BURN IT DOWN TO THE GROUND - BE DISCRETE, CREATE NO SOUND
ELEMENTS ALL AROUND, I NEED TO RISE AGAIN!
IF NO ONE CAN HURT YOU,
IF NO ONE CAN BREAK YOU
IF NO ONE CAN CHANGE YOU
AND NO ONE CAN SAVE YOU
THEN NOBODY LOVES YOU...
******
MP stared him down. "How would you know that? Maybe I have plan for the four of you?"
But Brotato shook his head. The wind was getting stronger...
"No, you don't. Because I know who you really are..." he made a pause. "...Nick Coviello, I assume?"
Upon hearing that, MP unsheathed his own sword, while thunders, just like earlier today, flashed across the sky. Fox exchanged concerned looks with Meg...
"And that, my dear children, is how I met your mother" said Fox in a dreamy tone.
He had his eyes closed, still reminiscing about that time, when a high-pitched voice dragged him back down to Earth.
"You are our father?!"
Fox quickly opened his eyes and looked around. He unexpectedly found himself in a modern-looking living room. A girl and a boy, sitting on a chouch, stared at him. He was shocked to see them too.
"I have kids?!" yelled Fox, scared, not even a hint of dreaminess in his voice that was present there mere seconds ago.
Suddenly, the door opened with a loud bang, with Meg coming inside, furious.
"I'm your wife?!" she asked Fox.
The kids screamed in panic.
"You're our mother?! But she's supposed to be dead!" yelled the boy and quickly hid behind the couch, while the girl passed out, unconsciouss.
Fox gasped heavily. "OK, OK, alright, there's gotta be an explanation to this..." his mind was racing a mile a minute. He then stood up and snapped his fingers.
"Of course!"
Meg looked at him, still angry. "Of course what?!" she demanded.
He threw his hands in the air. "This is the goddamn series finale! There's gotta be a twist!"
Meg stared at him incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about? A twist?!"
Fox nodded, chuckling nervously. "Yeah, a twist! Except... apparently, we've mixed TFTWL with some other series, I dunno"
Meg grabbed him by the shirt. "I don't know what the fuck are you saying... but better do something about it, and quick!"
Fox shook her off. "Okay, alright, calm down!" he exhaled deeply. "Let's just rewind to the previous scene, shall we?"
******
Brotato made a pause. "...Nick Coviello, I assume?"
Upon hearing that, MP unsheathed his own sword, while thunders, just like earlier today, flashed across the sky.
"I have a very bad feeling about this..." ILC whispered.
"That's funny" Tormunds elbowed him slightly. "It sounded like another TV trope in this story. Check?"
ILC eyed him. "What else would you want me to say? The storm's getting stronger, a seriously pissed off bad guy is coming our way. We're first timers when it comes to that shit, we weren't around in seasons 1 through 3"
Meg, who was nearby, was surprised with this conversation. "Seasons?" she repeated.
Fox sighed, annoyed. "I think we should stop being this meta, okay? It's ridiculous. Rewind?"
******
MP stared him down. "How would you know that? Maybe I have plan for the four of you?"
But Brotato shook his head. The wind was getting stronger...
"No, you don't. Because I know who you really are..." he made a pause. "...Nick Coviello, I assume?"
Upon hearing that, MP unsheathed his own sword, while thunders, just like earlier today, flashed across the sky.
"Who's Nick Coviello?" asked Carlos.
Only then, Harp's eyes went wide.
"Oh shit!" he yelled. "I know who that is!"
Brotato was still facing MP, while the other knights turned to look at Harp.
"What do you mean?" inquired Dfh.
Harp was still in shock. "When I was sent to 1977, I inspected a file regarding Sos..." he tried to piece all this together. "But that's just a nickname!"
Admin looked at him, dumbfounded. "A nickname? People called him Mr Prez!"
Harp rubbed his eyes. "No! That was a... kind of an inside joke. Like, Sos 4 Prez!"
Admin facepalmed himself. "Oh my..."
"But that's his real name!" Harp still couldn't understand what was happening. "Nick Cov--"
Just then, MP raised his hand, with lines of fire appearing on his arm. There was a flash of bright light and then Mike - or his monstrous form, since he was long gone - appeared behind the gathering. Everyone turned back, weapons at the ready.
"Since you're so sure that you're the one I'm hunting" MP addressed Brotato, "I don't really need to play cat and mouse anymore with your friends." He looked at the spider which roared, the sound heard across the land. "I could really let them live, you know? But I don't want them interrupting"
It was raining heavily, with thunders more prominent than before. The beast assaulted the knights, who managed to dodge it at the last possible second.
"Where's Sos?!" screamed HeadShot.
"I hid him nearby, he should be safe!" ILC replied. "At least I hope so!"
Sonic picked up his golden rings and threw it at the beast, trying to buy everyone else some time. The rings slashed at the beast's legs, but didn't cut them off.
"Come on, I need some help in here!"
