The Finale (For Real this time)
The Leader sat at his desk waiting for war. But what he received... was inexcusable. The day started out nicely. He'd woken up late, read the newspaper to see if anything had happened recently, and there was only the death of some minor princess in a different kingdom. Big deal. He'd had lunch by himself while working, and when the day ended, it was then that he'd received the strange gift. It was a specially ordained coffin. It was a black rosewood coffin with a gold cross on it.
He opened it up... and he saw... his son Montag? He checked the heartbeat. Normal. So he wasn't dead. Was this supposed to be their idea of a joke?! He placed his hand on his body. He shivered. That really was his son. WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?! HOW DID HE GET LIKE THIS?! He looked back at his news tablet. That's where he had gone to carry out an assignment. No way. NO WAY! WHO HAD DONE THIS TO HIM?! And he was also getting blamed for the death of the princess?! People used that spoiled brat as a reason to fight against the O.C.R. ?!
He laughed to himsel,f and he cackled with the voice of a madman.
"WeLl dOnE CoOkIe bAnDiT! yOu'Ve fInAlLy dOnE iT. YoU'vE fOuNd A wAy To BrEaK mE!"
__________________________________________________________________
Preparations were being made. Everyone was getting ready, and I had high hopes for this mission. We all decided to meet in the land of the Piqs. Prince Caylen had brought in a large projector, and I started my speech.
"Thank you, everyone, for joining me today. You all know who I am. Today, I brought you in here to discuss a plan that will change the world in its' entirety. We all share a common enemy, the Leader. We all hate him because of the things he has done. Whether or not he wanted to do something good, the way he went about it was wrong, and that ended up hurting millions of lives. In this final battle. We will defeat him. We will restore our nation's sovereignty, and we will secure freedom for everyone in the world!"
The crowd cheered, throwing roses at my feet. I explained my plan step by step. We were going to fly ships to the Leader's fortress and drop down. The soldiers would go into battle, while all of us captains would go to defeat the Leader. We had already lowered his morale by sending his son back to him in a coma. (We couldn't wake him up no matter how hard we tried)
We weren't going to make the same mistakes this time. I decided to take a page out of the Leader's own book this time. After the speech, I called up the tattoo artist that Prince Cadmus had scoured the land searching for. He said that his rival had done a job for the Leader, so he was doing one for me for free. But in return, I had to defeat the Leader.
I lay down on the bed ready for what was coming, but it was over in a flash. I couldn't feel anything. The actual tattoo felt like someone was drawing on me with a blunt pencil. It was honestly quite ticklish. He said it was strange seeing someone laugh when getting a tattoo. I guess he expected me to be crying in pain since tattoos like these generally hurt way more than the average person could handle. Finally, It was ready. On my legs, I have speed and jump. On my shoulders, I got strength and speed. On my hands, I got stun and blinding. On my eyes, I got reaction and protection.
The Guildmaster had provided us with these ships called the arrow marks. As the name suggests, they were shaped like arrow signs, and they were built for speed. At the bottom ofthe plane, they had these small barrel-like contraptions. That was how they were going to drop us on to the battlefield. We'd load up in barrels and then we'd break out of them and use them as cover while we shot the enemy. 3500 planes and 35000 men. It was do or die.
Before we boarded the planes, I prayed for our success and ate a fortune cookie. The cookie read, 'may you find happiness in your pursuits'.I hoped that was true. Although I could understand the Leader's motivations, it still didn't justify what he did. While my perspective could just be an idealistic viewpoint, I doubted he had to hurt so many people just to stop one stupid invasion. If he really cared so much about stopping the invasion, I could probably just finish what he was trying to accomplish. I had all the powers he did, anyway.
Adrenaline was pumping in my veins. I was nervous. I felt exactly the same way I did back when I had first fought him. I felt like I could win. The flight there was long but quiet. Nobody said anything, but we were all thinking about the same thing. Will I be able to live through this fight and see another day? After we got to the horizon, things started moving quickly. Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
"The enemy has arrived! Fighters deploy! Aahhhhhh!" Pshhooo! Pshhooo! Barrels were deployed quickly. The blue skies turned a flashing orange and gray. Ships of both sides came crashing. The sky changed from dark gray to orange. Large explosions filled the sky, and we could barely hear ourselves think. The island in the sky was shaking so hard, you'd think that it was a magnitude 10 earthquake.
Soldiers pulled up behind their barrels and shot. The enemy used the debris of the fallen ships to fight back. My friends and I navigated the crossfire with great difficulty. I pulled Bucket aside.
"Bucket! Bucket!"
"I'm here, Cookie Bandit!"
I held Bucket's shoulders. "Bucket! Please, I beg of you, please just stay on the battlefield."
