Author's Notes: I decided to make this final part of the Makus storyline long so we can move to the next fifth of this story. Sorry if it's a bit long, but it's either this or leave you guys waiting longer for a conclusion.
Finally, a bit of trivia, I realized why LINE BREAK or other text was used when making, uh, line breaks, apparently the doc manager auto-corrects the hyphens by erasing them when you do it without writing that. Turns out I've been doing it wrong for months now!
Makus, Lord of Failure: Absolvence
While Butters and Kenny were dealing with the Gold Authority, Dane was still running from Makus. The now-monstrous counselor had now started chucking bombs at the fleeing child. Dane dodged as best he could, listening to the wind as it was dispersed by the bombs flying through the air. Explosions filled his ears, followed by ringing.
"Shit, not only am I getting tinnitus, but if the ringing gets worse I won't be able to dodge. Does he know that? Nah, he has the mind of an animal right now, he can only strategize so well. Still, I probably won't last much longer, I need to find somewhere to turn to..." Dane looked around for ANY possible means of escape, but only saw the road ahead of him. He looked down towards the grinning void below and noticed that the faces and red color disappeared at the bottom, replaced with only pitch blackness. But deep in that blackness Dane could make out a faint blue light.
"That may be the way out of here! That could mean Craig is okay! Then again, it could just be another level of this place..." Dane weighed his options, then noticed Makus hadn't thrown another bomb. He looked back and saw the reason why: Makus was forming an even BIGGER bomb that would most definitely destroy not only him, but also the road he was on.
"Whelp, looks like fate has made the choice for me yet again." Dane thought grimly as he jumped, angling himself so that he would fly off the side of the road, just in time to avoid the giant bomb as it was thrown. Dane fell like a leaf onto the forest floor down into the darkness as eldritch fire consumed the road above. Makus roared with laughter, as he thought he had killed the little pest that had been tormenting him all day. When failed to see any blood or any sign of the boy, his face fell in confusion. He then looked down and was just barely able to catch sight of Dane dropping down to the bottom of his domain. Makus was silent for a moment, but then began laughing in an uproar, the faces in his world's sky joining him.
-19 21 2 10 5 3 20 1-
Kenny and Butters hit the ground after several minutes of falling. It wasn't solid like they'd expected, but rather very slick and soft. The two got up with a groan.
"Oh god this better not be a place that represents Mackey's wet dreams..." Kenny complained, getting up. Butters jumped at Kenny's suggestion and started trying to wipe the unknown substance from himself, as he did he noticed something off about it. Bringing his hand up he saw it was mostly black, with purple light radiating on the surface. A sense of relief filled him as he realized it wasn't sperm, but still the question remained as to what it WAS and how it related to where they now were.
Butters was brought out of his reverie by Kenny, who clapped a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, we're still in danger, there's no time to dawdle." He then began walking forwards. Butters followed.
The two looked around to get an idea of where they were. The area appeared to be of similar scope as the one they had just fled, the sky above appeared to be filled with black clouds, with some of the red from above leaking through their faults. The landscape appeared to be a vast expanse of the black and purple substance, stretching for miles and resembling a desert. Far away from them, at what appeared to be the center of the land, was a tower probably fifty feet tall. At it's top was a bright ball of light. What appeared to be vines creeped from the base of the tower, spreading out in a mass that enveloped the surrounding landscape near the tower.
"Wow..." Butters said, awed at the strange landscape around them.
"Yeah, this is definitely a bit weirder than the clusterfuck of debris above. I wonder why?" Kenny said, contemplative.
The two jumped as, out of nowhere, they heard a scream, and looked above to see something falling from the sky, close to a mass of vines near the tower.
"That might be Dane! We gotta hurry!" Butters yelled, and began charging forward, Kenny followed after him.
They didn't get very far before something popped out of the sludge to stop them.
"REALLY?!" Both boys cried out exasperatedly.
The monster shook the strange amethyst substance off itself, splashing Butters and Kenny with it. The two shielded their eyes with their arms.
"Whatever the fuck you are, we aren't letting you get in our way!" Kenny yelled, gearing up for the fight ahead, his tendrils appearing and coiling around his right arm.
"You misunderstand, I am not a beast like those above, my existence is tied to something much more tranquil...much more gentle." A voice stated, it's voice rolling through their ears like the gentle coo of a mother. The two stiffened and lowered their arms.
What they beheld was a beautiful woman, bearing a shimmering blue sundress that stopped at her knees and flew in waves around her waist. Two majestic wings made of what appeared to be sapphire, shimmering in the darkness of the area. Her face was pale, and curtained by long, flowing black hair, but her visage was more like ivory than the Authority's motley hide. Same was true for her bare arms and legs, which had the elegance of an old greek statue. Her eyes were, you guessed it, blue, with black sclera. She was a hauntingly beautiful creature, but unfortunately Kenny wasn't as articulate in his assessment of her beauty, and said:
"Damn right, you're fucking hot!" Kenny blurted, his tendrils receding (while something else rose a little.)
"Kenny! That's rude!" Butters gasped.
"Aw c'mon, it's been a rough day, I'm owed some perviness."
The violet woman cleared her throat, bringing the two boys back to attention.
"Your...compliments aside, we must be going, your friend is awaiting inside the Empathy Locus, the tower at the center of this Wasting Sorrow." She stated, and began to fly away. The two looked at each other for a moment, stunned at the strange turn of events, but nonetheless followed her, it wasn't like they could go anywhere else anyway.
"Wasting Sorrow? Is that where we are?" Kenny asked.
"Yes, it is the lump sum of all of Theodore's sorrow, manifested into physical form." The blue woman explained. "The area you came from is the Screaming Wrath, a manifestation of the amplified hatred, anger, and self loathing that is consuming his spirit."
"Theodore? Wait, THAT'S Mr. Mackey's first name?" Butters asked.
"Really man, out of everything she just explained, THAT's what you focus on?"
"I was just surprised is all, I expected him to be named Cornoroy or some other country-type name."
"Eh, yeah me too. Still, though, we need to keep focused right now." Kenny then looked up at the blue woman. "That being said, what the hell are you? And why are WE here exactly? How does any of this exist? And WHO or WHAT made it so that it could?"
