Post by bloodiedfox on Oct 30, 2023 16:21:47 GMT -5
The doors opened to reveal horror. Upon the architectural skeleton of the Bone Church’s interior now grew muscle and sinew and flesh, unskinned and raw and bleeding. Amidst it all, somehow still spotlessly white despite the surrounding gore, The Colourless King sat upon the throne of the once and former X*Crown champion.
“Your ideas are terrifying and your hearts are faint. Your acts of pity and cruelty are absurd, committed with no calm, as if they were irresistible. Finally, you fear blood more and more. Blood and time.”
The setting sun was sinking behind the trees, making silhouettes of those who had come to partake in this endgame.
Jackalope, his unruly mop of multi-coloured hair rustling in the chill wind.
Dr Dilbert East, stoic even as he inwardly marvelled at the biomechanisms he was witnessing.
Feral, his mask ensuring his face gave nothing away.
Bob The (Formerly) Immortal, swaying as though still unsure how legs operated after all this time.
Branden Harding, in the middle. The most driven, the most determined, the most hurt.
Paul Valery, famously quoted as an epigraphy to start Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Seemed apt.
Brendan began to walk forward, the others following. The doors closed behind them.
See, McCarthy understood the sheer hollow insanity of all existence. There is no rhyme or reason to anything beyond that which we try to force onto it. It is only if we possess both the will to shape the madness of existence into a definite form and the strength to force others to acknowledge that form that we can truly be said to have any control over our place in this world.
They kept walking, saying nothing.
All this? This is control. This is power and will made manifest.
The five now stood before him.
The Bone Church is the conduit, grown from the body of the man known as Nemo. Through this the power of the Being you do not speak the name of will be channelled and held in my grip.
There was silence.
No noble, heroic counter? I’m hurt.
Where’s Peter?
Submaxiswear simply laughed at Brendan’s question.
And now you care! Now, when it’s much too late do you wonder where your dearly beloved is! If only you’d given a damn a little sooner, you might not be in this position!
Last chance, arsehole.
Or what? You’ll do wrestling moves to me?
Bob pulled out a gun and emptied six shots into Submaxswear’s chest. The masked man looked down as crimson began to spread from his wounds, then back up with an expression of surprise that could be seen even under the mask. Then he slumped back in the throne.
Everyone else, bar Brendan, looked at Bob, equally surprised.
What? Just because I spent millennia as a floating sentient spellbook doesn’t mean I don’t consider firearms a practical solution.
Feral and Jackalope looked at Dilbert, who simply shrugged. Brendan, meanwhile, walked up to the throne.
He should have the gem on him. We take it, find Peter and then get the authorities to come in and clean u…
He was leaning over Submaxiswear as he spoke, fishing in his pockets, which was why his sentence was cut short as Submaxiswear shoved him in the chest with both hands, sending him flying backwards and crashing through several rows of bony pews. Submaxiswear stood, looking no worse the wear for his lead infusion.
Nice try, but as I said it’s too late. This place sustains me now. I am beyond death within these walls, and soon I will be beyond imagining. Not that you’re going to be around to see it…
He snapped his fingers, the sound reverberating off the walls. From the left came SEIRIOS, the giant stalking forwards with deadly purpose. From the right came a different figure, lit by an eerie glow that emanated from his chest. Brendan pulled himself up from the wreckage of his flight and looked at this new arrival, his heart sinking.
No…
The gem had been shoved into Bloodied Fox’s chest, red fire spreading from it through his veins, pulsing with the beat of his heart. His eyes were empty.
Oh Brendan, if only you’d tried to do something before Supremacy! Before that it was all Peter. Sure, I gave him a little nudge in the right direction, but all those feelings of abandonment and betrayal were real, and no-one tried to talk to him, maybe have him get some therapy or at least give him a hug. Once Marty put him in a coma with that second knee after the bell I was able to put the gem to work on him, pulling him closer and closer to the Being, channelling all that hate through him. You think he’d have stabbed the wolf or tried to kill Death Trap without some extra rewiring? A really dim view you must have of the one you’re supposed to love the most…
Brendan reached his feet in time for Fox to wrap both hands around his throat. Across from them, SEIRIOS swatted at Jackalope, the Chaos Bunny dodging the ferocious blows and firing back with kicks that didn’t seem to be doing anything. Gun reloaded, Bob charged at Submaxiswear, presumably hoping a point blank headshot would have more effect. He was knocked aside with little effort. Submaxiswear sighed and looked about to see where Dilbert had gotten to.
