| Slayers |
| Episode 19: Shock! Sairaag Falls! |
| Gourry, Lina, and Zelgadis are seen from the back, staring at Rezo with disbelief. However, Zangulus and Eris each stand confidently at either side of Rezo, obviously having planned this all along. And Rezo stood facing them with an air of certainly as he clasped his staff in his right hand. His eyes were closed. The mood was ominous. Lina looked at Rezo with a rather fierce expression. "Rezo, the Red Priest?" she whispered. Rezo didn't move, merely continued to face them. Zelgadis already had his sword drawn, and Gourry and Amelia merely stayed still. There was a tense silence in which the mood thickened a little. Lina suddenly half-grinned. "I've got it... You just LOOK like him!" she deduced happily. Zelgadis sweatdropped and nearly fell over. "You mean he's a fake?" asked Gourry, leaning over to Lina. Zelgadis's expression changed for the serious. "He can't be the real one! It has to be some kind of horrible joke!" "Well, they certainly did a good job of finding a duplicate, then," Lina commented. Gourry, by now had drawn his Sword of Light. But instead of getting serious, he admitted that he didn't really remember what Rezo had looked like to begin with. "Gourry, would you just SHUT UP?!" Lina demanded, sweatdropping and covering her ears. "Right, Zel?" she asked, referring to the part about the duplicate. "Yes, a very clever fake," Zelgadis agreed. Amelia looked curious. "Why are you all so sure he's an imposter?" she asked. "Because we fought Rezo before," Lina replied, as an image of Rezo appeared behind her, "and we managed to kill him!" The image flashed back to the Rezo standing in front of him. He smiled very slightly. "WHAT?!" Amelia exclaimed in total bewilderment. "Rezo, who everyone says is a great sage?! You killed him?!" She couldn't believe her ears. "Miss Lina, you're all really...!" she trailed off. "Incredible?" Lina asked, looking sly. "I was going to say 'villains'," Amelia finished, as Gourry started tilting over in the background, and Lina got a dumbfounded look on her face. After all their hard work in the previous mighty battle, now it was reduced to- "We're what?!" Lina yelled with a totally crazy expression on her face, and picking Amelia up by the collar. "But...! But...!" Amelia stammered, trembling. She searched for something else to put blame on, and found Zelgadis. "What about him?! He's so creepy and suspicious-looking!" she pointed at him rudely. "Well, excuse me," Zelgadis muttered, a dry look on his face. Lina began lecturing Amelia about the whole "don't judge a book by its cover" issue. "Zel may look suspicious at first..." she began. Zelgadis got an even drier look on his face and sweatdropped. "Well, excuse me!" he muttered again. "...but he's sort of OK," Lina finished. Zelgadis, if possible, got an even more extreme look on his face. "Sort of?!" he echoed. "Rezo the Red Priest wasn't the great sage people said he was," Lina explained, continuing off the original question. "Really?" Amelia asked. Zelgadis sweatdropped again. Lina, Amelia, and Gourry had gotten into some sort of discussion circle again, and he was the only one still standing at attention with his sword drawn. Meanwhile, the "bad guys" had been silent all this time, which was sort of embarrassing. "Really," Lina replied. They talked a bit more, with Lina saying that it has to be an imposter, and Gourry pondering, "I know it's a long shot, but maybe he IS the real one." "No way! He's a fake!" "Now you're judging people by rumor and appearances, Miss Lina," Amelia pointed out. "That doesn't apply here!" Lina continued to argue. The scene panned down until it got to the bad guys. Eris was angry and trembling a little at how casual a manner they were discussing her master, while Zangulus had sort of a bewildered look on his face as well. Finally, the scene pans to the much taller Rezo, who had been watching with slight amusement. "Rather than asking if I'm the real one or not..." he spoke, "... isn't there a question that needs to be answered first?" "Meaning what?!" Lina demanded. Rezo looked back with confidence. The one of whether you really killed me or not," he replied, and Eris and Zangulus looked themselves again. "We killed him!" Lina replied with equal confidence, winking. "Meaning you aren't the real Red Priest!" "Well, then," Rezo replied, "Why don't I try my luck, then?" he smiled, throwing back his cape. Zangulus and Eris both jumped up to the overhang behind them in a retreat. The Slayers tensed up in surprise, and suddenly it was a battle only with their old foe. Rezo gathered some power into him, and swung his staff, making its sound resonate powerfully. "Well, you've got the attitude down pat," Lina complimented him, still not worried. Rezo brought the staff back in slow motion, as the bells jingled a little on their own. Zelgadis's mouth opened a little at the sequence of events, and then he tensed up again as Lina fired her spell. "Fireball!" she yelled. Rezo swung his