Chapter 35: The Puppet King
And just like that, I snapped back into reality. It's strange,lately, the Codex's thoughts have begun to feel like my own. Before, I had to read the words to see the stories behind them.
But now? It's like I see what it writes without needing to flip a single page.
I haven't told Mel or El this yet, but that day with Magnus… it was like I lived his past. It wasn't a flashback anymore. I was them,Good and Magnus. Instantaneous. Not a single second missed in the real world, yet it felt like I'd been gone a lifetime.
A small part of me felt bad for Good. But anyone who even resembled a threat had to be wiped out. No exceptions. Not even for you, Good.
I stood in a crystal palace,a see-through castle in a vast, dark, foggy abyss.
And there he sat, on a throne. Good.
"I know what happened to you," I said, without thinking.
"You know nothing," he replied, annoyed.
"What did you come here for? Me and the fools down below had a system,one that would've lasted for eternity without violence. The Vision has no need to spill blood unless absolutely necessary."
"What is this Vision you speak of?" I asked.
"There's no point entertaining your pin-sized mind. It'd all go over your head anyway," he snapped.
Ouch. Why do all evil people have to be such dicks? I thought to myself.
"Look, I understand you were put through a hundred-year volcano-humanity-and-will-stripping event, but come on. What about the joy? Why do you need so much of it, anyway?"
"That name… 'Joy.' I've always found it stupid. There is no joy in what I take. The ash is a sickness. And even so, the Vision needs it. So I comply. That is all."
It seemed like he had no will of his own,he simply followed the Vision's plan.
Can I still save him? I wondered.
"You could've been a great king, you know that? I see what your mother-"
"Shut it. You know nothing of her. All you hero types are the same. I don't need saving, you filth. I've already been saved. The Vision is all I need,my only devotion."
"You should've stayed on the ground and saved the roaches, if you need the validation, hero."
Ouch again. This guy really sucks, I thought dryly.
Or maybe... "You should've stayed up there," he added, pointing somewhere into the fog. I couldn't see where, but I knew he meant the tree.
"What do you know about it?" I asked, more serious than I intended.
"I only know the Vision was upset when the dome was broken,why, I don't know. The plan only accounted for it to break a hundred years from now."
He knew about the barrier.
This Vision… he knows more. I need to find him.
"Where can I-"
"Where can you find him? Who is he? What's his goal? Are those the questions you have for me? How basic. I tire of you, Maddox. The Vision finds,he is not found. Now, I need you disposed of. So please… die, hero boy."
In a flash, purple energy erupted. I saw it again,his red, violent core. Its aura was intense, almost knocking me off my feet. He was strong.
Something felt wrong. I felt lightheaded. Then I looked down.
Shock and horror overtook me.
Blood. Dripping.
My hand,my arm,was gone.
I fell over. Pain exploded through me.
I'm going to die.
After all this... this is the end. He's too strong.
"Huh. Only your arm? I thought I could end this with a single slash. Your body's keen to danger. Your reflexes are your saving grace,this time," he said.
He didn't laugh. He looked at me with something close to sadness, but his words,his tone,were cold, meant to crush my will.
My vision blurred. My thoughts raced.
I needed to stop the bleeding. I focused energy into my left arm. I wanted to freeze the wound,but instead, a black, shadow-like membrane of fog covered it, stopping the pain and bleeding in an instant.
I jumped back, instinctively creating distance.
Before me stood a monster,giant, devoid of empathy, humanity, or will.
Ice crested around my right hand,my only hand now,forming a blade again Frozen Excalibur.
Here's how I saw it
He was big, but he had lightning-fast attacks. I couldn't stay close for long. If I did, I'd lose another limb,and I'd really prefer not to.
Sweat dripped down my brow.
Flash. In the blink of an eye, I was gone,charging toward him.
He smiled.
In a blink, a wave of razor-sharp purple wind hurled toward me. Instinctively, I blocked with my sword. Only having one hand made it hard to hold form. I was pushed back by the explosion,but I blocked it.
Again.
