Chapter 11: Mackus, Lord of Failure Part 2

Kenny and Butters finished ascending the staircase and entered the opening that layed at the top. It appeared to be made of a bunch of blocks of linoleum melted together into a swirling structure. Inside there was graffiti that looked to have been written in the same fiery energy that Mackey used. Some of the phrases written were:

USELESS.

WHY IS NOTHING WORKING?!

REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!

b...la...ck...r...ed...wr..a...th...?

KILL! KILL THEM!

HEALING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

Butters and Kenny read these and were, of course, very confused and scared.

"(Okay, now that things are a bit more quiet, can we talk about what the fuck is going on?)" Kenny asked as they continued on, looking for any sign of the school's utility room.

"I know as much as you and Dane do, Kenny. I'm downright flabbergasted at everything that's happening. Why would Mr. Mackey do this?" Butters asked. They were now further into the structure, where school lockers stuck out from the warped walls. The open ones held strange, pulsating orbs of gooey red energy that bore smiles like those faces found on the "sky" outside. They seemed to pay no mind to the two intruders inside their nest.

"(Forget why. HOW is the real question. We haven't encountered anything that could do something like this except...)" Kenny's eyes went wide as he recalled the only being that could twist reality in such a disgusting manner.

"Who is it Kenny?" Butters asked.

"(Cthulhu.)" Kenny responded.

"Huh?"

Kenny turned around and faced Butters fully, eyes wide and face blank. "(Cthulhu, that monster god-thing that tried to destroy the world last year. He's the only one that would make something this sick, question is, where is he? And what's his plan?)"

Before either could start speculating, a shrill, booming voice filled the air, the two boys covered their ears.

"FOOLISH BOY! THE POWER THAT MADE LORD MACKUS'S REALM IS FAR SUPERIOR TO THE FILTH THAT ENVELOPES YOUR SOUL!"

A cloud of red fog appeared above Butters and Kenny, and a figure dropped down from it, landing in front of them crouching. The two backed away slowly as the figure rose, revealing a pair of white angel wings and golden armor, on its' back was a spear that was also golden. It was tall, easily towering over the two.

The most startling thing though was its' face, it was that of a ginger. Stark white skin and ruby red hair with freckles his face. This wasn't the startling part, the startling part was the empty eye sockets leaking blood-like red energy like the kind Mackey, (or rather, Mackus,) had, further adding to the horror were the pair of ram-like horns and sharp, bestial fangs.

"OH HAMBURGERS!" Butters cried, shaking and holding his hammer out with both hands. Kenny was much more composed and readied his bow, though he too was unnerved by the man in front of them. "(What do you mean? Who are you?)"

The winged ginger unsheathed his spear and aimed it towards them, taking a battle stance. "I'm one of Mackus's Gold Authorities, reborn from his wrath. And you two shall perish by that same power." He then charged, trying to gore Kenny, who leaped out of the way. Butters attempted to catch him off guard and slammed his hammer into the Gold Authority's side, but his hammer merely clanged off of the monster's armor. The corrupted ginger hissed and swiped his spear at Butters, knocking him back, thankfully only the blunt side hit him. Nonetheless he was knocked to the far side of the room, his hammer clanking to the ground far away from him. He was unconscious, but alive.

"(Butters!)" Kenny aimed his bow and shot at the monster, the arrows clanked off his armor harmlessly. The Gold Authority charged with his spear aimed squarely at Kenny's stomach. Before he could dodge, the spear went straight through his stomach and came out his back. Blood flowed from the new hole, streams trickling down Kenny's body and onto the floor. The faces in the lockers laughed giddily at his suffering.

And oh boy was suffering the right word. Kenny hated bleeding to death, it was one of the slowest ways one could die, (depending on the size of the wound, of course,) and it hurt like hell. It hurt even more when the Gold Authority started lifting him up higher until he was perpendicular to the monster.

"HA! Foolish boy, you were always one of the Lord's most hated disciples. You always defied him, demeaned him, disappointed him. No wonder you were no challenge." The Gold Authority mocked.

"(Gragh...disa...disappointed?)" Kenny asked, blood beginning to flood his lungs.

"Oh yes. In spit of all his guidance, you never rose above your own ignorance and cynicism. Instead delving further and further into your perversions and delinquency. No matter how much he tried you stayed on the road of ruination and poverty. You could imagine his frustration." The monster then slammed him into the ground, causing some of his bones to break and Kenny to cough up more blood, his body being overwhelmed by pain. The Gold Authority extracted his spear from the boy's torso and began to walk towards Butters. "I'll leave you to contemplate your failures as you bleed out. Don't worry, your cuck friend will join you soon enough." Kenny soon lost sight of him as he walked away.