staff back from the position he'd drawn up to, and the Fireball was broken apart harmlessly into nothingness with a strong movement. Lina tensed up with some surprise, but Zelgadis immediately continued the attack with one of his own spells. "Goz Vu Rou!" he yelled, and a shadow sped toward Rezo with alarming speed. Yet, Rezo swung his staff back, and dispersed of it easily. "Impossible!" Zelgadis exclaimed. Rezo chuckled darkly and with amusement. "I see," Lina said. "You aren't just some imposter, are you?" The circlet around Rezo's forehead was still clearly visible. He ignored her comment. "Well, then, allow me to make the next move." He summoned up a ball of fire, shooting it at them with great power. Lina gasped, but managed to conjure up a barrier in time. Even using all her strength, however, Lina was still stumbling back. Zelgadis and Amelia both cast the spell as well, tripling the strength of the barrier, and yet they were still feeling the strength of the attack. All Gourry could do was look on concerned. "Man, he's powerful," Lina commented. "This protection field isn't going to hold out!" Zelgadis agreed. Rezo wasn't breaking a sweat. "Oh, I've hardly even begun," he muttered, bored, and flared up the spell a little. The fire was burning fiercely against the barrier now, and Zelgadis was just talking about not having time to recast the spell when an ultra-powerful barrier spell was reinforced around them, dispersing the flames entirely. "What was that?!" Lina asked, as they all looked around in confusion. "Someone just cast a major protection spell!" They looked behind them, and there was... Sylphiel! "Sylphiel, what are you doing here?" Gourry asked. Sylphiel mumbled something about being worried about "dear Gourry". "You looked like you were being attacked," she added, causing Lina and Gourry to stumble at the obvious observation. "Looked...! We WERE being attacked!" Lina yelled, exasperated. "Oh, how terrible!" Sylphiel exclaimed, concerned. Lina got back to the task at hand. "Whatever. With Sylphiel here to protect us, we can give him all we've got!" She steeled herself up... and sprinted out of there as fast as she could. It left the others bewildered, but they, too, ran as fast as they could after her in a total retreat. Outside, the five of them sit together to talk. Zelgadis had just told of his past, supposedly, and he, Amelia, and Sylphiel were now properly introduced. "Now that we've all calmed down, does anyone have a clue who the Rezo twin is?" Lina inquired. "And why did he let us escape without trying to follow us?" Gourry asked, being unusually insightful. They deduced that from their current information, he was still most likely a "powerful imposter". That was the only possibility that seemed probable at the moment. "You're sure he isn't the real one?" Amelia asked. "Well... I'm sure we killed Rezo!" Lina replied. "We must have..." Zelgadis got a more serious look on his face, remembering. Sylphiel clapped her hands together, and happily suggested, "Well, maybe you killed the imposter instead." "Uh, no... That's not possible," Lina reassured her. She had a flashback of the terrible battle with Rezo/Shabranigdo that they'd just managed to win. "The one we killed had to have been the real Rezo," she stated. Zelgadis asked who the "twin" could be, then, and Lina suggested another possibility: Rezo could be a copy. Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "If it was a copy of Rezo... how was he able to cast spells so powerful?" "It's not my area of expertise, so I'm not clear on the details," Lina replied, thoughtful. "Okay!" She got to her feet. She explained that she was going to consult an expert on copies, or else they wouldn't learn anything further about the situation. "All right, and I'll try some other things in the meantime," Zelgadis said, turning his back. He simply announced, "I have a few things to investigate." He said that he would meet the group back at the same spot at noon the next day, and Lina agreed as he jumped over the wall to wherever he was going. "Do you have any sorcerer friends that know about copies?" Amelia asked. Lina admitted that she didn't. "But there's a dark sorcerers' guild nearby..." she added, winking, "that specializes in chimeras!" "NOT AGAIN!" screamed Gourry as Lina and Amelia carried him through the air with Levitation again. Sylphiel flew by herself nearby. A building approached rapidly in the distance; a strange-looking one. In no time, they were there, Lina blew apart the door and made the guard fall aside from the explosion. Everyone else gaped at her recklessness. An elderly man with a gray thick beard, dressed in blue, hurried up to the entrance to the weird-looking building, where the explosion had been, and the Slayers were now waiting. "What's the big idea you uncivilized hoodlums?!" he demanded. The guard got up to his feet miserably, explaining that the group wanted to give a big donation to their research in exchange for studying. "A donation?!" the