Chapter 23: The Empty Throne

The race was on to get to the top of the Pyramid. Mew and Kairi ran like the dickens and let nothing distract them along the way. Even the crowd of Aurians gathered around the Pyramid's perimeter, dabbling in murmurs about Gravitus' speech, only gave them temporary pause.

Their target was clear. Their focus, though rocky in Kairi's case, was otherwise also clear. Their legs and feet were sore after running up about ten staggering floors worth of stairs one last time. But when they made it to the penultimate floor Mew looked back at the progress they established over these last few days and felt some pride rise in his smile.

It felt like a longer journey than it had truly been. Eight floors guarded by eight great opponents, every one of them having fought with the full strength of their will and showing Mew the weight of their pride. But now there could only be one left standing in their way. Mew may have doubted the legitimacy of the last man or woman's claim of being a "Planetary" Aurian, but that wasn't the same as underestimating them.

He looked to Kairi for a moment as she caught her breath from all that running. She held her head up high but something about the way she did felt like her putting on an act. Mew furrowed his brows and asked her, "This is it. One last fight before the top."

"Uh-huh." She briefly replied with a nod of the head, sounding confident in the irrelevancy of their next opponent's strength compared to the monster lying at the top.

Mew looked up towards the ceiling and felt a pulse rippling down the sides of the building. His pupils shrank and lips trembled. And then he looked at Kairi again and saw her trembling at the knees. She now knew what it was like to experience true power, and her first time was not inspiring confidence in her abilities.

Cautiously, Mew edged ahead of her to take the lead then turned around and told her merrily, "Come on Kairi, lets get this over with!"

Once she nodded her head again they turned and fully entered the penultimate floor. Their greeting was sour and repugnant. Compared to every other floor this one was bathed in a thin layer of dust and eclipsed with a grim, gray shade. The ruins of yesteryear scattered about, represented by fallen pillars and twisted, rusted weaponry. It was a wonder this room stood upright.

But though the mood was melancholic, the light of the portal shone brightest here, and kept the two on the proper path forward. Crawling their way through the dust infested hall, they made their way into the portal and towards their final destination – the once proud planet of Pluto.

The most curious sight as they popped out of the portal was that they were greeted by somewhat blue-ish skies. The stars that lied millions of light years beyond the Milky Way still littered the sky too, but here they were at their prettiest. The land at their feet was a little icy, and far far away were line of mountains as tall as the ones Mew's house were wedged between. On top of that, there were bits of red in the ground. One would be quick to assume blood, but no. Its just this planet's snow.

A scenic detour could wait until after Gravitus' defeat, Mew thought. The last Planetary Aurian was close by, he could feel it. But just how close was not something he could have seen coming. Mew stared straight ahead and perked up his eyes and finger forward.

"There they are Kairi," He said to draw her curious eyes away from the rest of the world, "The last Planetary Aurian."

Sitting atop a crumbling throne of dirty gold was an elven man with dark gray skin. His wrinkled hands cupped atop two bronze sabers, one with an hourglass between hilt and blade, and the other with a telescopic lens between the two. His nails were full of grime and had turned yellow, each and every one looking sharp as butcher knives with the tips bent inward about a centimeter.

Stirring to life at his company's sight, the man slowly stood tall before his throne and grabbed one blade in each hand. Age had been cruel to him. His facial features were sagging enough to pronounce the pink skin under his yellow eyes, and left him with a perpetual frown. His ears were pointed at the top about three inches long, and his once silver hair was long, dry, and tangled up before his eyes. He wore what appeared to be a king's regalia, complete with a cape that bore a lion's mane collar. But his golden armor had lost all luster, the gold having been chipped away by the eroding sands of time.

"So, here you stand before me. At your final destination..." The man spoke with a light medieval accent, his smarmy mannerisms lacking any proof of respect towards his guests.

The throne at his back crumbled to dust and scattered to the wind. He raised his head towards his guests and continued to frown, "I am Plutonian the Third. But you...shallrefer to me as your king."

