Disclaimer: rated T for violence and implied death.

Andrias couldn't take this anymore.

He grunted and was almost stunned when a metallic arm smacked him across the head, ruthlessly, it continued without a break. He panted hard, struggling to remain standing. He couldn't take more, this is not what he signed up for, this isn't what he expected the Core to reward him with for putting his loyalty before everything for thousands of years, or as he would say, 'sacrificing' as much as he did.

"So, King Andrias Leviathan," The Core spoke with the most taunting mention of the title, spinning his crown over its finger like a toy, seated patiently on the throne. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

He crossed his fingers. "I…I already told you, my lord, I was only checking on things." He was greeted with another punch to his face, a tooth broke and flew out of his mouth and Andrias found his feet being swept from beneath him, letting him land hard on his front.

"Lucky for you I'm being merciful. You, however, just choose to make it hard for yourself." It shook its head, calmly placing the crown aside and brushed its chubby fingers down the music box next to the throne. Andrias held a breath, eyes switching rapidly between the box and his master. "You've left me no choice."

"W-What are you…my lord, you wouldn't-!"

"Since you refuse to co-operate, I see no use keeping a scum like you around. Do you know what we do to useless assets?" It held the box, gaze maliciously fixed on the terrified King. "Let's see, what do you prefer: a giant star that'd burn you alive immediately or a lonesome deserted planet where you can enjoy the rest of your time trying not to starve to death?"

"NO!" Andrias exclaimed, grasping the creature's hand to stop it, a terrified look on his face. "P-Please, I don't wanna go anywhere!" The Core smirked in amusement, staring into his wide terrified eyes. It reveled in the utter fear inside the eyes of the supposed King of Amphibia, now looking more vulnerable than a butterfly in a spider's web.

How he had once put its host in a similar situation not so long ago was ironic.

The Core did not know why exactly it chose to associate the two situations let alone finding it fascinating, it supposed it was the subconscious side of the mind it possessed; something about seeing him like this was strangely satisfying. Andrias sure had left a mark of pain on the Host and it showed.

"Last chance." It muttered. Andrias sweated anxiously, gazing around before meeting his master's ten uncanny eyes that stared maliciously at him, waiting patiently for his answer. He immediately looked back down. "Do you need me to dumb that down even further for your feeble, inferior wit to comprehend? What have you actually been doing behind my back?"

"I was…"

"Go on."

"I was on my regular castle rounds,"

"Very well."

"...Then I happened to pass by the system room and proceeded to check for any malfunctioning, and I…"

"-found none so decided to create some?"

"…"

"My patience is wearing thin, Andrias."

"I wanted to get her back…just for a while." Andrias submitted. Silence filled the room, he shut his eyes close and expected yet another skull-crushing violent blow, instead the Core relaxed back.

"You tried to cut the cords and break my connection with the Host." it confirmed, visible disappointment in its tone. "Don't get tired of backstabbing, do you?"

"Core. I can't do this anymore, I want Marcy back."

It flipped a dice between its fingers. "That won't be happening, you and I both know this. Marcy no longer exists as an individual, she's now a part of the Core. Why do you even want her back? It's not like you ever cared."

"I gave you this body, Core." Andrias pointed at the smaller figure. "We agreed to have our revenge together, deal's a deal. You promised me power. But nope, all you've been doing ever since possessing this body is push me around like a ding-dang ragdoll. Not only that, now you use the box I struggled my whole life to get charged, against me? Believe it or not, I've had enough." The creature stayed silent for a bit before bursting out into an ominous laughter, the king frowned. "So, it's funny, huh?"

"Oh my. Thought it'd take you a whole dang century to realize that. Thank goodness I wasn't proven to have overestimated your wits again."

The giant salamander slammed his foot down ragefully, the ground shook. "I said, let Marcy go. The deal's off!"

It rested its chin over its interlocked fingers and grimaced. "And who exactly do you think you are altering a thousand-year-old prophecy?"

"I'm the King of Amphibia," He spoke with much authority. "And what I say goes!"

"The King? Oh please," it snorted as if he had just cracked the biggest joke of the dynasty. "Well then, mighty King of Amphibia. What assures you my Host even wants to come back to you when all you ever gave her was manipulation and betrayal?" Andrias blinked, "You used her, you hurt her to the limit till she'd break for your own sake, and now that you miss that, you believe suddenly acting like you care would change anything?"

"I ain't taking that from someone who's willingly making her go through the same as long as it gets itself a body to control," Andrias huffed, folding his arms stubbornly.

