Chapter 19: Murder Comes In All Sizes

Peter held the knife close to Marduk's throat. "I found out about your plan Marduk. You were going to beat me up in an attempt to anger King. But I won't let that happen. Consider this self-defense."

Marduk had to laugh. The kid found out and now he had the guts to rise up? This was going to be interesting. "You're smart, I'll give you that. But come on now, do you really need a knife to act tough? We both know you don't have the guts."

Peter fixed his position and shoved the knife against Marduk's neck. He could feel the knife grazing his skin. Anger took over as Peter said, "You don't know me."

Marduk smiled and then suddenly, he grabbed hold of Peter's wrist. Peter yelled out in pain as Marduk pushed him against the wall, holding his wrist and grabbing his throat with his other hand. He slammed Peter's hand against the wall, causing him to drop the knife to the floor. "This is gonna be fun." Marduk said.

Peter rammed his knee into Marduk's groin, causing him to yell as he let him go. Pushing Marduk across the pool table, Peter grabbed a cue stick. Twirling it in the air, Peter yelled out as he broke the stick over Marduk's head. Becoming enraged, Marduk turned and kicked Peter in the stomach. He lay on the floor for a brief second, but rose to his feet once again. Peter jumped into the air and connected his foot with Marduk's jaw.

Next, he lowered to the ground and caught Marduk's legs in between his own. Turning his legs over, Peter knocked his opponent to the floor. Wasting no time, Peter jumped on his back and wrapped his arm around Marduk's thick neck. Marduk laughed, "It's gonna take a whole lot more than that to beat me!" With that, he rolled to his back, rolling over Peter and nearly crushing him under his weight.

Rising to his feet, Marduk looked as Peter moaned in pain. It wasn't over yet. He grabbed Peter around the throat and picked him up into the air. Peter began to choke and cough as Marduk tightened his grip. Suddenly, Peter grabbed his attacker's head in between his feet and turned over, making Marduk fall to the floor and release him. Peter rolled away and caught his breath. He was tired already, but he wouldn't give up. King's life was at sake.

"Yaaahhh!" Peter cried out as he kicked Marduk across the face, sending him crashing into the television. As Marduk rose to his feet, Peter picked up a lazy chair nearby. Using all of his energy, he threw the heavy chair at Marduk, who caught it with ease. Drops of sweat fell from Peter's brow as he thought of what to do. Getting into his stance, Peter waited for Marduk to move. That's when his attacker charged at him like a bull after a red flag.

Unsure of what to do, Peter was tackled by Marduk in an instant. Peter immediately blocked his face as Marduk raised his fists. Playing around, Marduk began to pummel Peter with his giant fists, each blow weakening Peter all the more so. Looking to his right, Peter noticed Marduk's bottle of beer. He grabbed it and shattered it over Marduk's head, the contents of the bottle spilling down on him. Using this distraction to his advantage, Peter got his right leg free and kicked Marduk in the face.

'This is crazy!' Peter thought as he rose to his feet. Marduk was a beast, for he roared like a crazy person and stood up. Jumping forward, Marduk punched Peter against the wall behind him and grabbed hold of his shirt. Peter kicked at Marduk's feet and fell to the floor, his attacker still holding on to his shirt. Up ahead, Peter could see the knife. Reaching for it, he groaned in pain as Marduk bit down on his side. Finally, he grabbed the knife and turned over, slashing Marduk in the head as he did so.

Marduk let go and Peter jumped up to his feet, pulling back his hand and preparing to deliver the final blow. Launching his arm forward, Peter was shocked to find out that he missed. Swinging again at his opponent, Peter yelled in rage and fury. "Die already!" he yelled as he threw the knife at Marduk's head. Marduk ducked out of the way and moved forward to attack him. Seeing this, Peter jumped forward and kicked Marduk in the chin, satisfied with the effect it caused. Marduk looked away as he held his jaw, allowing Peter to punch him in the ribcage. Doubling over, Marduk was surprised with a knee to the forehead.

From his lowered position, Marduk tackled Peter against the wall. Doing everything he could to break free, Peter kneed at Marduk's face. He let go of him, but coming back with a punch. Peter nearly dodged out of the way as Marduk's hand crashing into the light switch board, destroying the light in the room. As the room flashed out, Peter snuck behind the pool table next to him and tossed it over onto Marduk. Moving towards the shades, Marduk cursed at Peter for having been so sneaky. Under normal circumstances, Peter should have been done by now, but he was putting up such a fight.

As he opened the shades, the moonlight poured into the room, giving Marduk a perfect view of Peter as he kicked Marduk in the stomach. Marduk grunted and picked Peter up over his head. Without hesitation, he tossed Peter against the wall, smiling as Peter went from the upper wall to the counter of the mini-bar. The force of his landing made Peter roll off the counter onto the chair beneath him. Like nothing, the chair snapped under his weight. Peter hit the ground and let out a muffled cry. In his eyes were tears of pain. Marduk smiled at this as kicked his young opponent in the face.

