Act II – The Eternal Mad Realm: Septem.
The whole world slows down. It feels as if someone's hand has pressed pause, and all thoughts have frozen. Suddenly, a familiar melody drifts from somewhere.
"Angel Of The Morning" by Juice Newton began to play. Yes, yes, the very song from the credits of the first "Deadpool." Oh, look, a unicorn…
"Ha!"
Deadpool came to his senses and tried to assess the situation, but as his crumpled skull straightened and his exploded brain regenerated, his cognitive abilities were in a completely "astral" state. Oh, look, a unicorn…
"Snap out of it!"
He slapped himself. His head was spinning. Whether it was because his brain hadn't fully regenerated yet, or it felt like the sensation after a line of cocaine snorted directly into the nostril – everything in his head was swimming.
"Ugh… I had a dream about some noisy guy in flower petals, who was rambling about some king's history and shot me in the forehead. Oh! Twilight Sparkle…"
When the hallucinations returned, he screamed, "Snap out of it! Stupid Pool! Cheap glue stick!" and began hitting himself on the head with the butt of his pistol.
Finally regaining clarity of thought, Deadpool looked around.
"Damn it. Did I end up in a ninja world?"
Bizarre, curved trees towered into the sky around him, and Deadpool was lucky to be on one of the thick branches.
"Is this that Wood Style or something?"
Examining the wood, as hard as rock, he noticed Nero's Roman palace at the very top, pierced through by branches.
"Oh no-no-no!! My home! My bed! My silver Kehlin! My job! My Rome!! Ah, wait, I'm Canadian. But still, aaaaaah!! I won't forgive this!"
Seeing everything he held dear crumble (though he'd probably abandon it without a second thought if he found the Grail), he let out a furious howl. And this fury awakened the hidden power of a certain race slumbering within him.
"I'm angry! Frieza-a-a!!"
Deadpool's body exploded with a golden aura. Shouting the name of a character who clearly lived in another world, he trembled with rage.
"U-o-o-o! I'm not just Deadpool! I'm the one who surpassed Deadpool – Super Deadpool!"
Overwhelmed with anger, he pushed off the branch and soared upwards. Effortlessly piercing the stone-like wood, he flew straight towards the summit where the palace rested.
"Hmm, is this Rome's aura? No. It's…!"
Romulus, seated on the wooden throne deep within the branch-torn palace, felt the approach of a powerful energy.
He instinctively summoned and arrayed his wooden legionaries in battle formation.
"Are you guys crazy? Why would I barge in there and start an action movie? Oh, right. Of course, I'm Deadpool, I *am* a walking action movie. But why wave a sword when machine guns can do the job?"
Hovering before the palace, Deadpool assumed a suspiciously familiar pose.
"What was that story called? FGO x Deadpool? Sorry, it was FGO x Dragon Ball."
Colossal energy began to pulsate and condense in his palms. Soon, this cluster began to glow, generating whirlwinds around it.
"Take this! The thing named after a Hawaiian king!!"
He thrust his hands forward. A powerful discharge erupted. It was supposed to be a laser beam or a stream of pure energy. At least, it was supposed to be.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!!"
In reality, it wasn't an energy discharge, but a hail of bullets from the two Uzis in his hands. However, since they were part of an irregular Servant's equipment – a kind of Noble Phantasm – their power was not inferior to heavy anti-tank weapons.
Under the hail of bullets, the palace floor shattered into splinters, and the anti-tank barrage descended upon Romulus's wooden soldiers.
They were torn to shreds, ignited by the monstrous heat, turned to dust by the explosive fragmentation. Ten seconds, which felt like an eternity, and Romulus's army was wiped off the face of the earth. Through a hole in the floor, Deadpool jumped into the palace.
"So, it's you? The bastard who blew up my head and bankrupted my only officially employed company?"
To the enraged Deadpool's words, Romulus merely responded by rising from his throne, his emotionless crimson eyes flashing.
"Oh, Red Rome! What you see is true RO-MA! RO-MA is Rome, and all things strive towards RO-MA. Your talent is worthy of Rome! Become the RO-MA of this Rome!"
Romulus raised his hands diagonally upwards, freezing in the sunbeams that had so opportunely broken through behind him.
"Hail, RO-MA!"
