Chapter 29


Titus and Tobias stared at one another as they floated in dead space. Glancing over his shoulder for a moment, he could see Oryx's throne room out in the distance. Tobias still didn't quite understand how they had ended up all the way out here, but he knew that he wanted to fight Titus alone at the moment. And he was certain that his teammates could handle Oryx for the time being. They had done so much already, laying almost all of his doubts to rest. He would end Titus as quickly as he could, and return to them.

"I'm impressed. Oryx brought you all the way out here to make sure you could enter that form." Titus noted as he stared Tobias. "But I'm glad you managed to."

Tobias remained silent though as he stared at Titus, taking note of their contrasting colors. Titus was black, fading into the endless cosmos that surrounded them. Tobias on the other hand was shining radiantly, like a beacon in the depths of space.

"I'd like to test that power of yours." Titus said as opened up his hands, stretching out his finger as he called forth the power of the Darkness. He had been preparing for this moment from the time he left Earth.

He had just barely survived his last encounter with Tobias, and that battle made it very clear to Titus the disparity in power between them. Obtaining the Radiant Light had made Tobias more powerful than he had imagined. So much so that he didn't stand even the slightest chance against him last time they fought. But Titus knew that they would fight again. So he returned to the Dreadnaught and began his preparations.

He had studied the Sword Logic of the Hive thoroughly, concluding that his only hope of reaching Tobias' current level was to kill off the strongest of Oryx's subordinates to increase his own power. Titus had spent months using runes found within the Dreadnaught to call out some of Oryx's lieutenants through the Ruptures to become stronger. And this eventually led to him challenging the Taken Prince Malok who he defeated. All this so that he could stand before Tobias once again.

Tobias was breathing slowly as he studied Titus. There was a considerable distance between them currently, but Tobias could still feel the pressure that was being exerted from his foe. The Darkness flowing forth from Titus made him seem…omnipotent. And it was clearly that he felt that way as well as his helmet receded, revealing his smiling face.

"This is…incredible. I've never called out so much of it before." Titus said as his entire body became engulfed in a black aura. Even his eyes became black. Then he burst forward, closing the distance between them almost instantly.

Tobias wasn't surprised by his sudden movement, evading the flurry of blows that Titus unleashed once he was close. Titus was stronger, faster and probably more vicious than last time, and yet, Tobias was at ease.

To him, it was like Titus was moving in slow motion. He could read his every move before he even made it. And floating in space, Tobias was lighter than a feather. Using the Warlock Glide, he could move in any direction he wanted. It was like he had a pair of wings. Why was this so easy?

'Because you've resolved in your heart now to defeat the Darkness.' The Traveler said suddenly, surprising Tobias. It was the first time it had spoken to him since he had boarded the Dreadnaught.

'What do you mean? I've been fighting the Darkness for who knows how long. Why would I be getting that resolve now?' Tobias asked curiously as he effortlessly dodged Titus' next attack before Blinking away from him.

'No, it's different this time Tobias. As Tobias the Guardian, you've declared that you would defeat the Darkness. But now as the embodiment of the Light, you've resolved to see to it that this conflict is brought to an end.'

'Are you saying that…I'm like you now?'

'Yes Tobias. I believe it's safe to say that you've successfully taken up the role, as the Vessel of the Light.'

'Wow.' Tobias said to himself, a small smile growing on his face. This subject had been weighing on his mind for quite some time, but hearing directly from the Traveler put this thought to rest. He was now the Vessel of the Light. And he would end this war between the Light and the Darkness.

Titus' eyes seemed to widen as Tobias finally caught one of his punches rather than dodge it, halting his assault with just the grip he had on Titus' hand. It was then that Titus could feel Tobias' power surge forth once again. He was still getting stronger! The Light from Tobias seemed to trace a path that was projected from his back, matching the artwork on his skin beneath his clothing. Staring up at the image behind Tobias now, Titus knew for certain now that Tobias was now the Vessel of the Light.