"I am not hurting her." The Core shook its head confidently and continued. "When I possessed this body, I found Wit in a state which I calculated, traumatized. You wonder why is that?"

"That is because if Olivia and Yunan -those traitor newts- hadn't been so stupid to try breaking her out, the possession would've gone much smoother-"

"The child needed help." The Core continued, ignoring his argument. "I gave her a treat, reassured her, until she'd speak her feelings out. It wasn't easy to, given someone gave her issues with ever talking out her feelings again. I'd hear her scream and cry for hours, and behind every drop of her tears, guess who was there?" Andrias huffed and turned away, buying none of it. It wasn't his fault, and he refused to let the Core convince him otherwise. "All because of you. You lied to her, Andrias, you broke this child in the worst ways." It finished calmly, leaning back with a smirk. "I saved her from your malice. I managed to get on her good side, unlike you; you're a monster in her eyes."

"She doesn't think that." He denied. "And if she does, I'd still always be one proposition away from putting her back into her place. One new childish fantasy, and she's back under my thumb."

"There's indeed nothing the power of wit cannot achieve." The Core spoke wisely, sitting cross legged on the throne. "But I don't suppose you seem to realize the depth of this situation, the damage you've caused is much hard to reverse."

"And who enforced me to? It's not like I ever intended to manipulate her, or possess her, everything I did was in the name of loyalty."

"Why are you lying, Andrias?"

"…"

"Tell me if I'm wrong. You seek power and didn't care less what you had to sacrifice in process. Marcy was nothing but pawn in your game, so you desired to inflect on her the same pain that was inflected upon you when your own pathetic childhood friends left you to rot-"

"…Don't dare finish that." Andrias had unleashed his flaming sword, "I made a mistake helping you. I don't care what happens anymore, but I'm no longer your lackey. And if you're not gonna bring her back, I might as well destroy this body to pieces once and for all if it means you don't get to use it!" He snarled at the sight of that body. He didn't care it belonged to Marcy, all he could see was that it was a constant reminder that he let the Core get to him, that it made him chose it over her. Now that he couldn't get her back, he had to do the next best thing. He charged and swung the sword at his master. It hit an empty throne. "Huh?" He looked around, searching for his target.

"You're too slow, you pathetic disgrace to the dynasty." The Core sneered from behind him, Andrias turn and planted his sword into the floor, cracking splitting the surface apart in its direction. The Core vanished into the smoke a flash, appearing close behind him, whispering into his ear. "Tell me, does it hurt having to see her sitting in front of you, only to know she can't see you back?" he swung his fist only to hit clear air, the voice shifted to his other ear. "Does it hurt to still be able to hear her voice?" He roared, wildly swinging his sword around to no avail.

He noticed the figure standing a few feet away, swinging its big red cape to capture his attention. Andrias felt the wilderness take over him, down on all fours, he charged at the human figure, only for it to vanish into a flash and letting him crash right into the pillar behind. Andrias swore he could see stars twinkling above his head.

"Does it hurt to still be oversmarted by her?"

He panted heavily, too stunned to even locate the source of the voice anymore,

"What's wrong, I thought you wanted to fight?" the Core jeered. "Answer me, Andrias. How does it feel being the pawn in your own game?"

He felt the sharpest pain in his head, letting out an agonizing shriek, it was as if his mind was being torn apart. The Core walked up closer, one arm extended and all its eyes glowing red.

"How sad, you're not even worthy to rule alongside the wielder of a mind this powerful and valuable, not after the damage you've caused it. Your loyalty is empty, Andrias; you've indeed proven to be inadequate." shaking its head in disappointment it clenched its fist, Andrias screamed up to his lungs, feeling his feet hover inches above from the ground. "I could crush your old yet feeble mind like a dang sparrow egg if I may." Andrias felt his head getting lighter, emptier, it was like his mind was fading. "You're desperate to see Wit again, aren't you? I'll allow it but if you damage her anymore, it'll be the last you'll ever see."

Andrias found himself in a large, dark place. It looked like outer space, he could see several galaxies and constellations around, strange. He couldn't recall what happened and how he got there, looking around he saw several random things floating around: books, maps, weapons, torn pictures, faces of cartoon characters, even random Flipwart pieces. "What is this place…?" he heard sobbing, and turned back to look at a small dark figure curled up in a much darker 'corner' of the void behind the piles of books. He took a few steps closer, approaching her slowly. The figure seemed to have sensed his presence and stopped sobbing.