Mew snickered and threw a slight bit of shade at the man even as he "bowed" towards him, "By all means, o' king of this dwarven rock."

Pluto furrowed his brows and squeezed his hands around the top of his blades. As Mew raised his head he then closed his eyes and muttered, "I foresaw nothing less than your utter ignorance, jester. Though, I suppose you are only somewhat at fault for your less than fortuitous upbringing."

Mew slanted his brows and rolled his eyes as he thought, "Is this guy for real?"

It was easy to mock the man's long-winded insults for he showed little weakness otherwise. Shambled appearance aside, he stood as tall with the planet's subtle wind at his back. Mew could buy that he was a king, certainly, but judging from the bad vibes he was getting from the man it felt more beneficial to not give him the respect he demanded.

"So you're the last Planetary Aurian?" Kairi suddenly inquired, her tone matching Mew's in the "not giving a shit" department.

"Do not sort me in with those dogs so weak of heart..." Pluto spat venomously as his lips curled into something resembling a scowl, "Their ambitions were too weak to even best a fledgling pair of curs such as yourselves."

Mew opened his eyes and lazily threw a hand up at the man, a slight rage boiling in the back of his head as he did so, "Hey hey hey. Those guys fought at their best. Where do you get off mocking them?"

"And why, pray tell, should I give your hypocrisy the attention it craves?" Pluto firmly replied, forcing the argument to an end on his terms as Mew just stood there and pinched his lips shut.

He raised his head and widened his weary eyes, remarking in a soft, bitter tone, "As I said before, this is your final destination. Your long, fruitless journey...ends at my feet."

Mew rolled his eyes, threw up his dukes and asked, "Oh yeah? And what does Yoda's ugly cousin get outta all this?"

Pluto had no response to the quip beyond a smirk, though it was very, VERY doubtful that it was because he found it funny.

"I suppose I can enlighten you. Then you will leave this world only marginally less ignorant than you were going into it," He swiveled his head around and gestured his hands towards the ground, "This world was not always this icy wasteland you see before you. It was once a massive kingdom, populated with wonders beyond your pitiful planet's wildest dreams."

"My story began a woefully long time ago, when this barren rock once dwarfed Jupiter in size. We were a kingdom ruled by magic and technology working together in harmony. But our rule was dominated by a tyrant, my father, Plutonian the Second.

For centuries did he reign, commanding his people to erect statues and gather rare minerals in his name. His dark magic ensured an uncontested rule...Except for one factor that not even the dark arts could overcome. The withering thrall of age...

He turned to labors of love not out of sincerity, but to ensure his legacy would last unto eternity. And his poor son paid the price for his power lust. A torturous regime attempted to mold the son into his father's image. But as strict as the man was, his uncontested reign left him blind to his son's empathy.

The son continuously sneaked out of the palace, evading the guards' watchful eye with tricks he learned from his father's tomes in secret. He turned to his people's plights of agony and sickness and felt his heart be wrenched with grief. Seeing these people in such a sorry state begged one question to the boy's father...

'Why must our people suffer to the point of exhaustion?'

And the answer provided would echo in the boy's thoughts for centuries more to come...

'Because kindness is wasted on the weak'

But they were not words the boy understood at the time of their utterance. To the him of yesteryear they were the ramblings of a madman.

So the boy sought to overthrow the tyrant. Continuing his dark practices in secret, the boy learned his father's strengths and weaknesses and sneaked out weapons to the citizens. His words inspired freedom in their hearts, and reignited the dormant bastion of hope they were made to bury within.

It took plenty of years to establish the foothold he'd need. So long in fact, that he could not remember a time where he hadn't fought for freedom. All it took was one unified attack. With a force so mighty that it was like a tidal wave, the son led his people to his father's throne and slayed his forces until he was but the last man alive.

The son forced his blade to his father's throat, and did not let the coward utter a single word before rending his flesh from the bone. As his father's cold, yellow blood stained his barren throne, the son felt true joy for the first time.

Cheers resounded throughout the kingdom, and the son welcomed them all with a smile. It was without a doubt that he would be made the next king, but he would be different. He would be the planet's first selfless king in many, many millenia.