Looking at Titus, Tobias then reeled his other hand back, throwing out a full swing at Titus who couldn't break free from his grip. Titus gasped as he was hit, being sent spiraling away from Tobias. Everything had gone numb from just this one hit he had received. But how? He had become so much stronger and yet, the gap was this massive? No! That couldn't be!

Titus caught himself so that he was facing upright, ready to reengage Tobias, but the Guardian was already in front him. Titus drew in a sharp breath before he was kneed in the stomach, a shockwave being released from his body from the blow that left him hunched over. Tobias then followed up with an uppercut to his unguarded chin, but he grabbed Titus' robes before he could be sent flying away from the hit. Pulling him back toward him, Tobias slammed his palm into Titus' chest, causing his opponent to begin to tremble as Tobias began to channel Void Light through his body.

At the exact same time, Tobias heard a thunderous clap sound from the throne room. Tobias glanced back at the room in the distance where he could see the massive shockwaves of Corrupted Light traveling outward toward them.

'Fear not. In this form it won't harm you.' The Traveler revealed to him. Tobias didn't respond though as he returned his gaze to Titus, but his eyes became wide as he stared at his opponent with the shockwaves of Corrupted Light passing over them.

Titus' eyes which had been completely black became like that of a human's. His sclera was white again and his iris had become a deep hazel color. But this was only for a moment as these features were swallowed up within the Darkness once again. Titus' eyes became black as he grabbed on Tobias' wrist now, but just touching Tobias burned his hands.

"Ah, damn it!" Titus shouted as he ripped himself free of Tobias' grip and put some distance between them.

Tobias though was confused as he stared at Titus. In all of their encounters, Tobias had seen his eyes many times. But never had he looked into his eyes and saw another human. What just happened there?


"Is everyone alright?" Niko asked as the group rested behind the cover of one of the taller center columns to rest for a moment.

The third rotation was by far the worst one. Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong at the same time. Tobias had disappeared along with Titus before they returned to the throne room, so Zeke had to take over Tobias' platform duty. This wasn't too bad even with the Taken Acolytes and Knights that Oryx had summoned to bombard them. The real problem was the Ogres.

Gale was nervous now. He had been alone in the middle doing everything in his power to gun down the Ogres. If it wasn't for the help he had received from each of his teammates on their platforms, things would definitely have gotten a lot worse. The final Ogre had gotten loose while Gale was still dealing with the third, leaving him with just one option to take care of it before it could kill any of them. He had to use his Sleeper Simulant. With one shot the Ogre was dead thankfully, but Gale had to keep a close eye on how much ammunition he had for this weapon since they were all relying on it to stagger Oryx.

Even though they were down one man, they managed to take care of all of the Ogres and steal the Aura of Immortality again, reaching the point where they had to stagger Oryx. This too went according to plan, but after detonating the bombs, Toland quickly took note that one bomb did not go off. The bomb that Gale had gone to.

And it was then that they realized he couldn't detonate any of the bombs.

"He doesn't have the Light within him." Toland stated before cursing under his breath. He couldn't believe that he had failed to notice such a detail beforehand.

"I'm sorry guys." Gale said once again, but Niko slapped him on the shoulder in response.

"Don't apologize. No one's at fault here. Just rest and get ready." Niko stated as he peeked out to check on Oryx. He was still floating at the end of the room, clutching his chest. Obviously he was in pain from being hit by so much Corrupted Light. "We know we're winning. Big ugly over there can't take too many more hits."

"Diana, on the next rotation, you must detonate the fourth bomb rather than Gale." Toland pointed out, getting a nod from the Warlock.

"How are you holding up?" Carmen asked as she kneeled down beside Zeke. He was seated, leaning against the wall taking in steady breaths. The wounds he had received from Titus weren't closing up, and it was becoming more difficult for him to move on his own.

"I'm fine. The sooner we kill that bastard the better." Zeke replied as he reloaded his auto rifle in preparation for the rotation.

"Will you be able to give Gale a bubble this time? Weapons of Light will go a long way for him." Niko asked as he looked at the Titan.