man asked happily. "What do you want to know?" They were all walking inside now, and Lina asked the vital question, "How much of the original's power can a copy have?" The answer was: "All of it!" "Really?!" Lina asked. The man's answer, however, wasn't entirely definite, and he began to elaborate. He explained that physically, they would be identical, as in strength, speed, and reflexes. But that was the only definite variable. They stopped at a very large, whimsical machine with liquid flowing through it. "This is our latest copier. It can copy a person's memories and experiences," the man explained. "An ordinary person?" Lina asked. "Well, we don't have any extraordinary people here," the guy continued. "We don't have an expert swordsman or a sorcery genius. We've no idea how much of those special skills we can duplicate." "Why don't you experiment?" Lina asked. "Geniuses and experts don't grow on trees, you know!" the man replied sadly, slumping a little. "We don't have any samples." He eyed them warily. The man's eyes widened with joy and interest at Lina's next statement. "Take Gourry here. Despite appearances, he's actually an expert swordsman!" Lina assured him, as the mood changed for the comical at Gourry's expression. "Oh, that's right!" Amelia agreed. The man and his assistant's eyes suddenly became bloodshot with want. "Really?!" they exclaimed. "So, you need a bucket of his blood, right?" Lina asked. "Oh no, a lock of hair will do fine," the man replied, eyes still wild with greed. "Not a problem!" Lina assured him, whipping scissors out of nowhere and trying to snip wildly at a scared-to-death Gourry's hair. "Stop! I refuse!" Gourry protested. Blows are seen against a dark screen, and Amelia holds Gourry's leg in sort of a wrestler's position as both Lina and the assistant start trying to get a sample of Gourry's hair by pulling and tugging. "Sylphiel, please! Stop them!" Gourry begged, her as his last resort. However, there was something that he didn't account for in Sylphiel's sweetness towards him. She reached down, and suddenly ripped a chunk of hair from his head. "Won't it be nice to have more of you around!" she exclaimed happily. The man hurriedly asked the hair to be given to him. "You, too, Sylphiel? You, too?! How could you?!" Gourry sobbed. The man put the hair into the machine, starting it up. "How long will it take?" asked Lina. "A day and a night," he replied matter-of-factly. Of course, Lina was impatient. "We don't have that long!" she complained, and began wildly flipping switches and levers. Though the man tried to get her to stop, Lina reassured him by saying that she was just "adding more growth culture". Lina suddenly cried out in pain as Gourry ripped a chunk of hair from her head as revenge. "Hey, Pops! Can I use that machine over there? She's a sorcery genius! I guarantee the power!" Amelia chose this time to pop in. "Oh, that's right!" she agreed again. The guy got the mad, happy look again, urging him to put it in. Though Lina now tried to stop Gourry, Gourry gave her a taste of her own medicine as he started up the machine, and put in her hair. However, then he started putting in extra "growth culture" too... Meanwhile, Sylphiel merely smiled from where she was, no doubt thinking of the extra Gourry that would be created. Time passed, liquid moved through the machines, and finally the cloning was done, though much earlier than it was supposed to. The door of one of the output machines opened right after the man announced that they were done. Everyone ran to see the result, and as the metal door slid upwards, everyone tried peering through the smoke to see the copy. However, they were looking at eye-level. Looking down, they saw a copy of Gourry... but an immensely small version. "Hi!" he muttered. Sylphiel was overjoyed at how cute it was, though. Gourry sweatdropped, and everyone wondered what had happened. "You rushed the growth," the man explained, "so it didn't mature fully!" Chibi-Gourry sat down, looking semi-depressed. "I'm hungry!" he complained. "Well, it's got the original's personality," Lina commented. "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Gourry. "This one's finished, too!" the assistant announced, as the door to the other output machine began sliding upward. They rushed over, and this time it was Lina's turn to sweatdrop at the tiny version of herself. "I'm hungry! I demand some food!" it shouted, as the real Lina grimaced. "Looks like it's got the original's personality, too!" Gourry countered. "Meaning what?!" Lina yelled back. The two chibis got into a fight as chibi-Lina jumped over and kicked chibi-Gourry in the head. "What was that for?!" chibi-Gourry complained, as they began battling in a puff of smoke. Amelia commented that they were like the originals, as well. All of a sudden, everything began exploding. The pipes broke, and smoke rushed out of them. From the copy output machines, many, many more copies of Lina and Gourry burst out, all tiny, to join the