world order where the strong are in power and the weak are either dead or serving the strong, just as it should be. But I'll settle for reminding you and the rest of your weakling followers exactly why we humans are superior to you in every way, rat."
The rats squeaked in fury. However, many of the Spiderwebbers looked distinctly nervous.
"Are you sure we should be letting him talk?" Riibu asked.
"I have no idea." said the Stew Boy.
"You humans are worse than I thought. It is our duty to punish you for your crimes against nature," the perfected rat said.
"Weak! You know us humans are better than you are. Otherwise, why would you use magic and weapons? Those are human things. You use them because they are better than anything you have. They're better than anything you will ever have."
This time it was the rats' turn to look nervous.
"Then I will prove your 'superiority' by killing you!" The perfected rat charged towards Emperor Tullegolar.
Nioca returned to the Tech Support Forum. "Emperor Tullegolar and the perfected rat are fighting one-on-one."
Dintiradan sighed and shook his head. "It's obvious neither one of them has read the Evil Overlord Guidebook. Here, plug this in." Dintiradan handed Nioca the cord. "And then tell Stareye and Drakefyre to retreat if the rat wins."
---
As the perfected rat lunged toward Emperor Tullegolar, Zephyr Tempest cast an ice lances spell at it. The spell knocked the perfected rat down.
"Cheater!" The perfected rat leapt back up and cast a firebolt. It hit Zephyr Tempest.
Emperor Tullegolar attacked the perfected rat. The perfected rat rose onto its hind legs and grabbed the slith spear's handle. They glared at each other and attempted to pull the spear out of the other's hands.
Zeviz tapped Archmagus Micael on the shoulder.
"What?" Archmagus Micael asked.
"We should go revive people."
They stepped into the Tech Support Forum, passing Nioca on the way.
Nioca approached Drakefyre and Stareye. "Um, Dintiradan has the Deth Ray set up in the Tech Support Forum. He wants everyone to retreat if the perfected rat wins so that he can blast it," Nioca said.
"All right." Stareye began pulling Spiderwebbers back towards the Tech Support Forum.
Nioca returned to Tech Support Forum. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Positive." Dintiradan quickly aimed the Deth Ray at Nioca. "By the way, I think you should know I really hate being called Dinti." Dintiradan fired. Nioca was killed instantly.
---
Meanwhile, Archmagus Micael, Zeviz, and Zorro were in the process of reviving people.
The Silent Assassin mimed a tree and pointed to Galactic Core.
"The Silent Assassin demands to know why you haven't revived Ephesos yet," Lenar said.
"Because I haven't found his element yet." Archmagus Micael looked over the chart. "Oh. It's right here. Tullegolar crossed it off." Archmagus Micael crossed off Emperor Tullegolar's name, wrote in Ephesos's name, and gave dysprosium to Emperor Tullegolar.
Zorro combined tin with Galactic Core and revived Synergy.
"Revive Randomizer next," Synergy said.
Zorro picked up a chunk of copper. "I'm just reviving people from whatever elements I get."
Ephesos was revived. "Yay! I'm back!"
"Who's still dead, Ephesos?" Zeviz asked.
"Let's see... Arancaytar, Tyranicus, and Slartucker. And, um..."
"That's enough for now. What are their elements, Micael?"
---
Down in the Miscellaneous Forum, everyone waited to be revived.
"Do you think that means we've won?" Tyranicus asked.
"No way, not with that perfected rat," Slartucker said.
Nikki edged towards Arancaytar. "Let's sneak into the shadows. Maybe they'll forget about us and we can finally be alone together!"
Arancaytar backed away. "No way!" He disappeared in a flash of light.
Nikki sighed in disappointment.
"How long do you think it'll take us to be revived?" Nemesis asked.
"I don't know," Garrison said.
---
Emperor Tullegolar saw the Spiderwebbers begin to retreat. "Hey! You're not supposed to leave, you're supposed to attack the perfected rat with me!"
