Chapter 6: "I Think It's Time We End This Game"

The footsteps had stopped now, and Kuki could feel several people standing behind her and the corpse of her lover.

"No. No, this can't be," whispered someone behind her. The person approached and knelt down next to her. The man's long black hair hid the look of shock on his face. He rested a hand on Wally's muscular chest. Wally had gotten so much bigger since the last time Crow had seen him.

Kuki turned around to see Chad, Cree, and Nigel staring at them. "Alcarin's killed Hoagie," choked Kuki. "And he's taken Abby with him, I don't know what happened to her." She started sobbing again.

"He killed him. Alcarin killed Wally," said a toneless Nigel. He stared at Wally's body with a look of disbelief on her face.

No! thought Kuki. She tried to tell him what happened but she couldn't get the words through. It came out as a jumbled mess.

"He was the closest thing I had to a brother," whispered Crow. "I looked after him. Kept him safe. He...he was the first person I ever loved." Crow emitted a noise that sounded like a mix of a sob and a wracking cough. "And now he's dead, because I couldn't protect him."

"It's all m-m-my fault," whimpered Kuki. "It's because of me."

"We need to find Abby! Crow, we have to move, we can't let my sister die!" shouted a hysterical Cree.

"I–I can't let this happen!" shouted Nigel. "I won't let it! Wally, get up!" He walked over to Wally and pushed Crow roughly aside. "As your leader I order you to get up! Your mission is not over yet. Get up, that's an order!"

"Nigel," said Chad softly. Wally hadn't moved at all. He still had that same peaceful smile on his bloody face. It was as if he was just dreaming the day away.

"I said get up!" shouted Nigel, furious. "GET UP, GOD DAMN IT!" He kicked Wally viciously in the ribs. Crow pinned Nigel to the wall, and Nigel glared back furiously, as if he was about to scream. Instead he broke into tears. Crow let go of him and Nigel slid down the wall, sitting crookedly against the wall. He grabbed his sunglasses and flung them away, showing the crimson tears flowing from his eyes.

"I trusted you, you son of a bitch!" he shouted. "I trusted all of you! And you failed, you lost, we lost! You weren't supposed to die! You can't die, you fucking coward!"

"Nigel, get a hold of yourself!" commanded Chad. There was a steely glint in his eyes, and he no longer gazed sympathetically at Nigel's pathetic form.

"We failed," Nigel wept bitterly. "I failed." Everything had fallen apart. Wally and Hoagie were dead. Kuki had lost her nerve. Abby was in the clutches of a psychopath. And it looked like the whole world would be torn apart by this madman. Nigel finally realized something. They had failed. And they would all die for their failure.

"You can come in now," said Alcarin's sinister voice. "I'm waiting."

"Crow, we have to hurry. We need to save my sister. Crow, come on!" urged Cree. Crow had resumed kneeling next to Wally's still form. His head was bowed, and his dark hair hid his face. Black flames slowly started to flow from Crow's body, gently at first, and then stronger and stronger. Crow drew in a deep breath. Then he roared and stood at his feel, the black fire erupting from him. The room shook from it. He felt a hatred that he had never known in his entire life. And it felt so good. The dark flames consumed his form, and for a moment the others couldn't even see him. The flames disappeared suddenly, and Crow stood wielding a long scythe.

"Well, you did one thing right, Father," Crow laughed quietly. "You made the greatest killer this world has ever seen." He summoned the black fire again and turned to face the doors. He rose into the air and hovered above the ground.

"And I couldn't be happier."

He let out a scream and charged through the doors, vanishing from sight. Nigel was still moaning incoherently, and Kuki was huddled in a corner, pale and shaking.

"We've got to help him. Nigel, Kuki, get up!" ordered Chad. They remained still. "Come on, he can't take that guy alone!" he pleaded.

"There's no point," said Nigel. Tears were still streaming from his eyes. "We've all failed."

"We have to try!" urged Cree. "Abby's still back there, we can't let her down! I won't let her die!"

"Nigel, you haven't failed, not yet. There's still time to make things right. But if you quit here and now, then you've failed everyone on this planet, Nigel, and you can never change that. You have to make your decision now. Are you going to let Wally die in vain?" asked Chad, gesturing at Wally's limp form.

"Forget this, I'm going to help Crow!" cried Cree, disgusted. Chad held on to her shoulder.