growing battle. Lina and Gourry both watched their tiny selves in anticipation, while Sylphiel cuddled a tiny Gourry. Finally, the battle was over. An enormous amount of chibi-Gourrys were defeated, piled under victorious chibi-Linas. "Great job, you guys!" Lina congratulated them. "C'mon guys, you suck!" Gourry complained, looking slightly downward. "Bye-bye!" the Linas chorused, and they all began vanishing, along with the chibi-Gourrys. The Gourry that Sylphiel was holding was the last to disappear. "What's wrong?!" Sylphiel asked. "What happened?!" Lina added. The man looked furious. "You overloaded the machine!" All around them, pipes exploded even more, and boilers began exploding as the whole place started smoking. The Slayers gang ran out as fast as they could, with Lina calling a "thank you" backwards, and the two researchers telling them to never come back. The next day, all was peaceful and sunny again. Deep in some hidden place in the city of Sairaag, Rezo was attached to some strange, seemingly organic device. The "living" chair pulsed, and Rezo sat with his hands on the armrests, perhaps absorbing power. Eris stood nearby, monitoring him. He moved his hands a little, and the lights kept flashing on and off. Zangulus chose this point to make an entry. "For crying out loud!" he exclaimed, causing Eris to turn. "Is this what happens when he exerts himself a little? Your beloved Rezo?" Eris angrily told him to leave, and Zangulus softly spoke an insincere apology before leaving. Eris turned her back, looking at Rezo, and then she left as well. After she left, the room turned a little darker. The lights stopped flashing on and off. Rezo's eyes glowed an evil red. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Sylphiel were sprawled, sleeping, in their designated meeting spot. Zelgadis was the only one that seemed wide-awake and alert as he walked into the area. "What happened to you?" he inquired. "Oh, morning, Zelgadis," as Lina managed to get up. Amelia and Sylphiel were starting to sleepily get up, as well. "It's afternoon," he stated. "So, did you find out anything about copies?" "Not much. Just that it's possible to make a perfect copy," Lina informed him. In short, not much had been found out. "So what have you been doing?" Lina asked, referring to what Zelgadis had been doing all night. "Oh, just some stuff on Rezo," he answered broadly. He explained that he wasn't checking on the fake Rezo; he was investigating the original. "So, what did you find out about the real Rezo?" Lina asked, as Gourry woke up. "Well..." Zel trailed off, prompting Lina to ask him about his gloominess. Zelgadis finally answered with what he had been looking for information about; in the past, Rezo had told him of a secret laboratory that was hidden away somewhere, containing many magical books and items of sorcery that he'd collected. They had been unsuccessful at curing his eyes, but there were some extraordinary magic books there now as a result. "If Rezo collected them, they've got to be extraordinary!" Lina exclaimed, excited. She grasped Zelgadis by the collar, demanding to know where they were eagerly. "Sairaag..." Zelgadis managed to mutter. "Sairaag?! Well, lucky we're here, then!" she exclaimed again happily. Zelgadis announced that he had also discovered something else: the laboratory was hidden in the ruins of old Sairaag. "The old city?!" Gourry asked. Sylphiel was surprised as well. "You know about it?" Lina asked. Sylphiel began explaining about old Sairaag, the desolate ruins of which were on the other side of the Holy Tree Flagoon. "Will you guide me there?" asked Zelgadis. "Sure! Sure she will! She'll do anything!" Lina filled in eagerly, still wanting the magical items. "And I'm come along, too!" Lina continued enthusiastically that they might find out "who Rezo really is". She suggested that they might be able to destroy the "imposter Rezo" if they found spells powerful enough in the old laboratory. Gourry and Amelia commented a little about Lina's greed, but she actually chose to ignore it that time. Everyone agreed in the end to go, though Sylphiel warned that it was dangerous to do so. Zelgadis would go at any cost; he believed that he might find a cure for his body there. Sylphiel requested that she go back to say good-bye to her father, and this prompted an altercation of the plans. Since security was still high, they would meet back and set off during the night. "OK!" Sylphiel agreed. Time passed again, and soon it was night, with the moon shining full in the sky. Lina, Zelgadis, Amelia, and Sylphiel flew through the air, and Gourry was carried as usual. They were flying along peacefully when suddenly a ball of fire shot toward them with amazing speed. They were forced to land, Gourry dropping onto the ground, and the other four landing neatly beside him. They were in some sort of alley, though it was spacious enough. The ominous ringing of a staff sounded, and Rezo soon materialized out of thin air, causing the Slayers to