The perfected rat freed a paw and attempted to claw Emperor Tullegolar. Emperor Tullegolar let go of the slith spear and ducked away. He began searching for the mechanical pencil.
"It's gone! Where is it?"
The last of the Spiderwebbers left. The perfected rat tossed the slith spear aside and dropped to all fours. Emperor Tullegolar found the key to the Moderator Board. He ran for the Moderator Board, managed to unlock the door, step inside, and slam it shut.
"I'll take care of him, you kill the others!" the perfected rat said.
The remaining giant, mung, green, white, blue, and red rats charged into the Tech Support Forum. The perfected rat backed up and ran at the locked Moderator Board.
---
In the General Forum, Nioca, Nemesis and Garrison were the last to be revived.
"Where is everyone else?" Nemesis asked, seeing that he, Zorro, Zeviz, Archmagus Micael, Garrison, and Nioca, were the only ones present.
"They're in the Tech Support Forum. Let's join them," Archmagus Micael said.
"But what about Delicious Vlish? He's still down there," Nioca said.
"We don't have the time to create antihelium at the moment," Zeviz said.
They entered the Tech Support Forum and joined everyone else standing around the Deth Ray.
"We still need Zorro and a mage to stay back with Galactic Core," Drakefyre said.
"Randomizer hasn't done that yet," Zephyr Tempest said.
"But... I want to spray acid more rats!" Randomizer said.
Zorro grabbed Randomizer by the arm and dragged him into General. Filth Finder and Garbage Gatherer emerged from the shadows and joined the Spiderwebbers. Alorael snatched his sniper rifle away from Jumpin' Salmon.
The rats entered and stopped short, disheartened by the reappearance of all the Spiderwebbers they thought were dead, two giant cockroaches, and a strange mechanical device.
---
Emperor Tullegolar grabbed Nemesis's crossbow and kicked the sword. "Come on, work on your own!" He retreated behind the Administrator Panel and loaded a bolt.
Wham! The perfected rat slammed into the door, knocking it down. Emperor Tullegolar fired the bolt and loaded another. The perfected rat pulled the bolt out and charged towards Emperor Tullegolar. Emperor Tullegolar fired another bolt. The perfected rat glowed white for a moment as it healed itself.
Emperor Tullegolar looked around. "Why isn't there a canister for aura of flames when you need one?" Emperor Tullegolar fired again.
The perfected rat knocked the crossbow out of his hands. It landed on the delete button of the Administrator Panel.
---
Suddenly, Imban vanished from existence. There was no obvious sign or cause. He was just gone.
"But... but how?" Marlenny stuttered.
"Everyone is doomed!" Nikki yelled.
"We are?" MagmaDragoon asked.
"What do you mean?" Garbage Gatherer asked.
The rats sensed the Spiderwebbers' nervousness and charged.
"Where's the perfected rat?" Dintiradan asked, "I can't use the Deth Ray on it if it's not here!"
A red rat darted over and unplugged it. The Deth Ray went dark. Dintiradan smashed it over the head with Homeland and ran over to plug it back in.
---
Emperor Tullegolar picked up the waveblade and slashed the perfected rat. The perfected rat clawed him and knocked him against the Administrator Panel. Emperor Tullegolar accidentally knocked a switch as he stood back up.
---
All the doors between forums swung open. The water rushed from the Nethergate Forum and into the Exile Trilogy Forum.
---
As the perfected rat raised its paw to claw Emperor Tullegolar again, Emperor Tullegolar drove the waveblade into its exposed chest. The perfected rat stumbled back, tearing the blade out of Emperor Tullegolar's hand.
"Ha!" Emperor Tullegolar said as it staggered about. "Now you see..."
The perfected rat cast a bolt of fire. Emperor Tullegolar fell behind the Administrator Panel and didn't get up again.
The perfected rat yanked the sword out and waited until it healed up. "Now what do you have to say, human?" It left.
Emperor Tullegolar waited a moment and then stood up. His robes were badly singed but he was otherwise unharmed. "You didn't really think that would kill me, did you?"