It gave the new king a sense of fulfillment to see his people enjoying their new peace and prosperity. But why stop here? Why not help other worlds out? There were so many secrets on Pluto that would surely benefit them. However, it was not a job that could be done alone. The king wished for his people's help.

But while the king's heart burned with selfless desire, his people...were not so receptive to the idea. Their position was not unfounded.

'What have other worlds done for us?'

'What were they doing while we suffered?'

The king respected their wishes, but only to give them time to enjoy their peace and think things over. A mistake that he'd, in time, come to regret.

For the next few centuries the king sat alone in his palace, watching as his people got lazier and lazier. After sweeping away the vile dredges of the tyrant's reign, the king's people used their great achievements in technology and magic to throw...parties. Non-stop, shameless...parties.

The king tried to intervene and pleaded with his people to think of other worlds, but again their words echoed their selfish thoughts. They held no respect towards others, least of all it seemed, their king. The king's patience was tested, but there were so many excuses...So little progress.

There'd be moments of outrage in the echoing silence of his palace. The people could hear their king breaking his knuckles on the palace walls. He would not bring harm to his people under any circumstance but...Something had to change.

If his people would prove unreliable then he'd make do with what he had. And what he had was plenty of magic...And the teachings of his father. He revolted at the idea of relying on that monster's magic but spun his sacrifice of ideals as turning a bad idea into something good.

He brought to life soldiers out of the minerals mined from the planet. They would get to work creating means of which the works of his race would be spread to other worlds. But there was a finite number of resources, and his father's reign had dwindled them down to almost the last drop.

But that was when the king came up with an idea. If there was more of the planet, then naturally, there'd be more resources. It'd require a little work, but the king knew this idea was sound. Thus he begun to craft two swords. One whose would change the size of whatever it cut, and another of whom whose cut would hasten the flow of time. With both blades in hand the king would plunge them into the world tree and Pluto's size would increase to staggering heights in mere seconds.

But destiny had other, crueler plans.

His people saw the soldiers digging up materials as a sign that their king had gone mad with power, and would soon become the same tyrant they sought to dispose. And his outbursts of the past only served to indulge their narcissistic fantasies.

A small group of miscreants, too drunken off their partying 'labors' to know right from wrong, came up with a plan. They offered to 'help' the king with his labors. Though in actuality, they sought to undermine him.

With the king's guard lowered it was but a trifling matter for those imbeciles to saunter into the palace. Late one night, they enchanted his completed blades with but a simple curse to reverse their properties.

The next day those louts lingered behind their unsuspecting king as he readied the completion of his greatest task. But it was obvious the moment the blades struck that something was wrong. With the planet's girth no bigger than before, nor the effects none as instantaneous as expected, the king's confusion was met with by the cackles of the jesters behind him.

They caught him pale-faced in his foolishness, and laughed at how they successfully foiled a "tyrant"...And how they'd get to be the next kings because of it.

The king was blind to their mockery as the injustice of his people's selfishness finally came to a head. He roared with rage as he rushed the mewling quins with his blade and slaughtered them like lambs. The man saw the world bathed in yellow as he finished his task and slowly dragged his feet to the palace gates.

The tip of his blades tore at the ground of his now shrinking world, a cruel, sloven act that would last an excruciatingly long time. When he finally emerged on the palace steps he engaged his 'people' and their agape mouths with but one emotion – rage.

Pure, unbridled rage spat from his mouth as he cursed his kin for rotting in their sloth and greed. He rightfully blamed them for dooming their planet to in-hospitality and demanded they fix what they have done or suffer the consequences.

But no amount of rage could cure them of their selfish hearts. The people of the planet took advantage of the king's efforts and stole his spaceships underfoot, fleeing to the stars to avoid the consequences of their actions. The king stood at his palace gates and screamed into the heavens for their punishment, but they left unopposed.

