• Published 31st Aug 2014
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Collision Code - SSJRandomMaster



A hidden message leads to two friends getting themselves stuck in Equestria. Meanwhile, a long-forgotten evil begins to make its move...

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Act 3 Chapter 9

Act III: Collision of Wills
Chapter 9: Fracture
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John and Rainbow soared through the sky as quickly as they could, the sounds of destruction and screaming guiding them through the night.

“I see something!” Rainbow yelled out from ahead, both of them slowing to a stop over the buildings. What they saw was nothing short of monstrous. A creature much like what Twilight had described. However, this one was vastly larger than what they’d heard.

The monster had to be at least twenty feet tall, easily far larger than Lyon. This creature wasn’t bipedal, however; it walked on six large legs, each of its feet causing the ground to crack upon it stepping down. It had two large arms which swung around to damage the surrounding area. Oddly enough, though, it had no head, only what appeared to be a large eye on its chest.

“Whoa…” was all John could say to its appearance.

“Any idea how we’re supposed to take that thing down?” asked rainbow. John put a hand to his chin for moment, trying to devise a strategy.

“From what Twilight said, this thing is made up of dark magic—that means it’s not really alive, and probably can’t feel pain,” John surmised—all facts that were inherently obvious.

“And how does that help us?” Rainbow asked, turning to him with a raised brow.

“Because on the flip side of that,” John said, bringing his closed fist down into his other hand, “It means we don’t have to hold anything back.”

While there was a plus in not having to worry about going too far, there was still a danger in going all out: the creature was still close to the buildings, and there were scared civilians running amok, trying to get away from the thing.

“We have to lead it away from the townsponies first,” Rainbow said, motioning to the east, “If we keep going down that path, we’ll reach a park. That’s probably the best place we can take him.”

“Okay, I’ll get its attention. Try to help anyone you can until we get there.”

With a nod, both John and Rainbow dove down as quickly as they could. John chose to fly until he was directly in the path of the creature, just short of the creature’s eye. Without a word, John took in a breath and let out a strong flame. The fire engulfed the creature’s eye. The monster let out a muffled-sounding roar as it raised a hand against the flames.

“Do I have your attention now?” John asked, backing off. The creature’s eye briefly moved about before locking on to John. It began to move forward to reach for its assailant, but John was well out of range.

“What’s wrong, can’t keep—Whoa!” John was cut off, quickly shifting his focus to dodging. One of the creature’s arms extended out towards him at blinding speeds, trying to ensnare him. And it wasn’t the only time he would have to. One after another, the creature continued to stretch its arms at him. Try as he might, John couldn’t dodge all of the lightning fast strikes, and eventually wound up taking a hit.

With a grunt, John spiraled backwards, falling hard to the ground as a result.

“Damn,” John groaned, getting back to his feet, “That thing hits—“

He halted, his eyes widened as he looked down the block either way. The giant he’d been fighting had vanished. Immediately, his mind began to race, trying to figure out where it could have gone.

Did the magic dispel, did it hide behind a building, can it turn invisible? His mind raced with the infinite possibilities, but in the end he managed to narrow it down to one.

“Above!” Just as he heard Rainbow’s voice, John noticed a large shadow casting around him. Looking up quickly, he saw it. The creature was high in the air above him and closing the distance to the ground rapidly. John had to think fast; if something that big fell from that height, there was no telling what kind of damage it could cause. And with so many ponies running around frantically, there was no way that no one would walk away unscathed.

Without any other option, John did the only thing he could think to do. With all his might he flew straight up towards the falling creature, bracing for impact. John collided with it, and immediately began to feel the force of a skyscraper bearing down on him. He didn’t falter, instead moving his arms into position and putting all his strength into making sure the giant didn’t hit the ground at terminal velocity. Though they were slowing down, John was convinced that it wasn’t enough.

Luckily for him, Rainbow noticed what was going on and flew into action. Descending to where the creature would make impact, Rainbow began to fly around it as fast as her wings would allow. The speed of her flight started to make the air spiral until a large vortex was formed below the falling creature. The moment it made contact with the vortex, its fall slowed to a stop almost instantly.

“What the--?” John asked, the weight on his shoulder almost completely gone. With his focus completely on stopping the fall, he hadn’t even noticed that Rainbow had set up her own defense until now. He let out a small sigh of relief, glad that Rainbow had his back in this battle. But he would have time to thank her later; for now, they had work to do.