She didn't even look at him, instead keeping her eyes focused on the Empathy Locus, which they were now halfway to. "I am a Principality, one of the servants of the Virtue, she who watches over the last modicum of sense in the Soul. We are the ones who keep the Wrath and its' servants from reaching here. Those black clouds above are my brothers and sisters, who fight to keep this place from being overrun." The Principality explained, turning her gaze to the sky. The boys did the same, and now noticed some of the clouds had azure lightning streaking across them, followed by red bursts of fire. "Though I fear we may not be able to do so for much longer."
"Okay hold on, this place has only existed for what, a half an hour at most? How can a place like this exist? And how can things like you exist and have been fighting this Wrath stuff?" Kenny asked.
"It has not been long, you are correct, however, the mind responds very quickly to intrusion. We are trying to stop this unnatural presence from consuming this Soul, we are trying to save ourself, that is not so hard to understand, is it?"
Kenny didn't push further, he guessed that made sense. Of course there was one glaring question still remaining: "What's consuming Mackey, exactly? Who did this to him?"
With that question asked, the group arrived at the Empathy Locus. It was much bigger than it looked from far away. It was skyscraper sized, and they could now see the vines didn't just flow from out of its' base, but the WHOLE tower was made up of these vines. Blue energy flowed through them, small sparks also bursting out occasionally.
The Principality looked at them, her face unsure: "We do not know. It came suddenly, and we could only push back against it. We know not where it comes or why, just that it is vile and does not belong here." She then landed and motioned for them to follow her into the open doors of the Locus, which were almost as big as the boys' school.
Inside was bare, save for shelves which had vials filled with yellow liquid and a few benches and beds where other Principalities were resting. In the back, near a staircase formed from the vines of the tower, was Dane, bruised and looking drowsy, his armor was also cracked and looked like it would fall off at any second. Butters ran to his side.
"Dane! You're okay!" Butters exclaimed, hugging him.
"Good to see you too man. And yeah, I thought I was a goner too, but then one of the Principalities gave me some of that glowing stuff and I got better." Dane explained, hugging Butters back. "Not gonna lie, I was worried about you guys too." He then looked to Kenny over Butters' shoulder. "I'm guessing you guys didn't get the weapons?"
Kenny shook his head, but then smirked and summoned his tendrils. "Nope, but I learned how to to this, so I think we have a better chance now anyway, probably better than if we had gotten the weapons. Now we can fight magic with magic!"
Dane's eyes widened at seeing Kenny's new power, and not just because it was otherworldly, but because they gave off an aura that made him slightly sick, this, in part caused him to ask:
"What the hell are you?"
That caused the group to go silent, Butters pulled away from Dane, sensing things had gotten tense. Looking down, he said: "Actually, now that we have a minute, I'd like to know too. In all the years I've known you, you've never done something like this."
Kenny sighed, and sat down on one of the benches. "Alright, I guess you guys are due an explanation. Though to be honest, I don't know much myself."
He breathed in, and then out, then looked the two in the eyes. "The truth is, before I was born, my mom and dad joined a Cult of Cthulhu branch here in South Park for free beer. I don't know the details, but apparently during one of these meetings, they performed a ritual on my mom when she was pregnant with me." Kenny brought his hand up and looked at his tendrils, which were idly curling and uncurling. "That, apparently, made me immortal." Butters gasped while Dane raised an eyebrow. "Immortal?"
Kenny looked at him. "Yeah, in all honestly these tentacle-things are new, before my only power was that when I died I would come back to life a day later, with no one remembering what happened for some reason." He then looked to Butters. "I died in front of you and the others more times then I can count, and none of you ever remembered, even when I asked you to before offing myself."
"Kenny..." Butters said sadly, Dane's expression softened in sympathy for the boy, but nonetheless he asked. "So I'm guessing this new power is related to that?"
Kenny nodded. "Yeah, we fought a monster when we were looking for the utility closet, it impaled me and smashed me onto the ground. The thought of leaving you guys to die gave me the balls to defy the normal process of resurrection though, and I forced myself to come back right away." He then looked back towards his tendrils. "I think I also tapped into the source of my power, the place where Cthulhu and the other Outer Gods live. That's probably why I can do this now."
"Makes sense." Butters said.
"I think there may be more to it then that." Dane said. "How do you go from resurrection to tentacle powers just by tapping into your source of power? That's like knowing how to be a game designer by sticking your tongue into an electrical socket."
Before they could go further, the Principality that had led Butters and Kenny into the Empathy Locus cleared her throat.
"I know this is no doubt important, but time is short, the Virtue must see you immediately." She then flew towards a nearby set of stairs that led further up the Locus, the boys followed, letting the topic rest for now, seeing as more important-or rather, MORE URGENT-things were happening.
They followed the Principality upwards, passing by the other floors and chambers of the Locus, there were more Principalities in each, some were creating weapons, some were brewing more of those yellow potions that healed Dane, and some were simply sitting, looking like they were in prayer. As they ascended, the hall narrowed and had less openings, and more globules of (what Dane figured) was empathy materialized. Finally, they came to a set of large doors emblazoned with designs from, what the boys assumed, was Mackey's life. Him as a child, holding a puppy, him as a teenager, seemingly saving a boy from getting beat up...by getting beaten up instead. And finally him as a councilor, but that seemed to be damaged for some reason.
The Principality guiding them opened the door, and led them into the Virtue's chamber.
Or rather, the top of the Locus, as was made apparent by them being greeted by gusts of wind.
Atop the Locus, stood a massive throne made up of many black tendrils with glowing, azure seams that pulsed occasionally. It was below the ball of light Kenny and Butters saw from the fields below. It was blue, as well as every other color, even the same red as the Screaming Wrath above.
"Finally, you have arrived." A great, matronly voice said. It filled the area, booming yet soothing. In a flash, a giant figure appeared on the throne. She was similar to the Principalities, with ivory skin and sapphire hair, as well as black and blue eyes. Her dress was much larger though, with a skirt that completely covered her legs and an ornately designed torso that had a central sigil of two hands clasped together. When she spoke, her voice was less booming but still powerful.
"I have awaited thee since I sensed thine presence in the Soul, for you will bring its' salvation."
The three looked at each other, and Dane said; "Not that we don't want to, but how exactly? Mackey is too powerful for even all three of us."