I bolted forward. Another wind attack. This time, I saw it. I leapt over it. But it wasn't over. Another one,cutting through the wind itself. That's the only way to describe it.
One after another, they tore through the glass floor, smashed into crystal walls, sending shards flying.
I dodged. Then dodged again.
I wish I could say I did it effortlessly,but some grazed my coat, tore through my pants, even broke skin. I bled. It hurt,like a thousand needles poking through.
He was taunting me.
Attacking with killing intent, yes,but this wasn't his full fury.
I needed to get closer.
He wouldn't let me.
Then came the unavoidable slash. It sent me flying.
"Pshh. I must say, I'm disappointed, hero."
"Why do you keep calling me that? What gave you that impression?" I asked dryly.
"Honestly? I expected more from you," I taunted back.
He grinned. Little shit.
I jumped in again,this time, ready. I summoned an ice-blue shield, replacing my sword. I pushed forward. I just needed one opening.
He shredded the shield. But I was closer.
Shield after shield shattered as wind slashed against ice. I kept pressing forward. I needed one touch. Just one.
"What an ugly fighting style," he muttered.
Then I got close. My shield broke. I jumped over the final slash, I touched him.
I smiled.
But a thunderous right hook sent me flying.
"Hero boy… is this really the fight you wanted to offer me? How dull."
I smirked. "No. The real battle starts now."
I vanished,reappeared in his shadow. A blade of pure blue ice formed.
I struck the back of his leg,a clean slice.
He didn't scream. He was used to pain.
He smiled.
"Ah. I see," he said, looking at his bleeding, amputated foot.
"A foot for an arm. How childish."
"That was the plan," I said.
The Hollow Step,an ability that lets me move myself or others through the shadows of those I've touched.
Now that I had touched him, I could use it.
I launched two boulders into the sky. Then, in the same instant,Hollow Step,I appeared behind him. Another slice to his back.
He smiled. He expected it.
But so did I.
The boulders fell, casting shadows. I used one to retreat.
Blow after blow, step after step,it all blurred. Two forces collided, shattering the glass castle. Wind from the storm outside broke through.
"Enough," he said. A heavy right hand cracked through the field.
"Sticky Punch."
The impact sent me flying. Sharp follow-up attacks shredded me. I crashed through the floor, through the clouds, through the barrier,slammed into the ground below.
Concrete and dirt exploded.
I laid there, coughing blood, a crater forming beneath me.
Eliza and Melody ran to the edge, horrified.
"Are you okay!? What happened up there, Maddox!? What happened to your arm!?" El shouted.
"Forget his arm… Look at his leg," Mel said, recoiling. There was pity in her voice,maybe. With her, it's hard to tell.
I glanced down. My leg,gone. From the knee down, it had vanished. Blood poured out.
I hadn't noticed the pain until now.
It hit like a wave,sharp, excruciating.
Like before, I weakly raised my hand over the wound. I tried to cast an ice seal,but again, a black membrane of shadow-fog covered it instead.
I tried to stand.
Mel and El screamed at me to stay down.
"Maddox,look at you already! Please, stop. It's enough!"
Slowly, I stood anyway.
Mel clenched her teeth and jumped into the crater. I half-expected a punch to the face,but instead, a warm sensation. She pulled me up, wrapped my only arm around her neck, propping me up.
"What's your deal now? I can't beat you up for the stunt you pulled earlier, asshole," she said.
I chuckled through the pain.
"Can you beat him?" she asked.
"Honestly? I don't think so."
She almost dropped me. Then hesitated.
"Then… you want me to do it?"
I smiled. "You know I don't."
"Then do it yourself," she said. Her voice cracked, just a little. I could hear the concern underneath.
She lifted me from the crater.
"Stella! Stello! Throw me."
"What?" they asked in unison.
"Please," I said.
They didn't question it.
A wind-up and a running start later, a sonic boom split the sky. I was launched into the air, tearing through the clouds. I summoned an ice boulder mid-flight, casting a shadow.
I poured all my strength into this one strike.
