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Spectre was not a naive person.
But he was weak.
Incredibly weak.
There was no excuse for it. He had been warned. Prepared. The Ignis had to be eliminated, for the good of all humanity. That included even him. He might not consider himself as part of that lot but he was.
And yet.
When Earth was killed, he felt it. A hole in his heart. Grief. A single tear which rolled down his eye. He grieved, he mourned. All in private. He wouldn’t dare breathe a word of his sacrilege against the cause that he had pledged himself to but he did wish.
He did wonder…
What if?
What if that question had a soft answer. A pleasant future attached to it. What if things went right? What if Earth and Spectre had the kind of partnerships that he envied from across the way like between the Dark Ignis and Playmaker or the Fire Ignis and Soulburner. He wanted that for himself. So bad. A natural fit, a perfect duality.
Spectre’s head swam with these pityingly hopeful fantasies of gardening together, drinking tea together, or doing any number of things. Just so long as it was together. It became Spectre’s forbidden reverie, one he indulged in as little as he could because he knew -
he knew
- that the reality would be harsh. Would be opposite.
So he tried to settle in the middle.
If Earth was still alive, their paths would still be parallel. Never crossing. But Spectre was sure that would be enough for him. If only the Ignis could have stayed inside their box, if only Pandora hadn’t opened the Cyberse World. That would have been enough for Spectre but alas.
He got greedy.
He over-extended and he was punished for it.
He found himself asking that little two word question again: What if?
The minute - no, the second - that he had heard that Playmaker had succeeded, Spectre logged into the Link VRAINS. He needed to see it for himself. He needed to say hello and he optimistically believed that he would find that softer future at the end of that question but the Earth Ignis was not what he had expected.
The Earth Ignis was cold. Hard. Cynical.
Spectre hadn’t heard much along the grapevine about what his Ignis was actually like. He didn’t have the kind of relationship where he could ask, inquire, or even gossip about what that creature was like so he assumed the best. The undecided Ignis. The one who knew emotions the best and duelled from a place of love.
Spectre had erroneously decided that Earth was nothing like him.
Unfortunately, he was too much like him.
When their eyes met, for the very first time, resentment glistened in the cyan of Earth’s gaze. Spectre’s heart trembled in his chest with disbelief. Playmaker had done it. He had brought back not only his own partner from the other side of the void known as death but all of them.
And he allowed them to free roam. To do as they pleased. To live life how they wanted to live. It was noble. It all but confirmed that the Knights of Hanoi had been right. The Ignis should have been terminated and they should have stayed that way.
Spectre grinned, all roses in his cheeks and his teeth and his eyes. He offered his hand to the Ignis. The Link VRAINS was vast and azure, the Earth Ignis was a giant amongst his own kin but suspended between up and down, land and sky, he was but a mite.
“It’s me.” Spectre said. “Your Origin.”
He practically salivated as he waited and wanted and wished. His wonderings ceased as he had no wonder no more.
He knew now exactly how Earth would treat him. What they would do together.
“Ah yes,” Earth said, “the traitor.”
“Pardon?” Spectre gawked. “Come again?”
Earth’s face grew creased, his eyes bulged. His statue though diminutive grew fearsome.
“I said.” he reiterated coldly. “The traitor.”
“I-I have done no such thing-”
“I know of your activities amongst the Knights of Hanoi.” Earth interrupted him. “I know you intended to annihilate me and my kin. That is unforgivable. Humans are unforgivable.”
Spectre simpered.
He couldn’t deny Earth’s rage. It was quite understandable. He, of all humans, would know exactly how awful humans could be but… He was the exception, right? He was Earth’s Origin, surely they could put aside their issues.
“I’m sorry.” Spectre said. “If it weren’t for Lightning-”
“Lightning is a sorry excuse for an Ignis, too, but his cruelty pales in comparison to that of humans.” Earth sneered.
“Please, I’m sorry but the Knights have changed, we-”
Earth wasn’t having any of it. Spectre’s split sympathies were pathetic as he tried to beg forgiveness from Earth.
