The End?
I was nervous the entire trip there, which wasn't very long, but you get the picture. It was that familiar feeling when finals were approaching, but that also meant that school was ending. That meant that the only way I'd feel better was if it were over. I steeled my resolve. I was nervous, but I was ready.
It was a race against time. I couldn't see it, but I knew the Leader was going to be here soon. We flew over familiar locations. I recognized the Piq's Palace and the greenery of the lands around it.
Crimson City looked as busy as ever. Seems like the uproar has gone quieter. Still present, but those who supported it supported, just not in public. It was a split opinion. They were split. Those who didn't like change and those who hated tyranny. Being scared was natural; that's why I worked so hard to make it seem easy to stand up.
Then... we flew over Bastion Blaise, a huge castle. Maybe... this is where I should've lived if everything were normal. I suppose my parents and I would live a great life. Maybe I'd end up as a spoiled child while my parents have a second child whom they place their hopes on. Too bad I hadn't seen my parents in so long, 15 years. I didn't even know what they looked like. Maybe when I free them from prison, I could just say, 'Raise your hands if your last name is Blaise, that might work.
Within 2 hours, we got to the location. I looked at my map. We were approaching quickly. As I was thinking. A shadow loomed over the ship. I was startled by the darkness. I looked outside, expecting a small land body, but what I was greeted with was not a deserted island. I ... was at a loss for words. An absolute citadel was one way to put it. An impenetrable stronghold. I... I doubted I could even escape from something like that. What... the hell...
It was a giant hellscape. The kind of thing you could only imagine up in comic books. There was lava pouring out the sides. The entire citadel itself was on a floating island. By this point, the Leader had arrived. The main piece for the ambush. He had us surrounded. There was no exit. Nowhere to go.
I had sorely misunderstood the Leader. What I faced earlier... that wasn't a trap. That was the bait. To make me trust the information that Bucket had brought me. I doubt Bucket had betrayed me; what was the more likely fact was that the Leader had purposely leaked information. It seems that it's curtains for us.
"Well... It's been fun, guys," I said, "Maybe I'll take revenge in my next life!"
"Ha ha," laughed the Builder sarcastically, "It's fine. For I have an idea."
I had no idea what the Builder was thinking of doing after this... wait... what is he doing...is he aiming the ship at one of the Leader's forces?! WAAAAAIITTTTT!!!! Boom! Huh? I'm okay? I looked around. My friends and I were surprisingly unharmed. In fact, none of us even fell out of our seats! We quickly removed our seatbelts and ran outside the ship. It was damaged, probably beyond repair, but the enemy did not expect that.
I ran into the room that was above the surface and shot everyone there. We all sat down for a second and caught our breath.
After a few seconds, I stood up and asked, "Everyone ready?"
"Ah, wait, give me a second," said the Builder as he put on his bandana and what seemed to be ammo slung around his body in the shape of an X.
"Now I am!"
Michael and Elaine stood up, weapons in hand. I raised a hand to my head in annoyance. We were really doing this. I couldn't believe it. But this time, everyone knew their role. We quickly searched the ship and found the cockpit. It was the room that was located at the center and therefore the safest. The Builder took control and slammed the ship into the other ships. We didn't have much time since the other ships were firing nonstop at our own ship.
Guards were at the front deck firing away at us. I used my armor to shield my friends as we jumped across each ship deck, slashing and stabbing my way through. The guards started changing it up. They started using rocket launchers and missile launchers to attack. Time to try out my new sword.
It cut through the explosives like butter. I still couldn't use its base functions yet, however, since I didn't want to reveal my identity. I had to wait for the right moment. Michael assumed the sniping position and took out anyone who could pose a threat later, like people manning the cannons, etc. Elaine also fought on the front lines. She skewered and shish kababbed people left and right. Soldiers died left and right, so I wondered what the Leader was truly doing. Was he just going to throw soldiers at us until we died or something?
No, it was anything but that. He must have something up his sleeve. So that means I just have to survive this onslaught until I figure out what that is. How lovely. Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound resounded. Or was it a snap? Suddenly, the ships began to converge at a single point. We all jolted forward, enemies and allies alike.
Pillars shot up, curving upward to create a dome. This had to be an illusion. This just had to be! Just how powerful was the Leader?!