“Rainbow, can you move the vortex?” he asked, raising his voice to make sure he could be heard.

“On it!” Rainbow yelled without needing to have John clarify. With the creature still within the vortex, Rainbow began to move it down the road. With no scrambling civilians in their path, it was a straight shot.

The creature tried to escape its confines, extending its arms to try and grab for something. John deflected each of its attempts before they could even leave the vortex. Finally, they reached the opening to the park; an area where they would have enough space to let loose. Just as the vortex began to die down, John flew at the creature as fast as he could, delivering one good punch to its eye. The creature flew back for several feet before rolling to a halt on the ground.

“Sucker’s sturdy,” John grunted as he shook his fist. Within seconds, the creature began to pick itself back up, and its angry eye now trained on the two responsible for getting in its way.

“Hope you’re ready, Rainbow…because this is where the real fight starts!”
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Corey didn’t need to be told that something was going on. He could hear the thunderous crashing, the shouts for “more guards”, “more guards”, and the yelling of pain. Corey wasn’t specifically able to pick out any voices, but it was better that way.

Ever since hearing the commotion, Corey had stood up, and had begun swinging at the barrier separating him from the ongoing fight against…whatever it was. Though, Corey had a strong guess as to why everyone was in a frenzy—a fact that resonated with him.

He threw punch after punch at the barrier, his mind going a million miles a minute as he tried desperately to break past Twilight’s magic. All he was doing was hurting his hands, but he didn’t care, overcome by emotion.

“He’s out there!” he yelled, “I have to get out there…I have to stop him! I have to!”

No matter how much he yelled at the barrier, no matter how hard he hit it, it wouldn’t even crack a little. With each passing second, Corey’s desire to get free continued to grow, his punches weakening as his desperation slowly gave way to despair. He eventually stopped, one fist trembling against the magenta surface. Even now, not so much as one crack was showing.

“Please…open,” he said, his voice low. The sounds of battle echoed around him, the screams of pain of whoever was getting in his way strong now, “I have to help them…”

“The sweet sound of begging…”

As the words echoed around him, Corey raised his head. As soon as he did, he saw the hallway outside had changed. The lights, which had been shining brightly just a moment ago, had been snuffed out like candles.

“Oh, how I’ve missed it after so many years…”

Due to the darkness and the fact he still hadn’t picked up his glasses, Corey couldn’t see very far down the hall, but he could hear the approaching footsteps. Someone was coming, and he had a pretty good idea of who it was.

He could see signs of movement in the darkness after a few moments; the voice’s owner was almost in sight. It got to a point where he could see something in the shadows—but that was as much as he could see before the footsteps stopped completely. Corey couldn’t see his face, but he knew there were a pair of eyes in the darkness staring back at him.

“Well now, I was hoping I’d find you,” His voice was low, but calm. However, there was a mocking tone to it. Corey had only heard him speak just once and already his rage had been set ablaze once more, “I see that you’ve found my book,” And at the mention of that book, Corey could hear the pride in his voice; at least, that’s what it sounded like.

“Thank you for taking such good care of it,” The voice’s owner continued, “Would be a shame to lose such good memories.”

His rage more than beyond renewed, Corey slammed both of his closed fists on the barrier, causing it to tremble like a plastic window into the outside world.

“You son of a bitch!” Corey screamed, his hands resting on the barrier, “All that pain,” His left hand came down, “All that suffering,” His right hand came down again, “You’re actually proud—“ Both hands again, “of it!? How!?”

At the same time, Corey now had no doubts about who he was speaking to at that moment. The Slayer, the man who had wrote down his diary of horrific events and passed it off as art, was now standing less than ten feet away, directly in front of him. And he could do nothing about it!

“Come now, Corey, I’m sure I’ve told you before…” The figure in the darkness—Slayer, began to move into the light. Finally, Corey believed he’d be able to put a face to the monster that wrote that book. But as soon as he did, Corey’s entire being was filled with shock. It wasn’t the fact that the Slayer looked even crazier than he’d imagined him to be that did it, though.

It was the fact it wasn’t the first time he’d seen him.

I’m a writer.”

“M-Maudlin…?” Corey’s entire body went numb. The “Maudlin” he was looking at now compared to back then… it was like they were two entirely different people. He remembered that Maudlin had a slightly paler color to him, though that might have been the blood on him talking—no doubt from his current victims. His expression, his eyes, instead of being warm and friendly, were cold and savage.