Kenny then joined in. "Yeah, I mean, I have superpowers, but we're still just three children and that's a giant ass bull-rage monster."
"I can sense the power in each of you. There is no one else who would be able to free the Soul from this evil that is consuming it." The Virtue stated, she then raised her hands to the sky, and the black clouds stopped swirling.
"Wait, what are you-"
But Kenny was interrupted when the Virtue spread her arms apart, and the sky opened to reveal the Screaming Wrath. The Gold Authorities that were battling the Principalities immediately began to dive down towards the lands below.
"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!" Kenny screamed as the surrounding landscape began to be consumed, and the Locus shuddered as its' foundation began to fade.
"My...my lady-" The Principality with them began, but was interrupted by the Virtue's raised hand.
"This is how it must be, dear, the Wrath must be called."
The Principality lowered her head. "I understand, my lady..."
They stood there in silence for a moment as the world around them eroded and gave way to the crimson of the Screaming Wrath, until finally an all too familiar bellow came from above.
They looked up to see Makus descend, still in his truck. He parked it beside the Locus and hopped out, the truck dissolving after. The three children got ready to fight as he stomped towards them. He growled as he reached the Virtue, who looked on him only with sympathy.
"Please, listen Theodore, remember your mission, remember why you are amongst the poor lost souls of this world." She pleaded, even touching his arm. Makus didn't listen, and instead opened his massive maw and bit down on her head. Blue blood splattered everywhere, including on the boys and the Principality.
"MOTHER!"
"OH, FUCK!"
"OH HAMBURGERS!"
"OH GOD!"
Makus roared, his mouth still filled with the glittering sapphire gore of the Virtue's head. The top of the Locus then began to darken as what looked to be HUNDREDS of Gold Authorities descended upon them. Kenny readied his tendrils, Dane lifted his fists, and Butters...just stood there, dropping his hammer. Thankfully, before the main swarm of Authorities reached them, the Principality with them pulled him away, and hid both of them behind the throne of the Virtue. She held him close, closing her eyes.
Meanwhile, Dane and Kenny battled the swarm. Kenny had spawned a second cluster of tendrils on his left hand, and whipped the demonic angels hard. Loud snaps hammered through the air, as he ripped open the monsters. Dane, still bereft of his sword, fought the nightmarish beasts with his hands and feet. Dodging jabs from their spears and slamming his limbs into them desperately. Thankfully, most of the swarm was occupied with Kenny, who was having an easier time surviving. His tendrils cut deep into the Authorities, some exploded in half or in pieces. More of the monsters began focusing on him then Dane, who was definitely the lesser threat of the two. Another roar tore into the battlefield from Makus. The next thing Dane knew, he was knocked away from where he was, and nearly fell off the edge of the Locus.
"Fuck...what...what hit me?"
"Ah, finally, we meet." A distorted voice said. This was followed by what must have been a steel boot slamming into his chest. Dane let out a scream as he felt his ribs break.
"Hehehehehe, not so tough now hmm? How's it feel? How's it feel to be overpowered? To be helpless? How's it feel to be like my men?" The adversary's foot then lifted and slammed onto his arm. This time, the bone didn't break, but he could feel they were at least cracked. Dane opened his eyes and beheld his tormentor.
He resembled an angel like the other Authorities, but instead of gold armor, he wore shining red armor decorated with a massive, screaming skull formed in the chest plate. Two other skulls were present on the pauldrons, except these had spikes jutting out of their mouths. His face was bare of any helmet, and it revealed his terrifying visage. Unlike his soldiers, he resembled a corpse rather than a grotesque, but still alive, monster. His skeletal grin was on full display, as well as the muscle of his face via holes in his bleach white skin. His eyes were red with black sclera, and they conveyed deep hate Dane had never witnessed before. Unlike Makus, this horrifying being's rage was focused, intelligent, and vengeful. Two large crimson wings gave him an even more imposing presence
"You're...you're men? I haven't killed or hurt any of your men!" Dane struggled out. The monster slammed his red metal boot on Dane's arm again, miraculously, it still didn't break.
"Oh, but you have, ever since you entered my charge, you have brutalized my brothers-in-arms, needlessly harming them and burning their flesh. All for...what? Some stupid game?"
Dane started at that. "Game? How does he know about that? These guys have only existed as long as this place has. Unless..."
Dane observed the monster closer. He saw that, upon his round, rotting head were small clusters of red hair. His face was also marked with small red marks. Dane's eyes widened in realization.
"You're...the hall monitors!"
The monster chuckled. "Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know that given how our Lord has transformed us. He was kind enough to grant me a more...unique form. Possibly because of what I told him. It's a fitting one, all things considered." The hall monitor boss looked towards Dane with a strangely...wistful expression. "I suppose I should make you realize your shame fully before you die." He then bent down and, in one swift move, grabbed Dane by the neck, lifted his foot up, and brought the boy up into the air, tightening his grip to choke him. Dane grabbed at the arm in a futile attempt to remove it.
"My name is Hirem Daniels, I'm in 6th grade, and I'm an orphan. My mother tried to abort me, but something went wrong and I was born prematurely. She dumped me to the nearest orphanage and never looked back. I realized this when I managed to get a hold of my medical history. Ever since, I've felt like I shouldn't exist. That I'm like a zombie, meant to be dead, but still walking." He laughed. "Makus just made me LOOK that way too." He then tightened his grip. "On top of that, I'm ginger. And the pieces of SHIT in this town see us as FREAKS! I've dedicated myself to protecting them, to protecting ALL of the other freaks and mistakes of this world. That's why all the hall monitors are gingers, they're MY army, MY charges. MY family." He then brought Dane closer to his face. "Those pieces of shit always weasaled their way past us, they never fought us head on. They knew if they did I'd make sure they got a return on all the suffering they put us through. This time, me and Makus devised a strategy to make sure they would get their shit kicked in." He brought Dane closer to his face. "But then YOU showed up, someone we've never seen before. Somehow, you got those fuckers through AND beat up my men." He then threw Dane to the ground and slammed his foot onto the new kid's head. Dane cried out in pain. "I'm gonna make you feel every bit of pain they did and THEN some, then you die. After that, when Makus finally sheds his mortal ties, we'll go out and bring order to this broken world, punish ALL who would harm the innocent and throw away their children!"
