The terrain of Canada proved harder to traverse than Cory assumed. Winter had fallen, and that was not any more apparent than when they walked through the forests of Canada, the snow falling down upon their figures. None of them were prepared for this, with the sole exception of Espio, whose chaos emerald powers allowed him immunity to the cold and the warm. Cory shivered in his short sleeve rags that he wore, longing for his pure white robes to return to him.
"Espio! It's so cold out here!" Cory whined.
"Stupid kid, we are on a quest to save the world, and you're complaining about the cold?" Espio glared at the teenager.
"It's getting daaaark!" Cory whined again.
"We are more likely to defeat our enemies if we are well rested, chameleon." Ted stated.
"Don't call me that. Fine, we can rest for a while," Espio said, setting down his stuff.
The rest of the group followed, with Ted starting a fire nearby them. They sat within a clearing in the forest, surrounded by coniferous trees. Above them, the stars shone in the sky, the moon silhouetting a mountain in the distance. The four sat around the fire, the light shining upon their faces, leaving long shadows behind them.
"So what happened since I was gone with you, Alex? How did you get those two other armors?" Cory asked.
"Well it's a long story, but I guess I'll tell it. As soon as we got back from the Neo Aztec ruins, I was lured to the final resting place of the gods…"
Alex flew off to Egypt, in search of the rest of the gods. He landed in Cairo and, in search of answers, went straight to the Egyptian museum.
Alex walked straight to the counter, "I want to speak with the owner of this place!"
"انا لا اتكلم الانجليزيه" The man behind the counter replied in Arabic.
"Hahaha, أحضرني إلى سيدك" Alex replied in perfect google translated Arabic.
The man, taken aback, motioned Alex to follow him. They walked through the museum, passing by many priceless artifacts. Alex was dead set on the door they were heading for: the deep storage. The Cairo museum was designed in two parts, the first part being the public area where citizens could view artifacts to learn the history of ancient Egypt. Little know the existence of the second part: the deep storage. Below the museum sits a vault of artifacts that the government of Egypt has decided aren't fit to be viewed by the public.
Through the door the two went, down a winding staircase into a large warehouse like room filled to the brim with crates and artifacts. Behind one of the crates stepped an incredibly buff man. He wore tight fitting pants and a collared button up shirt buttoned halfway down, showing off his muscular physique. On his head was a broad hat. It was the man himself, the director of antiquities, Zahi Hawass. Alex stared.
"So we meet, my friend. The one who has stolen my precious wisdom. Have you come back for more? Well? Stop staring, what are you, homosexual?" Zahi said, sneering.
"Yes."
"Wow, I must really put a stop to you now,my friend."
"Hahaha, old man. Stop living in the past, I'm here to continue my quest for the gods of Egypt. I traveled halfway around the world to find this place and I will not leave empty handed."
"Ohohoho, so I'm assuming you're after this?" Zahi raised his hand to the sky and a large blade flew to his hand. Instantly, armor appeared around him, turning him into Set, "you fool! Set was the defeater of Osiris! He CREATED the underworld. You cannot defeat me."
Alex transformed into Thoth, "unfortunately for you, brains are more powerful than brawn."
"We shall see," Zahi said, charging at Alex with his large sword. Alex dodged and threw his rod behind the man. Zahi moved out of the way, dodging.
"Haha fool, you think that would hit me!" Zahi laughed. The rod suddenly turned around and went back at Zahi, this time from the opposite side. Once again, the man dodged the rod and began laughing at the pitiful throw.
"I should be the one laughing, Hawass." Alex said as he turned and threw his rod towards a nearby wall. Zahi looked down to see he had been tricked. The rod Alex had thrown was attached to a very thin, but durable string of wire. Using the rod, Alex was able to loop the razor sharp string around him, and by throwing the rod away and holding the other end of the string, he was able to loop it around Zahi and pull. The wire caught around him and severed his torso from his legs. He screamed with pain as he felt himself rip apart.
"Fool! You cannot win, my friend."
Too late, Alex sensed it. Behind him, the man who was behind the counter had also transformed. The man had become Anubis, the jackal headed goddess of judgement. The tip of his staff pierced Alex's skin, drawing blood out of him and covering the tip. Anubis jumped back and held his hands up.