Both Harp and HeadShot picked up their bows. Slowly nodding, both of them started shooting arrows. Some of them missed their target, since the beast was quite mobile, but the rest of them, while hitting the beast, didn't seem to hurt it much.
"Pretty goddamn resistant, isn't it?!" Harp observed.
"Yeah" HeadShot agreed. "If only we had black arrows, maybe they'd do the trick!"
Harp rolled his eyes. "STOP BEING GODDAMN META, TOM!"
HeadShot looked around. "What the fuck, Tom's not here!"
But Harp shrugged him off. "Doesn't matter, just SHOOT!" With that, they released several more arrows, trying to wound the beast.
Several feet away, MP clashed his sword against Brotato, but the latter managed to stand his ground.
"Not even going to say a word?" hissed Brotato, kicking MP in the knee. The man fell, but managed to roll away from Brotato's oncoming attack.
"I don't think there's anything left to say" MP stood up. He surprised Brotato by disappeaing.
Brotato looked around.
"I guess you figured everything out on your own" he heard MP's voice behind him. He quickly spun around and managed to block an oncoming attack, but only barely.
"I did" confirmed Broato. Grunting, he pushed MP away. "I simply don't know why going through all this hassle. Since you know how to use portals, you could've killed me in modern times"
"No!" Yelled MP. He quickly waved his hand in the air and a major explosion rocked the ground, sending Brotato flying several meters away. "I was mistaken. You still don't get a thing!"
Brotato crawled towards his sword, picking it up moments later. The rain cleaned out whatever dirt he had on his armor. "I know who you are, MP. Who you were"
Once again, these words provoked MP to attack. Running forward, he raised his sword in the air. Brotato dodged him, stabbing MP in the arm. The man was wounded, but it looked like it didn't affect him at all.
Bio sent several crows flying at the monster. They hit it with their beaks, but the spider managed to smash away some of them with its legs. Furious, the beast began another attack, hitting Crackman and dragging him several meters forward.
"CRACK!" yelled Aldimon after him. He threw a spear at the beast. It pierced one of the spider's legs through and through. Releasing Crack, the monster released a high-pitched sound. It was unbearable, the knights immediately covered their ears.
Crackman was on the ground, blood coming out of his side. He clutched it as hard as he could. He looked at the stormy sky, feeling weaker with every second.
Only then, he saw an Ajira Airways plane flying away, his friends finally saved, departing the mysterious Island once and for all. He chuckled at the thought that his sacrifice helped his friends escape. A white labrador, Vincent, lied down by his side. His mission fullfiled, he closed his eyes, while the screen cut to black, with the 'LOST' titlecard appearing.
THE END
"Oh my god. I swear, if you do this again--!"
"Alright, alright, I promise I'll stop!"
~REWIND~Crackman was on the ground, blood coming out of his side. He clutched it as hard as he could. He looked at the stormy sky, feeling weaker with every second.
Sensing the blood still poruing out between his fingers, he closed his eyes, letting his thoughts wander...
...to that moment at Howe's Graveyard, its place lost in time, when he was given a chance to try once again.
******
"Esir morf eht sehsa!" murmured Carlos, as if he was in a trance. Every time he whispered these words, the ground was slowly trembling and the veins in his arms turned green, the color slowly fading after several seconds.
He was reaching out with his hand towards something, yet there wasn't anything in front of him.
"Esir morf eht sehsa!" repeated Carlos, his voice slowly rising. The ground trembled once again, witht the dust falling off from the nearby graves. His veins glowed once again, this time a lot brighter.
It's no use, he thought.
It didn't work for several months now. It's a waste of time.This thought popped in his head every once in a while, yet he kept on trying. The Order was in danger, he was sure of it. This was all hands on deck situation. He knew that the knights came up with some plan to strengthen their forces, but he didn't know what it was. He wanted to help, researching a ritual to bring back the dead. Not as walkers - that wasn't a problem. He wanted to restore the dead back to their former glory, as if they never died...
...but he wasn't sure whether it was working. It might've been written by someone as a joke. The trembling and glowing veins? He was a badass Knight God, everything he did looked awesome.
"Esir morf eht sehsa!" said Carlos.
This is bullshit--
Until he noticed that, apart from the trembling, a small crack appeared on the ground, with green rays slipping through it. The light vanished moments later.
"Esir morf eht sehsa!" Carlos repeated, this time a lot louder than before. He was getting a lot more excited to see that the crack grew bigger, with the light stronger than before... and the ground didn't stop shaking.
"ESIR MORF EHT SEHSA!" Carlos yelled this time and the ground literally fell apart beneath his hand. Cracks appeared on the nearby tombstones, with a graveyard tower several feet away tumbled down, causing a cloud of dust to rise.
Carlos knew it was going to happen this time...
"ZYPHON, ESIR MORF EHT SEHSA!" he yelled in a commanding tone. And then it happened.