Brendan didn’t try to reason with his husband. One look into those hollow eyes told him there was nothing left to reason with. Desperately he clawed at the grip on his throat, even as his vision started to dim…
Suddenly the grip was gone. Dropping to his knees, gasping for breath, Brendan looked up to see Fox grappling with Feral. The masked man was reaching for the embedded gem, trying to weather a storm of brutal blows from Fox.
A crashing sound and a cry drew Brendan’s attention over to the left, where Dilbert had just been flung through some cartigilious divider. Submaxiswear stepped after him, looking at the plastic wrapped brick of something in his hand and tutting.
The tracking device on the throne to find our location was smart, Doctor, but plastic explosives? Do you really think something so mundane could destroy something as beautiful as this?
He casually walked up to the rising Dilbert and booted him in the face, sending him sprawling into the same heap as Bob. SEIRIOS, meanwhile, finally grasped Jackalope, lifting him in the air by his throat before slamming him into the ground again and again. Despairing, Brendan looked to his right to see that Feral was starting to wane under Fox’s assault. Wearily he tried to dodge Fox’s grip, only managing enough to have his mask seized. Fox pulled and tore it away.
And then he stopped.
And he stared.
And he spoke.
No.
Bruised and bleeding, Feral simply gave a wan smile, and Brendan finally understood the stake he had in all this.
Hi bro.
That’s not possible. You’re not James. James is thirteen.
Thirteen now. Ten years from now though…
Submaxiswear surveyed all this in utter bemusement. SEIRIOS, still effortlessly holding Jackalope aloft, likewise watched silently.
Okay, what is going on?
Brendan laughed as he shakily stood back up.
The sins of future past. Fox’s brother from the future.
A future. One I intend to see never happen.
Feral, or James, or whatever Brendan was supposed to call him now, looked over at him.
It’s been good seeing you again, Brendan. I really missed you.
He turned his attention back to Fox, who continued to stare at him. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but Brendan could swear enough light had returned to his eyes to show shock and confusion.
I spent ten years watching that thing puppeteer your body as it destroyed the world, Peter. I watched it all burn the same way Jackalope did his home, but unlike him I had the EOD. We just managed to pull off sending me here; back far enough that I could try and stop you. Save you.
Submaxiswear snorted.
Well you’ve done a woeful job at that! It’s over! He’s mine now! He will be His vessel for the end of this world and my proof that I, and not my black-clad buffoon of a mirror counterpart, am the greatest villain in the universe!
Wait, this was all about Lord Dominicus?
What else would it be about? Only one thing matters in life and what comes after: vindication, and I will have it! Fox! Kill him!
Fox did nothing.
Fox! Obey me!
You don’t have to do this Peter. However far you’ve gone, you can still turn back.
Kill him n…
The command was cut short as the doors exploded inwards in a shower of fragments. All eyes turned to the destruction and then struggled to glimpse the figure speeding through it. SEIRIOS acted the fastest, throwing Jackalope aside in preparation for a new fight. But fastest was not fast enough. In a shower of blood and gore a clawed arm slammed through the hulking warrior’s chest and out the back, as another slashed him open hip to hip. Everyone watched in stunned horror as SEIRIOS’ guts spilled onto the floor and the giant fell back quite dead. The new arrival looked at the still beating heart he held in his hand.
Oh no, he’s gone completely into Beast Mode…
With one great bite, Armbishi consumed SEIRIOS’ heart, then threw back his head and howled.