His smile didn’t fade, but his voice sounded lightly disappointed, “What’s wrong, Corey? You don’t look happy to see me… and here I thought we would be good friends.”

“Maudlin”—no, Slayer, walked closer to the barrier. Corey’s fists tightened, his knuckles cracking from the force.

“It was you this whole time…” Corey said, his voice quaking. His mind went back to when he’d met Maudlin for the first time. The words he had said, the hobby that he shared with him, it all started to click in that moment, “You…you actually told me what you do…You were pretending to be someone else…and you still didn’t try to hide it!”

“And if memory serves, you were impressed by it,” Slayer said, “In fact, you were even going to introduce me to Princess Twilight herself.”

Corey’s blood ran cold as he remembered that fact as well. He had brought Slayer straight to Twilight’s doorstep, and he didn’t even know it!

“I know what you’re thinking…and you’re right, I could have,” said Slayer, “But it would have been too easy…taking you down and running off with her. Where’s the fun in that?”

Slayer raised up his hand and placed it on the barrier, and their eyes met. Corey didn’t even care for the utterly soulless stare that was thrown in his direction. All he could feel was rage, especially as Slayer kept talking.

“But it’s different now…” Slayer continued, “Now I can have all the fun I want.”

“I’m warning you,” Corey slammed a hand on the barrier again, “If you go near her, I’ll—“

“You’re not exactly in a position to be making threats, trapped in there…” Slayer interjected, tapping lightly on it, “It’s funny, really. Here, I’m the prisoner from Tartarus, yet you’re the one in a cage. I wonder, just what could you have done to be in this position?”

Corey let out a guttural noise in frustration, but didn’t vocally respond.

“But still, that’s quite a reaction for a friend,” Slayer said, “I wonder…is it truly possible that you see her as something more?”

Corey went silent, watching as Slayer paced the floor just inches from him. However, the silence was all Slayer needed to hear. He laughed for a few moments before turning back to Corey.

“Well now, this changes everything…”

“What are you talking about…?” asked Corey. The grin on the Slayer’s face was still just as despicable as before.

“The reason you’re in this barrier…it’s for your own protection, isn’t it?”

Again, Corey didn’t respond.

“If she’s willing to do this to keep you safe, then you must have a special place in her heart…and if that’s the case, then I know the perfect way to hurt her…”

Slayer’s horn began to glow, and soon so did the rest of him, covered in a black-blue light.

“Physical pain is one thing, but there is nothing more than painful than attacking the heart. So I wonder…” Slayer’s voice seemed to change altogether the whole time. The glow soon began to die down, “How much would it hurt her, if the one to do so was someone she cared for the most?”

The glow completely vanished, and Corey’s eyes shrank to the size of pebbles. Standing on the other side of the barrier, staring right at him, was a perfect copy of himself, down to every detail. It was even wearing his glasses.

“N-no…” Corey said, realizing exactly where this was going.

“Sit tight, Corey,” he said, in Corey’s exact voice, “This won’t take long…”

Corey could stand it no more. With a renewed vigor, Corey began to slam away at the barrier, now using his magic. He shouted the names “Slayer” and “Maudlin”, following them up with threats. All he could hear in response was the taunting laughter of Slayer—who was still using his voice to do it. The laughter was moving away each passing second.

“You’re not going to get away with this, do you hear me!?” Corey screamed, slamming over and over at the barrier, his rage giving way to full-blown blind fury.

Slayer!! I will make you suffer!!
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Twilight could hear the commotion going on around the castle, the sounds of destruction, the screams of the guards being swept aside. She could hear all of it, and as much as she wished she could go out there and help them, she had to stay. It was here that the trap would be sprung, one she was sure would finally manage to subdue the Slayer. But as true as that may be, it didn’t make this any easier for her.

“Just hold out a little longer,” said Applejack, “I know it’s hard, but we can’t back down now.”

Twilight looked to Applejack and nodded. There wasn’t any room for error. All she could do was focus on the task at hand. The sounds of combat were growing closer with each passing second. But then, they stopped, leaving behind nothing more than unsettling silence. Everyone stood there, unsure of what to make of it.

Did…did they stop him? Twilight asked herself. Sure, that was definitely a possibility, but with everything she’d heard, she thought it would take a lot more than that. The silence continued to stretch on; seconds, minutes, they all seemed to blend together. Eventually, Twilight began to stir.