He saw the green glow in his veins literally evaporating into thin air. The ground was shaking, sure, but a hand appeared in the hole. The man was climbing out of it - black haired, with a beard and a red cape...
He opened his eyes and a green light coming out of them blinded Carlos slightly. Moments later, Zyphon - looking as if he was never killed in the first place - stood before him.
Carlos welcomed him with the open arms.
"What the hell happened?" Zyphon asked him after Carlos helped him stand up. "I... I don't understand!"
The green light was still omnipresent, making the place look as if it was haunted. Though... it was technically haunted before. Well, let's settle for this: it looked as if it was even more haunting than before.
Carlos realized that now, when the gates are open, he should try summoning more people. Who knew how long it would take to reopen them... He couldn't stop now.
"No time for this, I'll explain later!" Carlos told Zyph. "You're alive because you're needed! We need as many people as possible!"
Carlos reached out with his hand once again while Zyphon stood nearby, observing the scene and not really getting what was happening.
"ESIR MORF EHT SEHSA!" Carlos continued. He focused his thoughts on one of the greatest warriors who used to walk this Earth.
"CRACK, ESIR MORF EHT SEHSA!" he yelled.
After saying this and seeing what happened, he immediately realized his mistake. The hole grew bigger with everything surroding them - trees, tombstones - falling apart. The ground wasn't trembling anymore, it was a full scale earthquake.
"What the fuck is going on?" Zyphon looked around. First he comes back from the dead, now this?
Carlos turned to him, fear in his eyes. "I made a mistake... I said his name wrong!"
He tried to fix this, not really sure if it would work. "CRACKMAN, ESIR MORF EHT SEHSA!"
And then everything stopped and the lights faded out beneath them.
Both Carlos and Zyphon looked around. Moments ago, this place was literally being torn apart, and now... now it was almost as quiet as in a grave.
"...Carlos?" whispered Zyphon.
Just then, without warning, a man covered in blood leaped out of the hole and launched himself on Carlos. He wasn't prepared for that.
Crackman knew that everybody thought he was mad - maybe he was - but it was the first time he heard a voice inside his head, guiding himBoth men fell down. Zyphon ran towards them, trying to knock Crackman out, but the knight grabbed him by the throat. Zyphon's eyes went wide from the lack of oxygen, but also after seing a weird greed mist suddenly shaping up in the place where Crack held him by the throat. A strange green spark appeared in Zyphon's eye and quickly disappeared...
Crackman suddenly threw Zyphon aside, thinking he was out cold, and focused on Carlos.
"Conspiring with the traitor, Zyphon!" was everything he said. Carlos tried to shake him off, to no avail. And, just then, Crackman grabbed Carlos by the head and smashed his eyes with his thumbs. "Zyphon, Zyphon, Zyphon...!"
Carlos's scream was definitely heard across the land. It caused Zyphon to sober up and make his cloudy vision clear up. His friend was in danger.
He jumped on the Crackman and threw him aside. Crack landed on the ground with a thud and before he could stand up, Zyphon smashed a stiletto lying nearby into Crack's hand, immediately retracting it and stabbing him the palm. Crack winced in pain.
"I'll fucking kill you!"
"I want to see you try!" Zyphon fired back. He picked up a branch from the ground and smashed it on Crack's head, rendering him unconsciouss.
"I think it's enough for a while" Zyphon exhaled deeply. He then quickly went to Carlos's side, examining his wound. He helped him up.
"Shit, doesn't look good" Zyphon winced.
"Doesn't feel like it either" Carlos hissed. The blood was pouring out of the places where his eyes used to be.
"Can you see anything?" Zyphon wanted to guide him, but noticed that Carlos was doing just fine.
"Yeah. It's kinda like... I have a vision or something" Carlos didn't know how to explain it. He tried to wipe the blood off his face, but only managed to smear it accross his cheeks.
Zyphon tore out a piece of cloth from his shirt. "Here" he said and tied it on Carlos's head, covering his eyes.
Carlos tried to smile, grateful for the gesture. "Thanks, mate"
But Zyphon shook his head. "It's me who should be thanking you. You brought me back to life."
Carlos didn't say anything to that. He needed a time to process all this. Only then he remembered something that happened a while ago.
"When he grabbed you..." Carlos started. "I knew he was mad, it was a fucking risky move to try and bring him back... but he didn't pass anything forward?"
Zyphon eyed him. (Eyed him! LOL) "What do you mean?"
Carlos was unsure what to say. "You don't plan on tearing anyone's eyes too, do you?"
Zyphon only shrugged. "I don't think so. I'm not that kind of person" He then looked at Crackman. "What are you going to do with him?"
"It failed. He's too unstable. We'll go to Wellington, but he can't go with us. It's too dangerous" was all that Carlos said.
Zyphon nodded. "Good call. I don't want to be around him. I'd like to stay alive for the time being, since I was given a second chance."
But Carlos lied. He knew he'd try to bring Crackman with them. Probably keep him locked away, trying to talk some sense into the guy. He can still be useful.