Before things could continue, a horrible scream filled the air along with the sound of flesh rending and bones cracking, both looked to see Makus ripping Kenny's arm off, his tattered dress fell completely off, along with everything else. A rainfall of blood fell upon the floor of the rooftop, some even landing onto a shocked Dane's face. Hirem laughed. Makus continued to rend Kenny apart, fragments of the boy's intestines and bones, as well as blood, falling like confetti.
-STORM-
Butters heard the horrific scream within the darkness of his closed eyes, he opened them to see the sapphire dress of the Pricipality. He looked up to her dark eyes, which were filled with sorrow. "Please, don't look child." Butters tried to, but she held his head. "It's better if you don't." Butters stopped resisting and looked up to her, tears in his eyes. "Are we gonna die?"
The Principality looked towards where the Authorities and Makus were, they had forgotten about them, it seemed, and were moving away from the throne. She risked a glance around the throne and saw that they were moving towards Dane, who was being held down by some sort of zombie knight in crimson armor with skulls formed into it, who looked to his lord and barked some words. A few low, but still loud, growls emanated from Makus. They appeared to be debating over the fate of the boy for some reason. The Prinicipality retreated. If the other boy was down, what hope did they have? But she couldn't bring herself to say the words to the child crying in her arms. He appeared to have read her unspoken words via her face, and was now quietly sobbing. The Prinipality held him close.
"Oh, Mother, what am I to do?" She thought.
"What you were born to do, my child."
"Mother?"
"We are but manifestations of Theodore's soul, his empathy, abstractions given form to preserve what little sanity remains in him against this alien blight. But, though we are of Theodore's soul, we can reach into others, and give them form. And that reach can extend through their bonds and yours."
All at once, it became clear to the last Principality.
"I understand, Mother."
Butters looked up to her. "Huh?"
"Come here, my child." The Principality then put a hand to his chest, and pushed, it phased through and a bright, light blue light burst from Butters, who went agape as he felt his very essence be reached into. "And know, that in the brief time we spent together. You were my favorite among your fellows."
The two then exploded in yellow light, drawing the attention of Dane, Makus, Hirem, and the horde of Authorities, who hissed at it. A stream of light broke away from the source and flied towards Makus, an Authority tried to stop it, but the stream simply went through it and right into his master, who roared in agony as it reached into him. From his torso, a blue light began to glow, veins of it began to spread across Makus' body. The light then spread from him, and then pivoted into Dane, who Hirem dropped in fright. Dane cried out in shock, his mind went elsewhere. This time though, things were dark, and screams emanated from all sides. Unlike last time, Dane knew what this was.
"No...please God no, not this."
A face appeared in the darkness, wailed, and then disappeared, then appeared again, wailed, louder now, then disappeared again. As if he was being pushed...
"NO!"
Dane then felt something push into him, and horrible pain filled his body, a violating, terrible pain.
Dane pushed away the darkness and pain, or tried to, tried to return to the hellish world of the school councilor, he nearly did, but something clawed at him, trying to drag him back, a loud, booming voice called to him.
"Once more you run, run from your past..."
"I'm not running, I remember this, I've dealt with it."
The voice laughed.
"Have you? Or have you let it defeat you? When faced with suffering, you shy away, the anger within then festers and you lash out needlessly, rather than in defense of the innocent. Rarely do you fight for others, and even then, only when there is no risk to you. This selfishness is not a virtue, no matter what you tell yourself."
The words stung Dane, because he knew they were true. He was just...so afraid. So afraid of what would happen if he acted. So afraid of losing his family or making their lives even worse, he already had when he lashed out before. Afraid of having what happened before, happen again. But if he didn't act now, his friends would die.
"I...will fight. I'll fight for them. I'll protect them. Like I wanted to do then, no matter how much it hurts."
"Good...for now. AWAKEN! LET YOUR RIGHTEOUS FURY EXPLODE AND CONSUME ALL THE WICKED IN ITS' PATH!"
-FIGHT-
Dane exploded into yellow light, then he started screaming. The gathered monsters gasped as the light grew larger and began to whirl and flicker like a fire. It then turned into a tornado of light that exploded into small embers, revealing Dane, veins pulsating all over his body and his muscles somewhat expanded, he now held his repaired sword. Only, it was black metal instead of bone, the carvings were still there, but they now glowed yellow, with the edge glowing blue. Dane looked upon the shocked monsters with the gaze of a predator, and his eyes had a more animalistic look to them. He wasted no time and spun around, his blade whirling through the air and slicing Hirem in half. The crimson knight screamed as his disembodied torso fell to the ground. To make sure he couldn't get back up, Dane slammed the tip of his blade into Hirem's head. The Authorities roared and rushed toward Dane to avenge their commander, the lone warrior cut down many of the monsters in their front line. One tried to stab him in the side, but Dane grabbed the tip and threw it upwards, he then beheaded the Authority and took its' spear, vaulting over much of the crowd. Before they could turn, Dane started slashing at them, taking them out before they could attack. Many still remained, and they flanked him. He managed to block many of their jabs and return their strikes, dealing them mortal slashes. Unfortunately, the ones he turned his back to managed to get a few hits in, opening fresh wounds on his back.
"Ffffuck!" He cried. He then turned around and ran the one who stabbed him, (or at least the one he THOUGHT did anyway,) and ran him through. He then turned the blade and ripped through what remained of the offending Authority to tear another in half. This opened him to a headbutt from his comrade next to the slain monster. Dane jumped back and held his sword in front of him. Breathing heavily, he looked around. He was surrounded on all sides by the horde of twisted children. They growled and gnashed at him, somewhat afraid to approach.
"Shit, even with my power-up I still stand no chance against so many of them. I also have to deal with Mackey after killing all of them too. Ugh, I'll just have to keep fighting, who knows? Maybe that voice will help agai-"
A boom of thunder than cut through the tense air of the battlefield, and the next second a bolt of lightning landed onto the crowd to Dane's front. The warrrior and the monsters turned backwards to see Butters standing atop the throne of the Virtue. He now held a more ornate, proper warhammer that glowed with light blue runes and crackles of restrained lightning. His eyes were also alight with the same power. Before the Authorities could recover and charge, Butters screamed and jumped from the throne, flying high into the air and bringing his hammer down onto the remaining Authorities, swallowing them in a torrent of electricity. Dane shielded himself from any friendly fire with his sword, which deflected the wild watts. When the storm subsided, Dane lowered his sword to see Butters, still crouched from his landing. He could gentle sobbing coming from the boy. He approached his friend, and gently put a hand on his back. "Butters? You okay?" He asked.