"It's alright, I was going to suggest that myself! Even though-" Boom! An explosion took place nearby. "-It seems a little rougher on the outside, I'd inevitably get caught in the Leader's crossfire, which is probably much scarier."
I gave him a quick nod, and we entered the fortress. I pushed open the heavy black iron gates of the fortress. We walked inside. For a bastion-like building, it was surprisingly well designed. There were black shrubs on either side, along with two sideways corridors. There was a statue of the Leader in the center and two lava fountains next to it. We slowly walked by, taking note of everything. Finally, we approached the huge black door. The door was intricately patterned. I took a deep breath. This was the door that separated us from the final fight. I almost didn't want to open it.
I held my breath and pushed the door open. Fwoosh! The air cleared as we opened the door. Slowly, we entered. It was dark at first, but as we approached, blue-flamed torch lights burned one by one, lighting the corridor. The door behind us vanished. As we went through the hollow fortress walls, I would sometimes feel quakes, or the walls would shake. Suddenly, all my friends started getting farther and farther away from me, like they were being pulled away by some force of nature. Elaine and Axl managed to catch up, but Michael couldn't make it in time and disappeared.
There was nothing I could do as the exit was gone. The room turned black, and suddenly, I was alone. A single flame lit up, leading to a door. I approached carefully and then opened it. A loudspeaker boomed.
"hEy cOoKiE bAnDiT! iF yOu LOVE sTeAlInG cOoKiEs sO mUcH, tHeN yOu'Ll hAvE sO mUcH fUn In ThIs ToWeR!"
I gulped. The scene changed, and suddenly, I was faced with a familiar scene. Guards were stationed everywhere, I got ready. I didn't know how many floors this tower had, so I had to conserve my energy. I slashed and sliced, and I punched and I kicked. One by one, I got rid of all the guards. Inside was the prize. A cookie! Great, how many more times would I have to do this?
__________________________________________________________________
Michael was suddenly pulled away from the Cookie Bandit and was shot out of the Fortress at an astonishing speed. He had to grab on to something. He pulled out a grappling hook from one of his gauntlets and shot it. Fwoop! Crap, he missed. He wasn't going to have another chance. But then. A plane was crashing out of nowhere. He grappled himself to the plane and ran on top of it, and jumped off. He grappled again, this time fastening securely at the edge of the cliff. With great difficulty, he pulled himself up.
What he was staring at was utter hell. There were bodies everywhere. Gunfire was like the music of the battlefield, and he had to get a grip. He shook his head and pulled out his own gun. Bang! Bang! He dodged and he weaved, barely missing stray bullets. He had to hurry. He quickly got to a vantage point and started shooting at officers.
But then, he realized that the rest of his allies were pinned down by one of the auto turrets. It was like a machine gun, but much bigger. Every time someone tried to fight back, they'd just get sprayed with bullets. He had to think fast. Their small makeshift barrier of all the barrels and ship parts wouldn't hold out for very long. He looked around, searching for anything that might help him. He noticed, the enemy had one turret down. It wasn't shooting; it was deactivated. He had to get there quickly.
He ran through the crossfire, ducking and shooting any soldiers nearby. Pew! He got a bullet to the side. He didn't feel anything as of yet. Probably due to the adrenaline. He had to keep going. Pew! Another bullet, this time to the shoulder. This one hurt a lot more. He couldn't stop. He climbed up the turret. Soldiers started noticing him and started to shoot, but he had already come this far.
He did his best to activate the cannon. It wasn't working! DAMN IT! He banged his hands on the control panel, and it suddenly worked. He turned the turret toward the other one and sprayed that one. He hit auto and jumped out right before the two turrets made each other explode. He felt... slightly exhausted. Maybe... he could sleep... just for a little bit.
__________________________________________________________________
They were with the Cookie Bandit, but suddenly, their world turned black.
"I'm so glad you came to join the Cookie Bandit. Unfortunately for you, this is only a battle for grown-ups. Stay out"
Prince Axl and Elaine somehow ended up together. They didn't know how, but they didn't worry too much about it. Suddenly, Prince Axl began to gasp and choke.
"I feel weird. What the... huh?! What's happening?!" exclaimed Prince Axl, clutching his face, "whatshappeningtome?!whatshappeningtome?!whatshappeningtome?!whatshappeningtome?!"
"Calm down!" exclaimed Elaine. What had gotten into him?! But then, she started feeling weird as well. The room started spinning, and she was barely able to stay calm herself. Prince Axl was walking around like a drunkard, trying to walk, but failing to. Was there some sort of gas agent in the room?
"Come on, we have to help the Cookie Bandit!"
"Yeah... let's go!"