"It's over once he gets your blood! You have lost!" Zahi said, still alive despite behind half the man he used to be.
A large scale appeared in front of Anubis, perfectly balanced with nothing on each side. The staff Anubis held disappeared, and in its place appeared a beating heart made of the blood he had just taken. In his other hand a feather appeared.
"Have you heard the story of Anubis? He weighs your heart against a feather. If your heart balances with a feather, you will survive. If your heart is pure, you will live. However. If your heart does not balance… well, you'll be finding that one out soon." Zahi said, smirking.
Anubis set the feather upon the scale, which didn't move it at all. He then dropped the heart down.
"Now, my friend. You shall atone for your sins!"
Alex smirked.
"What!?" Zahi said, as flashes of moments from his life appeared in front of him. The scale tipped all the way down, sending one side to the ground.
"Before he was able to stab me, I sent a current through the cord, sending your own blood towards the wound in my back. That heart is of your blood, Hawass!" Alex shouted.
Zahi screamed as every sin he had committed appeared as a vision, each one increasing the pain flowing through him. Anubis fell to the ground, weakened by the power it took to perform the ritual. Both of their armor flew to Alex, giving him the powers of both.
"I'll see you in hell one day, Jones!" Zahi screamed as he died.
"... and then I took his hat and left," Alex said, pointing to the hat on his head.
"How sick, you wear the hat of a dead man?" Espio said, staring at the hat.
"But what about your sun guy form, Alex?" Cory asked.
"That's a story…" Alex paused dramatically, "for another day."
"Fine, Espio tell us something now!" Cory shouted.
"There's nothing within the last few years that you need to hear about. All I've done is train in my chaos control powers."
"What's your weakness, then?" Cory asked.
"Idiot. Who would willingly tell someone their weakness? Especially someone like me, whose powers rely on the enemy not expecting them."
"You just admitted your weakness, fool," Ted said.
Espio laughed, "Or did I?"
Cory turned to Ted, "so what's your story?"
"Where do I begin? As a young man, I yearned for answers. Who am I, what am I, where do I belong?"
"Boring." Espio said, "that's the most basic backstory ever."
Ted breathed in deeply, "It was then that my mother and father died."
"Just checking off those boxes, are we?"
"And then, my lover, Angeline, was murdered by my arch enemy."
"Wow, I didn't think it could get any more cliché."
"You fool! This is the pain that created me. Anyway, all of these led me along a path of darkness. I began to despise this society, fueled by hatred. I sent off intricate bombs to many people around the country, blowing them up in the process. We are not meant to be creatures of society. We are tribals. We did not evolve for this, we are supposed to stand alone. We are meant to live by our own rules, we are meant for anarchy!"
"You actually believe that would happen? That's pretty funny, actually. Old man, if the world turned to anarchy, people would just form tribes. These tribes would eventually settle down, much like the kingdoms of the middle ages settled down. These tribes would fight each other, though eventually it would become too much for each side. How is that any different than the countries we have today? Not even Payne believes in anarchy, and he's anti America."
"These tribes as you call them would then need to be destroyed."
"So you're saying you'll be in a never ending cycle?"
Ted looked down, now seeing the issue within his arguments.
"The human mind runs on relationships, as much as I hate to admit it. We tend to stick to people. Anarchy would never stay."
"Then what's the solution?" Ted shouted, frustrated for devoting his life to a worthless cause.
"This world is full of hate, even I see that. There may not be a perfect solution, there may never be peace. To answer your question, I don't know. But, if you want to make a difference, fight for what you believe in, and if you were wrong about your beliefs, admit to it."
"You fool, I won't admit that!"
"That's not my problem," Espio smirked, "anyway, Cory. What did you do in the past?"
"I helped found America, I discovered the secrets of the statue of liberty, um… I met Payne and I defeated Jefferson in a battle of the bands."
"Wait, did you just say you met Payne?" Espio said, baffled. Not even he had met Payne.
"Well yeah. He was a no good drunk, but I talked to him and he tried to tell me how evil the government was."
