Back in my life as Kite I walked over to the planning room where the others most likely were. “Hello?”
"In here." I heard Sly call from the kitchen. Entering I saw everyone was here, cramped as it was around a table with some blueprints of the building. "Enjoy your nap?" Sly asked.
“Not as much as I should.” I sighed out while grabbing a chair and sitting down. “So what’s the plan?”
"In short, things are looking in our favor." Bentley said.
"Meaning Mugshot has and is expecting us." Carmaleta said.
"So we're gonna waltz right in and see what's up." Mom added with a grin.
"We need to remember that Nexus and Cooper bots are lurking around." I said while taking a sip from my water bottle filled with thankfully fresh water.
"An issue we sadly have no data on at the moment." Bentley said.
"So we are gonna provide cover while you three deal with Mugshot." Uncle Jim said.
"And us three would be me, Sly, and who?" I asked, slightly forgetting because of all the shit in my other lives.
"Me." Mom said. "I want Answers. According to Mz. Ruby Mugshot can be trusted but I wanna see it for myself."
"And from what we've learned is that Panda King is also trusting, especially since he made China an actual respectable place instead of a growing sapient's rights violation."
"As far as we know at least." Matilda said.
"Regardless, we have to deal with Mugshot first." Bentley said. "You three can enter once we've unlocked the main elevator. We already have the needed keys so it's as simple as knocking out guards and opening up the power switch."
“Sounds about right.” I nodded.
"Let's get going then." Mom said.
“Let’s hope there aren't any ‘unwanted guests’...” I grumbled while finishing my water and getting ready to fight Mugshot.
With a nod everyone got ready. Dealing with the guards was easy. They went down and were all promptly stuffed into a locked room, keys, wallets, phones and weapons removed.
“Simple enough.” I muttered. “Now onto the big dog in charge.”
With a click, flip and button push Mom, Sly and I were heading up to Mugshots penthouse. When the doors opened it was just Mugshot standing there. Part of me was happy to see him out of that suit. Still had the pants on but the top was off, a tank top was on and a lit cigar was in his mouth. "So, the three's of you all decided to come. Fair enough." He said, taking a long draw on his cigar.
“It’ll just be easier to surrender Mugshot.” I said simply. “We don’t need to make this ugly.”
"Heh. Cute. Gotta admit, your fancy powers, abilities. It's impressive, a sane man like myself would know better than to fight a super powered Cooper, let alone three. But You three haven't seen what I have, haven't heard what I've heard betweens Clockwerk and his financial supporters. It's bad. I gotta make sure you three can take him."
“If you didn’t notice, one of Clockwork’s ‘benefactors’ tried to kill us not too long ago.” I frowned. “But fine, if you want to have a go, then let us teach you why you shouldn’t skip leg day.”
"Who's him?" Mom asked.
I was slightly confused what mom meant...before my fur stood up on end and my eyes widened at who I saw. “Everyone get out of here now!” I shouted while bringing out my Cane and sending twenty Ball Lightnings at our ‘uninvited guest’.
In a blur I found myself alone, high atop the Casino. Standing across from me stood the only person who can make my skin crawl. Vincent. He leaned against several large crates. "You shouldn't be here." He said calmly.
“Neither should you.” I growled while preparing to fight. “The fuck are you doing here Vincent?”
"I am meant to be here. I know my history. You were never here. Originally."
“Dogshit.” I frowned. “If you were here, then why hasn’t this entire world been terraformed by now? Cause playing by the rules isn’t your strong suit.”
"You'd be surprised." He said, tone still that calm almost indifference. "Not every world I touch I kill right off. Fact is, slaughter gets old. And it's far more time consuming than you'd think. Besides, Nexus needs numbers, and it's easier to get them alive over taking them as corpses. I mean, Necromancy and Cybernetics are an option but eh, just gets old."
I rolled my eyes. “Either way, so the fuck are you doing here?”
"Honestly? Entertainment. The resources here are nice but, when you've lived as long as I have you need to find something to keep you thinking."
“You’ve lost before and you’ll lose again you know that right?” I asked simply.
"Hm." He hummed, smirking. "Win or lose it doesn't matter. I once just sat there, and watched everything play by and the ending was all the same. I never even lifted a finger. In the end, my job is always done. You've bought time, ironically by destroying it, but I've waited this long I can wait till the end."
“It’s not going to matter cause I’m going to make sure all this,” I waved my arms around. “Stop’s being how it is and be truly free. I don’t know how or when, but I’m going to kick Truth out and get our world out of this Matrix level bullshit.”
"Is this the part where you prove your point? Try and fight me to show me how strong you are?"
“No, this is the part where I kick your ass.” I growled as I leapt forward with Skysplitter and swung down at the bastard.