"This isn't over!" yelled Chad. "There's still a chance, we can make a difference! We have to get in there now! Don't you people realize what's at stake?"

Memories started to creep their way through Kuki's mind.

Erm, Kuki? I know you… love this guy, but… there's something… you need to know!

Yes, numbuh Four?

I, erm, I-I think… I think- -

Had that really been five years ago? Life seemed so carefree back then. Even at the brink of death. At least she had Wally with her.

I'm leaving. I'm going to Australia with the others, back to my home. They need me, now that Dizzy's gone.

She thought she'd never see him again, never get a chance to tell him how she felt. It was the worst thing she could have ever imagined, next to him dying. But he returned. He returned, and that fairy tale romance actually came true. For a while, at least. And what a magical time it had been. How had they both managed to screw things up so badly?

You want to help me, Kooks? Kill me. Kill me right now, because that's the only thing that will help me. Are you going to help me?

Kuki felt a shiver run through her spine. The very idea of killing him was so absurd, so strange, so evil. She would never do that to Wally, not in a million years. And yet here she was, the murderer of her one true love. I did what you asked, Wally. Eventually.

She could hear screams and shouts coming from the other room. She rose from her feet and pushed the bangs from her eyes. Her tears had dried now. "Come on, Nigel. We're going with them."

"Leave me alone," he moaned in reply, head bowed.

"We owe it to Wally and Hoagie. I'm not going to let them die in vain. Are you such a horrible leader that you won't avenge your teammates?"

"I'm not a leader anymore," he sighed.

"Yes you are. Until the end of this mission. Then you can quit if you want. Get up. We've got one more fight."

Nigel lifted his head to look at her. "All right, Kuki. One more fight." Chad gave Nigel a small smile. They turned to the room and charged.

"This room is perfect for battle," breathed Alcarin, observing the room he had just created. He had made it nice and spacious, there would be plenty of room to fight. No fancy carpets or painted walls, just a large, bare room where he could duke it out with the others. Just what he wanted.

"Should be quite a show," he remarked, tossing Hoagie's body to the side. "Don't you think so, Abby?" He heard a giggle from her. He turned his head to find her her giggling uncontrollably, rolling around on the ground, crimson tears of laughter streaming down her face.

Alcarin chuckled. "So, the great Abby Lincoln finally loses control. I was hoping you'd turn insane by the end of this. This makes victory so much sweeter."

Abby kept giggling like a maniac. It felt so good to not have any control of herself, to just roll around on the floor without any sense of responsibility or dignity. She had lost her mind, and she had never felt better. She was laughing so hard it hurt, and she started coughing inbetween giggles. She finally hyperventilated and passed out.

"What a pathetic wretch. Let me put you out of your misery, child." A gleaming sword formed in his outstretched arm. He raised it over his head, and swung down.

CLANG! Alcarin twisted the sword just in time to parry Crow's scythe, swinging at him from behind. The weapons locked.

"I was waiting for you to get here. Took you long enough," mocked Alcarin.

A furious, blazing Crow stood before him. "I made a promise to you. I intend to keep it." Crow flipped into the air and swung his scythe at Alcarin's neck, only to have it blocked by Alcarin.

"I can read your every move, Crow. This is a pointless struggle."

Crow screamed at him and swung the tip of the blade at his skull. Alcarin dodged it and thrust his sword at Crow, nicking his side. Crow literally flew at him and launched a frenzy of attacks at him, each one more vicious than the next. But Alcarin either blocked or dodged each and every one. Finally, Crow returned to the ground and sent a pillar of flame at him. It hit him dead on, but he was unfazed.

"My turn." Within the blink of an eye, Alcarin had closed the distance between himself and Crow, stabbed him through the stomach, and retracted the sword. Crow's black eyes widened in shock, and he sank to his knees, dropping the scythe.

"No!" Abby had awakened just in time to see Crow get stabbed. Alcarin cackled triumphantly and was about to cut his head off when a scrawny boy tackled him to the ground. Alcarin sent the boy flying towards Abby. He peered at his assailant.

"Haven't killed me yet, buddy," taunted Hoagie, rising to his feet. His chest wound had somehow healed itself. "Don't worry Abby, I'll protect you." He moved directly in front of her.