Alone, the king stood and watched as centuries of work was undone in months. The planet shrunk, crushing the buildings together and forcing their ruins into the starry depths as the force of gravity grew too weak to hold them down. The king never left. He stood there, trying in vain to reverse the process only to make matters worse...

The planet became the size it is today. Detached from the sun and without the magic to sustain its heat, the planet slowly turned into an icy wasteland plagued by reddish lice. The king had no throne to swear his allegiance too...Only the shambles of stone served as his seat.

Solitude of the mind was his only company. That, and the bitter cold that surrounded him. His magic infused body would rot slowly into the night over thousands of years. He did not require food or water, but almost begged for the desire of nourishment to rot his body from the inside out.

The only progress he could make now was to answer the question of 'Where he went wrong'. His mental state cracked, and the words of his terrible father crawled out from the murky depths.

'Because kindness is wasted on the weak...'

And he was right. The king had showered his people with freedom, and far too much of it. They embraced peace and grew tired and lazy. But when he had worked hard under the toil of his tyrant father, he grew stronger for it, and bettered that evil man.

Yes. He had done all the work to bring prosperity to his kingdom and what was he rewarded with? The ruins surrounding him, that now acted as his prison. His 'people', meanwhile, enjoyed the spoils of his struggles because they were weak while he was strong.

Ultimately it was his fault. He should have been stricter. Tougher. Made them work to build up their strength until he saw fit for them to be worthy of their rewards.

That was the revelation that dawned on him at long last. He was the shadow of a king, a servant to those sniveling, wretched dogs. He girded his beliefs in a cage of steel and solidified that what he felt was right.

And the heavens, over the next centuries, grew privy to his plight and delivered unto him a great and wise sage. The sage tested the man's resolve by mocking his beliefs to his face, even as two blades were thrust upon his bearded shroud of shadow.

But the man who would be king declared, his voice rupturing the gates to the heavens above:

"I WILL have my chance again. As King of one world or as King of all creation I WILL not fail, will not YIELD, until my name is etched forever into history as the greatest King who EVER LIVED!"

And the sage thus blessed the would-be king with a parting gift. The protection of the heavens above, and the immortality to endure the rotting years until his time would come once more.

It was but a bit longer of a wait, but the king would find the one he'd require in time. A man who named himself Gravitus approached him on this barren wasteland with two mugs full of rum. He too, was a man seeking redemption for time wasted in servitude.

History now recognized the name of the former king as one filled with disgrace. The king explained to his company in infuriated detail the truth of what had occurred and, much to his surprise, the man listened to every word.

Gravitus then offered a partnership with the king, claiming that together, he'd have a second chance to reclaim what he had lost. The king was reluctant. He had accepted the favor of man once before and had his kindness spat back in his face. What made Gravitus different?

The man lectured the king on his ideals to change the world. Going into such detail that nothing came across as half-hearted. And by the time the two's talk had come to an end, they had reached a mutual understanding of one another..."

There was, finally, a brief pause, upon which Pluto used to end his story on a rather arrogant note of "Now do you understand?"

Mew felt thousands of years older just from listening to that story. His opinion on the man hadn't really changed much either.

"Sounds like a buncha crazy talk to me." He said.

Pluto's smirk lacked amusement as he replied, "Make up whatever truth you wish. I heard humans excel at that."

His unflinching answers to everything affected only one party. Kairi, on the other hand, drew her staff in both hands and thrust it at Pluto.

"Whatever! Forget this lunatic! Lets kick his ass and get a move on!" Her confidence and impatience inspired concern in Mew's head but she had a point. Indulging this "King's" narcissism wasn't getting them anywhere.

Mew took one step forward and gently pushed Kairi's staff down, his eyes locked on his foe as he said, "Leave him to me. Save your energy for Gravitus."

"What?!" She spat in disgust and confusion before pushing ahead of Mew and forcing her staff towards Pluto once more, "If we fight him together we won't waste a drop!"

"Ghh...!" Mew was super hesitant about getting her involved against their enigmatic foe. A fact the man would confirm soon enough.

"By all means," Pluto smirked and shrugged his shoulder as he looked to them with a ghastly gaze, "I will fight you both and triumph. For I am a king...And you barely even qualify as peons."