Butters looked up, tears still streaming down his face. "The Principality...the one who brought us up here...I don't know how, but she gave us this power. She...she killed herself to do it...she reached into me...I could FEEL her reach inside me. I could also see some of her memories. She lived such a short life. But she gave it up anyway...for us, for me..." Butters bowed his head. "Do we deserve it?"
Dane lifted him up. "We do. And we'll prove it by making her sacrifice worth it." He then pointed to Makus, who appeared to be recovering from whatever had been done to him. His skin was still alight with blue markings, and he now sported a deep, deep wound on his chest, but he was still very much alive and still very, very angry. He roared and his body began to convulse and shake, then, a single, large horn exploded from his forehead with a grotesque crack. Two spikes also emerged out of his shoulders, and many more burst from his back Finally, his tail ignited into crimson flame and grew longer. Once his body's shaking ceased, Makus glared down at the two boys, ready for what was definitively their last confrontation. No more running, no more leaving it up to my minions. I'm going to finally kill you both myself. All this was told through his hateful gaze.
Dane and Butters exchanged a glance, nodded, and got into battle stances. The two sides stared each other down, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Silence filled the air, the faces in the sky were not smiling anymore, and looked only on the battlefield with silent contempt. The silence was broken not by either combatant, but by a green light wizzing through the air and impaling itself into one of Makus's eyes. The beast roared and flailed his head and arms in the air. The two boys turned behind them and saw...
"Craig!" Both exclaimed.
The boy was striding toward them, covered in purple ichor and his clothes in tatters. His thief cloak was gone as were his pouches and scarf, he now only wore his hat and plainclothes. In one of his hands was a glowing green dagger with a wickedly curving blade, slithering markings glowed across it. The base of the blade where it met the handle was adorned with a grinning skull with two emeralds for eyes, two spikes sprung from the sides of it, threatening to prick even its' owner. In spite of seeing his rescuers, Craig didn't smile, instead he just looked as angry as Makus. In spite of this, Butters approached him jovially.
"Craig! You're alri-" Before he could finish, Craig slammed his dagger's pummel into Butters' stomach. Dane raised his sword as the thief got closer to him. "What the fu-!" Dane was caught off guard when Craig slashed at his flank. The warrior cried out and clutched his side.
Makus had recovered from Craig's sneak attack and looked upon his returned victim with confusion and hatred. Crimson liquid dripped from his eye socket, the dagger was now absent, and in the monster's hand. Craig simply lifted his hand and the dagger ripped itself from Makus' grip, spinning around and slicing into his deformed appendage in the process. He cried out, but quickly recovered and jumped toward Craig, attempting to flatten him with his hoof. Craig dodged, and nimbly sliced into Makus' leg, coming out the other side. Reacting quickly, Makus spun and slammed his flaming tail into the thief, who grunted as he flew through the air and landed on the floor of the rooftop. He would've flown off the side if he hadn't slammed one of his daggers into the strange, semi-organic stone. He then stood up and curled his finger tauntingly. Makus roared and prepared to charge. A lightning bolt slammed into his side, interrupting his preparation, Dane followed up the lightning strike by jumping into Makus' side and stabbing deeply into his torso. Makus let out a blood curdling screech.
Craig shot up, not expecting the two to have recovered so soon. He shrugged it off.
"Makes no difference. I can deal with Mackey either way. Now that I have this power, I can do anything." Craig ran towards the beast, now free of Dane's impalement and attempting to crush the warrior to death with his fists, Dane dodged, barely missing the punches, and returned the attacks with slashes from his blade. Butters was standing by, casting bolts periodically from his hammer. Craig threw one of his daggers again, but this time, Makus heard the whizzing sound of its' approach and smacked it out of the air. He roared and jumped in place, creating a shockwave that pushed his opponents away. He approached Butters, who was now on his back, and lifted his hoof, Butters quickly shot a bolt at the bull-man's face. Makus deftly moved his head out of the way and slammed his hoof down. Butters met it with his hammer, pushing with all his might to avoid being crushed. His arms nearly snapped under the weight, and in a few seconds they probably would.
Dane, meanwhile, was on his stomach on the far side of the rooftop, and tried to get up, but the wound in his side had opened more.
"Fuuuuck..." He moaned. "What the fuck was Craig thinking!?" He bristled with anger at the thought of the thief, but he shook it off. "Later. I've gotta finish this." The warrior picked himself up, clutching his side. He steadied his grip on his blade and ran towards Makus', whose hoof had nearly descended. Hearing Dane's approach, Makus flicked a few fireballs from his tail at him. The boy dodged and weaved as best he could, but one found its' mark, Dane roared and fought through the burning pain, and swung his sword blindly. Makus wailed in pain once more as his tail fell from his behind, red ichor sprayed across Dane's face. But Dane only kept swinging, not wanting to give any quarter. His sword managed to cleave Makus' right leg, igniting another cry of pain from the corrupted councilor. The beast finally fell, and Dane stopped his swinging once he heard a booming thud. He wiped the red liquid from his eyes and saw the fallen behemoth, still alive, but wreathing in pain. Dane approached him and roared one last time, slamming his blade into the monster's head. Makus' thrashing stopped, a lone twitch punctuating his end. A pool of red began to gather underneath him. Dane pulled his weapon from the slain monster's skull. His thoughts immediately going to his friend. "Butters!"
He looked to where he should be, and saw that the boy was still on his back, his hammer at his side. Makus' severed leg was in front of him, apparently Dane had severed the one that was about to crush him. The warrior laughed deliriously, and slumped onto his knees. Butters got up and rushed to his friend's side, worry filling him. "Dane! Are you okay?" He said, examining his friend, the wound Craig had dealt him was now almost a hole in the new kid's side, battle had made it much, much worse than the cut it was before. "Hehaaagh, uh." Dane moaned.