tense up. Eris and Zangulus walked up from behind. "We've been waiting! Now give the Sword of Light to me!" Eris demanded. "Man, oh man, you people never give up!" Lina commented. "Gourry, this time we settle things!" Zangulus announced. "You know, you're really starting to annoy me," Gourry shot back. "Shut up!" And with that, they both charged, and the battle began. Zangulus and Gourry began to duel, matched in strength between the Sword of Light and the Howling Sword. "If Gourry's taking him on, then I'm fighting you!" Zelgadis challenged Rezo. Rezo was amused by this. "As you wish." "Zel, wait! You want to fight in the middle of the city?" Lina asked, worried. "Don't worry! This time, I'll test his powers with one shot!" Zelgadis announced. Eris leapt back, and Zelgadis shot his attack as Rezo put up his barrier with a swipe of his staff. A fierce exchange of power began, debris billowing up in all directions and a ball of energy in between. Zelgadis yelled as he tried to bring his power up, but Rezo still looked calm. Rezo charged up a little, and now lightning was starting to flash, causing Gourry and Zangulus to stop their duel just to watch. Zelgadis let out a yell, using all his strength. Rezo fell back a little, and then regained his position. "Ha!" he yelled, using some of his own power. Zelgadis was thrown back as well, but he managed to keep his footing enough to counter again with his own yell. The energy between them intensified as Rezo countered again, striking Zelgadis with another blow that was harder than before. "Why, you...!" he muttered. Amelia, meanwhile, leapt up onto a nearby wall, and, pointing at Eris, began her speech. "I don't know who you really are, but my righteous blood is boiling!" Zelgadis, struggling with his fight, yelled at Amelia to "Shut up and stay out of this!" "But I already climbed up here!" cried Amelia, hurt and annoyed. Zelgadis was beginning to struggle, but Rezo merely chuckled as he continued to hold back the force with his staff defense. Lina and Sylphiel both watched from the side. "Why is Rezo so confident?" Lina spoke aloud. "Zelgadis is hitting him with all his power!" Rezo tensed himself up, and then let loose a huge burst of power with a "HA!" that sent Zelgadis flying back all the way down the alley. He managed to keep from crashing into Lina and Sylphiel, but barely. Rezo began laughing a little, and the energy Zelgadis had been firing, he flared up still further. "You see, my power is far greater than even this!" he announced, hair blowing up a little and beginning to levitate. He powered up even further, and suddenly the situation became clear. "RUN FOR IT!" Zelgadis yelled. "Everyone, come here! You, too, Gourry! Move it!" Lina ordered. "Huh?! Why?!" Gourry asked, he and Zangulus stopping their duel again, confused. "Retreat, Zangulus! Retreat if you want to live!" Eris yelled as well, gesturing. "Damn it! To hell with this!" cursed Zangulus, running back. The Slayers began hurriedly preparing a defense, it almost being too late. Zelgadis cast a wind barrier spell just as Gourry arrived, Sylphiel cast a powerful protection spell, Amelia cast Levitation to help them, encased in the barrier, escape, and Lina reinforced the wind barrier. "Are we gonna make it?!" asked Gourry, concerned. The sphere of protection took off into the air with the five of them inside it. Rezo was using some kind of powerful black magic spell. Back on the ground, Rezo's aura had reached an astounding level, and he let a strong battle cry as he pulled his staff back and then slammed it into the ground with a resounding ring. The concrete cracked beneath the impact, causing a gigantic explosion that just kept growing. "How... How could it be so destructive?!" exclaimed Lina in disbelief, though they were safe from harm. Soon the entire sky was covered with red and black from the chaotic force, and then only a huge crater was seen in the ground afterward, looking like a volcano. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zangulus got up shakily inside the protected orb. "Was that a Mega Brando?" Zelgadis asked in disbelief. "No, that's impossible!" "It definitely has the effect of a Mega Brando. But the magical power is much, much larger!" Lina deduced, her eyes still showing the fierceness of battle. "Miss Lina...." Amelia said, catching Lina's attention. "Sairaag is... Half the city is gone..." Sylphiel suddenly let out a cry of despair, causing Gourry to call her name in concern. She walked shakily to the edge of the orb. "Father...! FATHER!!! NO!!!!" she cried, throwing her head back for a scream of pain. Back on the ground, amidst the destruction and fire and pain, Rezo threw back his head, laughing and laughing with pure joy. Lina began narrating: "Whether he was real or not didn't matter now. The man we were fighting was unbelievably powerful. And extraordinarily cruel. That much was clear." |
| Overall Episode: 19 |
| Episode 2 of Video 6 |
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