He didn't move. The edge of Skysplitter hitting him right to the head. There was an explosion and rubble and dust blew into the air. When it settled Vincent and I were still there. The roof was largely in ruins and he just looked at me from under Skysplitters blade. Unphased. "Isn't this the part where you kick my ass?" He asked, still speaking in his indifferent tone.
I brought out my Cane and raided it into the air. “Grand Lightning!” I shouted as I jumped off Vincent and a massive bolt of lightning crashed down onto him, hoping to have done something.
He still stood there. The concrete around him scorched but he was untouched. He just… looked at me. "Done yet?"
“Oh come the fuck on…” I groaned as I fired bolts of energy from Interdiction, knowing full well that does damage to bastards like him even if I’m woefully underprepared.
As the beams hit I saw him still leaning against that wall, the wall behind him crumbling and breaking until it was gone. Behind him now was just a wall of code holding him up now. I was panting. "My turn yet?"
“Come on, how am I not even doing any damage here?” I growled, knowing full well Vincent is stronger than me but it shouldn’t be this large of a difference.
"Does that matter?" Vincent asked, not standing up and walking up to me. "You say you want this world to be free, to remove or kill Truth and make it free. This reality is so finite. I've lived long enough to see time and time again. World, universes, cycles, they are born, grow, expand. Then, they build, materials go, Admins could care less. Even if time just goes to the end code itself even ends, and the Admins even die out. As does the void shortly after that, and it just repeats. A pointless cycle of rebirth and death. Freedom won't change that, delay, maybe, but won't stop it. You want to help the world?" He placed a hand atop my head. My blood chilled. "Die fast." I felt him… push. Yeah, push my head back and felt my body crash into… is that… that's the Eiffel tower. Hey I'm home… ouch… as I got up I saw the damage that… attack did… so much damage, and a massive ass trail.
Vincent was walking through the ruined buildings he "pushed" me through. Stepping over or on corpses as he reached back to me.
I switched to Master form and got back up quickly, holding my Cane and Frozen Pride. “I won’t die, and I’ll make you pay for all of this.” I growled.
He sighed, hands behind his back as he stood there. "Too many times. Too often we've fought. Every time you're so self righteous and heroic. Sometimes, your more beasttial, primal or even savage. Just depends on what I did to you each time."
“Then why keep this up? Why continue to do something that you think is ‘inevitable’?” I asked bluntly. “If you’re so knowledgeable on all of this, wouldn’t you have just stopped and been happy with the only person that ever loved you?” I asked.
Vincent just looked at me, and gave a small grin. "Heh. I never loved her." It was a blur. Again I crashed far, slamming through buildings. Homes, hospitals, schools, stores and office buildings reduced to rubble. I had my Deathless healing, and each time I was about to crash land, Vincent was there, kick, punch, elbow or even slap me back across the globe. After a bit he started using baseball bats, tennis rackets. Entertainment, he had said. He is just playing with me.
Finally I crashed back hard into the beach of Cane Island, Vincent sitting on the sand next to be as my Deathless body healed painfully. "So, is this the part where you get up and keep trying?" He asked, a bord tone in his voice.
Book of Retribution fell to the ground and opened up to a very intricate and detailed page. “___” I ‘said’ as Pure Nothingness suddenly rushed out and rammed into Vincent, managing to push him back ever so slightly before it vanished. ”Out of mana!? Already!? Fuck!” I mentally shouted, hoping that spell would have lasted longer than what amounted to a sucker punch as the Lexicon disappeared as I used my Cane to help myself up.
"Not bad. But your pronunciation was off." I looked up, seeing Vincent as he looked at me. "It's pronounced ____."
An insult to my right, my being as he used Nothingness on ME! My Crown, my Adminhood was Nothingness… and he used it on me… fucking corrected me… I just layed there… how… how did Cript fight this bastard?
”Oh wait...I remember…” I thought to myself, as I felt my entire body pulsate and glow a dark red. “Haven’t used this in a while...but let’s give it a try.” I muttered as I managed to leap forward, feeling my legs crack as I swung my Cane down with one of the first techniques Cript taught me, using all my emotions, pain, regrets and sins into it. “Past Sins!” I shouted as I slashed down at Vincent in some last ditch attempt to do something to him.
I hit down to the side of his head. For a while time seemed at a stand still as I made the impact. Our eyes were locked in this stand still. When it was over, I saw just a few bits of hair fall off from the impact. "All that for just some bits of hair?"
“It means I can cut you, and if I can cut you that means I can hurt you.” I growled.
"Bla bla bla bla bla." Vincent replied, standing as he kicked me down. I wasn't sent flying across the globe, thankfully, just to the sand floor. I was so tired… I haven't felt tired like this in so long. "You cut my hair, but blood would have been preferable. You're Deathless now, so I can't kill you. But, I can do one just as good." Vincent snapped his fingers. Appearing behind me was this… coffin of all metal… I could tell it was that Deathless harming metal. It had designs that were clearly old, and just radiated with an old power long forgotten.
