A/N: Oh, would you look at that? This spin-off is having it's 1-year anniversary on the 9th... very interesting. Well, this is one I've been thinking about awhile and I'd say it almost tops King Webber for favorite AU xP
This Chapter's What If is...
What if Webber was not strong enough to fight back Nightmare? Originally, he was able to stay himself long enough to free everyone, but that's not the case here. Nightmare aims to break whoever it has under its control, and now it's Webber's turn to be shattered...
Webber's POV
It was hard to see.
Not just hard to see as in my vision was fuzzy or it was too dark to. In fact, neither of those could have even been factors. Totally blind to normal vision, I relied on my ability to see auras.
So... why couldn't I see them anymore?
I knew where I was, however. I knew I would be standing on the frosted grasses of what was once Charlie's domain but now was under my control. The air would have a slight chill to it but warm enough not to have many problems. Which raised another question...
Why couldn't I feel it?
It was as though as feeling had drained from me, physically and emotionally. In fact, emotions felt like an almost absurd concept at the moment. Then I blinked, and the force that had forced me into that empty space in my mind drew back, and I fell to the ground, gasping for air. I closed my eyes for a long moment, trying to figure out where I was exactly. I knew the world, but I did not recall going away from my group at any moment.
After a minute or two, there were only a couple things I could comprehend.
One, I was alone.
Two, I was confused.
And... three... there was something or... someone... dead nearby.
Lastly...
His blood was on my hands.
I drew in a shaky breath, my returning senses swamped with the hot, metallic scent. Who was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire this time?
I had learned only a short time ago of my predicament, but already I had been caught by this strange monster that blocked my conscience entirely and left me bloodied and shaken. A handful of rabbits had been eliminated by this monster, who I could only guess was the enigmatic demon called Nightmare who had appeared to me on the morning before I discovered my newly growing powers.
Oh, poor creature. I thought wretchedly. For the reason of my gift of sight always being the last sense to return, I was unable to distinguish exactly what kind of creature lay at my feet. So I simply waited for it to come back. I would be able to pick out traces of its aura to figure out my latest victim, as I had several times before. I didn't have to wait for its shape to be made out, though.
I recognized his aura long before that.
Unique to only one person in the world, as with mine, Wilbur's, Nick's, and WX-78's.
Silver with a reddish tinge to the edges, black eating away at the silver under the red stripe.
Wilson's.
I blinked furiously, trying to get the image out of my head. There is no way I could've killed him, I told myself angrily. No way. But my gift would not- and did not- lie. No no no no no no no... I didn't want... this... Oh, Wilson, I'm sorry. I lowered my head, feeling a lump of grief and anger build up in my throat. You were right...
You can't trust me.
I'm a monster.
We were friends... remember? A long time ago? You saved my life... you went out of your way to make sure I recovered from the tree guard, all that time ago. If it weren't for you, I would've failed long before this...
I looked beyond the shadowed trees, using my knowledge of the layout of my world to find my way back. I need to tell them...
I'll tell them and go.
I can't keep doing this. I can't let myself hurt anyone else. I felt a sharp pain in my palm, and when I glanced at my hand quickly to check it I saw long, dark claws digging into it. I realized that moment... if I was going to hurt someone, running away wouldn't stop it. Whoever this demon was and whatever it really wanted- how could I believe that it just wanted to keep me alive after this?- it would get it no matter how far I fled.
Maybe it was just protecting me, a thought echoed in my mind, almost as though I still had the treacherous voice of my spider speaking to me. Maybe Wilson was going to do something to me. Maybe he was going to hurt me again... I shivered uncontrollably, the scene of him slitting my throat and blinding me playing in my head as though it happened just the day before, even though it was over a year ago since it happened. He's tried it once, maybe he was going to try again?
But something in that didn't quite click with me. I believed it, but my instincts told me it was wrong. Well maybe I don't have the sharpest instincts, I thought wryly, remembering that it was my instincts that killed my sister and nearly killed me. Maybe I need to follow my mind more. Especially since I no longer have any influence.
Except for that demon... I felt more than thought.
No. Nothing that has happened wouldn't have happened if I wasn't in danger. I sighed heavily and dropped to my knees, letting myself mourn just a little bit. Whatever the case is... I'm sorry our chance at being friends again is lost. I hated to say it, though... despite my current actions...