******
...Crack came back to his senses very slowly, hearing explosions and sound of a fight nearby. Someone stood over him, trying to get him up.
"Come on, man, get up!" he heard. He immediately recognized that voice.
He opened his eyes quickly and grabbed the man by the head, putting a knife against his throat.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Zyphon said harshly.
Seconds have passed and Crackman came back to him. It was all in the past, everything's already forgotten.
He put the knife away and put out his hand. Zyphon accepted it with a smile and helped him get up.
"Come on, we have a monster to kill" he said.
Crackman hid the knife and unsheathed his sword. His side was still bleeding, but he gritted his teeth and tried not to wince at the pain "Then let's not keep him waiting, shall we?"
Both of them ran into the battle once again.
MP kicked Brotato, causing the knight to fall down the slope. He walked down to him.
"So this is the greatest thing the Order, this fucking Division of Heroes has to offer? You're a fucking joke!"
Brotato stood up, wiping the blood off his mouth. "How does it feel to be a part of this lineage then?"
Brotato blocked MP's sword, but the latter punched him in the face. Brotato retaliated by kicking MP in the stomach. He laughed.
"Does it make you feel good?" Brotato snarled. "Does it make you feel a hero?"
"If that means I'll become like you, or any of them, then it fucking doesn't" MP hissed. "Do you realy want to know the truth about being a hero?"
They clashed several more times, struggling for power.
MP hissed in Brotato's face. "There's always someone who knew the hero before he received that title. And, as usual, the praise is undeserved"
Brotato stopped and dodged, with MP falling down. The man didn't stop, quickly waving his hand and making Brotato fall down too.
"Because I know who you are" MP continued. "A traitor and a coward"
Brotato stood up. "I know why you're thinking that" he spat. "But I know who you are. You're no Coviello, this is why it started. You never were. That man wasn't your father."
The man prepared to attack each other once again.
"But you really are Nick... because I gave you that name" finished Brotato.
"I was Nick. Not anymore" hissed MP through gritted teeth.
Rock waved his staff and cause a part of the ruined wall to tumble down on the beast, injuring it.
"Come on!" he urged everyone.
Admin, Dfh, Tormunds and ILC ran towards it slashing like mad at the spider legs. The skin was very hard and it barely made any difference.
"Don't spread out!" ILC shouted out. "Together!"
All four of them ran towards a single leg and repeatedly slashed and cut it in the same place. Moment later, a yellow juice squirted out of the place after the leg as cut out. Tormunds grabbed it and threw it away.
"It'll grow a new one!" Fox reminded them.
"Cauterize it!" Admin ordered.
The spider was still on the ground, struggling to get up, but Dfh used his club as a torch, setting it on fire from the flames nearby which were caused by and explosion and pressing it quickly against the wound.
The spider roared and quickly stood up, smashing everyone out of its way.
The knights coughed, trying to get up.
"Everyone okay?" Harp looked around. He saw mostly everyone... except for one person.
"Rock?" he shouted out. "Where are you?"
While the others marched against the spider once more, Harp passed through them, looking for the wizard. He saw him nearby, but the view shocked him.
"ROCK!!!" he yelled, almost feeling as if he was about to spit out his lungs.
MP picked Brotato up by the throat. "So you were right... You really are the one I was looking for"
Brotato took a chance and stabbed MP in the foot. MP let him go, but not before hitting him with his fist, cutting the skin on his cheek.
Brotato attacked once again, but MP shoved him off. "I didn't know who you were after suspecting you and the other two guys for poisoning the wine. But after I escaped, I talked around and found out about you. Your assassination attempts made me realize that."
MP snarled. "How so?"
"You knew someone from the Division of Heroes was your father, but you didn't know who it was."
MP cast a firebolt at him, but, to his surprise, Brotato managed to block it and send it flying away with his sword.
"The poison was to cause a rift between everyone, you knew that it won't kill any of us, since we were mostly immune. But you needed to cause suspicion. You willngly drank it because you had an antidote. I imagine you were the one who engineered the virus to work faster, you have the abilities"
Brotato tried attacking, but MP rolled by him, avoiding the stab. "Go on, doggie, tell me more" he tautned Brotato.
"You must have had some knowledge about us, likely more than anyone else. That's why you wanted to kill Rock at first. You knew he was the one who saved your mother in House Kenneth. But you abstained... making me guess that you probably knew about some of his misadventures, doubting he would ever become a father."
"That he was probably gay? That passed through my mind" MP replied, but not without trying to attack.
"Well, he's not, but thank Heavens that you thought about it. That saved his life." Brotato timed an attack, sensing that MP was distraught. He managed to stab him in the arm. MP yelled in pain, but pulled the blade out and shook Brotato away.
"And then you went with two options" Brotato continued. "Your mother lived at the continental rite... but your stepfather was also reminiscent of Sos... so you decided to kill him and the knights who lived at Tom's castle, thinking one of us is your father."