Butters' lip quivered. "No, you can't die!"
Dane smiled at him. "I-urgh-don't think I have a choice, bud." The warrior moved to lie down, Butters helped him do so. Blood flowed even more freely from Dane's side, intermixing with the nearby pool of red ichor from Makus.
Butters looked upon this and tears flowed from his eyes anew. Stangely though, he felt something warm form in his chest. Something fragile, a feeling he hadn't quite felt before.
"No."
Dane looked to his friend, his vision already darkening. "Wha...?"
Butters put his hand on his friend's chest. "You aren't dying today. No one else is."
Yellow light began to emit from Butters' hand, like before it bloomed into many strands, which wrapped themselves gently over Dane, who felt the coldness of death creeping across him fade, replaced by a calming warmth. He felt his wound close, and the pain from it too disappeared.
As quickly as it came, the light went away, and the two friends looked at one another.
"How...how did you do that?" Dane asked.
Butters shrugged, and the two soon began laughing, flabbergasted at all that had just happened. "Hahahahhaahh! Ah, I think that sums up today, a ton of weird shit happened that we have no explanation for." Dane said.
"Heheheh, uh, yeah." Butters sighed.
The two then sat there in silence for a moment, until Butters spoke up.
"Uh, Dane, how do we get out of here?"
Dane looked around. "Honestly I have no idea, I assumed we'd be free once we defeated Mackey, but..." He looked to the corpse of the councilor, it was still, and looking at it, Dane couldn't help but feel regret, Butters felt the same, although moreso, since he knew the councilor longer.
Footsteps broke their reverie, and the two saw Craig approaching them, more casually this time. Butters immediately stood up and got into a defensive stance, Dane tried to do the same, but winced. Craig stopped in front of them, and waved.
"Get the fuck out of my way, Butters, I need to get my dagger, it won't come back when it's too far away." He said.
Butters, much to Craig's visual surprise, scowled and got in an even stiffer stance, not budging. "You think you can do what you did to me and Dane and just act cool!? What the FUCK is wrong with you?!" Butters then broke his stance and approached, before Craig could lift his dagger up Butters slapped the thief with his war hammer, causing him to whirl through the air and onto the floor, now with a bloody nose. Butters looked onto the downed boy with visible anger and indignation. His face twitched.
"You almost KILLED Dane you bastard! You gave us a handicap during that last fight! Why?! Why'd you do that?!"
When Craig didn't answer, Butters released a bolt near the other boy, and said, more loudly; "ANSWER ME!"
Craig scowled and barked back; "YOU TWO LEFT ME TO DIE!"
The other two looked at him confusedly, finally, Dane said, "dude, we thought you were dead. We didn't even know there was anything down here." He said flatly, too tired to sound angry, (although he most definitely was.) "I'm guessing the Virtue and the Principalities saved you after you fell? That's what they did for me."
Craig, somewhat shocked at Dane's explanation, looked away. "I remember being kicked by Mackey, then...nothing. It was like being asleep, but without any dreams. Then, everything went white, and I heard a voice talk to me. It told me I had a soul that desired more, and that those desires could be turned to power." He then held up his dagger. "It was God. She's given me the power to claim my place as king of the world!" He then pointed his weapon at the two. "AND AS THE NEW KING I DESERVE TO SMITE ALL WHO HAVE WRONGED ME-" It was then that the dagger evaporated into a shower of green energy flakes. Craig fell to his knees.
"Whu-Wha-WHAT?! But-But-"
Dane's face grew into a bemused grin, he then put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, God didn't give you that weapon, it was one of the Principalities, the...spirits, I guess you could call them, that tended this place. She most likely wanted you to help us, but now that you've served your purpose, her power left you. And on that note, Butters?"
The other boy nodded and moved towards Craig, bringing his hammer up.
"Wait! Wait! I'm sorry okay! I would've never done that had I known the power would go away!" Craig then realized what he said as Butters kept coming. "Oh, shit, that doesn't make it better, uh, uh!" Before Butters could begin beating Craig, they heard muffled yelling coming from Makus' corpse. Everyone screamed as the corpse then ruptured itself open in a shower of red gore. Butters retreated to the still injured Dane to guard his friend. Craig simply cringed away and got as far as he could crawl, too shaken to get up.
What emerged from the shower of red was a naked Mr. Mackey. He lacked his glasses, and he was slick with a thinner version of the red substance. He moaned pathetically as he flopped onto the ground. He mewled, wriggling feebly, looking like a newly born baby. Finally, after almost a minute of this, he picked himself up and got on his knees, looking over the three frightened boys as they beheld his naked visage. They looked on in horror, though not because of his exposed penis.
Inside of Mr. Mackey's torso was a large orb, made up of wriggling and lashing serpent-like creatures with faces similar to those in the sky, their bodies seemed segmented, with the joints adorned by glowing red arrow like markings. Their eyes were vicious and slanted, also glowing red. Their tiny maws held large, ruby fangs. Snake-like tongues emerged from them as they hissed and growled, writhing inside Mackey's chest.
"Holy...holy shit." Dane said incredulously. "I guess THAT is what turned Mackey into a monster. But what the fuck IS it?!" Dane looked to Butters. "Have you guys seen anything like it before?"
Butters, still stunned at seeing the strange orb, broke out of his stupor to answer. "N-No, we've never dealt with anything like this before."
"KILL IT!" Craig cried.
In response, the serpents in the orb screeched loudly and began slithering faster. Red light exploded out of it, temporarily blinding the boys. Mackey then started floating in the air, his corrupted form lifted off the ground and to join him. It broke it many, many globs of flesh, all metling into amorphous blobs of fur and bone, one by one they began to recollect onto him.
"Oh shit! He's going to reform!" Dane yelled.
"But why?! I thought we beat him!" Butters asked.
Sinister laughter then filled the air, and the faces in the sky began to speak as one, a flood of sickly sweet, chiding voices filled the air.
"Poor little foools, you think you would leave simply because you killed the manifestation of his Wrath?" A much louder, shrieking laughter than before followed. The boys covered their ears.
"You cannot kill Makus! He is the Wrath of this soul made manifest! As long as Theodore's hatred and rage exist, so too shall he! No matter how many times you cut him down, he will reform! You CANNOT win! Therefore you CANNOT escape!"