"I'm trying to focus on my recovery right now, so the next Ward of Dawn I place will likely be the last one. It's up to him if he wants it now or not." Zeke said as he set his gaze on the small Exo who looked down in thought.

With Weapon of Light he could surely handle all of the Ogres this rotation, and hopefully this would be the last one. But even if they had to do another rotation, he had seven shots in his Sleeper Simulant currently. That would be enough to handle the Ogres without a Ward of Dawn. But if they didn't end it there…

"How's everyone on ammo?" Gale asked as he looked around at them.

"I'm low." Carmen revealed.

"Same." Diana added.

"Got about three magazines left." Zeke stated.

"I haven't got much either." Niko said, causing Gale to sigh.

"Alright, I'll need your bubble now then. You just leave the Ogres to me and focus on picking off the small enemies. Be conservative though, because I need some firepower from you guys to stagger him." Gale explained to them. They all gave a nod in agreement before checking their weapons once more.

One thing that none of them had anticipated was how much ammo they would need for this encounter. They never would've imagined that these Ogres would be so resilient, or that there would be so many enemies hounding them. This lack of ammunition was beginning to rear its ugly head as this extended fight continued.

"Oryx is moving again." Toland warned them as Oryx stretched out his wings once again before he began to rotate around the throne room again.

"Here we go." Zeke said as he forced himself back up to his feet.


Tobias had no clue what to do as he stared Titus who was writhing in pain, clutching his chest. He had been like this since the third set of bombs had gone off in the throne room. As much as Tobias wanted to finish him off with this huge opportunity, but something inside of him was making him hesitate. Seeing Titus' eyes made for just the one moment made Tobias doubt everything he had come to accept about Titus.

Titus was the enemy. He had led Oryx's forces on Earth. He wiped out a raid team of Guardians beneath the Hive fortress. And yet…

"I'm you." Titus proclaimed to Tobias.

"I was you before I was Taken."

"I have the same desires, goals…dreams."

Tobias refused to believe that at first. Every ounce of Titus was just oozing Darkness. It was absolutely impossible for him to be a Guardian, let alone some kind of copy of Tobias. But then as the wave of Corrupted Light passed over him, Tobias couldn't deny that there was an indeed a human underneath that skin of Darkness.

But how was this possible? Was he previously a Guardian that was lost and then reborn in the Darkness? Could such a thing even exist?

'Traveler, what do you feel about him?' Tobias asked, hoping that the wisdom of the Traveler could shed some light on this.

'There is no Light within him. I can't sense even the slightest ray.' The Traveler replied, causing Tobias' heart to drop.

Even the Traveler couldn't see any Light within Titus, so why did Tobias feel so uneasy about this?!

'There isn't any time to waste Tobias, we need to aid your teammates we well.' The Traveler added, getting a slow nod from Tobias as he raised one hand. The Light began to gather in the palm of his hand, becoming the handle of a blade as Tobias summoned his sword of light once again. Titus had barely escaped last time, but Tobias wouldn't let that happen again. This time Titus was going to die.

As the weapon was finished forming in his hand, Tobias raised it and took aim at Titus, planning to skewer Titus a second time. And this time he would make sure that Titus wouldn't be able to come back. Once again though, there was a reverberant boom from the throne room as another set of bombs was detonated. As the wave of Corrupted Light advanced out from the throne room, Tobias burst forward, charging toward Titus who was still hunched over in pain. Approaching Titus, the Corrupted Light hit him first, causing his head to snap upward as the Darkness vanished from eyes once again.

They were back. Hazel eyes that Tobias could see his reflection in. Tobias came to a stop, the tip of his blade just millimeters from Titus' forehead. But his eyes weren't the only thing that seemed to become human. The Darkness began to recede from his skin, revealing his dark skin and a face that was identical to Tobias'.

'What?!' The Traveler exclaimed within Tobias as he stared at Titus. There was no mistaking it now. This man was indeed a copy of Tobias. The Darkness which had coated him had been the source of their doubts, but it was gone now, and there was no denying it.