The next few seconds were a blur of action. On instinct, Submaxiswear threw the brick of plastique at Armbishi and dived for Bob’s gun. Armbishi, already darting forward, dodged the impromptu missile as he closed snarling on his next target, the man who stabbed him. His claws sliced through the air and found flesh once more… but not that he had wanted. In a heartbeat, Feral had shoved Fox aside, and in doing so had taken his place. His throat slashed, he tumbled to the ground. Confused, Armbishi paused for a moment. Just long enough, in fact, for Submaxiswear to empty the gun into him. The wolfman crumpled under the impact of the bullets. Silence returned, save for the quiet hiss of arterial blood spray.
Fox looked down at the man he knew was his brother in another life as he gave his last shuddering breaths then lay still. Then he looked at Armbishi: a friend, a lover, a victim.
Then he reached to his chest and pulled the gem loose with a scream of anguish. Blood pouring from him, he turned and ran at Submaxiswear, whose legs seemed rooted to the spot by the horrifying sight approaching him. Futilely, he raised the gun, pulling the trigger for bullets that weren’t there. Fox slammed into him, bearing him to the ground and beginning to slam the gem into his head over and over and over. Even as he did so, he turned his head and looked over to Jackalope.
The bomb!
Jackalope grabbed the plastique brick and threw it to beside Fox, who continued to hammer away at Submaxiswear to keep him in place. Brendan staggered towards him, only to have Dilbert and Bob grab an arm each and desperately pull him towards the door. Brendan struggled against them.
I have to help him!
That’s magically enhanced C4; strong enough to take out this abominable place and most of the surrounding forest! You stay here and you die!
Still Brendan fought, but Fox looked back over his shoulder, his lips mouthing words that didn’t carry over the sound of eldritch stone on flesh and bone. Brendan sagged and stopped resisting, Bob and Dilbert carrying him out the building, Jackalope catching up to beside them as The Car That Should Not Be swerved up in front of them, opening an orifice for them to dive into and peeling away.
Inside the Bone Church, the torrent of blood from the hole in Fox’s chest began to slow. Spent, dying, he lay the brick on the bloody ruin of Submaxiswear’s head. He raised the gem and then brought it down with the last of his strength, offering a prayer to any gods that might deign to listen.
Later, miles away, the survivors stood upon a ridge and stared at the blasted ground that had once been a forest. No sign of live was visible. One by one they turned away, until only Brendan remained. He closed his eyes as he thought of his husband’s last words. As the tears began to fall, he gave his response.
Love you too.
“Your ideas are terrifying and your hearts are faint. Your acts of pity and cruelty are absurd, committed with no calm, as if they were irresistible. Finally, you fear blood more and more. Blood and time.”
The setting sun was sinking behind the trees, making silhouettes of those who had come to partake in this endgame.
Jackalope, his unruly mop of multi-coloured hair rustling in the chill wind.
Dr Dilbert East, stoic even as he inwardly marvelled at the biomechanisms he was witnessing.
Feral, his mask ensuring his face gave nothing away.
Bob The (Formerly) Immortal, swaying as though still unsure how legs operated after all this time.
Branden Harding, in the middle. The most driven, the most determined, the most hurt.
Paul Valery, famously quoted as an epigraphy to start Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Seemed apt.
Brendan began to walk forward, the others following. The doors closed behind them.
See, McCarthy understood the sheer hollow insanity of all existence. There is no rhyme or reason to anything beyond that which we try to force onto it. It is only if we possess both the will to shape the madness of existence into a definite form and the strength to force others to acknowledge that form that we can truly be said to have any control over our place in this world.
They kept walking, saying nothing.
All this? This is control. This is power and will made manifest.
The five now stood before him.
The Bone Church is the conduit, grown from the body of the man known as Nemo. Through this the power of the Being you do not speak the name of will be channelled and held in my grip.
There was silence.
No noble, heroic counter? I’m hurt.
Where’s Peter?
Submaxiswear simply laughed at Brendan’s question.
And now you care! Now, when it’s much too late do you wonder where your dearly beloved is! If only you’d given a damn a little sooner, you might not be in this position!
Last chance, arsehole.
Or what? You’ll do wrestling moves to me?
Bob pulled out a gun and emptied six shots into Submaxswear’s chest. The masked man looked down as crimson began to spread from his wounds, then back up with an expression of surprise that could be seen even under the mask. Then he slumped back in the throne.
Everyone else, bar Brendan, looked at Bob, equally surprised.