The flesh of Makus' form began to fully congeal together, slithering onto the councilor, beginning to cover him fully. His eyes were closed, but he was clearly still conscious, his face contorted angrily, his mouth mumbling indecipherable curses. The faces laughed again. "Already his thoughts are consumed by Wrath! That Wrath shall spread across the world in fire! His armies will consume all in their wake! Calm and peace shall fade from this world forever! The death of the Virtue and her Prinicpalities has sealed it! Rejoice, fools! For your last sight before you die will see the birth of a new world!"
Black smoke began to bellow from the ground, quakes rippled throught the area, and the bodies of the slain Authorities began to repair themselves, as well as the body of Hirem.
"Oh fuck! Oh fuck oh SHIT!" Craig cried as he began flailing around in a panic.
"Dane! What do we do?!" Butters asked desperately, clucthing his friend.
Dane didn't know how to answer that, what COULD they do? They were utterly helpless against another onslaught. If they could kill Mackey before he could reform his monster body, that could fix it...
"No, he's not in control, that much is clear. We CAN'T kill him, he CAN still be saved. But how?"
He thought about what the faces said, about how his wrath was causing this, did that mean if they calmed him down it would stop? But how? Dane turned to Butters.
"I have an idea, those things say his wrath, his anger, is the source of his power. If we can get rid of his wrath, we could get out of here. You've known him longer than me, any ideas?"
Butters thought about it, what COULD cause Mr. Mackey to be so angry? Yeah, they had come to break Craig out, but they'd done similar things before, and he never seemed THIS angry then, heck, one time he even let them break Eric out of detention.
"Actually, he seemed sad back then...like he didn't care anymore. I think he was drunk..."
Butters than thought about what had been drawn on the walls, what the Gold Authority had said to him before, how Mr. Mackey had been sad about him...
He knew what he had to do.
Butters walked away from Dane and stood before the floating Mackey, who was now almost completely consumed by his reforming bestial shell. The black smoke now whirled about them like a dust storm, the bodies of the Authorities now almost completely restored, their angry growls filling the choked air. Craig cried out in fear, now clinging to the Virtue's empty throne. Hirem had managed to fully reform. And was now slowly making his way to them, a hideous look on his face. Dane looked to his friend.
"Butters, hurry!"
To the astonishment of everyone on the ground, Butters started singing.
"Ooooh when I feel sad, but wanna feel glad I think of the sun on my face.
The breeze on my knees.
The garden's breeze.
I think of a happier place!~"
Everyone looked at him confusedly, even Hirem and his men. But, the storm stopped, and Mackey looked down at him.
"When my dad is a 'growlin.
Or my mom's a wailin'
Or when the darkness is callin'
I buck up and try and make it a happier place!~"
The flesh of Makus stopped creeping along the councilor, and he began to descend. Purple light began crawling across his skin.
"Noooo...nooo!" The faces hissed, but Butters kept singing.
"Whenever there's yellin'
Whenever there's crying'
You should make it a happier place!~"
Mackey had now fully descended. The blue light had now almost completely consumed him, the body of his beast self had began to evaporate. His eyes were open now, he looked upon Butters, his face tired and sad.
"Because your parents deserve a happier place.
Your friends deserve a happier place.
And YOU deserve a happier place.~"
The brave little paladin then took Mackey's hand and patted it.
"I sing that song in my head, every time I'm alone in bed. It's helped me a lot, Mr. Mackey, helped me remember to be nice and keep trying, because if I don't, everything's just gonna get worse." He then looked the councilor in the eyes, eyes now filled with tears. "You helped me a lot, you've helped other kids a lot. Don't give up just because it seems hopeless."
The orb in Mackey's chest screamed, as did the faces in the sky, as azure light consumed Mackey, and spread out to consumed everything else. Soon, no one could see anything but purple...
The next thing Dane knew, he was looking at a grey sky, the sun covered by clouds. Snowflakes fell gently onto him as he regained consciousness. He sat up, looking around to see they were back in the school. Or rather, what REMAINED of it.
The ceiling and upper floors seemed to have been separated from the base floor and thrown onto the campus, the playground utterly destroyed by the falling debris. Dane looked for the others and saw that Craig and Butters were on the ground, unconscious, a few feet away. Mr. Mackey was no where to be found.
"He must've woken up before I did. I hope he's okay."
Dane looked for his sword, it was by his side, he used it as a crutch to pick himself up. He felt a bit better, but he wasn't fully healed yet.
He walked, slowly, over to where Butters and Craig were, he shook Butters gently. "Butters, c'mon, we gotta go."
His friend awoke, and looked up at him. "Ugh, hey Dane, did it work? Are we back?" Butters asked, picking himself up, Dane looked around.
"Seems like it, we must've been there for a while, it's started snowing." Butters looked up.
"Yeah, winter's gonna be in full swing soon, we aren't gonna be able to play outside much longer." He then looked down towards Craig. "Uh, should we take Craig back now? That was the whole reason we came here in the first place."
Dane took out his phone and looked at the time: 3:30PM. "Eh, it's pretty late now. They probably went to get the Stick back already. We should just head home." Dane stated, pocketing his phone, Butters sighed. "Yeah, let's go-WAIT Kenny!" Butters exclaimed, looking around. "What happened to Kenny?!"
Dane stiffened and looked around. "Shit, I forgot all about him. He said he could ressurect, right? He should be around here somewhere."
Butters whirled about frantically, looking for their lost friend. "But what if it doesn't work when he's killed that badly? Or because of the dimensional stuff?! Oh geez, oh geez..." The two looked around for him, sifting through debris and passing unconscious hall monitors, the former held nothing but ruined school supplies and their personal possessions, and the latter, (while a relief on the two's conscience,) weren't who they were looking for. Finally, the two reconvened on where Craig was.
"Couldn't find him, you?" Dane asked.
"Nope, didn't see him."
"I'm over here, you morons."
The two jumped and looked behind them, and were greeted with the sight of Kenny, atop a pile of rubble and naked, save for a blanket that seemed to have been used for naptime at the kindergarten class, it flittered in the breeze along with his scruffy blonde hair.