“I’m going out there,” she said.

“Twilight, wait!” Applejack said, “We don’t know what’s going on out there! For all we know he could be setting his own trap.”

Twilight bit her lip as she thought this over. If the other defense points had managed to beat him, they would have surely informed them by now. But on the other hand, if there were no more guards in his way…

It was a hard choice either way, stay here and wait, or go out and risk the whole plan. But before she could make up her mind, something happened. The doors to the room began to move and everyone inside snapped to attention.

“Wait!” Twilight called out, raising her hand towards the guards. The guards were confused, but heeded her request and held their positions. As the doors opened further, the one behind them was revealed.

“Corey!” Twilight stood in shock. Corey was breathing heavily as he leaned against the door. But what really got Twilight’s attention was that he was covered in blood, “Corey, are you—“

Twilight moved towards him, but Applejack got in the way, “Twilight, wait! Remember who we’re dealin’ with? How do we know if it’s really him?”

Twilight blinked and looked back to Corey. All she could think of was how hurt Corey could be right now. But Applejack was right; their opponent was someone who could change his appearance.

“Corey, how’d you get past the barrier?” asked Twilight.

“I didn’t…” Corey said, “He used something…not sure what…Next thing I knew, the barrier went down and he attacked me. I managed to fend him off, but I’m not sure for how long.”

He tried to take another step closer, but his legs gave out on him. He fell to his knees. Twilight tried again to run over to him, but again, Applejack stopped her.

“Twilight, please, you have to believe me,” Corey looked up to her, a weak look in his eyes, “I’m sorry for what I did, I really am. And I don’t blame you for keeping me in that room, I just…I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Applejack could hold Twilight back no more. Without a second thought, Twilight ran past her and towards Corey as quickly as she could. But in her moment of worry for him, she didn’t notice something in his hand: a knife carefully hidden in his palm.

But before Twilight could get too close, something happened. The wall exploded and someone jumped out from the smoke. The very first thought that occurred to everyone—Slayer had finally arrived. But to everyone’s surprise they saw another…

“Corey!?”

The second Corey (who was not wearing his glasses) ignored Twilight’s words, his eyes sharp with rage as he stared down his other self. His feet began to glow as runes surrounded them. In a blur, he charged the other Corey, tackling him away from Twilight.

As both pushed their way towards the wall, one Corey’s fist began to glow violently, more runes appearing. Upon impact with the wall, there was another explosion that shook the room. Everyone watched as the smoke cleared, unsure of what had just occurred. But just as the smoke cleared, as the two Coreys became visible again, it all became clear.

The Corey that had been pinned against the wall had defended himself from the other Corey’s attack. But he did so using something everyone knew was something Corey couldn’t do: a barrier made of black magic.

“Well now, you actually broke through the barrier?” the fake Corey said, “Impressive…”

He broke out into a fit of insane laughter—still in Corey’s voice.

“What are you laughing about??” Corey demanded, sounding as though he would break at any moment. And he was asking the most likely creature by far to cause that break.

“Tell me,” Slayer said, sounding as though he wasn’t in the middle of a fight at all, but the middle of a diner, having a casual chat, “What’s the best part of a hunt?”

Corey snarled, not wanting to respond to the question. He had an idea of what it could be for him, though—

“Don’t have an answer?” Slayer asked, “Well, it’s not like you would come close anyway. The best part…is the hunt itself. Watching your prey desperately attempt to survive but to no avail…and at the end, watching those last gleaming shreds of hope die out!”

On his last word, Slayer’s barrier seemed to explode, causing a shockwave that knocked Corey away from him. Corey grunted, feeling himself go off balance as he was pushed back. However, he managed to stay on his feet, skidding back a few yards until coming to a stop.

“And believe me when I say I will enjoy snuffing out yours,” he said, his eyes slowly shifting over to Twilight, “All of yours…”

Just by the look on Slayer’s face, Corey could sense the intent behind them…not that he’d need to in order to know what Slayer had in mind.

“Over my dead body!” Corey raised his hand, sending runes into his palm. The resulting bolt flew out at Slayer. Just as before, Slayer’s dark magic forged the perfect defense against his attack, deflecting it with ease.