What? Just because I spent millennia as a floating sentient spellbook doesn’t mean I don’t consider firearms a practical solution.
Feral and Jackalope looked at Dilbert, who simply shrugged. Brendan, meanwhile, walked up to the throne.
He should have the gem on him. We take it, find Peter and then get the authorities to come in and clean u…
He was leaning over Submaxiswear as he spoke, fishing in his pockets, which was why his sentence was cut short as Submaxiswear shoved him in the chest with both hands, sending him flying backwards and crashing through several rows of bony pews. Submaxiswear stood, looking no worse the wear for his lead infusion.
Nice try, but as I said it’s too late. This place sustains me now. I am beyond death within these walls, and soon I will be beyond imagining. Not that you’re going to be around to see it…
He snapped his fingers, the sound reverberating off the walls. From the left came SEIRIOS, the giant stalking forwards with deadly purpose. From the right came a different figure, lit by an eerie glow that emanated from his chest. Brendan pulled himself up from the wreckage of his flight and looked at this new arrival, his heart sinking.
No…
The gem had been shoved into Bloodied Fox’s chest, red fire spreading from it through his veins, pulsing with the beat of his heart. His eyes were empty.
Oh Brendan, if only you’d tried to do something before Supremacy! Before that it was all Peter. Sure, I gave him a little nudge in the right direction, but all those feelings of abandonment and betrayal were real, and no-one tried to talk to him, maybe have him get some therapy or at least give him a hug. Once Marty put him in a coma with that second knee after the bell I was able to put the gem to work on him, pulling him closer and closer to the Being, channelling all that hate through him. You think he’d have stabbed the wolf or tried to kill Death Trap without some extra rewiring? A really dim view you must have of the one you’re supposed to love the most…
Brendan reached his feet in time for Fox to wrap both hands around his throat. Across from them, SEIRIOS swatted at Jackalope, the Chaos Bunny dodging the ferocious blows and firing back with kicks that didn’t seem to be doing anything. Gun reloaded, Bob charged at Submaxiswear, presumably hoping a point blank headshot would have more effect. He was knocked aside with little effort. Submaxiswear sighed and looked about to see where Dilbert had gotten to.
Brendan didn’t try to reason with his husband. One look into those hollow eyes told him there was nothing left to reason with. Desperately he clawed at the grip on his throat, even as his vision started to dim…
Suddenly the grip was gone. Dropping to his knees, gasping for breath, Brendan looked up to see Fox grappling with Feral. The masked man was reaching for the embedded gem, trying to weather a storm of brutal blows from Fox.
A crashing sound and a cry drew Brendan’s attention over to the left, where Dilbert had just been flung through some cartigilious divider. Submaxiswear stepped after him, looking at the plastic wrapped brick of something in his hand and tutting.
The tracking device on the throne to find our location was smart, Doctor, but plastic explosives? Do you really think something so mundane could destroy something as beautiful as this?
He casually walked up to the rising Dilbert and booted him in the face, sending him sprawling into the same heap as Bob. SEIRIOS, meanwhile, finally grasped Jackalope, lifting him in the air by his throat before slamming him into the ground again and again. Despairing, Brendan looked to his right to see that Feral was starting to wane under Fox’s assault. Wearily he tried to dodge Fox’s grip, only managing enough to have his mask seized. Fox pulled and tore it away.
And then he stopped.
And he stared.
And he spoke.
No.
Bruised and bleeding, Feral simply gave a wan smile, and Brendan finally understood the stake he had in all this.
Hi bro.
That’s not possible. You’re not James. James is thirteen.
Thirteen now. Ten years from now though…
Submaxiswear surveyed all this in utter bemusement. SEIRIOS, still effortlessly holding Jackalope aloft, likewise watched silently.
Okay, what is going on?
Brendan laughed as he shakily stood back up.
The sins of future past. Fox’s brother from the future.
A future. One I intend to see never happen.
Feral, or James, or whatever Brendan was supposed to call him now, looked over at him.
It’s been good seeing you again, Brendan. I really missed you.
He turned his attention back to Fox, who continued to stare at him. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but Brendan could swear enough light had returned to his eyes to show shock and confusion.