I heard a familiar cackling, and then I suddenly found myself in a dark lobby. Glowing eyes appeared from the shadows. Horrific monsters and hallucinated appeared in the hallways. I crept forward. I saw a person running. I couldn't see him for sure, but there was something moving in the distance. A ghostlike aura formed around everything in this place. It was like living in my worst nightmare. No, it was made to be my worst nightmare.
No wait... I thought to myself. I am the Cookie Bandit. I cause nightmares. Maybe I should cause these guys some nightmares. The hallucinations could feel the shift in the room. One by one, the hallucinations disappeared, and the ones nearby couldn't understand. Just what was happening? Some of them couldn't take it anymore. Needless to say, I was able to obtain some ghostly cookies. Heh heh heh. I put the cookies in my pile. In front of me was a big gray door. It was intricately patterned, like a piece of history. I cared not for a history lesson, but to defeat the Leader. I pulled the circular handles on the door and pulled it open.
There, I saw the Leader resting his legs on a desk. I walked toward him, slowly.
"Ah, I see, you have finally arrived," the Leader said calmly.
"Isn't it finally time that you cease this facade?" I said in a smirk, "If you're too scared to face me, this isn't i.t"
"Ha ha ha, you really love joking around, don't you? I'm sure you would've made a great addition to my arm.y"
"You sure about that? My thirst for vengeance would make me a very unusable piece."
"Nonsense, I'm sure I could fix you."
"You've already tried," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, anyway-"
"I'm sure Michael would make a good piece, once he gets rid of that useless brain-"
I didn't let him finish his words. I charged at him with a speed I didn't even know I was capable of without cookies. He snapped his fingers, and two swords plunged into my body.
Eye of Absolute Activating
Ver. 2.24
Possession Attempting... processing
Conditions For Possession - Morale Depletion
Morale Depletion detected:
Rn cmnd 2: Morale Boost
Rn cmnd 4: Dispel illusion
Possession Attempted... Failed
System Block... successful
Suddenly, I was falling. I hit the ground seemingly hard, but I felt nothing. Not even the impact. I looked around. It was like this huge gladiator arena... like how it used to be in old times. I was behind an arched gate with square holes. The gate slowly lifted up, and I was somehow in the middle. I looked around. Thousands of people could be seen, but I didn't know if they were also part of the illusion. My friends were here. They were also charging forward with their weapons... wait, why are they charging at me murderously?!
Their eyes were yellow. Wait. The thing I saw in my eye earlier. An attempt at possession. It seems like the Leader tried to control me to attack my friends for entertainment, but thanks to my eyes, it failed. My friends, however... they didn't have anything like that! I was just lucky to be an idiot at the right time! Elaine charged while Michael shot from the rear. It was just like all those sparring sessions I'd had with her a month or two ago, except with the difficulty ramped up this time! Bucket attacked as well, but since Elaine and he rarely fought together, they had a terrible synergy and, as a result, started to get in each other's way.
Their eyes were yellow, and their armor was slightly scratched. I saw familiar stab marks in their armor, and I guessed that they were met with the same sword that I was. I parried Elaine's attack just barely. I wanted to get a feel for things first without revealing all of my cards. If he wanted to see anything, he'd have to come down here himself!
Suddenly, a deafening loudspeaker boomed. Everything froze in place. Elaine, who was attacking me, froze midair.
" WELCOME TO THE ARENA! HERE, WE HAVE 3 CONTESTANTS WHO ARE FIGHTING TO LIVE. PLACE YOUR BETS EVERYONE! WHO WILL COME ON TOP? WINNER GETS MY AUTOGRAPH!!! NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO... LET THE SHOW BEGIN!!!"
A gong rang loudly, reverberating in my eardrums, and temporarily made me dizzy. Elaine took that moment of weakness to attack me. I couldn't block, so I had to dodge. I jumped backward, and the blade went over me. I used my arms to spring myself off the ground, and I kicked Elaine in her gut. She flew back a short distance but then got back in a stance. She was in the calm version of the berserk state, if that was even a thing. Bucket when back on the offense, but I was able to stop him way easier. Was the Leader controlling them, or was it just a command that they were following? I scanned around the arena just dodge the second attack.
I saw the Leader, and he was looking kind of zoned out. That meant that he was probably controlling her manually. I guess making her rely on instinct wouldn't be enough to kill me anyway.