"Correct, want to receive an award?" MP interrupted him. "Mike was Tom's servant, he was the one who found you shot in the forest. I killed him when he went to the forest. Heis was a bait to surprise Sos and kill him when he wasn't expecting that. Fox was Tom's deputy at the continental rite. Tom as a target is obvious. You were the last one on the list... since you were there only for one passing moment."
"One moment that changed everything" Brotato finished.
"Proud of yourself, you fucker?" MP attacked him once again, but didn't stop at one clash. He didn't hold anything back. "Because of me, my stepbrother lost an arm. He knew I wasn't his true brother from the get go, I was sure of it. And mother... she probably thought that Coviello would be decent, just like Sos was. Their marriage was fake, he simply took her in out his supposed "goodness" until he turned out to be the fucking drunk." Brotato had to take several steps back while MP kept on advancing on him.
"It wasn't until I read the letter from my mother... when she explained that Coviello wasn't my real family and my father was a part of the Division of Heroes. She wrote that after House Wellington imploded, we managed to walk out of it unharmed, since we were in some secret room. I lost my memory, though, and she decided to keep it that way. She didn't want me to seek revenge..."
But after reading each line, Nick was getting more and more angry. After finishing, he tore the letter into pieces. A dangerous spark appeared in his eyes.
"The Division of Heroes..." he hissed through gritted teeth."...but I knew, I knew I have to take down the man who abandonded her the first time after I was conceived" MP's attacks were getting stronger. "And the second time, when you vanished into the night and didn't even come back to look for me!"
"Do you think I'd turn my back on MY FAMILY?" Brotat replied harshly. "Everything I did was for you! I save you in House Kenneth, I fucking died back there!"
"And for what?!" MP fired back. Both men threw all the courtesies out of the window, there was no place for it anymore. "You didn't do this for us! You did this for your fucking Order, nothing more!"
These words hurt Brotato much more than any wound MP could possibly give him. Proabbly because, deep down, he knew that MP was right.
"That's was set me off, apart from you ruining the most important thing for me!" MP continued. "You're no hero. You let her die in despair, forgotten. You let her suffer in a place where she wasn't loved at all, when she had to endure pain every day. And all this for you Division!"
Brotat smashed his hand, causing MP to drop the sword. He laughed at this, though. He threw his hands up and immediately went up in the air, with the storm gathering in strenght, almost feeling as if the tornado was about to strike. Brotato looked up at him.
"That's why I wanted it not to be just destroyed... I wanted you all to suffer."
Harp ran towards the wizard who was impaled on a wooden pole. Blood was gushing out of him.
"Harp?" he asked weakly.
"Oh shit, shit, shit..." Harp whispered, shocked. He tried to calm down. "Okay, alright... Rock, look at me"
"Harp..." Rock was still disoriented.
"Rock, looked at me!" Harp urged him. "I'm going to pull you out of it. It's going to be bad, but you have to trust me on this, okay?"
"Harp, I'm having a pole sticking out of me!" Rock sounded scared.
"I know, but we'll make it, okay? On three" Harp sighed heavily and so did Rock. He grabbed him and Rock tried to prepare himself for what was about to happen.
"One, two--"
He knew that Rock would panic if he finished counting, so he did it on two. He pushed him up, trying to ignore Rock screaming bloody murder and the splashing sounds his body made while he was being lifted off the wood.
Harp helped him stand up.
"Jesus, the blood's everywhere" Harp said. It reminded him of the blood and guts Mary left at the construction site back in 1977. Rock could barely stand on his own.
They looked up through the torrential rain to see everyone fighting the spider. Harp wanted not to believe it, but he was almost sure that someone was killed by the monster right now. He didn't know who it was...
But just behind them, where the sea waves hit the shore, he saw a shape... something resembling a ship, getting closer.
"Destruction of the Order?" Brotato asked.
MP kept on firing firebolts at him, which Brotato tried to dodge. He ran in circles and finally managed to hide under a partially destroyed wall.
"Where are you now, "hero"?" MP mocked him. "A lie served as a basis for your legend... That you saved people by destroying TTG. You never did that, many people were killed and others had to flee, with everything they had left behind, destroyed." MP kept on firing. "And you took the Division of Heroes over your family... so I came up with a plan"
Brotato wondered about his next move. "What plan?"
He heard MP laugh. "I came up with this shitty prophecy and spread the word, made people believe in it. I was the one who started the quest to bring you here. I used my Psychic Abilities, slashing the hand off the Carlos's statue with a magical fire. People went nuts, thought it was a signal"
He targeted the wall and shot a strike of energy, causing it to fall and promting Brotato to run away from it.
"And then all I needed was to make you look for the killer among you. And you didn't fail. You kept on arguing between yourselves, not seeing me as a danger. Save for you, but you had to run and couldn't divulge you suspicions until it was too late"
Brotato was taken aback by this. "Too late?"