Kairi's brows slanted and her cheeks puffed with hot air. "I'm getting sick of your shit you wrinkly prune!" She yelled before running straight at him. Mew failed to snag her by the shirt and thus swung his arm up to yell at her to "Hold on!"

Pluto didn't budge as the ground shook between his feet and a black chain pulled itself out of the dust towards Kairi. She gasped and tried to jump only for its path to shift on a dime. It snagged her around her right ankle and started whipping her around in the air.

Mew bit down on his teeth and drew his sword in one hand. He sped past the chain and sliced it, leaving Kairi to fall on her butt as he tackled Pluto head on. Suddenly he drew one of his blades and blocked Mew's strike without losing his footing.

Vs. The Disgraced King: Aurian Pluto

Pluto dug his saber along the edge of Mew's sword and ignited sparks as he gruesomely spoke down to him, "You thought I sat on my laurels as life passed me by?"

He leaned in and pushed Mew's blade back a little but surprising amount, "But my magic exceeds that greedy nymph's, my skill with the blade rivaling that honorbound cur's."

His eyes narrowed with a scorn most cold as he growled, "I have a far greater claim to the label of legend than you ever have. Tell me...What accomplishments do you have to your name?"

Mew held his ground but felt he was losing it fast. He then grimaced upon sensing a disturbance in the air. On his left and right dark red rifts opened up and rusted lances poked through.

Mew jumped and slid back, the lances thrusting upon his neck and grazing the skin, which quickly fell cold. Mew grit his teeth and rubbed the spot he was touched. This was no game. This man was playing for keeps. And Mew, to his chagrin, was letting himself get distracted.

And because of that he missed Kairi run by him and take a swing at Pluto. The king raised one sword in defense and didn't budge. He turned and reversed his grip as he needed to defend his body. Kairi targeted his knees and elbows but missed them by a mile.

Pluto summoned more rifts aimed at Kairi. Mew clicked his tongue then threw his hands up. He pulled rocks from the ground to divert the lances' descent as he ran in to provide back-up.

Pluto blocked a few more of Kairi's attacks then reached down for his other blade. He pulled it up and locked Kairi's staff between them both. Then he slashed down to his hips and the gale raised blew Kairi back into Mew's path.

He caught her in the nick of time and helped prop her up. But then he held on until she got his message loud and clear, "I'm telling you, let me handle this!"

"I'm not dead weight anymore!" She declared as she threw her arms out of Mew's hands and turned around, "We can take this chump down together!"

Mew looked up and saw two massive chains rising out of the ground towards them.

"Look out!" He decreed as he pushed Kairi to the right and jumped to the left. The chains tore through the ground and performed a U-Turn to single Mew out.

Kairi looked at Pluto and proclaimed, "I'll hit him from the front, you get 'em from behind!"

She ran at him before Mew could object. With an uneasy growl he spun back and threw up a wall of ice around the chains to stop them in their tracks. He then quickly ran at Pluto, picking up his feet to outpace Kairi and get behind his foe.

He wanted the elf's full attention and thus threw a punch straight at his face. Pluto needed but the dull edge of one blade to stop him. Though Mew did succeed in forcing the saber to its owner's face.

"Hrmm..." Pluto's curiosity was mildly satiated as he put up his other blade to block Kairi's swing at his face. Mew didn't know why he bothered. Not like it could get any uglier...

"I expected better from you..." He said with a glance at Kairi, "Are you sure you're the one?"

Pluto planted doubt in Kairi's mind with his strange words. Mew watched as her face turned and wrestled with confusion. And that kept her detached from her surroundings.

The ground glowed. Two rows of rifts formed at their feet.

"Kairi!" Mew exclaimed as he leaped back from the emerging lances, swords and spears. Kairi almost didn't make it, and fell on her butt.

Pluto lowered his sabers to his hips and advanced upon Kairi. She stood right up and declared to Pluto, "You may have two blades...But it won't help you against three opponents!"