I bobbed and weaved through each attack, and I stayed in front of her and at her level at all times to make sure that Michael couldn't get me as we traded blows. Eventually, Michael stopped caring that Elaine was there at all and started to shoot through her. If this kept up, then she would end up dead. Surprisingly, all three of them, I quickly dashed toward Michael. He tried to reload fast enough, but I was at his position in no time.
He tried using his knife, but both of us knew that his skills with a knife were not as good as his shooting skills. I kneed his guts repeatedly, head butted him, and then I threw him over my shoulder into the wall across from me. Elaine turned her weapon into a club and bludgeoned toward him, but my armor took the brunt of the damage, so I was mostly fine.
I recovered quickly and attacked her once again. It seemed like a never-ending fight. I had to do something. While I was fending off Elaine and Bucket in the background, I looked for ways to get the Leader to drop possession. Ah! I just had to draw his attention. I looked around for stones or anything I could throw. Ah, I had a dagger! I pulled out my dagger.
Elaine changed her stance to match mine. Little did she know what was coming. I aimed like I was about to throw it at her, but at the last second, I changed the trajectory. Elaine looked confused and hesitated temporarily. Since my robot arm could throw much harder, the knife managed to hit the glass and shatter it. At that moment, the Leader jolted awake, and Elaine looked dazed. I then punched her with my arm into the opposing wall. She made a dent and then crumpled. Bucket tried to attack as well, but one good uppercut to the chin knocked him out as well.
The Leader looked annoyed, but not surprised. He got up and stepped through the broken glass. He cracked his neck and knuckles and jumped down.
"I suppose all good things must come to an end, shouldn't they?"
"This isn't an illusion, is it?"
"I'm sure I could also humiliate you from far away, but not today. I think it's rather fitting that I do this in person just to send a message."
I looked at where he came from and saw the only other missing member of the party, which was the Builder. He was tied to a pole and forced to watch.
"Ah, I take it you've seen your missing comrade? Yeah, I wanted him to watch his friend's demise before I painfully tortured him in detail by detail, on what had happened so far. Scoff, it's no wonder that you knew my plans. You literally had a cheat sheet right next to you, and I thought you were smart. "
"If you were surprised by only this much, then you have another thing coming!" I said as I lunged at him.
He blocked with his thin rapier. But just on the way he blocked me, I knew that this battle was much harder. He used irregular sword techniques, and it was hard for me to keep up. To face him was like trying to play a piece of music by looking at the sheet music for the first time, and the composer was on drugs.
The air got thinner around us. It became harder to breathe. I doubted I could win and would be lucky to get out with my life and my limbs intact. I used my gun to try and shoot him, but the bullets didn't even slow them down. Even though I had coated them, he was able to deflect them like it were no big deal. How the hell was I supposed to win against someone like this?
"Hmm, this is too easy," he said, "Let's up the stakes!" he snapped his fingers again. The scene changed. We were instantly on the rafters of the buildings. I was suddenly looking down at the arena that I had just fought for my life in.
We fought tirelessly over this new scene. I was starting to lose my ground. The rafters were not exactly the most stable place in this entire room. Shooting was not an option either. If I accidentally missed, a bullet could end up making the entire platform fall. I saw the Builder trying to free himself, so I kept pressing on, dodging and weaving, making the Leader face away from the Builder so he could free himself in peace.
I cut the water pipe, which was above us, and water gushed out. Both of us could use electricity, so now it was just a contest of who would step into the water first.
The Builder was taking too long, so I kicked broken glass at him. Shards went flying at both the Leader and the Builder. The Leader covered his eyes while the Builder was able to properly free himself and hide. I took our fight to the end of the platform.
The Builder was about to sidekick him off the platform, but the Leader saw it coming through the corner of his eye and backflipped over him and behind him and threw him right at me. I got him off me, and the platforms started to split and turn into single paths. It was just a bunch of rafters now that we were fighting on, and hopefully they wouldn't crash under our weight.
The Builder pulled out his own dagger and started to fight, and we both took turns fighting him. While he wasn't very good, even a stray arrow is enough to kill the soldier, and that's what I was counting on. The Builder slashed and almost cut the Leader, but he arched his ba,ck and I took that opportunity to shoot the parts of the platform he was standing on, sending him tumbling back into the water.