Elaine sat down and took a deep breath. What would they do?! She felt the walls of her neck closing in around her, like someone was silently strangling her. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for something that could help them, anything.
Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the end of it. Elaine and Prince Axl started to lose their senses one by one. First, sight. The room went dark. It was already dark, but now it was like operating through a fog. They hadn't even realized that their sight was gone yet. They just felt that instinctual fear.
"Axl! AXL WHERE ARE YOU?!" yelled Elaine, trying to find her bearings.
"I'm right here, where are you?!"
"I'm-"
Her words were cut off. Or rather, his hearing was. He wasn't able to hear the rest of her sentence. The fear of loneliness hit them hard. Next was smell. The musty smell no longer plagued them, but it had been a source of comfort. Losing that meant that they were slowly losing touch with reality. Then it was taste. Prince Axl could no longer taste the blood from his biting his tongue. It was just wet. Finally. It was a loss of touch. What way was he facing? Was he on the ground? He was going mad! He needed to find his way! But... this was essentially like being cut off from his body.
There was nothing he could do. Suddenly, before all hope was lost, the medalion he'd gotten from the temple resonated. He thought it was just a piece of junk earlier, but no. This time, his hoarding saved his life. Suddenly, all of his senses were restored at once. The full force of reality hit him hard in the chest. He had been on the ground, his mouth dripping with blood. He gave Elaine the necklace, and within moments, she was free too. They were dizzy from the experience, but that was better than whatever they had just gone through. The medalion cleared the way. The door had been right in front of them this entire time. In front of them was a small brown door. Beyond it, she could hear the clash of two broken men.
__________________________________________________________________
A while later, I had finished the tower. Exhausted, I took a moment to catch my breath. I wondered where my friends were, but I had no time to waste. Bucket and the rest of the soldiers were risking their lives out there. It was up to me, and those of my friends who were still there, to see this through. At the end of the hall, there was an elevator. As I approached, the door opened. There were no buttons in the elevator. When I got in, it didn't need any input; it just went all the way up.
When the door opened, I saw the Leader. He sat cross-legged on his desk. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were red. He clapped, "Clap! clap! clap! You did well coming this far... but unfortunately for you... this is where the cookie crumbles..." That's it. It was go time. I ate a chocolate chip cookie. This time, stupid restrictions weren't going to hold me back. Both of us were going all out at the beginning.
He attacked first. I could see the sorrow in his eyes. But this time, he didn't have the upper hand. We were fighting more than just because we hated each other. We were fighting for our lives. Both our tattoos activated, and we started our battle. We punched and kicked each other so fast that it reflected on the area around us. He drove knives into the ground, and suddenly, we were falling into the ground below. I saw the magic carvings on my boots, and I slowed my fall right before I hit the ground. Then our fighting turned to wrestling, like all emotional fights. We gripped at each other's hair and scratched and bit each other like rabid animals.
I tried using Freeze Dryer's powers on him, but he canceled it out with an artifact of his own. Just then, Prince Axl and Elaine came out, and we properly began to fight.
____________________________________________________________________
Michael woke up on a med bed. He was badly injured and he couldn't move his arms.
Bucket was sitting next to him.
"Thanks to you, we're alive," he said, "The war is almost over. So just hang on a little longer."
He wondered how much he could trust those words. He wondered if he would even see Bucket when he woke up or even the cookie bandit.
_____________________________________________________________________
Elaine and I began bombarding the Leader with melee attacks while he struggled to fend them off. Prince Axl began catching him off guard as well. Sometimes Elaine fell back while Prince Axl and I comboed him. We were winning. The Leader did his best, but he couldn't win. He tried to bring the two other Captains that were remaining but they were just eaten by the rest of us. The Leader finally ended up smashed into a wall. I was about to kill him, but a part of me hesitated.
"You fool! Kill me!"
"No."
"Kill me, or I'll kill you myself! I have no reason to live anyway."
"If it's about your son, I.. can fix him." What was I saying? I had to stop myself, but I couldn't, "I want to hear what your plans are from your own mouth.
The Leader sighed, but gave in.
"Fine. A long time ago, I foresaw a coming threat. There is a planet that is not too far away from us now. It used to be closer before, and the Kings and Queens waved it off as a joke and forbade me from doing anything about it. I knew, of course, that if I didn't do anything, this planet might be lost or even destroyed, so I made a shield generator. The Kings and Queens eventually figured out that I used their resources to make my generator, so I went to prison for treason. But they were too stupid to figure out how to turn it off. So when the planet collided with the shield, they were sent very far away. Eventually, the generator ran out of power now that it didn't get its supply of cookies."
"How long did it run for?" asked Elaine, now curious.