"Kenny! You're alive!" Butters exclaimed, running towards his friend to hug him, but Kenny stopped him with his hand. "Don't hug me when I'm naked Butters, that's gay." He said flatly, Dane quirked an eyebrow. "Aaaand being dressed as a princess and letting guys fawn over you isn't?"
Kenny glared at him. "How I have fun is none of your business. Anyway, good job beating the monster, I guess. I'm going home. I think I've had enough...everything, for today." The poor boy then began walking away.
"Well, he's less sociable than before." Dane stated, walking over to Craig.
"Yeah, he's not the most friendly guy most of the time, but he's nice when you get to know him. Although, I think he's just tired from today." Butters said, joining Dane in observing Craig. "Wanna wake him up?"
Dane responded but kicking Craig in the stomach, again and again. He punctuated his last few kicks with words.
"DON'T. YOU. DARE. DO. THAT. SHIT. AGAIN. OR. ELSE. I. WILL. GUT. YOU. LIKE. THE. DOG. YOU. AAAAAARE!" The last word was filled with multiple kicks, unlike the rest. Dane then spat on Craig, who moaned in pain.
"You owe Butters your life, by the way. Remember that if you decide to fuck with him." Dane then left with the aforementioned paladin, who decided to also get a kick in before running after his friend, before he could go though, he remembered his war hammer and looked around for it. He found it lying near where he had awoken, still glowing.
"I guess I'll still need it, then." Butters noticed that the head had the face of the Principality formed into it. He touched it to his forehead. "I'll make your sacrifice worth it, ma'am." He then got up to leave, but noticed a strange rock nearby in the snow. He moved towards it and dug it out, he flinched as he saw what it was.
It appeared to be the orb in Mackey's chest. The serpents that made it up didn't move, they were now made of stone and were mushed together, no longer coiling elegantly but smashed together in a blob-like fashion, yet somehow keeping a spherical shape, their faces trapped in angry expressions. Despite this, their black eyes betrayed no rage, they were instead empty and vacant, frozen like statues. Whatever malevolent will the orb had was definitely gone now, though it still gave off a disturbing air that made Butters' skin crawl. In spite of that, Butters grabbed it, (fearfully,) for it was too dangerous to leave alone. He then dashed after Dane.
The two made their way back to the neighborhood, the snow falling gently around them. All was quiet, oddly enough, in spite of what had happened. Dane wasn't sure word had spread about the events at the school, or of their involvement. Given there weren't any police or medical teams around when they awoke, it seemed not. He wondered why.
"Hopefully they can't link Mackey or us to it. Whatever happened today, it definitely wasn't Mackey's fault."
Dane looked down, his face looking thoughtful.
"But what caused it? Or who?"
The two soon arrived at Dane's house, the two then faced one another.
"Well, see you tomorrow, I guess. We'll tell everyone what happened today, and look for what caused it. But for now, let's just get some rest. It's been a loooong day." Dane said, moving to go inside. Before he could, Butters spoke up, "wait!"
Dane looked to him, and saw Butters present the orb, the new kid gasped. "I thought that thing died, or whatever, where'd you get it?"
"I found it near my hammer. I think it's...asleep, now, so it's safe. What do we do with it?"
Dane pondered this. The obvious thing would be to destroy it, but they didn't know what it was made of, or even what the fuck it WAS, or if it COULD be destroyed...
"Keep it, we'll need evidence, even with ours and Kenny's testimony. With this thing we can better convince everyone to begin investigating what's going on." Dane explained. "You keep it for now, you neutralized Mackey, so you should be able to handle whatever it could do."
Butters nodded, and pocketed the orb. "Well, see you tomorrow, then."
"You too, bud." They waved goodbye, and Dane entered his house. Thankfully, his parents weren't in the living room, and he could slip in unnoticed. He left his shoes by the door with theirs to signify he was home, and ran upstairs. Once he was in his room, he put his sword on his bed and stripped off his armor and clothes, throwing them in his closet. He then got in his pajamas and lied down, hugging his sword slightly.
Unbeknownst to Dane, his mother had been in the kitchen making dinner when he had returned home, hearing the door open and shut, then the pitter-patter of her son's feet as they hurriedly scampered upstairs. Worry filled her, and with her husband away meeting up with the other dads in the neighborhood for some sort of meeting, she was left with no choice but to go and see for herself, she sighed and put turned off the oven, and headed upstairs.
Ella Simons was many things, cowardly wasn't one of them, neither was she neglectful. It was always just so hard to talk to Dane when he got in trouble. Given both of their tempers, emotions would fly high and they'd say things they regretted, they'd make up, but it was always messy. His father understood him better, (and had more patience,) so that's why she just gave up talking to him alone. But if she had to do it herself, she would, it'd be better than leaving him to stew or leave the problem unresolved.
Taking in a deep breath, she knocked on the door, "Dane? It's momma, can I come in?" No response.
She knocked again, a bit louder. "Dane? You okay? How was your day? You wanna talk about it?"
This time she got a response, there was a bit of mumbling, then finally her son spoke up. "Come in, Mom."
She opened the door to see her son in his PJs and looking exhausted, she'd apparently woken him up from sleep. "What is it?" He asked, a tired but not hostile look on his face.
"Oh, nothing really sweety, I just heard you come home and go right up to your room, I expected you to tell me how your day went when you got back, y'know? How we usually do? Is there something wrong?"
Dane yawned, and replied: "Nah, I just got worn out from playing with my new friends is all, I wanted to go to bed early. Is that okay?"
Ella smiled and put a hand on her son's head, rubbing his hair. "Of course it is, sweety, you just rest. Your father had to attend a meeting, so I guess we'll have leftovers tomorrow. I'm glad to hear you made some friends already, I'd love to hear about them."
Dane smiled and said, "yeah, sure, I'll tell you tomorrow."
Ella saw something in his eyes when he said that though, it looked like worry...doubt...fear? But she decided not to press it for now, whatever he wanted to talk about, they could talk about it later when he wasn't so tired, it would be easier that way. "Alright then, get some sleep sweety, love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
Ella smiled at him then left, turning off his room's light. Dane sighed and flopped back down, turning to the left side of his bed, where he hid his sword over the side. "That was close." He then closed his eyes, and let himself drift off to sleep.
Little did he know, he would have more visitors that night...