"Who are you?" Tobias demanded as Titus' vision became focused on him. Then the panic seemed to set in as he backed away from Tobias.

"I remember." He almost whispered, but Tobias still managed to hear this.

"You remember what?" Tobias asked as he slowly advanced toward Titus, keeping his weapon raised and ready.

"I can't explain everything right now, but…Oryx was controlling me." Titus replied as he stared at Tobias.

"And how do I know he's not still controlling you?"

"I don't really know how this to prove it to you. But Oryx is weak right now, incredibly weak, so his grip on me is loose. I'm not under his control at the moment." Titus replied, raising his hands in his defense. But Tobias only tightened his hold on the handle of his sword, slowly edging closer to Titus.

"You've hurt too many people for me to take your word for this." Tobias said as he steeled his resolve. He had hesitated enough. Titus had been a foe since they had first met, and his actions up until this point have been centered around completing Oryx's will. He couldn't allow such a person to live.

"Please!" Titus shouted at him, looking at Tobias with wide eyes. "You don't understand what's going on right now."

"Then explain yourself!" Tobias shouted at him in return.

"I…I can't at the moment."

"So then how can I trust you?!"

"Look, there's more to this than just Oryx right now. But I can't go into the details."

"That's not good enough!" Tobias declared as he readied his sword. But Titus' eyes remained undeterred by this.

"Fine then, go ahead. Kill me!" He yelled at Tobias who was taken aback by this. His eyes were genuine. He had resolved in his heart to complete a task. And Tobias could bear to drive his sword through a man with eyes like that.

"If I kill Oryx, will you be free of his control for good." Tobias asked him in a hushed tone.

"Most likely."

"I want a straight answer. Yes or no."

"…Yes."

Tobias waited a moment, studying every part of his eyes. Titus kept his gaze set firmly on Tobias, his eyes steadfast. Tobias couldn't believe that he was about to do this, but he lowered his sword.

"Thank you, you won't regret this." Titus said to him.

"I'm taking your word for it this time." Tobias declared as he pointed at Titus with his sword. "But if you betray me, I will find you. And end you."

"Hurry to your friends now. They need you if you all want to succeed against Oryx." Titus said to him. Tobias turned away from him, setting his sights on the throne room. He could see Oryx as raised his hand and smashed it down onto one of the lower platforms which marked the moment when they would have to stagger him.


Gale's Sleeper Simulant screeched as he vaporized the fourth Ogre, earning a shout of praise from Niko who had finally seen Gale use this weapon on the Ogres himself. They had reached the fifth rotation and despite their struggles, they were still holding their own. Gale had taken care of the Ogres with ease thanks to the Sleeper Simulant, and Diana had once again claimed the Aura of Immortality.

"Round up everyone!" Diana called out as everyone jumped down from their platforms, dashing to middle of the room where Diana had stationed herself.

"Gale, you should have two shots left in that thing, right?" Niko asked him as they watched Oryx raise his hand above the platform he was looming over.

"Yeah, thanks to you." Gale noted as he thought back to the fourth rotation.

"Gale, don't shoot your weapon!" Niko commanded, surprising Gale as they prepared to stagger Oryx during the fourth rotation.

"Why not?" Gale demanded to know.

"Save it for the next round. You never know what could happen." Niko said as his helmet changed. He had donned the Celestial Nighthawk just like Carmen had earlier, and it became clear to Gale what Niko was about to do.

"Aww snap, here we go!" Carmen shouted as Niko summoned the gray pistol into his hand before pouring Solar Light into it. It became engulfed in flames as he raised the weapon, taking aim at Oryx as his chest opened up.

Thanks to Niko, Gale had just enough ammo in his Sleep Simulant to stagger Oryx one last time.

"Good, because we've got absolutely nothing." Niko stated, reminding all of them that they didn't have a single bullet left for Oryx. They had burned through what syntheses they had brought during the third and fourth rotation, and now they were gambling on this last set of bombs being the kill blow to beat the Taken King. If this fight continued beyond this point, they had nothing to stagger Oryx. They didn't even have anything to fight the Ogres.