She slammed down on her Beast Tamer Drive and Mew could feel the smirk Pluto bore towards this. But his guard was down, and Mew punched out a ground-quaking lightning bolt at his back. Kairi briefly succumbed to shock, no pun intended, as the bolt lit up the sky with a flash of white.

It left in the blink of an eye and Pluto kept walking slowly towards Kairi. His body, now enveloped in an aura shining with the pearl glow of an angel, cast a shadow that made Kairi hesitant to act.

"What?" Was all Mew could think at his failure.

He prepared to strike again, this time with fire, when Pluto swiftly thrust his left saber straight out to his side. The ground trembled. A maelstrom of metal beating against metal reverberated in Mew's eardrums.

He turned right towards an incoming whirlwind of blades and lances enveloped in the icy winds. He drew his blade in defense but the force of thousands upon thousands of weapons easily dragged him miles away. The last he saw of Kairi was her widening her eyes in surprise before the maelstrom overwhelmed him.

Pluto took his extended blade and swung it over his head. Kairi was on guard but not out of the fight. She lashed her whip to his wrist and dragged his blade towards the ground. Pluto kept his balance and only offered a mildly irritated glance to his side.

"Is that it?" He said as he raised his other blade up and swung it down. Kairi smirked as a panther she summoned in secret pounced Pluto from behind.

Without pause the man put his blade in a reverse grip and stabbed the aura beast in the gut. And on that move, Kairi punched him square in his disjointed nose. The aura radiated from his body, and the punch failed to draw a drop of blood.

Pluto centered his gaze on her fist as bewilderment ran wild on her face. As she slowly drew her fist back he stared into her eyes and crinkled his nose to say, "This is all you can muster?"

Kairi tried to flip back but two small chains shot from the ground and shackled her by the kneecaps. They slammed her down hard not once, or twice, but three times.

Mew watched her struggle as the typhoon of blades continued to wear down his defenses. He quickly turned and shoved the edge of his blade against the dark magic. A shot of compressed wind cleaved it in two and gave passage for Mew to charge forward.

The weapons tried to collapse upon him. He threw up part of the ground with him on it, launching himself to safety. He then aimed his blade at Pluto and prepared to dive. Alas, the chains he froze moments before finally broke free and threw themselves around his waist. They dragged him to the ground, where the tornado came crashing down upon his back.

Mew dug his fingertips into the icy dirt and staunchly held up under pressure by coating his back in metal. The blades scratched away at him but what worried him more was the state of Kairi.

She managed to find an opening to breathe and concentrate, summoning a bear to slash through the chains. She stood up and ducked left under Pluto's sword as it flew on by and stabbed the bear's head. The mighty beast plummeted to the ground before the sword was ripped free and drawn back to Pluto's hand.

Kairi stepped back slowly, the elven king having her convinced that this was the only option available to her. Mew gathered his strength and punched the ground, creating a bubble of energy to temporarily repel the weapons and let him stand.

He threw his body upright and wrenched his hands around the chains to rip them off. Upon which he then threw his arms up high, erupted with flames, and shot a pillar of fire skyward to melt through the relentless typhoon.

Pluto averted his attention for a brief moment, giving Kairi the opening to try and whip his face. The man, without releasing his sword, grabbed the end of Kairi's whip and tugged it up to his ear.

"I am disappointed," He squeezed the whip down and put the tip of one blade to the edge of Kairi's chin, "I expect a warrior and am delivered a sheep, one sheltered from her flock..."

Kairi grit her teeth and backed away, stuttering at the king with a failed display of bravery, "Don't...don't look down on me!"

Pluto closed his eyes as a shadow dropped over him. An icy boulder harder than diamonds was flung his way, only for it to crumble to pebbles upon his aura. Mew charged at him behind the pebbles with his fist swung back, and swung it halfway out before a chain raised behind Pluto and lashed him in the gut.

Mew went tumbling but he could vaguely make out the scene unfolding before him. Kairi retaliated with one of nature's fastest creatures – the cheetah. It ran abound of Pluto's personal space, jumping and slash away at his body.