“Trust me, that will be very soon…”

Without responding, Corey put some runes on his feet, charging at Slayer with great speed. It appeared as though it would be a full frontal assault, and as a response the Slayer manipulated his magic to counter. From the center of his shield, one large spike shot outwards. However, it just cleaved through the air—Corey had vanished from sight.

Through his movements, Corey made his way towards Slayer’s blind spot, an impact spell already charged in his left fist. As hard as he could, Corey shot his fist forward, hoping to strike Slayer in the back of the head. But his attempt was for nothing. At the last moment, Slayer’s head moved slightly out of the way, enough to avoid the attack.

How…? Corey thought, but didn’t have time to complete that train before Slayer snapped his head back to look at Corey, a cocky grin on his lips.

“Did you really think you could fool me with that?” he asked, snatching Corey’s wrist, “Pathetic!”

His elbow crashed into Corey’s stomach, knocking the wind straight out of him. That moment of weakness was all Slayer needed. His horn became shrouded in a mist of black, and in an instant, a mass of magic appeared around Corey’s body, like a straitjacket—only this straitjacket extended down to Corey’s legs and to the floor, holding him there like a malformed cocoon.

“I must say,” said Slayer, taking a couple of steps back, “I’m rather disappointed in—“

“Now!” From below his feet, there was a bright magenta glow. Slayer looked down for just a moment before turning to who he knew was the cause. Twilight was staring back at him, her magic flaring with the activation of a spell. He cast a sinister grin in her direction as his horn began to glow again, but then something shot up from the ground—several chains composed of magic. They wrapped around his ankles, wrists, neck, and his horn, seemingly dispelling the magic that had gotten there. The chains then pulled him down to the ground until he was down to one knee.

“Do not let this opportunity pass!” he heard a guard yell. As he looked up, he saw the guards who had until now remained idle bearing down at him with great intent. But as they drew close, not one failed to notice that in spite of his current position—in spite of his current inability to move, he didn’t look worried. In fact, his smirk had seemed to grow to a full-blown insane sneer.

Finally, he let out a chilling laugh as his magic began to flare, and to everyone’s horror—especially Twilight’s—his bindings shattered like panes of glass. After seeing this, the guards froze, but this would be their biggest mistake of the night. Now free, Slayer unleashed a powerful shockwave of magic, knocking the guards away. But his attack didn’t just hit them, it continued on to where Twilight and Applejack had been standing.

And despite their best efforts to defend themselves, it was too late. The force of the attack knocked them back as well into the wall. The impact was hard enough to crack the wall, and both fell to the ground.

Though the moment passed in mere seconds, it all played out in slow motion for one witness. Still bound in Slayer’s magic, Corey saw everything that happened: watching Twilight get knocked back, the pain in her face when she hit the wall, and seeing her body lay motionless on the ground. And to top it all off, Slayer’s face after it happened. There was no denying it. He enjoyed every second of it.

But Corey wasn’t going to allow it.

“Bastard!”

Slayer turned back to where Corey was, more of those runes of his shrouding his whole body. His body seemed to double in size for just a moment, but it was enough to break the bindings, shredding the mass of energy around him like it was wet tissue paper.

“No more…” he said, his body lighting up again, “You won’t hurt anyone ever again!”

He launched forward, his speed even greater than before, so much so it caught Slayer by surprise. The next thing he knew, something rammed him with great force. Both he and Corey shot towards the adjacent wall, crashing through it like it were made of paper.

The blast through the wall caused the two’s momentum to slow. As they passed towards the center of the next room, Slayer finally broke free, knocking Corey away and knocking him back again. Corey landed flat on his back, but quickly rose to his feet as Slayer landed on the ground.

“It’s just the two of us,” Slayer observed, “But tell me, what exactly do you intend to do all by yourself?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Corey asked, his eyes glowing from the magical surge, “I’m going to put an end to your ‘career’…”

“Oh? But I’m a whole different game from Lyon,” Slayer said, clenching his fists, his horn becoming enshrouded in black magic once more, “And if I remember right, you had help and still just about lost to him…”

“Things are different now!” Corey shouted, raising his hands and letting off two green orbs of magical energy. Slayer easily dodged these, only to find a blur at his side, finding himself being punched in the face. As he began to look up, he saw that Corey had vanished again.

Stomping one foot and lifting his hands, Slayer let out another shockwave of dark magic, cutting off Corey’s follow-up attack. Once again, Corey slid back on his feet, but didn’t fall down. He raised up, lobbing another orb in Slayer’s direction. Slayer’s hand, coated in magic, swatted away the bolt, letting it crash somewhere else. Corey rushed him head-on in his moment of distraction.