All of them had exhausted almost all of their abilities, and with Diana crossing between dimensions to steal the Brand, she hadn't been much help beyond the task she had been handling. This was their final gamble.

"Take him down for us Gale!" Carmen and Niko shouted as Gale took aim with his Sleeper. Oryx gave a shout as his chest opened up once again, preparing Doxology. Gale fired once, watching as the red beam disappeared into Oryx's chest, but Oryx continued to prepare his attack as the light from his chest began to shine brightly. Gale would have to fire twice since had no assistance on this stagger.

The second shot hit its mark as well, and Oryx howled in pain as he was knocked backward.

"To your bombs!" Toland barked at them as everyone but Gale darted out to the spheres of Corrupted Light. As the sphere lit up, rising in their air, they all returned to the back, sliding into the protective field around Diana just as the bombs started to go off. As these bombs went off, they team of five cheered wildly as Oryx was knocked off from his throne for the fifth time now. They could only hope that this was the end of the fight.

They had a few moments to breathe now as they looked around. All the other times Oryx had come back almost as soon as he had been knocked off. But this time he didn't come back. What it over?

"I think we did." Carmen said softly. "We did it!"

"Thanks to this guy!" Niko said as he gave Gale a slap on the back.

"No Guardians, not yet!" Toland hollered over their cheers as Oryx rose back up at the center of the throne room. All of them seemed to freeze in place as they looked up at Oryx, unable to believe that he had risen back up. That last stagger was their all or nothing. It was over for them.

Oryx placed his hands in front of his chest which opened up one final time, revealing his heart as he called upon the Darkness to use Doxology.

"It's…over." Diana said softly. None of them had a thing to use to try to stagger him.

"Damn it!" Carmen screamed as she threw her hand cannon to the floor. How could this happen!?

"It was a pleasure working with you guys." Zeke said to them as the light from Oryx grew bright, beginning to blind them. "Hopefully we'll see each other again one day."

The light from Oryx had become so bright that none of them were able to see a figure come crashing down onto the small ledge directly in front of Oryx, giving one last shout before the light consumed all of them.

Nothing.

The null.

Oblivion.

Everything was white. Were they dead?

Niko looked to his left, spotting Gale, Carmen, Zeke and Diana standing beside him. All of them were frozen, staring out in the distance. But there was nothing there.

Niko snorted lightly. They really were dead. This was likely the last thing he was going to see. His teammates who had fought beside him to the end. He never would've thought that they'd actually die though.

He had gotten used to bringing his allies back through their Ghosts. He had gotten used to coming back all the time as well. But this time, they didn't have that option. It was do or die fighting Oryx…and they had died.

'Damn man.'

Was it really over for all of them? Just like that? What a lame way to go out! They didn't even go down fighting. They had no ammo to shoot back. They had nothing to fight with…they just had to sit here and die so helplessly!

"Damn man!" Niko shouted as he stomped his foot.

They weren't as invincible as he had thought.

Niko looked down at his boots, realizing now that he had to accept his fate, whether he wanted to or not, it was over.

But the light began to fade away as his surroundings returned. He was staring at the golden pathway that traveled through the center of Oryx's throne room.

"Oh my god!" Carmen screamed slowly as Niko's head snapped upward. They were moving again! He then looked out ahead of them where he could see Tobias standing on the ledge at the front of the throne room, a flaming pistol in his hand. A blackened corpse was floating off into the distance, frozen with its hands in front of its chest, locked to the last position it had taken. It was Oryx.

"Tobias!" Diana screamed as everything seemed to slow down once more. In slow motion he turned his head to look over his shoulder at them. Then he turned his who body, raising his arms triumphantly as he dropped the pistol to the ground.

Slowly he began to walk toward them, and he was greeted by Carmen, Gale and Diana who tackled him to the ground with screams of joy.