I took that opportunity to finally electrocute him. He twitched uncontrollably while falling all the way to the bottom. He probably wasn't dead, though; that would be too easy. Suddenly, markings on his body began to glow blue. Wait... magic Tattoo?! So that was why he needed the flower, still, though, I doubted that I was the reason he got it. There had to be something else!
I stepped back. I had no idea what tattoos he had. I had to brace myself for impact. Immediately, he engaged in hand-to-hand combat. His body was going so fast I couldn't even keep up. I was able to slip in a cookie during the earlier scuffle, but now, it seemed impossible to see him. Our fists somehow met, but I was inevitably pushed back by him.
At the end of our gentlemanly discussion, I ended up on the ground.
"Do you still think you can win?" he sneered.
"I'm dead either way, so I'd rather take you down a peg before I go."
"Or you could save time and spare me the wife nag"
"Or you could shut the hell up and fight me already."
"Or I could do this."
He moved to stab me, but the Builder saw it coming and moved to intercept.
"Kuagh!"
"NOOOOOOO BUILDER!!!"
The Leader twisted his blade further. The Builder mouthed to me 'Thank you', threw his bandana at me, and ignited what I had believed earlier to be ammo.
"SAYONARA YOU BASTARD!!!"
"Oh, son of a-"
At the last second, my bleeding friend, the Builder, saluted me.KABOOM! I was thrown back into a far wall, and the Leader was thrown into the opposite wall. All that was left of the Builder was his black bandana, which I carefully tucked into my pocket.
The Leader got up and dusted his coat, and said, "Seems like the circuits worked. Well, that was disappointing. I had hoped he wouldn't take the coward's way out."
My face was red with rage, and I yelled, " You don't get to say that about him!"
I thought of the one thing that might piss him off. I took off my cookie mask and revealed to him my face. Immediately, my face felt like it was falling off, but it wasn't too bad. I wanted to hang him and drive over his corpse with a car
"Bandit! What happened to your face?!" the Leader asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"Uh, ice water piranhas," I replied, "But that's not the point. Don't you recognize me?"
"Wait... didn't you use to be in my army? I feel like I've seen you before," he said. He squinted his eyes, "Wait a minute... VERIS !!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"
"I told you that this wasn't the most surprising thing you'd ever see. Captain Titan, Damon, THEY WERE ALL ME!!! "
"Can I even trust the work you had done?!"
"I dunno, can you?"
"AAAAAH! Why would you tell me this now?! I'm second-guessing myself!"
"Just wanted you to know since one of us isn't getting out alive tonight, be it you or me."
I ate another cookie and pulled out Freeze Dryer.
"You really are a persistent little shit, aren't you?"
We came at each other once more, with this time sheer willpower keeping me going. I had long exceeded my limit, but I didn't care. I was going to see this through. Bang! It was a bullet from Chipshot. So, my friends had finally awoken. Elaine and I took turns attacking his godlike form, and we seemed to make more progress. We... had a chance! I attacked using Hellfire and frost, but he ripped off his own limbs and regenerated the joints.
Elaine and I had a decent synergy. While I attacked, she defended, and vice versa. Bucket joined him, attacking him from the back. We thought we were finally getting somewhere when we changed it up and started to glow green. Suddenly, we lost our rhythm, and we're getting pushed back.
Soon, we were at the end of the line. The Leader raised his blade in a finishing strike and then brought it down only to be blocked by none other than Axl Corus.
The Leader looked annoyed and said, "What is the meaning of this, Captain?!"
"Guess I'm just in my rebellious phase," he said with a smirk.
I stuffed cookies into my mouth, and I was greeted with the familiar warning sign. As my eye turned red, he looked concerned, and I lunged at him, my sword in my opposite hand. Boom! We were all sent flying backward. My right arm was gone, but it had flown all the way to the Leader and ended up like ╭∩╮. I think it was worth it.
This wasn't a normal explosion either, since it was made with cookies. There was a crack in the illusion, and we started to run towards it. We hopped out and ran over to the ship's escape pods, where we ejected. The Leader had recovered, but it was way too late. We were already gone.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I had managed to get out of there with my life. That was the most unexpected thing. I still had yet to process everything that had just happened. This... whatever you could call this... felt like a blur. We just failed our finals, so it seemed like school had not yet ended for us. We would recover from this blow. I just... didn't know if I could hold it together until we got home.