"You're saying Payne is over 200 years old? That's a bit far fetched don't you think?" Espio said.
"No, it's true. He was evil back then too."
"He's evil because you disagree with him? What about Caesar, didn't you respect him even though he disagreed?" Espio asked, bored and trying to create conflict with everyone.
"I don't respect anyone who is against the United States!"
"Let me tell you about Payne, Cory. You've been gone since he started making more appearances. Him and his group are cooped up in Iceland. They say he was able to single handedly vaporize a mountain just by breathing at it. You may say that's ridiculous, but listen to this. The president ordered for Iceland to be nuked to hell after he learned of the Akatsuki base there. Guess what happened? The nuke came down, but nothing changed. In fact, the nuke never went off. Scary stuff if you're his enemy, eh Cory?"
Cory's blood ran cold. This man, no, this monster was able to dissolve the mightiest weapon the United States had? What sort of power does he have? He seemed like a lazy slacker back then, what happened?
"Espio." Ted said suddenly.
"What do you want?" Espio said boredly.
"I was born in a time where admitting your weaknesses was unheard of. Maybe I have one foot in the grave, maybe I'm just a crazy old man. Look at me, I'm wearing rags and carrying around bombs. I thought this was what life should be, but maybe I was wrong."
"You can say that all you want, but look at how many times you said 'I'. Stop focussing on yourself." Espio said coldly.
"Hey Espio, stop being so hard on everyone, you're not perfect yourself!" Alex said.
"I never claimed to be perfect," Espio said.
"Yeah, but still you're acting like some sort of prophet."
"Whatever, I stand by my words," Espio said, crossing his arms.
"Listening to all your stories, I think I finally understand this bond humans have for others, or at least I have rediscovered it. I am proud to call myself a crusader alongside you lot." Ted said.
"Crusaders! Yes, that's a perfect name! The Coniferous Crusaders!" Cory shouted.
"That's a bit ridiculous, but whatever, it works." Espio said, clearly starting to loosen up.
Soon enough, all of them had passed out deep within the night. All except for Espio who
didn't need to sleep due to his constant chaos control mastery.
"Hey, welcome back."
Cory awoke within the bright field he was in last time he slept. Cory turned to see the figure of Payne next to him, blowing on a dandelion and sending its seeds off.
"Cory, do you ever wish to have children?" Payne asked.
"Ew no!"
Payne laughed at his childishness, "you haven't changed since we last met, I see. Though that is to be expected, I suppose. People don't change."
"You're wrong, people do change! I've changed a lot since we last met!"
"How so, Cory?" Payne smirked.
"I have different clothes on now!"
"Ah of course, sorry for my ignorance."
"How are you still alive after 300 years?"
Payne smirked and turned to Cory, his yellow eyes shining, "Isn't that the question? Doesn't everyone want to know about the powers of Payne? To say it simply, I was blessed by the power of the gods after walking down the path of pain. That is why I am still alive."
"Why? Why would they give someone so evil these powers?"
"Cory, nobody believes what they are doing is evil. Everyone is their own protagonist of their story, don't you see?"
"You're wrong about everything you say! You are a terrorist!"
"You can't defeat me by insulting me, Cory, and you can't change anyone by being antagonistic towards them. Anyway, you know the world must be passed on eventually, nothing is forever."
"What do you mean?"
"Ideas are passed on, whether they are good, bad, or neutral to your point of view. Don't you want a legacy Cory?"
"I don't understand a word you're saying you idiot!"
Payne laughed and threw a bunch of dandelion petals into the air, "It is why I asked if you wanted children. Someday, you'll need to trust the future to someone else, who better than your own flesh and blood. I suppose it could be anyone, though."
"If you're immortal, why would you need to have someone like that?"
"Cory, nobody is immortal. Not even the gods. Anyway, it's about that time."
"Wait, how are you telling me all this in my sleep? Why are you doing this?"
Payne smiled, "Because I believe that you, even more than me, have the power to change the world, and I'm excited to see where we end up."
"I don't need your small talk!"
Payne waved as everything faded away. Cory awoke with a start and sat up from the ground. Everyone else was already up, getting ready to leave.