MP felt proud. "You legend is shattered forever. Don't you know? The Division fled the World of Curiosities while I managed to convince the folk that you are dangerous... and the prophecy would be fullfiled after you all will be removed once and for all from our lives."
MP laughed manically. "And they believed me. The Division, the Order, no matter how you name it... it doesn't mean a thing anymore. I wanted people to see past you idealized image. I told you you're no hero. Minutes ago, remember? And this is the ultimate truth about being a hero - no matter how hard you try, people will see that you all are nothing more than a failure, and only now they realized how wrong they were to praise you."
MP cast a lightning strike at Brotato, but he managed to deflect it.
"And you have nothing left anymore"
The knights kept on attacking the spider. Carlos shot a green powerline at it, lifting the spider in the air and throwing it several feet away.
"He shoots, he scores!" Carlos yelled.
Dfh ran towards the spider, trying to cut of its leg, but the monster surprised him by quickly standing up. Before he could do anything, Dfh was impaled on one of the spider's legs.
"DFH!" yelled Admin.
Dfh yelled in pain, and the spider moved him closer to its claws. With all the strength he could gather, Dfh raised his sword and stabbed the spider in the head, slashing the sword down, with yellow liquid poring out.
The spider squirmed, screeching in a high pitched voice. It shook its leg wildly, hitting Bio in turn and causing Dfh to coming off of it, hitting a nearby wall with major force. Dfh fell several feet down, with a splash of blood left on the wall in the place where he hit it. Bio lied next to him, his head bloody. Both were dead.
"NOOO!!!" yelled Aldimon.
In some other place and some other time, a black-haired girl looked at the scene throught the tear. "Yet another Booker dies, with his timeline closing down..." she whispered to herself.
Aldimon ran towards the spider, no sword in hand... he was soon joined by Dark Fox.
"It's gonna kill them, what are they doing?!" Carlos shouted.
HeadShot fired several arrows at the monster trying to cover the guys.
Fox got to the spider first, slashing wildy at one of its legs. Aldimon joined him. He grabbed the leg and started pulling at it with all his might.
The spider was disoriented from the wound made by Dfh. Weakened by Fox's cuts, Aldimon soon managed to tear off the leg. Aldimon picked up the club that Dfh dropped earlier and quickly cauterized the wound.
Just then, they all noticed a loud thud and turned towards the shore. They noticed a ship just by the beach, with two figures coming out of it and running towards them.
"We missed the party?!" yelled Jake.
"Save some of it for us, peopple!" Tom joined him.
"They're here! The guys are here!" Meg commented.
With a fresh blood, they resumed the fight.
"And now it's over!" finished MP. "The Order can die or survive today, I don't care. You're ruined and that's what matters for me! I'm the winner. The people hate you here, rightfully so... and there's nothing you can do to change that. You've lost this war. You've all lost it!"
Brotato looked for an opening between MP's shots. He then threw the sword at him. It cause MP to lose his balance and land on the ground. No weapons, Brotato ran towards him through the rain. This is going to be finished now. The hurricane was getting stronger with every passing second.
Brotato threw several punches at MP, who managed to dodge them and hit Brotato to the side. He then hit him with his forehead, causing Brotato to become disoriented from the moment. Pushing him to the ground, MP punched Brotato in the face several times, roaring while he was doing that. Trying to gather himself, Brotato threw MP off of him. He grabbed him by the neck and threw him behind.
During the fight, Tom realized something.
"Where's Sos?" he asked.
ILC shrugged him off, aiming at the beast and shooting. "He's unconsciouss, stabbed multiple times several days ago--"
He then noticed Tom was gone.
"What the hell?" he asked.
Tom quickly found Sos, hidden behind one of the pillars. He's breath was getting quicker.
"Alright... it's time" he said.
And then he punched through Sos's chest, grabbing his heart and gripping it. A yellow light englightened the area, with the ground trembling.
Tom screamed as if he was being skinned alive... and so did Sos, his eyes shot open. He looked down to see his chest torn apart and Tom holding him in place. Seconds later, the light disappeared and Tom retracted his hand, falling down to the ground. Sos saw his chest knit back together, as if it was never opened at all. He felt... okay.
"Help... the guys..." was all that Tom said.
Sos quickly stood up and picked up the pistol he had with himself. He ran into the battle, noticing a giant spider. Didn't know what it was, but aimed at it and kept on shooting.
"SOS?!" yelled Meg in surprise. Everyone was shocked to see him alright.
"Later!" he replied. "Let's take this shit down!"
Jake looked beyond them to see Tom on the ground nearby. He knew what happened. Tom sacrificed his power and life source to revive Sos...
He knew why he probably did that. He knew that, due to their nature and their presence here, one would likely kill the other. Tom decided to help, to break the cycle again... but Jake knew he needed to do something to.
He ran to the spider and allowed himself to be grabbed.
"What is he doing?!" Admin shouted in disbelief.