"Damn, I forgot to keep it going!" whispered Alcarin. Hoagie looked at him curiously. "Well, never mind, boy, I'll finish the job for good this time!" He threw his sword at Hoagie, and it was caught in midair by Abby, who had dashed in front of him. He tears were gone, and so was her maniacal laugh. Instead, she had a lunatic gleam in her eye, and she grinned.

"That's all right, Hoagie. Abby can take care of herself." She launched her self at Alcarin, swinging it like a master swordsman. Alcarin was taken by surprise and awkwardly dodged the sword, not even thinking to create a new one. Abby drove him back all the way to the closest wall, and pinned him by his own cape. Alcarin ripped it off and punched Abby across the face, breaking her jaw. He rose into the air and conjured a thunderbolt.

BRAAK! A burst of gunfire flew through the room.

"FOR WALLY!" Chad, Cree, Kuki and Nigel charged into the room, guns blazing. Chad was firing off his uzis, and the others were shooting their handguns. Alcarin rushed them and knocked the guns out of their hands. Chad reached for his magnum but Alcarin had already pinned him by the throat. Before he could crush Chad's throat, Cree was upon him, swinging her double volge. She was moving so fast that Alcarin had to conjure another sword to block her attacks.

"Thanks for the distraction, Chad!" she called. She was doing so much twirling and spinning that it was hard to tell if she was fighting or breakdancing.

"Hang on, Cree!" shouted Chad. Chad pulled out a katana from beneath his trenchcoat and rushed to help her. Alcarin conjured up another sword to keep up with their attacks. He still managed to block them all effortlessly. He disarmed them and sent them flying into a wall. He threw his swords into the ground.

Kuki and Nigel ran to pick up the slack, attacking him hand to hand, but it wasn't long before he had stopped them too. He grabbed their throats and chokeslammed them into the ground. A black fireball appeared out of nowhere. Alcarin barely dodged it, and saw Crow was still alive, albeit bleeding profusely. He was leaning on his scythe for support.

"This time, you die," he panted. He threw his scythe on the ground and flew at Alcarin, tackling him to the ground. Kuki and Nigel jumped on them, adding extra weight. Hoagie and Abby joined them, followed by Cree, forming a huge dogpile. Chad rushed over to them, raised his katana, and slashed at Alcarin's throat.

"NO!" Alcarin knocked them all back with his telekinesis. He rose to his feet, screaming, "How dare you! How dare you try to kill the greatest sorcerer who ever lived? I'll kill you all!" His blue eyes blazed with anger. He didn't look like royalty anymore. He looked like a madman. He raised his hand towards the ceiling. A giant thundercloud began forming in the room, thunderbolts crackling and shimmering.

"This is what you get when you try to kill a god!" roared Alcarin. Suddenly, a burst of red fire soared past him, singeing his clothes. The thundercloud disappeared as he lost his concentration. He turned to face his assailant.

"I think it's time we end this game, Alcarin." Standing before him was Wally, his body blazing in red flame, hair flowing softly in the wind he was generating. The scythe birthmark on his right bicep was glowing.

"No more illusions, Alcarin. No more tricks. The game ends here and now," continued Wally. He didn't sound particularly angry. He just acted like he was stating fact.

"What are you talking about!" shouted Alcarin, panicked.

"No more illusions. No long blonde hair or fancy clothes or blood red capes. Show everyone who you really are," ordered Wally.

"This is who I am!" shrieked Alcarin. Suddenly, Alcarin's body shimmered and grew fuzzy, and the others briefly saw an image of an old, bald man, without the fancy clothes or royal demeanor that Alcarin had.

"No it's not. And you know it. Look, you're already struggling to maintain your illusion," observed Wally.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" screamed a hysterical Alcarin. Tears were streaming from his eyes, and his irises were red now, not blue.

"Yes I do. For the first time in my life, Alcarin, my eyes aren't clouded by rage. For the first time in my life I am not blind." Wally raised his right arm and pointed his palm at Alcarin.

"Forgive me."

"No!" shouted Alcarin. He shot towards Wally, sword raised high. Wally shot a giant wave of flame at him, completely consuming Alcarin. There was a brief scream, and then everything was silent. The room disappeared, and the others noticed that they were on a rolling green hill. The entire mansion was gone, not a trace of it left. The red flame surrounding Wally disappeared as well.

"The end," Wally sighed.

(A/N/) Confused? You should be! Don't worry, I'm going to try to make sense of this next chapter. As you may have noticed, I made some modifications to the title & summary. I think they'rebetter now.