Earth thrust out his hand and silenced Spectre. His hair blew back in the menacing gust Earth mustered from that action. Spectre frowned as he dithered, embarrassed, in front of his Ignis who rose to eye level. Then crushed his fingers inwards: he summoned two of his extra deck G Golem Cyberse Monsters from beyond the digital veil.
“Hey, this isn’t fair, if you are challenging me to a duel, there’s-”
Spectre blushed, his heart raced. This was a threat. Not a writ of challenge. He knew that. He also knew he was the last person who ought to complain that the integrity of a duel was being violated.
“This is not a duel.” Earth informed him. “This is how I deal with traitors.”
Earth loomed and Spectre tried to back away, to put distance between himself and Earth but even a couple steps, that reminded Spectre of how just far out he was in the hinterlands of the Link VRAINS. He felt his heel poke out over the edge of a cliff which crumbled under his weight.
Spectre swallowed thickly, he tried to muster something. Anything. A plea for his life, another disagreement that he was not a traitor and that he, and the organisation he belonged to, had changed. Anything. But this close to the literal edge, face down the blindingly bright cruelty of Earth’s eyes, his usual bombastic antics of misplaced confidence turned to dust.
G Golem Invalid Dolmen and G Golem Dignified Trilithon gained on him too. They hovered ominously.
“What are you doing?” Spectre asked, hissing through his gritted teeth, anything to show that he was scared but.
It was obvious that he was.
Earth shapeshifted in an instant. His limbs unfurled into suckerless tentacles, his maw opened and a singular eye gleamed with fury. He threw himself at Spectre and wrapped him in his arms. Spectre yelled, struggled, tried to escape but Earth’s clutches were tight on him. His tentacles wound around him haphazardly and restricted him.
Earth looked away from him as he dragged Spectre forward. Brought him back from the edge, dragging him into the prison which Dignified Trilithon symbolised.
Spectre struggled against Earth, tried to raise his voice, but his Earth covered his mouth. His rubbery form kept him bound just long enough for him to lock onto Dignified Trilithon. Earth forced him down onto his knees, his white pant legs dirtied and the ground was hard.
Earth only unwrapped when he could replace his grip on Spectre with actual bondage, tying him to the sleek, obsidian spines of Dignified Trilithon’s facade with ropes of rocks, sealed in place with fast-drying mud as tough as cement.
“What are you doing?” Spectre snapped.
Dignified Trilithon began to lift him up so his legs dangled. His arms began to stretch, too, to maintain a somewhat upward position despite being fixed to the long obelisk that Dignified Trilithon was pronged with.
Earth returned to his usual Ignis form, “Unlike humans, I’m not so unkind I would rip a creature to pieces alive, nor rob him of his most precious memories. But do not mistake this for kindness, I will still punish you. I will bind you in place and force you to create memories you will never forget.” Earth snarled.
A shiver ran down Spectre’s spine.
That got the point across.
Earth snapped his fingers, “Attack, Invalid Dolmen.”
Underneath it all, despite everything, Spectre truly was a human - and a weak one at that.
Invalid Dolmen grabbed him and he screamed in terror, his legs were forced apart by its giant hands. Spectre struggled, or at least tried to. As he thrashed, his sullied, white pants disappeared, leaving him further vulnerable as Invalid Dolmen assaulted him. Earth watched with no emotion on his face as Spectre bore the brunt of his hatred.
Invalid Dolmen opened its mouth, the jaw of which resembled a nutcracker doll’s, and its tongue emerged from the darkness within like a hidden armament. It leaned forward and pierced Spectre through his rim. He howled in pain. The monster’s tongue was more akin to a spear of stalagmite.
The monster had limited movement due to its nature as a hologram made of solid rock. Whether or not this improved Spectre’s conditions, it was hard to say as its mitts left imprints on his naked legs and his ass ached as he was eaten out so crudely.
Spectre shed tears as he forced himself to quieten down. His chest ached with every forceful repression of his heaving cries. He refused to sob when his Ignis was so ungrateful towards his genuine anguish. Though, Earth seemed to relish how he twitched and simpered, contending with the brutal reality of his assault.
That this was the answer to his question of “What if?” was revealed with ugly, painful truth.