Deadpool froze for a moment, mesmerized by the spectacle with his mouth agape, but quickly shook his head.
"Haha. Almost fell for it. Nearly became a sun spirit myself." He whispered:
"Actually, I prefer blood-red phantoms."
"Rome! May RO-MA be eternal in Rome!"
The constant repetition of the word "Rome" began to get on his nerves. If anyone were tied up here, they would have slit their wrists from madness after three hours of such a lecture.
"Hail, Rome, and go to hell. You have the Grail, don't you?! Hurry up and give it here!"
In response, Romulus majestically extended his hand and summoned the Grail. The very vessel that was the singularity point of this era.
"I do not permit it. This belongs to RO-MA. For all is RO-MA, and the desire of every Roman is the desire of RO-MA! And he desires the dominion of great Rome over the world!"
Negotiation wouldn't work – he was clearly in a state of complete self-absorption.
"Well, I'll have to take it by force!"
Deadpool drew his swords and took a stance.
"Come forth, Red Rome. I, the true Roman RO-MA, shall be your opponent!"
◇
"Emperor! The path is blocked!"
Meanwhile, Nero and the Roman army, having returned after conquering the Balkans, discovered that the capital had turned into ruins due to giant tree pillars, and the imperial palace was stuck at the very top of one of them.
"How did this happen?"
"This tree! It's the same tree that supported the palace's foundation! Does this mean…?"
The soldiers cried out in unison:
"The man in the tree has awakened!"
The legionaries trembled. From ancient times, a prophecy had been passed down in the palace:
"On the day when, under a golden sky, the man in the wooden pillar awakens, Rome will shine crimson, and the tree's blood will water the earth, fulfilling the golden desire. Will this be the end of Rome or its dawn?"
While the soldiers whispered, Nero's gaze, silently surveying the city, began to change.
It wasn't ambition to conquer all of Rome and become the sole emperor of the world. She wanted to witness the flower of true art blooming in an even grander and more beautiful Rome. She craved to burn her creative soul in a whirlwind of falling petals.
"Emperor?"
Noticing a mad glint in her eyes, one of the legionaries called out to her. Nero, overcome with ecstasy, addressed her troops with a fiery speech.
"Listen! My legions! We shall set Rome ablaze!"
The soldiers froze in bewilderment. Their own emperor was ordering Rome to be burned – the very thing that was their entire world.
"This is not treason against Rome. This is love! Venus's blessing! Jupiter's trial and Mars's command! We shall burn the Rome that dared to destroy ours, and upon the ashes of the primordial flame, we shall erect our true Rome!"
"O-o-o-o-a-a-a!"
Madness is contagious. The legionaries instantly caught the fervor, their eyes glazed over, and their lips twisted into wild laughter.
"Burn! Destroy this decrepit pillar of old Rome and create mine! Ours! My own Rome! Oh, I long to see it in flames! This is love! This is art!!"
She jumped onto her horse and began to dance. Her scarlet dress fluttered like tongues of flame, ready to engulf the city.
"I want to see Rome burning… and in that flame, I will dance! Oh, lustful Venus, grant me love and art! Powerful Jupiter, bestow lightning upon my ambitions! Warlike Mars, give me boundless strength and cunning wisdom! And I shall repay you with a feast of sweet victory blood and fire!!"
Nero's scarlet sword pointed at Rome.
Like rabid dogs, the legionaries, torches in hand, rushed to storm the city.
A man watched this mad march from afar. A gentleman in a green coat and top hat whispered, a wicked grin spreading across his face:
"Anger and hatred, revenge and lust, thirst and ambition merge into one. Soon, a catalyst will appear in this world to burn away the human order. The manifestation of Humanity's Evil, which will fulfill the will of my master, the King of Mages!!"
The man dissolved into the air.
…
The Gallo-British resistance army against great Rome. Commander-in-Chief – the Celtic Queen of Britain, Boudica. Currently moving south from Gaul towards Rome.
Nero's Elite Crimson Legion. Commander-in-Chief – Emperor Nero Claudius. Moving west with the legion.
Romulus's "True Rome," the Rome of RO-MA. In the process of reigning in Rome itself.
Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight. Moving south with Boudica's troops.
Wade Wilson, Deadpool. Confronting Romulus. Discovered the Grail of the Second Singularity. Began the process of collection.
***
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