I hardly cared at all.
…
The days afterward went by almost normally. During that time I acquired limited mind reading, but I found that the others pretty much said whatever they thought. I could sense everyone's grief at Wilson's disappearance- I couldn't possibly let them know what happened... for my sake and his- but I could also sense traces of relief shared by Wilbur and WX, and, I had to admit, myself.
Nick, however, wasn't taking it so well.
He shut down, more than normal. He was never very talkative in the first place- to us at least as he spent his time with Wilson- but without what his mind called his 'best friend of this world' he felt lost. Even when Wilbur had pressed him about the Revolution, something he used to be so proud of talking about and would do so with a glimmer in his unnaturally blue eyes, he simply gave one-word answers or sometimes, none at all.
"Hey, are you okay?" Wilbur asked tentatively, speaking quietly and only to me- we had discovered that after my spider's demise my ability to speak that language did so as well-. "I know it's been lonely without Wilson but... you still have us!" He gave me a sort of half-smile. I could tell he was trying to cheer me up, and I forced a smile back even though my mind was a whirlwind of darkness and terror.
"It's not that..." I murmured uneasily. "Of course, it is weird without him... he's been with me the longest actually since WX was gone a long time and you and Nick didn't join our group until later... but I'm actually worried about him." I nodded to the blue-eyed warrior, who was running his finger down his blue blade's edge as though testing the sharpness.
"I've been worried about him too," he agreed, much to my relief missing my lack of grief at Wilson's disappearance. "It's just..." he let out a shaky breath, and I could barely comprehend how closely Wilbur, the one who's mind told me he was okay with just about everyone dying, save for me and maybe WX, was to tears. "I've lost so many people, Webber. I think I can save them but... I never can..." He touched his crown almost unconsciously.
"I thought you never got close to anyone?"
"I've never opened up about it," he responded after a moment. "And I've dealt with Nightmare in the past... I've learned how to block my mind from mind readers." He gave me a halfhearted wink.
"Did you think you could save Wilson?"
"If I would've known what happened to him...? Perhaps. But..." he looked down at his paws, flexing and unflexing his claws and disturbing the ground below him. "Webber, it's been over a week and... and I don't think he's coming back."
I almost explained to him what happened. After all, if I couldn't trust Wilbur or WX, who could I trust? But then I looked into his eyes and I saw swirling emotions and raging grief so painful I couldn't bring myself to. He was right... he was amazing at blocking his mind because none of that showed through. Since I learned I could do this... I stopped looking at his eyes. His mind tells me nothing compared to what his eyes tell me. I looked at Nick. Maybe he's the same way. Maybe I base him off of what he thinks and not what he thinks he feels.
Oh, I'm so sorry Nick.
"I don't either," I sighed.
"I wish I knew what happened..." he poked a hole in the dirt with his front claw.
He knows something. I realized. He knows something... I don't think he even knows he knows.
But he knows.
I can't let him.
I felt a little sick at where my mind was going. I closed my eyes tightly, gritting my teeth. "I have to go," I hissed.
"Webber? Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," I snapped, flipping around to walk away. The second I started moving I began to feel dizzy, and I knew Nightmare was trying to break through again. I won't let it.
In a daze, I fled in a random direction. I have to keep this secret! No one can know!
In my haste, I realized I wasn't looking ahead of me as well as I should and I was promptly cloths-lined by an amused robot.
"YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T BE RAGING THROUGH THE FOREST BY YOURSELF," he commented, a sneering tone in his voice as per usual.
"I'm not in the mood, WX," I growled. "Get out of my way." I shoved him away and attempted to continue fleeing before he grabbed my arm.
"ALL JEERS ASIDE, WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH WILSON." He paused for a moment before adding, "YOU'RE TOO IMPORTANT TO LOSE."
"I said get out of my way," I snatched my arm back and before I even could stop myself my other arm was forming an attack, and a blast of pure darkness sent him flying backward. Of course, it wasn't enough to hurt him that badly, and he was already scrabbling to his feet again, his 'eyes' wide with shock. He obviously didn't expect my rebuttal to be attacking him instantly.
He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again, examining me silent for just a few seconds, realization sparking anew in his gaze. "...YOU KILLED WILSON..."
I was about to deny it but before I can something else woke up inside me. "You can't know!" I shouted. "No one must know!"