Pluto drew the blade with the hourglass and cut away at the feral feline every time it crossed his gaze. Kairi and Mew watched as the cheetah's body got increasingly sluggish until it was no faster than a slug. Then, with it inching towards his face, Pluto stabbed it up through the chest.

"I suppose it makes no difference to me..." Pluto narrowed his eyes unto Kairi and continued to advance, "I shall present you to Gravitus either way."

Pluto took the tips of his blades to the ground and dragged them in half-circles around his feet. Mew stood up and staggered with one arm on his stomach. He felt an uncomfortable vibe coming from Pluto's feet, as if he was up to something.

"K-Kairi...!" Mew coughed, his voice too faint for her to hear.

Pluto dug his fingers around the blades and held his ground. His mere presence egged Kairi on and fed into her desperate desire to prove herself. She squeezed her whip in her hand and leaped at the elven king with it above her head.

Pluto expressed his first smile as he hopped to the left and the circular etching filled in with a multi-pointed emblem of dark desire. The black and crimson lights cascaded out and froze Kairi in place. Dozens upon dozens of devilish chains shot up and constrained her body save for her hands and head. A couple rifts opened above her, the chains pushing through to firmly suspend her off the ground.

The chains snagging her neck took her breath away and her whip fell out of her hand. As it fell to the ground and faded into sparks the color faded from Mew's face and, pain or no pain, he sprinted straight at Pluto.

The king turned his back to his ensnared prey and raised his head high. The boy may have been rampaging at him but there was no cause for fear. He smirked, and proclaimed with a thunderous roar of his regality, "I invoke the Rite of Singularity!"

Then his smirk creased out as he swiveled his body back and gestured one blade at Kairi in chains, his attitude positively dripping with smugness, "On...her."

Mew dug his feet into the ground, bit on his teeth, and stopped ten steps away from Pluto. The man faced him and planted his swords into the ground, returning to the posture that he first started the battle in. A cold wind swept over Mew's shoulders as he held his ground and nervously grinned.

"Fine...If that's how you want to play it then let her go." He growled as a single sweatdrop formed on the side of his face.

"Who are you to make demands of your king?" Pluto glared back at the boy, "A prince? A pauper? Not even a knight? What are you but the jester of whom no one asked for?"

He closed his eyes and remarked with arrogance beaming off his body, "But I am delighted to say that your role in this story is over. Rejoice, for you no longer may need to play the chauvinistic hero you fooled yourself into believing you were."

Mew twisted his feet into the ground and it started to crack. He narrowed his fiery gaze towards Pluto and told him bluntly, "A blundering king who thinks he's a hero. That's rich."

"Barking is all you can do now isn't it?" Pluto mumbled with a smirk as he waved one hand back towards Kairi and remarked, "With your prize now clothed in chains?"

Mew reacted with a scowl as the man continued unopposed, "What is the measure of a man who gallivants about doing whatever he pleases? You may have been given god-like powers but they were wasted on one of your stature. What change have you brought about it in your time as Overlord? Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that you've changed your world?"

The man scoffed. The answer was already painfully obvious to him, and Mew hated it. He could only try and distract the man with insults while he worked out a way to rescue Kairi from her predicament.

"I don't want to hear it from the living failure." He said while waving the back of his hand in a dismissive manner.

"A failure I may be, but the path to glory I find is always paved with obstacles," Pluto held his head high and looked down upon Mew some more, "Tragically they seem to have missed their mark on you, giving you a sense of entitlement you haven't deserved."

"...Sorry, I didn't know I was coming in for therapy." Mew dryly replied.

"Hmph. What further proof of your failure do you need than that of the girl behind me?" Pluto nudged his head back slightly and started to find amusement in all this, "Did you honestly expect to change her fate by tackling it head on? You only succeeded in hastening the inevitable."

Mew curled his lips into a scowl and continued to hate what he was hearing.

"Its bad enough getting lectured on your mistakes...Its even worse when some narcissistic bastard's the one doing it!"

