KITCHEN, AUTHOR FIGHTERS HQ, LA
"So, what now? What do I need to do to make you all believe me?" Alter asked to DM, who was sitting on a chair, thinking to himself. Suddenly, he rose from the chair and confronted Alter Shead with a serious expression.
"Well, there is one way!" DM said.
SECRET DIVISION, AUTHOR FIGHTERS HQ, LA
"What is this?" Alter asked, looking at his surroundings.
This room was quite ample. It was loaded with incredibly advanced technology, machines attached to each wall. At the very end was another room that could be seen through protective glass. On the inside of that room, was nothing.
"Go inside!" DM told him, opening the door into that empty room.
Alter stepped into the room, walking towards the center. Ironically, he couldn't see the outside through the glass, but then he heard a voice.
"Alter, can you hear me?" David's voice could be heard, and Alter answered back. "Loud and clear, captain!"
"Good, now listen! This is known as the Heart Room! Here, we test possible candidates to work for, either Darkness or Light!" David explained, being acknowledged by Alter. "Are you ready? Shall we begin the test?"
"Test me away!" Alter said, as David, from the outside, pressed a red button that lit up the room on the inside.
Suddenly, the room was filled with Darkness. Alter just stood there, looking around. A noise was then heard. He turned around and noticed two balls of energy were growing; one white, and the other black. Both energy balls stood in front of Alter. Alter then understood what was supposed to be done.
"I need to choose one! Whatever I pick, will determine which I'm loyal to, Light or Darkness!" Alter wondered.
"Those who fear Darkness, find Light. Those who fear Light, find Darkness. Those who fear both, find Death." – Alter Shead
EGYPTIAN CHAMBER
Drake walked alone through a Hall, with hieroglyphs written on the walls. He then came across a gigantic door. Drake smiled, and in the blink of a second, the door was blown open. On the other side were Krome and Marik, who stood there looking at Drake who walked to them.
"Vandalizing Egyptian property? Can't say that it's our primary objective!" Marik said, with disgust, making Drake smile.
"C'mon Marik, it's just a hideout!" Drake then turned his look to Krome. "And who's this?"
"Krome, the guy our Master was looking for!" Marik stated, quickly introducing Krome, who just stood there looking at Drake, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses.
"Hmm, looks like a regular thug!" Drake said, but suddenly he felt a hand on his throat that pulled his entire body in the air.
Drake was being choked in mid-air by Krome, who just stood there looking at him, his expression hidden. After a few seconds, Krome spoke up.
"Does this make me look like a regular thug?" Krome asked, letting go off Drake, who landed on the floor.
"Y-yes!" Drakle said, standing up, still with a smile glued to his face.
"Krome isn't simply a low-life criminal, he's a machine that was born only to kill!" Marik said, and then Drake looked more carefully at Krome's face, and that's when it hit him.
"Hey, you look like that Alter Shead Author that I met a few moments ago!" Drake said. "Are you twins, or something?"
This time, it was Krome's turn to smile.
"Let's say I'm an improved copy of Shead! My mission is revolved around his assassination!" Krome said.
"Hmm, this one must have mood swings! A glitch, maybe? He'll probably be useful in a near future!"
"Hmm, interesting! Anyways, I've given the Authors a demonstration of how powerful Darklight can be! I destroyed Technopolis with a mere piece of that mineral!" Drake stated, proud of his actions.
"I saw it! I must say, it's indeed a tempting material, and those Authors will fall to it, along with their love to write and Light loyalty!" Marik said, a sadistic expression forming on his face.
"Whoever thinks the pen is mightier than the sword clearly has never encountered automatic weapons." – Douglas MacArthur
HEART ROOM, AUTHOR FIGHTERS HQ, LA
(The Song "Getting Away With Murder" By Papa Roach Starts Playing)
Alter's right hand was shaking violently. The more it reached the Light Ball, the more violent the shaking would be. On the other hand, his left hand would get more comfortable the more it reached the Darkness Ball, which made Alter wonder.
Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate
What creates my own madness
Suddenly, his left hand involuntarily twitched, and in the blink of a second, was an inch away from touching the Darkness Ball, while his right hand was holding out from behind his head, trying to get nowhere near close the Light Ball.
And I'm addicted to your punishment
And you're the master
And I am waiting for disaster
"This is definitely not what I was expecting! While Darkness is pulling me in, Light pulls me away! I have to find the strength in me to avoid the Darkness!" Alter said to himself, struggling to regain control of his body.
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth again
I am getting away with murder
It isn't possible
To never tell the truth
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Getting away, Getting away, Getting away)
"What's happening in there, DarkMagicianmon? What are you doing to Alter?" David asked, showing worries in his voice.
"I'm not doing anything, it's his heart! Darkness only attracts the dark-hearts! Looks like our Author buddy is a traitor!" DM said, but then David understood what was happening.
"Of course he's a dark-heart! He's the real Son of Satan!" David practically screamed that from the top of his lungs, as DarkMagicianmon turned to him, shocked at what he had just heard.
I drink my drink and I don't even want to
I think my thoughts when I don't even need to
I never look back cause I don't even want to
And I don't need to
Because I'm getting away with murder
"You're… you must be kidding! Satan has bared many demon children throughout the Bible and the Necrinomicon Ex Mortis, how can you be sure he's the REAL one?" DM asked, starting to wonder if he screwed it up by placing Alter in the inside.