Jake closed his eyes and spun his sword around. The spider cut him in half with his claws, but Jake still managed to cut the claws away. The claws, as well as Jake in two halves, dropped to the ground. The spider was slowly dying...
"Now!" yelled Admin.
Zyphon ran towards the nearby wall. Running up, he jumped off it and landed on top of the spider, stabbing it through and through. Sonic threw all his rings, each of them repeatedly cutting every leg. He then caught the rings and ran to the spider, sliding beneath it and threwing all rings at once at its belly, severely wounding the beast. Crackman, Carlos and Tormunds knew it was their cue, and each of them grabbed a leg and pulled on them, breaking them off the spiders bodies. Crackman made several more stabs while ILC and Sos shot the beast with their guns, joined in by HeadShot who shot his remaining arrows at the beast.
"TKA?" Admin asked. "It's almost over. Don't you want to join in?"
TKA smiled. "I'm dotting the i. Move away"
The knights walked from the spider. TKA threw his hands in the air and yelled:
"Master Kenny, deliver the final blow for your ever-loving acolyte!"
Suddenly, a loud "Hallelujah!" was heard throughout the land and only then the knights noticed a giant boat falling from the sky right on top of the spider, crushing and immediately killing it.
"Sweet victory" whispered Sonic, exhaling deeply - just like everyone else.
MP missed his target, which Brotato used to his advantage. He managed to threw several well timed punches, overpowering MP and causing him to fall. He immediately grabbed the sword and pointed it to his neck. MP laughed.
"Go on, do it" he mocked. "Doesn't matter anymore, I've did what I had to. Not regretting any of this, you fucker..."
Brotato sighed. "This could still be changed. I found your step brother, Leo. I knew what you were trying to do"
"No, he doesn't"
"He exiled himself. He wanted to be DEAD, felt as nothing more as a WASTE... He forgave you, you know that?"
"I don't care about his forgivness, that shit!"
"And he knew that this quest for revenge may change you..."
"This is barely anything, I wanted you to suffer..." MP hissed. "But I wanted to save my mother's, Jake Sis's, soul. She's being tormented right now..."
"What are you talking about, saving her?" Brotato was taken aback.
"I saw more than you can imagine." MP only said. "She's still suffering... because of you..."
Despite Brotato's urges, he didn't say anything more.
"Go on, kill me now!" MP yelled.
But Brotato only hit him in the head with the hilt. MP fell down, unconsciouss.
Brotato walked away and noticed everyone was staring at him.
"He wouldn't give you a chance. Why didn't you kill him?" asked Admin.
Brotato was distraught. "He already lost too much."
In silence, not knowing where else to go, the knights walked onto the ship and departed the land.
******
"I never said 'thank you'." said Fox. "You know, for helping me back there when we were escaping."
"No problem" smiled Meg. "I'd do it anytime."
Comfortable silence was between them while they looked at the ocean.
"You know..." he started. "...when we were still at the World Curiosities, talking about me being a jackass..." they both smiled. Then Fox gathered the courage to say what was on his mind. "If HeadShot didn't interrupt us... I feel I might've do something more."
Meg eyed him for a small moment. She then turned to look back at the sea. "I know."
Fox couldn't contain his smile. He then gathered his thought. "I'm not trying to rush things--"
"Don't worry" she interrupted him. "We'll take this one step at a time."
While they didn't realize that, their hands brushed against each other. Small gesture, but something nonetheless.
"That would make us a Megan Fox" Dark Fox pointed out.
She shoved him in the arm. "Oh, stop it."
Suddenly, Sos and Rock walked out from below the deck. People were surprised to see that Rock looked as if he didn't sustain any injury. Sos looked distraught and moved from everyone else, stading alone on the other side of the ship.
"What's going on?" asked Admin.
Rock had trouble speaking. "Tom, he... he was weak, but he transfered whatever life he had in himself to save me. I protested, but he did it anyway. And Sos..." he paused. "Sos tried to convince him, that maybe we'd find another way... but Tom only said that he wanted to be useful to the group for once, just like Sos once wished."
Rock looked at the man.
"And now... Sos feels guilty. He didn't even get thank Tom... for saving his life. That they didn't get to talk. And that Tom's last words were what he asked for a long time ago... but now they hurt. Sos didn't get a chance to straighten things up with him."
The mood turned grim. The knights gathered in small groups, discussing the events of the past several days.
"And if we're on that..." Harp turned around to see Rock talking to him. "I'm sorry for my behavior. And thanks for trying to save me."
The tension between the men could've been cut with a knife...
"...and you were right. I'm too shitty for Juliet" Rock admitted. "I won't stand in your way."
...but it soon dropped. Both Rock and Harp hugged each other, reconciled. It triggered another memory...
******
Uh, oh, uh, oh, oh no no...Rock's face was dangerously close to Harp. They managed to escape Bigby minutes ago.
But nothing really happened. It was just Harp who pulled Rock for a bear hug.