"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" He continued, not sounding too sure whether he was right or not, but his accusation was gaining strength every word he spoke. "HOW COULD YOU DO IT."
I looked down, quivering. "He wanted to hurt me," I murmured shakily. "He wanted to hurt me WX! What was I supposed to do!?"
"TALK TO HIM! EXPLAIN TO HIM YOU WEREN'T THE BAD GUY!" He closed his 'eyes' tightly and looked away. "I SUPPOSE YOU ARE THE BAD GUY NOW, THOUGH." He looked up again, new resolution burning in his gaze and searing in his mind. "AND I SUPPOSE I AM YOUR NEXT VICTIM." He looked... unconcerned...
"You are essentially begging to be," I muttered.
"I KNOW I CAN'T STOP YOU," he went on. "I KNEW FROM THE SECOND THAT YOU TOLD ME WHAT YOU WERE THAT IF YOU DID THIS NO ONE COULD STOP YOU." His voice took on a challenging note. "THE ONLY THING STOPPING YOU RIGHT NOW IS YOUR OWN MORALITY. THE SECOND YOU LOSE THAT... THE WORLD IS GONE. SO GO AHEAD. PROVE YOUR DEMON RIGHT. PROVE YOU ARE TOO WEAK-MINDED TO HOLD HIM BACK AND KILL ME RIGHT NOW. OR... PROVE YOU ARE STRONGER THAN THAT AND WALK AWAY."
"You dare call me weak?" I seethed.
"I AM GIVING YOU THE OPTION TO PROVE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER."
I made a move to walk away, to show I was no threat, to show I was stronger.
Nightmare, however, refused to let me show such mutiny.
I forced myself to look down. I didn't want to see what was in his gaze. I looked back up anyway, slowly, to meet his challenge. "I'm sorry," I hissed, feeling the last of myself drain away.
He took an uncertain step back, as though wondering to fight or flee, but before he could decide he was on the ground again, this time real damage was meant to be made, and that is exactly what happened.
Two seconds.
Two seconds was all it took and he was stripped of his- however artificial- life.
Despite this... despite everything... everything we had done together and for each other... I felt even less remorseful than I did after Wilson.
He wasn't real. He wasn't alive. He didn't have a real mind, or real emotions, or feel real pain.
So why should I care?
I jerked my head to where I came from. You're next, my mind hissed.
Before I had even taken a few steps my next victim was slinking towards me, his tail dragging on the ground. He looked up, slowly, and met my gaze. He didn't look mad, or shocked, or anything I expected him to look. He didn't even pay any attention to my previous victim. He just looked... sad. "Webber..." he murmured patiently, stopping a good several feet away from me. "I know... I know this isn't you. I also know... that I might die. I know I probably will die. But please... for all it's worth... please hear me out.
"I probably deserve to die. I've done far too many horrible things with my life to stay alive much longer." Wilbur risked a step closer to me. "You never knew them. You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love- not even love like a sibling, but truly... truly love. I know I've... said before that I have never loved anyone... but I lied. I've always lied... actually, almost everything your know about me is a lie. I'm not happy. I'm not excitable. I'm not a good guy. I was the bad guy... I was the bad guy of my own story, Webber. I could have been a hero. I could have been the hero who saved the world.
"I didn't though. I turned into a monster. I let myself turn into a monster. And because of that... I lost everyone I loved. And you know whose fault it was? Mine. It was my fault." He was silent for a moment. "You never knew Roslyn or Elizabeth. I think you would've gotten along fine with them."
"Roslyn? Elizabeth?"
He closed his eyes for a long minute. "It's ancient history now."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I don't want you to become a miserable creature like me. You have the choice still, Webber. You can still be the hero! Even if you kill me... you have the chance to turn around. Be glad that you have the choice because I didn't."
More silence.
"Elizabeth is not dead."
Wilbur jerked his head up to meet my gaze. "Wh-what?"
"She's very much alive. Where you got the idea she is dead is beyond me."
His eyes lit up for a moment, and he smiled. "My Elizabeth," he purred, before looking away again. "She doesn't care, though. She hates me. And rightly so."
"Of course. After all, you ruined her life."