"C-Core?" Came Marcy's voice; just the pure Marcy voice, without the gloomy deep echo syncing it. There was a familiar anticipation in it, she uncurled and turned around with visible tears in her eyes and a charming wide grin, which faded immediately at the unexpected sight of the salamander. Her color had faded to a much greyer hue, like an uncharged calamity stone. She wasn't hurt, in fact she looked quite well, yet something about her was totally off. "You…who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked gingerly with desperation. "Where's my lord? It's time for Flipwart. They promised."

Andrias had no clue what in olm's name she was talking about, but what got him was her first question. "You don't remember?" He tried to reach out to her, she backed away cautiously, curling back into a ball. "Do you…remember yourself?"

"Of course, I do. I am…the Host, to the great Core." She nodded faintly. "But why are you here?"

"Marcy, it's me, Andrias."

"King Andrias?" she processed, scratching her head, trying to recall. "Wait…I-I remember," She looked much tense now as if after recognizing him filled her with fear. "No. This can't be right, they can't…leave me here with you. T-They promised! They'd stay, we'd always be together!"

"Marcy, snap out of this!" he exclaimed, shaking her shoulders as she stared at him wide eyed. "Let me get you out of here somehow before it comes back,"

"N-No, stay away from me! I don't know who you're looking for, b-but I'm not going anywhere, I'm supposed to be here. I promise them I'd play Flipwart!"

"Enough with the Flipwart! It was what got you into this. Do you not remember anything?"

"Wait. Now I remember." She gasped, the terror growing worse on her face the more she recalled. "Back that night…I played with you. I won. Then you…lied. You killed me, sold me out to the Core because I won at Flipwart." She stuttered. "But t-then, I met them. I finally made a friend w-who doesn't hate me, who wouldn't leave." the grin returned to her face, softly grasping a wart floating above her. "Even if I play better."

"It's not what it looks like, the Core isn't helping you, it only wants the control of your mind, i-it will not hesitate to cross any limits. You have to snap out of this, Mar Mar!"

"Ugh, stop that, I told you, I'm the Host! Now leave me!"

"Marcy," He dropped to his knees and begged. "Please, I promise I won't hurt you again, I'll let you live your little fantasy life forever, with Sasha…Anne…you won't be alone." Marcy groaned hard at the mention of the names, clutching her skull. Andrias noticed the air blowing much faster. "Come back, please. It…it will kill me if you don't!"

"...you're doing it again, Andrias." She narrowed her eyes. "You're lying again."

"I-"

"Please, the Core is who stayed when you betrayed me," Marcy's tone was low and rather dark, tears rolling down her cheeks, the said ground shook as she got to her feet. "When Anne and Sasha never came to save me. When everyone just…left. The Core stayed, I will never deceive them." Andrias noticed their surroundings turn darker, the objects floating in a loop as a storm started to form. "I am the Host." Marcy's eyes turned orange. "You betrayed me. They all did." The storm started to get denser, Andrias struggled with keeping his hands and feet planted to the ground. "I was destined to be the Host to the Core, this my destiny."

"M-Marc-" he coughed and the harsh storm nearly stumbled him off his feet, he couldn't see anything within it but the orange glowing eyes. "I…I'm sorry!"

The storm almost slowed down, Marcy's indifferent fiery eyes flickered to a sense of emotion for a second, letting two shiny jade tears stream down her cheeks. It wasn't for long though. Wiping the tears, she shook her head slowly. Giant red eyes appeared around in the air, and several other voices joined Marcy's own, "Too late, Andrias."

Andrias snapped out of it, eyes wide open and gasped. He looked down to see the flaming sword, piercing right through his chest. He shakily turned back to look at the Core who had stabbed him with his own fiery sword, an impassive look in its eyes. "This," It begun. "is only the result of your own choices." It slowly pulled the blade out, letting the groaning giant and the flaming sword drop to the floor, licking the blood off its knuckles, it smiled. "But I do thank you for your service." It bowed in courtesy before turning its back on him. Clutching his bleeding chest and eyes wider than ever, Andrias managed to slightly push himself up over one forearm, extending his other shaky arm to clutch the hem of its cape, his master stopped and glanced back at him.

"No…! M-My lord. Please…h-help me." He choked on his own blood, eyes watery and pleading. "…Have mercy." The Core blinked for a moment and smiled. Chuckling slowly, it kicked off his supporting arm, letting him faceplant back down on the floor with a grunt.

It walked away, leaving him behind for the light to leave his eyes.