If Alter was truly the Son of Satan, his heart would automatically choose the Darkness. But if he struggled to keep control, but it would all be in vain, his demonic powers could awaken and unleash a terrible mass of energy that could obliterate LA and a fewer surroundings.
"Because I know him, I've battled alongside with him months ago against Darigan! We need to take him out of there!" David said, but then DM held him back.
"No wait! Remember, we cannot stop the machine even if we wanted to! There's some really powerful magic inside, it wouldn't let us cross!" DM said.
"SHIT, SHIT! What if we blow it to bits?" David asked, but DM looked at him again.
"And risk killing Alter in the middle?" DM explained, while David just sighed at the options. The last thing he wanted was to see was his long-time buddy decease in such short time of reencounter.
"You do know that if Alter doesn't succeed, it'll…"
"It'll be the end of LA, yes I know! Yet, something tells me I should trust this Author!" DM said, looking at the inside of the room, where Alter seemed to be in excruciating pain.
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth again
I am getting away with murder
It isn't possible
To never tell the truth
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away, Getting away with murder)
In the inside of the small room, Alter struggled to get as less as close to the Darkness Ball as he could, although his efforts were just as slim as the chances of his other hand getting any more close to the Light Ball. The more seconds passed, the more strength was drained from him.
"If this keeps up, I'm dead sure I'll have to fall for the Darkness! I need to do something, but…" Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, his right hand reached out to his back, pulled out the Heartbreaker sword and slashed both the Energy Balls.
A blinding light then consumed the room with enough fierceness to penetrate the walls and succumb into the outdoors, eventually consuming anything in its surroundings. A few seconds later, everything whited out.
(The Song Pauses)
UNKNOWN
Alter then opened his eyes and found himself in a white, empty background. He took a look around, but nothing gave him any interest, despite the slight curiosity that had started to form on his head about where he was. He then turned around to find a familiar figure.
"Coach? What are you doing here?" Alter asked, giving Coach a questioning look. It had been a while since he hadn't seen Coach. Well, a few hours, to be exact.
"Do you remember what happened a few moments ago?" Coach asked out of nowhere to an astonished Alter, realization taking over him.
"I think I slashed the Light and Darkness Balls, right? With the Heartbreaker!" Alter answered, but then came to a conclusion. "Is that the reason I'm here?"
"Yes, it is! That simple act managed to take away the dozens of thousands of lives of LA, including your Author friends' lives!" Coach said, resulting in a very shocked Alter looking incredulously at him.
"You mean that… I… I… killed DarkMagicianmon and David?" Alter asked, knowing the answer already.
"Yes, you did! But do not worry, thanks to my time-controlling powers, I managed to turn back time a few minutes before your misguided actions took place!" Coach said, revealing his powers to Alter in the middle of a very unusual comfort.
Alter then stood quiet for a while, thinking about what could had possibly gone wrong. In that situation, slashing away the balls to cancel the Heart Room's effects seemed to be a decent plan, to say the least. But it had never gone through his head that it would do such potential damage. He then remembered one of Coach's advices in his first training session.
"In a battle, you cannot just take out whatever weapon you wish at random, and expect it to always work! You have to develop a fast thinking and design a strategy, depending on the opponent you're facing!"
Sudden realization then hit him once again.
"Wait, you said you controlled time! That must include some kind of psychic abilities in the middle, right?" Alter asked, while Coach just nodded. "Then…. YOU predicted this! That's why you were training me; so that this wouldn't happen!"
"Yes, and I see it wasn't enough to change the Future!" Coach said, much to his dismay. "I was training you so I could avoid messing around with the timeline, but I see it did not work as I planned!"
"Sorry, but it's hard to think straight when you have to regain control of your own hands, struggling in different ways!" Alter said.
"Yes, I trained you wrong! Your physical and mental strength never needed training! All you needed was to learn how to build a quick, but effective strategy! Something I discarded from the sessions, leading only to the very vision of the Future!"
"Ok, look, I found a way to repair what I did! Just take me back!" Alter said, as Coach slowly nodded. Before Coach did anything else, he only said: "Be sure to visit the Leader of the Hidden Power!"
Alter had no time to question Coach's last statement, because in the next seconds, in another blink of an eye, the background blacked out, and he was right back in the Heart Room, covered in the Darkness surrounding the very small room. He then looked ahead and saw the Light and Darkness Balls, and closed his eyes.
(The Song Starts Playing From Where It Paused)
Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate
What creates my own madness
And I'm addicted to your punishment
And you're the master
And I am craving this disaster
"I'm not gonna struggle against my Heart! I'll let it decide whatever side I stand!" Alter said in his mind, as he let loose of all force he was using.
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth again
I am getting away with murder
It isn't possible
To never tell the truth
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Getting away, Getting away, Getting away)
I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth again
I am getting away with murder
It isn't possible
To never tell the truth
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder
(Song Ends)
Although the worst happened, especially to David and DM who had witness it first-hand. The second Alter stopped struggling; his left hand was sucked into the Darkness Ball.
"OH NO, ALTER!" David yelled, slamming his fists on the glass that covered the room Alter was.
"Damn…" That was the only thing DarkMagicianmon could say, standing before the sight he was contemplating, in utter shock.
Alter's hand was sucked into the Darkness Ball, whiles suddenly, his other hand then was sucked into the, Light Ball, once again shocking everyone.
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal (COD4)
TO BE CONTINUED
Ye, there it is! Sorry for the other Authors, you'll all come in the next chapter, ALL of you! Till then, read and…. review please!