He opened his mouth to protest then stopped. "I know this isn't you," he whispered. "Nightmare..." he was about to continue speaking but he doubled over suddenly, his face contorted in pain. Blood began dripping from the prime ape's belly until he stood in a puddle of crimson. He didn't fall, though- not yet. Instead, he looked up, a regretful look on his face. "You killed her this way too," he hissed, holding his arm over the wound as if trying to stop the blood flow.
A quick scene flashed in my mind, but I was only aware of a few things before it disappeared. Wilbur, slightly younger but not by much at all, perhaps only a few years, crouched in front of another, slighter lighter colored prime ape, crying; blood spilling from its stomach; Maxwell, behind me and watching coldly; Charlie sobbing behind me.
Nightmare's memory, I noticed seconds before he started speaking again.
"I know I won't survive this," he breathed, panting already and his legs weakening. "But before I die... please... do with me whatever you did with her..." His legs crumpled and he rolled onto his side, laughing with tears running down his face and his eyes growing dimmer. "I won't be alone anymore," he sighed with his last breath.
Something snapped in me. Being caught between the murdered bodies of my two closest friends, I slowly, so slowly it would be hard to distinguish, I looked at the very last standing member.
Nick.
His blue eyes were wide and his hand was wrapped tightly around the hilt of his sword. A manic grin spread across my face. "Nicholas Swiftsword the fifth," Nightmare purred. "It's been awhile since I've seen the Power Keeper face-to-face, wouldn't you say? Why... possibly even in the time of my complete form! It's a shame I couldn't be complete to fight you once more, but I don't need to be."
A quick name was mumbled under his breath and he took a step forward. "All that stands before you and your eternal demise is this sword!" He brandished the blue-bladed weapon, which glowed as it reacted to my presence.
"A sword?"
"The Keeper's Blade, the Soul Reaper. The only thing that can destroy you."
"Unfortunately if you kill me you'll be taking my vessel with me."
"Do it, Nick!" I managed to shout through the demon's taunts.
He looked uncertain.
"A battle told since the beginning of time itself! Of the legendary traitor."
Traitor?
"A monster designed to be indestructible! It was going to destroy all that is good!" A snarl made its way into Nightmare's voice. "But it betrayed the Abyss. It turned on its creator and had to be eliminated. What else could it do than create another monster? Identical to the original but formed of the Abyss? Something that could not be taken away from its purpose. And so forth came Sirris."
A battle cry erupted from the normally docile warrior and he lunged forward, slashing his sword in an arc and missing me by a hair.
"The Keeper and Sirris went to battle. The Keeper believed he had won, but he had only shattered the monster's soul into pieces." Nightmare attempted to lash out with a clawed shadow but I stopped it just seconds before it hit Nick. "After that, because of the mistake of the very first Power Keeper, every new Power Keeper was forced to fight a shard of its biggest enemy. For the Abyss was a fool and created the Power Keeper to become stronger every time he comes back to life. The ever-so-powerful and impossible to defeat!"
Another flurry of well-aimed attacks from Nick and I dodged each of them, saved only by my own magic.
"But the shards had to come together. There had to be a final battle of light against dark, good against evil. Every day Ada grows stronger, and soon, Ada will be strong enough to reform into Sirris. The only thing that stands between Sirris and the end of the world is the mistake formed millions of years ago. A tale as old as time itself. But," another, insane grin spread across my face. "Perhaps Ada doesn't need to become whole again to defeat the Power Keeper. My friend, you have found yourself face-to-face with the Shard of Terror. Nightmare, the shard of Sirris who destroyed this land and its people thousands of years ago and thousands of times."
"You are nothing different from the others!" Nick barked. "You are no stronger than Drennen, who has fought with me many times before!"
"That is where you are wrong, fool. Because unlike Drennen, who was shattered from Sirris itself, I am a being of pure darkness. I have no mortal fo-" The demon's exclamation was cut off as a searing pain shot through my abdomen. Nick had finally landed a hit on me- impaled through the stomach.
It felt like something was slithering through my veins directed at the point where the sword met my skin like it was being pulled out of me. I let out a gasp and fell, feeling my energy being drained into the sword. "Thank... you..." I choked. Nick said nothing and instead grabbed the sword again, put his foot on my chest and kicked me down to retrieve it, still glowing brightly and still absorbing the darkness that had gathered in me. I closed my eyes and let out a shuttering breath.
"I'm sorry it had to end this way, Webber," he said quietly, not looking at me. "I'm sorry it had to end this way for any of us..."