I spent ten years watching that thing puppeteer your body as it destroyed the world, Peter. I watched it all burn the same way Jackalope did his home, but unlike him I had the EOD. We just managed to pull off sending me here; back far enough that I could try and stop you. Save you.
Submaxiswear snorted.
Well you’ve done a woeful job at that! It’s over! He’s mine now! He will be His vessel for the end of this world and my proof that I, and not my black-clad buffoon of a mirror counterpart, am the greatest villain in the universe!
Wait, this was all about Lord Dominicus?
What else would it be about? Only one thing matters in life and what comes after: vindication, and I will have it! Fox! Kill him!
Fox did nothing.
Fox! Obey me!
You don’t have to do this Peter. However far you’ve gone, you can still turn back.
Kill him n…
The command was cut short as the doors exploded inwards in a shower of fragments. All eyes turned to the destruction and then struggled to glimpse the figure speeding through it. SEIRIOS acted the fastest, throwing Jackalope aside in preparation for a new fight. But fastest was not fast enough. In a shower of blood and gore a clawed arm slammed through the hulking warrior’s chest and out the back, as another slashed him open hip to hip. Everyone watched in stunned horror as SEIRIOS’ guts spilled onto the floor and the giant fell back quite dead. The new arrival looked at the still beating heart he held in his hand.
Oh no, he’s gone completely into Beast Mode…
With one great bite, Armbishi consumed SEIRIOS’ heart, then threw back his head and howled.
The next few seconds were a blur of action. On instinct, Submaxiswear threw the brick of plastique at Armbishi and dived for Bob’s gun. Armbishi, already darting forward, dodged the impromptu missile as he closed snarling on his next target, the man who stabbed him. His claws sliced through the air and found flesh once more… but not that he had wanted. In a heartbeat, Feral had shoved Fox aside, and in doing so had taken his place. His throat slashed, he tumbled to the ground. Confused, Armbishi paused for a moment. Just long enough, in fact, for Submaxiswear to empty the gun into him. The wolfman crumpled under the impact of the bullets. Silence returned, save for the quiet hiss of arterial blood spray.
Fox looked down at the man he knew was his brother in another life as he gave his last shuddering breaths then lay still. Then he looked at Armbishi: a friend, a lover, a victim.
Then he reached to his chest and pulled the gem loose with a scream of anguish. Blood pouring from him, he turned and ran at Submaxiswear, whose legs seemed rooted to the spot by the horrifying sight approaching him. Futilely, he raised the gun, pulling the trigger for bullets that weren’t there. Fox slammed into him, bearing him to the ground and beginning to slam the gem into his head over and over and over. Even as he did so, he turned his head and looked over to Jackalope.
The bomb!
Jackalope grabbed the plastique brick and threw it to beside Fox, who continued to hammer away at Submaxiswear to keep him in place. Brendan staggered towards him, only to have Dilbert and Bob grab an arm each and desperately pull him towards the door. Brendan struggled against them.
I have to help him!
That’s magically enhanced C4; strong enough to take out this abominable place and most of the surrounding forest! You stay here and you die!
Still Brendan fought, but Fox looked back over his shoulder, his lips mouthing words that didn’t carry over the sound of eldritch stone on flesh and bone. Brendan sagged and stopped resisting, Bob and Dilbert carrying him out the building, Jackalope catching up to beside them as The Car That Should Not Be swerved up in front of them, opening an orifice for them to dive into and peeling away.
Inside the Bone Church, the torrent of blood from the hole in Fox’s chest began to slow. Spent, dying, he lay the brick on the bloody ruin of Submaxiswear’s head. He raised the gem and then brought it down with the last of his strength, offering a prayer to any gods that might deign to listen.
Light.
Heat.
Noise.
Heat.
Noise.
Dark.
Cold.
Silence.
Cold.
Silence.
Later, miles away, the survivors stood upon a ridge and stared at the blasted ground that had once been a forest. No sign of live was visible. One by one they turned away, until only Brendan remained. He closed his eyes as he thought of his husband’s last words. As the tears began to fall, he gave his response.
Love you too.