“Question…” I started as I coughed up blood. “How...did Eclipsa make that? I saw...in her memories how Cript told her about it...how?”
He looked at me for a time. "You won't like the answer." He said, the coffin door opening. Inside it looked… actually kinda nice. Soft, comfy. He then grabbed me by my shirt and lifted me up. "Deathless like you, like Cript, can't die. But, you can sleep. These coffins were built to give you Deathless the closest thing to a death you can get. Litteral eternal slumber. This body you have, Kite, King, Diane and all those starfish clones. It powers down your code, your abilities. Your starfish clones will disband and even if you are fused to be one person with others be them proper fusions of this marriage one you got going on there you won't be able to hear or feel them, and neither will they once you're asleep in there. It's peaceful really."
“Go...fuck yourself.” I growled as I weakly tried to fight against him. “But...what’s the answer I won’t like about Eclipsa?”
He gave the smallest smile. "I promised not to tell. And I'm a man of my word." He started walking, lifting me by my shirt to put me in the coffin. I kicked, punched, and tried anything. As we got closer, each step I kept thinking back to my life. What I was, who I am now. This wasn't dying but it was just as bad if maybe worse.
”Damn it...I don’t want to lose everyone…” I thought to myself sadly as I continued to struggle against Vincent.
As I headed to the coffin, blood feeling cold as dread overcame me, I heard a whoosh, a crack and was suddenly on the ground. Vincent stood there, arm missing from above the elbow as his hand and partle arm was still on my shirt, gripping and soaking me in blood.
We both turned, there standing at the edge of the beach partly in the water was someone. They wore an all black armor that looked like a mix between combat and riot armor, a clock stretching along from their body as pitch black as the armor, and their helmet had a mask that covered their face. The shape of the mask was something between a gas mask and a plague doctor's mask all kept in an image near resembling a skull. "And just who the hell are you?" Vincent asked. His decapitated arm just let go of me, floated back to him and reattached and healed immediately. Clothing fixed too.
The figure didn't speak, just stood there. A smoking rifle in their hands I could tell they kept on Vincent. Whatever the hell those bullets are made of, I'll take all of them please.
I scurried away from the coffin towards the strange person. “Thank you...uh...whoever you are.”
They didn't look at me. Keeping their eyes on Vincent. Their mask let out this… gas or something and they fired again, Vincent dodged but then I saw as the side of his leg had a small bleeding hole in it. "Hmm. Tracking bullets." He hummed, catching the bullet as his wound healed and pushed it out. He looked it over. "Huh… this is new."
Vincent rushed, a blur passing me as he rammed into the mystery person. There was a massive plum of sand, water and just wet sand as he did. When it all fell I saw the mystery person and Vincent locked arms. The mystery person actually blocked his attack with their arm and Vincent was trying to push forward. "Impressive. There's only a small handful of people in creation who can do that, and I know them all… yet I don't know you."
The mystery person managed to push him back, quickly pulling a small knife, the blade glowed a sickly blue as they swiped it at Vincent, who was dodging or parrying them back… who the hell is this guy?! They… they're keeping up with him!
“Yeah...cause of course…” I grumbled, trying to recover my strength after all of that and let the mystery person deal with Vincent real quick.
As the two fought the mystery person managed to get a cut in on Vincent. He stood there for a moment, watching as his wound kept bleeding. "Interesting." He hummed, dodging a stab attempt. Using their own momentum against them Vincent pushed the mystery person into the sand, the bullet he was shot with still in his hand. He looked at it. "Looks like this time around this cycle has a lot of differences." He said, snapping his fingers, the coffin vanishing. "Looks like for once I might have to start planning over relying on prior knowledge. This will be… Fun."
I really, really really did not like the way he said Fun… it was a blink and he was gone, leaving me on the beach with mystery badass getting themselves up.
“He stole one of your bullets...that’s not good.” I started. “Also...who are you?”
They looked over at me. They looked at me for a long, long time before finally getting up, knocking off the sand and just began walking off to the beach. I watched as they walked on the water for a while before snapping their fingers. The portal they opened was… it felt like a DTL, DTN, DTG, and DTD were all swirling around in there. That energy alone made me feel… better? They entered and it closed.
“What the fuck…” I muttered, before pulling up my binocucom. “Hey, can anyone hear me?”
"Kite!" Sly came in. "Where the hell are you? There was just a blink and you were gone! Mom is worried and Mugshot is concerned! Next thing we know Bentley tells us there were earthquakes or something just popping up around the globe."
“Remember that guy I told you all to get away from?” I asked. “Yeah so...we had a fight and he royally kicked my ass...so much so that I was ping ponged from France to China to Cane island.”
"How the fuck are you alive?!"
“Reasons I’ll get to later, but just tell Mugshot to give it up and give us the pages, I’ll head off to Panda King since I’m closer...our time table is getting a lot shorter because of this…”
To be continued...