Corey punched out, Slayer moving his head and throwing a punch of his own. Corey blocked this one, responding with another kick that Slayer blocked, sliding back a bit. Just then, two hands came down hard on his shoulders, and Corey kneed Slayer square in the chin. Taking advantage of his success, Corey immediately ducked low and knocked Slayer flat on his back with a sweep kick, sending him down to the ground.

Charging magic into his fist, Corey immediately slammed his fist down, only to have the force of the shockwave dispersed by Slayer’s defense once again. Stumbling back, he received a kick to the chest for his efforts. Slayer then extended his hands, sending black tendrils from his arms at Corey. Quickly, Corey raised a hand as runes formed in front of him, forming a barrier. The tendril slapped the barrier, leaving a gash in it.

He leapt back, away from the magical shield as the second tendril shattered the barrier with a blunt “punch”. As the two tendrils began to reach out for him, Corey sped up between them.

Slayer retracted his tendrils as Corey came closer, smirking, “You really don’t want to give up, do you…”

Corey didn’t answer, charging an impact spell in both of his fists. He swung out with the first one, which pushed Slayer back—he had put up a barrier in response to the attack. However, his barrier soon dropped, and Corey moved in again, punching out with his right hand.

What happened next, happened in slow motion. Corey’s fist reached out for Slayer. Slayer’s smirk seemed to grow as he moved his arm up, behind the area of contact for the impact spell to work. His forearm made contact with Corey’s, and Corey felt what seemed to be sharp nails dig into his arm, piercing through his skin. The impact spell went off uselessly, causing a shockwave to be sent straight past Slayer.

“W-what the…?” Corey grunted, his arm beginning to flare in pain.

“I think I’m done playing around here,” Slayer said, “I do have business to attend to…”

Corey strained to get his arm off, but it only seemed to make the problem worse. It felt like the more he struggled, the more the nails dug in.

“I was watching your battle with Lyon, remember?” Slayer said, his eyes meeting Corey’s once again, “I know exactly how you fight! There is nothing that you can do that I haven’t seen already…”

He kicked out, making contact with Corey’s stomach. The nails—which Corey now saw were spikes on Slayer’s arm, were made of dark magic, and they cut open Corey some more as he sailed back, landing on his back. His left hand squeezed at the new wounds, his right hand flexing its fingers to make sure it still functioned.

Corey made his way to his feet, throwing his bloodied jacket aside, revealing the fresh wound in all its glory. He growled, and started speaking again.

“Even if that’s true,” Corey said, “I’m not letting you past me!”

“You must have a serious listening problem,” said Slayer, still using Corey’s own voice, “After all, the others who read my art didn’t make it past a page…”

Corey’s fists both tightened, ignoring the pain in his right arm when he did so.

“But you,” Slayer smirked, “You read all of it, despite their warnings. I wonder…what does that say about you?”

Corey’s anger surged again, his eyes glowing brighter. His horn’s aura became erratic, even worse than during his training. He blurred towards Slayer, who readied himself for his oncoming attacks.

“Shut up!” Corey yelled, as soon as he got close, throwing an impact spell out. Slayer easily avoided the attack, “Don’t you dare act like we’re the same!” Yet another failed attack; a kick that Slayer jumped over. As Corey clenched his right fist hard enough that his knuckles cracked audibly, he began to again throw an impact. This time, Slayer blocked it with the shield.

“I didn’t like your work! It was easily the worst example of what someone could become!” A few more attacks, missed or (painfully) parried without any damage done to Slayer, “But what it did…” He backed off, charging a bolt, which physically swelled in his palm as more green runes went into it.

“Was give me more insight on you!” Corey released a massive ball of energy, the force of the launch enough to cause him to fall backwards. The magical bolt hit seemed to hit Slayer dead-on, an explosion kicking up. Corey, who had fallen onto his back, slowly stood up, watching the smoke disperse.

Just as he began to make out a rounded shadow in the smoke, it seemed to stretch out at him. In his moment of hesitation he found himself suffering a cut on his side. Another tendril appeared at his side, Corey narrowly ducking under it. He started moving towards Slayer, guided by nothing more than instinct. The tendrils from the shield scraped him up some more; a cut on his upper arm, on his left leg, his right leg. Eventually, Corey took off at a full sprint, his fist at the ready with yet another spell.