"Thanks man. Thank you, for everything. You saved me" Harp was moved.
Rock hugged him too, patting him on the back. "You're welcome."
The moments passed, and they remained like this for a while. Only then, Harp sensed something.
"Do you have a wallet in your pocket?" he asked.
"No, why?" Rock replied, absentmindedly. His eyes went wide. He knew what Harp meant.
They quickly broke the embrace.
"It's just, eh..." Rock scratched his head. "The closeness, and the friction, you know--"
"Just shut up" Harp replied, disgusted. "Let's never do that again. Like, ever!"
"And no word of that to anyone!" added Rock.
"Fine!"
******
"You still have that wallet, don't you?" Harp joked.
Rock moved away. "That I do, this time" he chuckled.
He lied. He fucking lied. Why was he reacting like this?! It must be the feelings and this crazy night. Yeah, this must be it.
******
"Guys!" Rock called them later. "Come see this!"
Everyone made it to the place where he was. Rock... opened a portal.
"Weren't they sealed shut?" Admin asked.
"They were" Rock pointed out. "But I guess the spell was lifted."
Brotato looked away. "MP. He did that."
The group looked at him, not really sure what to say. "Why would he do that?"
Brotato wondered about that. "I don't know..." he whispered.
Sonic looked at them. "But this means you can go home now" he told the knights. "And, to tell the truth, both me and Al would really want to come with you. We're homeless now, after all. And MP was right. You can't stay here. He destroyed whatever was left of the Division of Heroes. He won."
"I'm not going" was all that Brotato said.
Everyone was surprised. "WHAT?" yelled Carlos.
"I have to follow the clue that MP left me." explained Brotato. "If the soul of Jake Sis can be saved... I have to try. I made enough mistakes before. It's time to fix this."
Rock looked at him. "I'm going with you."
"No, you're not" Brotato cut him off.
But Rock didn't budge. "I already left you once. I'm not doing that again."
Crack looked at everyone's faces. "So this is it?" he said. "Some of us died... and we're all going our separate ways?"
"Looks that way" Admin said. "But while the old watch is dwindling..." he looked at Tormunds, ILC and Meg. "...new people are still coming to carry the torch." He then looked at Sonic and Aldimon. "And this is our strength. Friendship. We've been through a lot... and let all this be a lesson for us."
"You turned out to be quite decent around the knife and fork" chuckled Carlos. "ILC, with his shooting skills, Tormunds with an amazing power in combat, and Meg, who didn't think twice about saving one of our own."
"Thanks man, appreciate it" replied ILC.
"Badass camera operator, I suppose." joked Tormunds. "Everyone fear me!"
"I'm just sad I didn't get to crush anyone with my boobs" said Meg.
"I can be your practice dummy if you like" laughed Fox. That earned him a hit in the arm.
"And you, guys..." TKA said to Sonic and Aldimon. "You'll be very good additions to our ranks. You could've turned our backs on us... but you were with us until the end."
Sonic patted him on the back. "Big words for my sidekick, I suppose"
TKA shrugged. "Yeah, well..."
Sonic picked up his rings. "Wanna hold them again?"
"Yay!" yelled TKA in excitement.
"You are a really exceptional group" Aldimon continued. "I'd be honored to be a part of it, regardless of what will happen in the future."
"Hopefully I won't have to train you as an assassin" Zyphon said. "Blood is very hard to be washed from the clothes."
Saying their goodbyes, the group entered the portal that Rock closed behind them.
******
Landing in the modern times, the guys reappeared in the place from which they were teleported - the living room. They were greeted by Sasha, Bloody Mary and Blind Sniper who was sitting in an armchair.
"Honey!" Both BM and Sasha greeted Sos. "What happened, where the hell were you? We were so worried!"
"I couldn't locate you in any universe!" added Mary.
Sos sighed, hugging them. "It's a long story..."
"Blind Sniper!" Meg shouted. "You're back! Everything's okay?"
"Yeah, yeah" he said. "I'm supposed to take it easy. I have only one kidney after all now."
"We're glad you okay." TKA said. "More than ever before, really"
Blind Sniper was surprised at the sentiment. "Thanks, man, appreciate it." her said. "But come on. You all disappeared and we didn't know where you were. Tell me what happened? And where's Brotato? And Jake? And.... others?" he looked around the room.
Admin exhaled. "Sit down and we'll tell you..."
******
Brotato stood behind the steering wheel, with Rock at his side.
"Think it's going to be okay?"
Brotato wondered about it for a moment. "I'm not sure about anything right now. But I have hope it'll be okay. It must suffice."
Rock slowly nodded while the ship was gently rocked by the sea waves.
"Where to?" he asked.
Brotato turned the wheel slowly, determination on his face.
"To the south, I guess."
He let the comfortable silence engulf them.
"To our place in time."
It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't
It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed
Some prayers find an answer
Some prayers never know
We're holding on and letting go...