"BLACK ICE!" I shouted.
The skies cleared. Clouds split.
Ice cracked and folded over itself, like water reacting to a massive impact. My palms burned with frostbite heat.
From the heavens, a sword materialized. First light, then solid—an explosion of ice, sharp and massive, larger than mountains.
Light blue ice and black shadow fog formed intricate, swirling patterns.
A monstrous sword.
Good looked up at me from the shattered palace and smiled.
"Very well. I'll return my bight in full force."
Good, known for his long-range wind magic, chose instead to accept the challenge head-on.
He roared,a violent sound,as a blade of violet wind formed in his hands. A man that size shouldn't be able to jump that high, and yet… he did. He leapt to meet my strike in the sky.
In that moment, I knew I had to give it everything. But with only one hand… what could I do?
It was as if the shadows heard my plea.
A black arm shot from the membrane sealing my severed left side,perfect, nearly identical to my old hand. And with it… a right foot to match.
I didn't question it. I couldn't. I grabbed the hilt of my sword.
"BLACK ICE-GIGANTIC SLASH!!"
They say if you looked up at the sky that day, you wouldn't believe your eyes.
A man,tiny compared to Good,stood before him, striking with all his might.
Two forces collided: purple and black. Shockwaves tore through the world.
Mel, El, Stella, Stello,their kingdoms and their soldiers,all stood at the beachfront, watching in awe.
The force uprooted trees, launched boulders.
Waves reversed, pulled away in fear.
I remember the sensation in my arms.
The strength.
My heart pounding like a war drum.
My eyes wide. The adrenaline.
But most of all,I remember his smile.
Good smiled like never before.
In that moment, no one controlled him.
No Vision. No strings. No fate.
He was free.
The ice shattered. The shadows scattered.
Good had proven his strength,the strength of a king.
I felt a slash cut across my chest. No pain,just darkness.
I began to fall.
Good laughed.
"You truly are strong, hero.
But I am stronger still.
Maybe in a thousand years… you might have stood a chance."
But the shadows refused to accept that.
I remember a creeping cold flooding over my skin.
Shadows burst outward, catching Good off guard.
They shot out like violent arms,piercing his shoulder, his leg, his chest,before pulling me toward him, wrapping around him like a predator coiling its prey.
They flipped him upside down mid-air. Then spun,slow at first, then fast, violent.
"What is this?!" he shouted, struggling to break free.
He laughed again. "Truly the work of a hero!"
We plummeted.
Crashing through the glass castle.
Through the floors.
Through the clouds.
Through the black dome.
Debris exploded in all directions.
"I refuse to lose!" I shouted, as I regained consciousness.
"How impressive, hero," he whispered. "Break the strings that bind my soul."
For the first time in a long time, Good felt something that wasn't despair.
He smiled.
For the first time, he felt relief.
"SHADOW SUPLEX!!" I shouted.
The shadows obeyed.
We accelerated.
We crashed into the ocean with such force that it split the sea.
Water launched in every direction.
We slammed into the seabed,Good's neck first.
Bones snapped. His skull crushed.
A crater the size of a mountain split the ocean floor.
The shadows let go, leaving him lodged in the depths.
They say there was once a man,born into royalty,who wanted to be a great king.
But he lost his way, enslaved by a greater will.
A man who burned for a hundred years inside a volcano.
The Lefts, in unison, leapt from the sky island,plunging down in a painful screech,loyal to the very end.
They say he was the strongest of his bloodline.
They say he could've led the world into a better tomorrow.
But that will remain only a what if in the sad present we now live in.
The crown on the sky island dimmed.
The golden symbol of royalty cracked… and crumbled.
"Hollow Step," I whispered weakly, teleporting to the beach.
We watched as the sea, flung far outward, came rushing back in a violent stampede.
As the Lefts leapt to their demise, the crater filled.
They say the man who burned for a hundred years now rests at the bottom of the sea… surrounded by the most loyal.
They say that on that day, The strings were finally cut.
The strings of the Puppet King.