"A year or two," he replied," I knew that it was only a matter of time till the invaders came back, so I broke out, and had to put my King in prison in order to do my work and not be questioned. I didn't want to, I liked my King as he was better than most, but I needed to finish preparations. You see, I've been working on a ship to get us out of here. I guess I just was angry because, if I wasn't able to finish on time, this planet would die before I even had time to save everything on it. I have to get my people off this rock safely. This planet will die either way. That is inevitable. However, the outcome of the planet dying is determined by what we do. Another thing, I have temporarily made a generator so I can work on my ship in peace. I was going to power it myself. That's why I got the cookies, the Anastasia flower, and the tattoos."
"All for that?" I asked, dumfounded. I even wondered whether that was the same leader I had known from before.
"Last question," I said, "If you only had good intentions, then why did you kill my grandpa?"
"If it were not for him, I would be dead right now. He didn't believe that there was any kind of threat, and he thought I was lying about there being other planets, and he convinced the King that as well."
"Show me!"I said.
He pushed a button, and we began to rise. The dome opened, and a long and chunky, white metal tube began to be visible, and the lift took us up a tiny version of that connected to it. It was a telescope! I peered through, and I saw a dark and swirling sphere that was very large. I also saw a swarm of ships coming that looked like specks. No way... the Leader had been right all along.
"But... I..." my voice trailed off. I couldn't believe what I was about to say.
"Happy now?"
"I will help you." My mouth was disobeying my mind. I didn't want to say that! STOP SAYING THAT!
"What?"
"I said, I WILL HELP YOU!" My mind had finally resigned. Yeah... maybe I felt a tad bit guilty for using revenge as an excuse to doom the entire planet.
The Leader looked really confused. Honestly, I was the one who was truly confused. My whole world had been turned upside down. I was the bad guy, and he was the one trying to save us! My selfishness could've cost us the entire world. Even so, his actions didn't justify his wrongdoings, so that made me feel a bit more justified in my actions. Even so, I had pride, so I wasn't going to apologize
I nodded, but then from out of the shadows, I could hear hollow footsteps. A tall man walked out and crossed the bridge. He wore a heavy coat and a dark-rimmed hat. He wore sunglasses, and he had a deep voice.
"Well done, Cookie Bandit! You have finally understood. But will you be in time to stop us? We have been watching you closely—your actions. You were useful to us while you were ignorant, but now you are... a weed. Worry not, though. Initially, we were planning to take your powers, but... things have taken an interesting turn. So this time, we'll reward you and take his instead."
He zoomed towards the Leader. The Leader stepped back and tried to shoot him, but the stranger stopped, stretched out his hand, and a pink ring formed around the Leader. Suddenly, the Leader couldn't move. He crashed to the ground, and his essence started to drain. His tattoos vanished, and he could barely even hold up his sword. The stranger then disappeared, saying, "See you soon".
I quickly transferred healing by eating an oatmeal cookie and transferring my energy to him, and he barely stayed alive. I sighed in relief, knowing that I at least did one thing right. Wait... the soldiers are still fighting! I had to stop them! I looked to the Leader, and he pointed to the desk near the telescope. There was an intercom. Quickly, I rushed over and clicked, 'speak'
"Soldiers... this war is over!" I said triumphantly. I couldn't hear what was happening, but soldiers would probably rejoice. The Leader sighed defeatedly and lay back down. I sat down as well.
"How long?" I asked.
"Hmm?"
"How long do we have until they come?"
"I'd say about 5 years. Since plan A probably isn't gonna work, we'll need to use plan B, which is escaping. Luckily, I've prepared a lot for that and have already started working on an escape ship. We'll still need the time, though, since it isn't done."
"If it's engineering, I can help. I might not be as politically or economically intelligent as you are, but I'm definitely as good an engineer. I was taught by the Builder."
"I could tell. That arm you have there. It's pretty good, actually. You made it... right?"
"Well, the Builder can't have done it so... yeah. You can do one favor for me, though, right?"
"Depends on whether it's in my power."
"I want you to free my parents."
"Your parents?"
"I'm the Prince of the Sun faction."
His face turned white, "Well... that's kind of awkward. I used to be the-"
"Yeah, I know the history. I dug through it."
"I know you did, but isn't it-"
"Thanks. Last thing. Don't you dare die. Because... I'm going to be the one who kills you."
"If all of us somehow make it through without dying, then sure, be my guest. Stab me as many times as you like."
"Nah, I want to fight you like this time. Otherwise, I'll feel guilty, and it won't feel genuine."
"Fine. But for now, shall we head out?"
"I'm looking forward to working with you, General Ivas."
"He smirked. I'm looking forward to working with you, Prince Blaise."