"No-plagh!" Kenny cried as he cough up more blood.

"Shit, I'm almost dead, I can feel it. My vision is darkening, I can barely feel my limbs, and everything's cold..." Kenny tried to turn his head towards Butters and yell at him to wake up, but his neck wouldn't respond. "Fuck! He must've broke my neck!" He then heard the sound of clothes ruffling and shoes scraping across the ground. "NO! BUTTERS!" The poor boy tried his hardest to sit up or stand or do anything, he couldn't let his friend die! "I don't care how much pain I'm in, I gotta save him!" But all he could do was flop on the ground. His vision was tunneled now, his hearing was also getting more muffled. He couldn't smell anything anymore either.

"No...please God no..."

His vision was almost entirely dark. He could only make out a faint speck of light.

"It...can't...end...this...way..."

He was enveloped in darkness now, he couldn't feel the pain anymore. He couldn't feel anything.

He could feel himself drifting away, being pulled...somewhere. It was always different. Sometimes he went to heaven, sometimes to hell, sometimes a different, otherworldy plane that lacked a defined shape.

"No..." Kenny lamented, crying as he left the world of the living...and his friends.

"Why? Why'd I have to die NOW of all times!? When someone needed me the most! Butters...he doesn't deserve to die now. He may be a bit of an ass sometimes but he's still one of the best people I know. And Dane, I'd only just got to start knowing him and now he's probably going to die to Mackey."

Kenny could now feel his soul begin to break apart, this was another part of his..."rebirth." His soul would fragment and he would "sleep" until he woke up in his bed, usually a day later.

Only this time when he woke up, two of his friends would be gone.

Anger and determination surged through the immortal boy. "NO! I'm not going to die now! I'm NOT leaving them behind!" He then began to make swimming motions, aiming for the opposite direction he was being dragged towards. Whatever force was pulling him before increased in force, attempting to keep him on course. Kenny swam harder, fighting back against whatever it was that "guided" him. It was excruciating, but the more he swam, the more he felt his soul reforming. He also began to feel warmer, and could faintly make out a speck of light in the distance. The more the distance closed, the more the light turned into an image. It was of the room he had died in, with a clear view of Mackey's minion approaching Butters.

"I'M ALMOST THERE! HOLD ON!" Kenny swam more frantically, and the image got closer and clearer until he was right in front of it. It was now more like a window, when he tried to open it though, it didn't budge, he then began to slam it with his palms, when that didn't work, he began punching.

"C'mon,C'MON!" It felt like hitting a brick wall. Couple that with the pulling, Kenny felt like he was gonna break into pieces...literally.

Right as he felt like he was gonna give in, the window shattered.

Elation filled Kenny, but before he could start laughing in relief, a purple fog filled his vision, and tentacles reached out to embrace him.

The Gold Authority approached the downed Butters and picked him up. He readied his spear to puncture the boy's skull right in the forehead.

"Unlike that perverted filth, you shall have a quick death. For while he gave Mackus much rage and grief, you only filled him with sorrow, as you were doomed to a life of exploitation, rejection, and loneliness. Sleep now, boy, and ascend towards paradise." The Gold Auuthority then began to thrust, but just before the point made contact. a glowing, purple tentacle wrapped around the handle and yanked it backwards and out of the monster's hand.

"WHAT?!" It exclaimed, dropping Butters and turning to face the tentacle's owner, he gasped at what he saw.

A cloud of purple fog was now before him, tentacles of purple energy bursting from it, writhing and snapping at the air, seemingly hostile to everything around them. The one holding the spear retreated into the center of the fog, taking the spear with it. A moment later it reappeared, sailing through the air and impaling the Gold Authority's shoulder. The minion of Mackus cried out in agony as the force of the throw sent him flying into the air, he stopped his ascent using his wings and ripped the spear out of his shoulder. A low, angry growl filled his throat and he grimaced, showing off his knife-like teeth.

"WHO DARES?!"

A figure emerged from the purple haze, it was Kenny, dress and coat torn from combat and bearing a hole where the spear had struck, the wound completely healed. His crown was now gone, as were his gloves and wig. His most surprising feature though were his eyes, they now also glowed purple, looking like dark, sinister gems.

Accompanying them were a scowl filled with hatred.

The Gold Authority gasped again and his own eyes grew wide, worry beginning to creep into him.

Kenny said nothing, not even when the mass of fog and tentacles snapped out of existence.

Silence filled the air as the two stared each other down, until finally, Kenny huffed and held his arm up, causing a mass of thin, whip-like tendrils to bloom from his arm. He then whipped them towards the monster that had killed him.