"You treated this whole venture like a game. Climbing the 'dungeon', facing the 'bosses' blocking your path, all to garner the love of a 'princess'," Every word of his made Mew's blood boil, while 'D.' cackled in the back of his mind, "But this is no game child. The happy ending you wrote in your head will not come to pass."

"When Gravitus acquires the Neo Drive he will usher in a new era of peace across the cosmos. Trillions of lives will prosper from his reign ever lasting...And you won't even have the honor of being a footnote in his history."

Mew's body stiffened upright as he tilted his head towards Pluto and scowled at him quietly, "I am taking this seriously."

"Too little, too late," Pluto raised his arms to his sides and declared to his embittered foe, "But fear not! For in your place my reign shall shunt your stagnant world into a new age of prosperity the likes of which you could never possibly have imagined!"

All that anger Mew was building up was quickly replaced with a look of utter bafflement at what he heard.

"Excuse me?" He muttered.

"Oh?" Pluto smiled, his eyes draped in some mild manner of joy, "I suppose I wasn't clear enough before...Yes, you see, in exchange for my services Gravitus has promised me your planet to rule over once he acquires the Neo Drive."

Mew's mouth went agape and he was hoping that this was the one time the man chose to joke. But that hope would not spring eternal.

"You had your chance to change the world. But neither Gravitus nor I have need for a jester in our new world. Yet, as my one act of mercy towards you making it this far...I will allow you to turn tail and flee," Such "kindness" was delivered with scathing mockery, "Live out your last fleeting days deluding yourself with a dream that'll never be fulfilled! Stew in your regrets until the reaper draws their scythe. And perhaps if the divine will be merciful...You will be worth something in your next life."

Mew stopped looking at Pluto and up at Kairi. She didn't budge an inch. She was completely out cold and entirely at the elven king's mercy. He hung his head and the fight in his fists depleted, his arms drooping to his sides.

"This is my fault. I kept telling myself not to bring you along because you weren't ready but...But I lied to myself because I wanted to have faith in you," Mew raised his head and stared at Kairi's face, "And...I wanted you to be happy."

"But it wasn't time. Heck...I don't think there would've been enough time even without his early return. I thought I could make you into a warrior that could tackle any obstacle in your path, I really did, but..." Mew's hands tightened into fists as he muttered aloud, wracked with guilt, "I...was wrong."

"What was that?" Pluto perked up and rested his hands upon the hilts of his blades.

Mew slanted his eyes and swung his arms down to summon his blade pointed straight at Pluto, "But I swear..."

"I'm not abandoning her!" He proclaimed with a fire lit under his heart.

Pluto scoffed, as he does, and wiggled the back of his fingers out with little care about him, "Still trying to play the hero to the bitter end..."

He then remarked in a scornful tone, "You cannot hope to save this girl. With the Rite of Singularity in effect any attack you make on me will end your life. And don't even think about free the girl from her cage...The chains are wrapped so close around her body that your blade will wound her if you even try, and your life will be forfeit even still."

Mew narrowed his gaze towards Pluto and firmly jostled his blade. The man then added with a smirk, "Of course this is all presuming that you were to land a hit on me to begin with. I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, blessed by their name to live on and endure all that is thrown at me!"

"If I've said it once I'll say it again. Nobody is invincible," Mew raised his blade higher and fire spurned forth from around his feet, countering the arctic gale across the planet, "And you're definitely setting yourself up to be knocked off your high horse, your majesty."

Pluto held his head up high and proud and mocked Mew's mockery of him, "Then by all means...Strike me down where I stand."

As he ripped his blades out from the ground and swung them to his hips he exclaimed to the heavens, "For a king shall not mourn! Nor shall he show flaws! The past cowers to his call! The future welcoming his reign! To those who stand against him let it be known across the cosmos...That a king! SHALL NOT! AND WILL NOT YIELD!"

As he lowered his head to face Mew eye-to-eye he revealed dozens of rifts above his head, a weapon protruding from each one.

"Now come, ignorant dreamer, and take a walk into Death's shadow..."

Next Time: As the Divine Ordained