The City of God: Repairs & Rebuilding

[Gilgamesh]

Gilgamesh smiled as he focused on fixing the walls, the unwavering adulation from the most recent prime and the group of citizens behind him continued to feed his ego. Taking a look back, he could see the crowd of men, women, and children enamored with his feats. Struggling to be as stoic and elegant as he could, he snuffed out the smile that was trying to surface. Managing to maintain the determined look on his face, he strode towards the next crumbling section of his wall. What was left of it. The mixture of bandit raids and the harsh conditions of the Dunes had left the walls sun-bleached, bloodied, and broken. Strolling to the wall, he placed his hand on the jagged edges. It felt to him as if he was slightly opening a dam, letting water flow out freely until the object of his desire came into existence. A somewhat cruel smile grew onto his face, Ahana seemed to be fresh as well and doesn’t know much about this place. He figured she must be feeling as if she were emptying an already dry canteen. How deep does her devotion go and what methods will she overcome this task?

Time passed and the rainbow-colored Omnilium that coated the wall began to dance in the light before restoring this section of the wall to its former state. Turning with some flair, Gilgamesh raised his hands. The crowd cheered at his feat, glad to have a positive change in their lives. “You may go about your day, for it will take much time for our fortifications to be repaired.” He announced, waving off the crowd. The crowd murmured amongst themselves before many of the more sane ones deciding that Gilgamesh was right. By the time Gilgamesh had decided to move onto the next section of the wall, most of the crowd had left to go about their own duties with only the more fanatic citizens still watching in excitement.

Sweat trailed down his face, the intense heat wasn’t making this task any easier. Looking up into the sky, Gilgamesh saw the blazing sun orbiting the sky with not a cloud in sight. While he didn’t appreciate the intense heat, the clear blue sky was much more appealing than the crimson hellscape. He laid his hands against the broken wall of sandstone, concentrating his energy into his palms. The omnilium began to flow freely-

A sharp pain shot through his head, accompanied with a thud that resonated in his skull. Bringing his hand to the source, he felt something wet. Slowly bringing down his hand, he saw that it was covered in blood. Disoriented and dazed, he turned to see a teenager no older than 16 protruded from the group.

“See!” He screamed emphatically, pleading the group of fanatics to listen. “Your King bleeds like any man.” Turning his head back to Gilgamesh he scowled before bending over and picking up another rock. Screaming with anger, he tossed the rock which this time pelted Gilgamesh’s armor. “You are not welcome here.”

The group of fanatics wasn’t pleased to say in the least. Their initial moment of shock was quickly turned to hate. Members of the mob turned on the boy, pushing him around until he ungraciously fell into the dirt. Screaming, the mob quickly wanted his blood, “Stone him!” “Murder him” and other profanities were continuously being shouted until Gilgamesh’s booming voice silenced them.

“Silence.” He commanded, his loud voice echoing. “You shall not lay a hand on him.” His red eyes piercing through the mob. His face filled with rage. An unknown voice of the mob spoke out.
“But he injured you my King. Surely this is grounds for treason!” The voice seemed confused at the King’s statements.

A droplet of blood began to trail down Gilgamesh’s face as he raised an eyebrow, “Are you really questioning me?” Gilgamesh’s voice seemed to physically hurt the man in the crowd. His voice whimpered down and had much less backing behind it. “No my king, but if I may so bold I am curious why he is not deserving of your ire?”

Gilgamesh’s frown grew wider, “This boy and those like him have earned my wrath.” He brought up his hand to wipe the blood that was welling up at his eyelid. His voice almost sounded like a growl as he continued, “But those who disagree with my will begin to see that my methods are effective and they care for this town as I do. They will be of value by bringing my attention to matters that need to be dealt with.” The boy was sitting on the ground, shocked by what Gilgamesh just said as if it had conflicted what he had known.

The distant sound of revving engines distracted Gilgamesh for a second. Turning to the source of the sound, he saw clouds of dust rising into the sky with black figures riding atop of them. As the figures drew closer, the sound of chaotic metal began to become more and more apparent. Gilgamesh waved his arm, “Go to your homes. Now.” The crowd instantly dispersed into the streets running in their distinct directions. Gil put his hand on the side of the wall and used it to help climb over the broken shards of the wall. Stepping a bit forward, Gilgamesh stood there in wait. Within a few minutes, Gilgamesh could see that the figures were actually scrappy dune buggies that looked like they were pieced together out of lots of metal rods and the use of a lot of blowtorches. One of the cars seemed to be significantly bigger than the others with a pole sticking out from the back with a flag atop of it. The convoy of buggies grew closer to the city, with Gilgamesh being the sole figure to oppose them.

The music they were playing suddenly got quiet as one figure from the flagship peeked out of his rusty buggy. “THESE RESTORATIVE ATTEMPTS WILL NOT PREVENT REAPPLICATION OF INCUMBENT STRUCTURAL BYPASSES." The bandit screamed on the top his lungs. His statement riled the other buggies as a seemingly unanimous uproar of animalistic hollars echoed out. Gilgamesh felt relief, these bandits have one good purpose. Being Gilgamesh’s punching bag. Golden portals opened up around Gilgamesh letting an array of weaponry peak out. The shiny armaments glittered beautifully in the sun.

“You dare try and destroy what I have just rebuilt? You throw away your lives at the mere thought of it!” Gilgamesh screamed. Shooting swords from his personal arsenal, the bandits buggies jerked immediately, letting the swords pierce into the sand rather than their vehicles. The Golden King screamed in rage as a group of buggies began to circle near him. Firing more of his swords in their direction, he managed to impale a bandit or two within their vehicles. The slight taste of satisfaction passed him as the flagship quickly passed by as he was distracted.

"PLEASE ENJOY THIS ADROIT CONSIGNMENT OF VOLATILE PARCELS.” He screamed with a lit dynamite in his hand. Giving Gilgamesh a sadistic, smug smile he tossed it at the walls. After a brief second of silence, the dynamite detonated, causing fragments of his newly replaced wall to scatter. Gil growled in frustration as he sent more of his weaponry into the vehicle, managing to hit some on the hull of the buggy. Another buggy dashed past Gilgamesh, a bandit lighting the fuse to his dynamite. Golden portals opened all around the buggy, wrapping the entire thing in chains. The wheels abruptly stopped and the entire vehicle flipped over in the sand. The King heard their screams of terror for a brief moment before the dynamite blew up and the vehicle, and it occupants, were blown sky high.

"HA. WE POSSESS SUFFICIENT NUMBERS TO WITHSTAND YOUR BELLICOSE MALFEASANCE." He heard the ringleader speak.

“Enough of this nonsense. You curs will know the true meaning of pain and misery!” The Golden King decreed as he flicked his wrists. Portals flickered into life, with more than fifty weapons ready to greet their new sheathes.