Earth

Neo Chicago

The Mulligan

"We did it! We did it!" Carmen screamed over the comms which was being broadcast around the base. It had been days since the raid team had ventured into the Ascendant Realm. Days since anyone had heard a word from them. The Vanguard was beginning to think that they had been lost to the Taken King before the channel for the raid team was finally reestablished. "We freakin' killed his ass!"

Operators and Commanders alike began to celebrate wildly, throwing up their headsets and shouting praises for the Guardians as this message was relayed around the base. They had defeated Oryx the Taken King! And if this wasn't enough, a visual was transmitted to them, showing everyone Oryx's corpse as it floated off toward Saturn. They had really done it!

"Come in raid team." Zavala said, unable to stop a smile from forming on his face as his chest swelled with pride. "Oryx's defeat has been confirmed. We're waiting for you back home."

Saturn

The High War

Threshold

Ir Halak and Ir Anuk watched as their father's corpse floated off aimlessly, impressed that the Guardians had succeeded in defeating Oryx. In fact, they were amazed that such tiny beings were so powerful. But now wasn't the time to sit and marvel at their power.

"It's almost time to begin the next phase of the plan." Ir Halak noted, receiving a nod from her sister.

"She will be most pleased by the success of the Children of the Light." Ir Anuk added as the two of them became shrouded in Darkness before disappearing. But they weren't the only ones who were pleased to see the fall of the Taken King.

Slowly approaching the corpse of Oryx, Titus couldn't help but gasp in awe at just how big Oryx was. This was the closest he had ever been to Oryx in his full size. Landing on Oryx's chest, Titus immediately spotted the black mass that was still moving within. His heart was still beating. Without a second thought though, Titus buried his arm into this mass, reaching in as deeply as he could until he got his hand around the core. It was the same size as the palm of his hand, making it easy for him to rip it right out of the large mass.

Oryx's heart finally stopped beating as Titus looked down at the black sphere he held now.

The Ravenous Heart.

'I remember now.' Titus said to himself.

A female Exo stood before him, her face hidden underneath the shadow cast by the hood of her cloak. But her glowing eyes could still be seen through the veil as she studied him.

"Who –Who are you?" He asked as he looked around, noticing that they were actually floating in midair, passing through a tunnel that seemed to spiral around him.

"I haven't got much time to tell you everything. But what you need to know is your objective." She replied.

"My objective?" He repeated, furrowing his brow.

"You are going to meet a man named Tobias. Your only purpose is to test him." She stated. "Push him past his limits, no matter the cost."

Titus blinked as he stared down at the Ravenous Heart he held. He had to push Tobias past his limits. No matter the cost.

If Tobias failed to reach new heights, then he would have to take matters into his own hands. He couldn't fail to defeat the man in white a second time.


A/N

And BAM! The Taken King is dead! Phew was that a blast to write and I hope you all enjoyed. But there's still so much going that I can't wait to get to.

I'm sure some of you might be thinking that I'm going to head into RoI next, but this chapter probably put that thought to rest. I won't be doing anything related to the Iron Lords for the time being. My roadmap involves more Hive, with a sprinkle of some other things hehe.

In response to 'This Is Sarcasm'. The moment I read Variks I face palmed because I completely forgot about him. I could definitely see him functioning as a guide since he isn't loyal to any Fallen Kells. In fact, with some people thinking Variks might be the Kell of Kells or preparing to take on that role, it makes sense for him to remove an Archon like Aksis. If Variks were trying to establish himself in such a position, he definitely doesn't need Aksis preaching about SIVA to the other Fallen Houses.

And I know I'm late to the party, but the AGE OF TRIUMPH is upon us!

If feels like every time I'm getting close to taking an extended break from Destiny, they reel me right back in. My favorite armor set ( VoG Warlock ) is back, so I'm going to be rocking that full time again! I can't wait for that! And best of luck with all your future raids Guardians, I know I'll need it.

In conclusion ( my A/N's have been lengthy lately ), I hope you all enjoyed my rendition of The Taken King. The next chapter is the full wrap up for this arc so keep and eye out for it, and after that things are going to pick up once again. Thanks again for all your support everyone!