Corey’s hand was soon ensnared, and soon the rest of him was wrapped up in the bindings. They violently lashed downwards, slamming him to the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Afterwards, they began to reel him in towards Slayer.

“It’s like I told you,” Slayer said, “It’s useless…”

Slayer released Corey, and leaned back, still behind his shield. A massive, shadow fist came out, sending Corey flying back towards the wall he’d wrecked. Corey hit the ground back-first, but hit so hard he bounced over onto his stomach. For a few moments, he just laid there. Slowly, though, his hands began to move.

He could hear his footsteps getting ever closer. Corey staggered a bit, winding up down on one knee as Slayer finally began to speak again. Corey closed his eyes, trying to regain some of his focus, already knowing that in itself was impossible.

“This is where your story ends, Corey,” Slayer said, “As for mine, I think I’ll have a good chapter to write about my experiences up here. Worry not, you’ll get a mention, but you should know the book’s focus as well as I do. Oh, I can imagine it all so clearly…”

Corey snarled, feeling odd. He didn’t respond other than that.

“But here, why don’t I give you a sales pitch?”

Corey jerked to his feet as fast as he could, but didn’t move to keep attacking. Something was keeping him anchored to the spot. He knew now he’d never been this angry in his life; so much so he couldn’t hurt the cause of it for fear of what he’d do. All he could feel was a black fog slowly gliding into his mind, preying on the rage he was feeling.

“The stubborn knight who wouldn’t quit getting in my way…turned into my personal pincushion…” Seeing that he didn’t get quite the kind of reaction out of Corey he was looking for—his posture was still that of one ready to battle, so Slayer kept right on talking, “And, as for the princess he was trying to save…what to say…I think I know how to create that part of this scenario.”

At the mention of Twilight, Corey’s temper flared all over again, even worse than before.

“Maybe I’ll tell her what I’ve done to you…break her spirit, before I break her body…”

Corey silently snarled, and as he did so his eyes sprang open. Slayer couldn’t put his finger on it, but they seemed…different. It didn’t matter to Slayer.

“Tell me, what sound do you think she will make… when I clip her wings!?”

At that moment, two perspectives diverged.

Corey looked up at Slayer, his eyes wide. They were still different. His senses were overwhelmed by that black fog, preying on the anger he felt, as well as the hatred that had built up over the course of the preceding days. He felt no more than a sudden, dull thud into his left shoulder as anger finally overtook him…
-----------------------------------------
Slayer smirked, a tendril extended perfectly through Corey’s left shoulder. That expression of fear on his prey’s face was by far the best part of the whole night. After a night’s worth of no challenge, it was refreshing to finally get his payoff. Corey hung his head, seemingly defeated.

“As I recall,” Slayer said, “You didn’t beat Lyon with one arm on your own…”

Corey didn’t respond. He didn’t even look up to regard his words.

“I thought so…” Slayer sighed, moving in closer as the tendril retracted.

“I can’t imagine she’ll be out cold for long, so I’d better hurry and finish with you…” Slayer paused in front of the inert Corey, raising an arm, his horn coating in black magic.

“Now then…what shall I do to you, in order to paint the perfect picture for it?” asked Slayer.

The answer he got was beyond what he expected. He didn’t even notice that Corey’s left fist had clenched, that green runes that were slowly losing their brightness had begun to swirl into it until it was too late.

A crushing blow struck his chest, shattering his ribs and sending him flying across the room. He landed on his back. After a while, he began slowly sitting up, one hand to the new injury, coughing.

“What the—“ Slayer groaned, startled. He looked back up to Corey.

Corey’s bloodstained body was slowly darkening. An aura of black smoke—at least, that’s what it looked like—slowly began to form around him. Then, Corey’s head slowly moved, and his eyes opened. They glowed for just a little bit, but the change from before was clear.

The whites of his eyes had turned green, the irises crimson. A purple fire seemed to extend from each eyeball, making his eyes look even angrier than they already were. He slowly raised one finger towards Slayer.

“You’ve just made your coffin, Slayer,” Corey said, his voice hollow and lifeless, as if the darkness that had overcome him had sucked it all out, “And I’m going to cut you down so you can fit in it…”

Author's Note:

And here's where we leave off for another two weeks. Yeah, some of you probably saw this part coming up as far back as Act 2, but there we go.

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