Peter rolled over and rose to his feet, yelling for help as Marduk kicked him against the counter of the mini-bar. Turning around, Peter grabbed onto whatever glass he could and threw it Marduk's way. Marduk groaned as the glass cut into his skin, angering him even more. Without delay, Peter rolled underneath Marduk's open legs and delivered a stomp to his groin with both feet. Marduk yelled in pain as Peter kicked him from behind.

Picking up a wooden leg from one of the chairs, Peter attacked Marduk by hitting him across the head with it. Marduk roared as he spun around and grabbed Peter by the throat, laughing silently as his opponent gasped for air. He backed Peter up against the wall again and used both his monstrous hands to choke him. Peter reached forward and grabbed Marduk's head in his hands. Going for the eyes, Peter dug his thumbs into them as hard as he could. Marduk let go reluctantly, allowing Peter to jump into the air, performing a full 360 spin before kicking him in the face.

Marduk flew to the other side of the room and grunted as Peter ran forward and chopped the side of his neck. Dropping to his knees, Peter punched Marduk in the stomach. Marduk kicked forward, pushing Peter over to his side. Peter yelled increasingly louder as Marduk kicked progressively harder into his side. Then, picking him up, Marduk threw Peter across the room, causing him to smack against the glass sliding door.

Peter slowly slumped down the now cracked glass door, beginning to feel dizzy. Marduk laughed as he thought of what to do next. He picked his opponent up so that he was half standing against the glass sliding doors and kicked as hard as he could, sending Peter flying through the glass and onto the cement pavement of the outdoor sidewalk. Marduk wasted no time in jumping on top of Peter. He ignored the glass cutting into his legs as best he could as he slammed Peter's head down against the ground.

Peter screamed as he pushed Marduk with all of his might, getting on top of him instead. Then, he threw his fists into the sides of Marduk's already bruised face. Marduk pushed Peter off of him and rose to his feet once more. Peter stood back, bleeding from his face and nose as he prepared to attack again. Spinning around, he kicked at Marduk's face. Marduk caught his foot like it was a fly and pushed him back against a tree. Peter barely dodged the punch meant for him as Marduk crashed his fist into the harsh bark of the oak tree. Peter cart wheeled past Marduk, kicking him in the face and spinning around with a punch to the chest.

The night air caressed Peter's face, trying to ease his pain as he cried softly. The last time Peter cried like this was months ago, when he found out that his friend Armor King was murdered by this same man, if you could call him that. Peter spit out a fair amount of blood as Marduk punched him across the face with his right fist, then his left. Suddenly, the world around Peter started to get dark and fuzzy. He staggered backwards and begged for mercy. "…Stop…" he managed to say as Marduk laughed at him.

Marduk jumped on top of Peter once again and began to punch his face with his fists, as the young man pleaded for his life. Marduk did not plan on stopping anytime soon. That's when Peter slipped away from the world, in a deep sleep. Now he could rest, somebody else would have to save the day this time around. Marduk continued to pound on Peter's face when suddenly, an arrow grazed across the back of his leg and dug into the ground.

Turning around in shock, he saw that it was Jaime Parker, the newcomer, holding a crossbow.

"Get the hell away from him. Now!" Jaime yelled out. Marduk jumped to his feet and took off towards the main area of the hotel. After he was gone, Jaime quickly rushed over to his new friend's side. He felt for a pulse…

Peter looked on as his mother hugged him. "It's okay." she said. "You're safe now. You've done enough good deeds in this world. Now come home, and rest with me."

Peter let tears fall from his eyes as he brushed the hair away from his mother's beautiful face.

"Mom…is it over? Have I failed?" Peter said. The beautiful woman in front of him smiled and replied "You have succeeded in what matters most, and now it is time for you to rest."

"Mom, I have a question. Did…did my life mean anything? Did I do any good for King?" he asked.

His mother looked into his eyes and said "Your guardian have served you well, as you to him. He will be well rewarded for his kind heart."

"But mom-"

"You will never be forgotten my beloved."

Peter smiled slowly and ceased his tears. "Okay, I'm ready." His mother smiled as she reached her hand forward. "Take my hand dear, let me guide you away from this dark place." Light began to form and Peter felt an overwhelming rush of happiness and peace. He reached for his mother's hand slowly, feeling ever more confident as he did so. The light began to grow in intensity, as he grabbed hold of his mother.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The doctor shoved King out of the room. He yelled out as Julia grabbed hold of his waist and cried like she had never did before.

"Hurry, we're losing him!" the doctor said as he and the nurses surrounded Peter's broken body.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeppppp.