Author's Note: Important announcement at the end of the chapter!
Chapter 15: The Unamused Queen
The story is now on ON.
In the beginning, the Judge had met Alpha before the Batter recruited him, but the cat could not team-up with the abrasive Add-On himself.
In the middle, they teamed up to explore the mall of Zone 2, and Alpha had grown to respect him more.
Now, as they approach the end, the two are together again, and for once, Alpha is completely welcoming.
"Hey Judge, are you feeling alright?" Alpha questioned with concern. The last time he had seen the cat, he was in mourning.
The Judge makes a reassuring smile, though deep down he seemed troubled. "Greetings, do not concern yourself, I'm fine. But where is he? The Devil?"
Alpha easily guessed that he's referring to the Batter. With disgust, he claimed, "Ugh. Fuck that guy. I ditched him - I should have left a long time ago. Don't know where he is specifically, but probably deeper than we are."
The Judge nodded. "I commend you for adhering to your standards. ...However…" The Judge's smile flickered into a frown. "Leaving his crusade is not enough. Add-On, answer me with the absolute truth: do you feel guilt for your role in this?"
A sigh came from the Add-On. "I do. ...Well, Dedan kinda deserved it."
"While that may possibly be true, what of his workers, the innocent employees that were damned along with their boss, regardless of what they've done?" Pablo questioned. He quickly adds, "I don't mean to be hostile. I'm aware that you did not know the truth of what Dedan's downfall would bring at the time - but do you indeed feel guilt for the innocent?"
"I do."
"And as do I." Pablo nodded solemnly. "I also carry sins. I helped the Batter before you two met - and I enabled that demon to begin his crusade. Every world with the exception for Zone 0 has been damned, and I've only sat on the sidelines and allowed this to happen. I cannot afford to be neutral anymore - neutrality just leaves the oppressed defenseless and the villains free to do as they please."
"...So, are you going after the Batter then?" Alpha asked.
"Indeed. This is the last Zone, the most important one - to lose this place would mean to lose our existence. We must stop the crusade here and now."
"We?"
"Surely, you will join me? We must absolve ourselves of our sins." The Judge stated.
Alpha thinks about it. On one hand, he'd really love to punch the Batter's dumb face in. On the other hand, it's the Batter and he is backed up by two other Add-Ons. Yet again, perhaps he could convince the other Add-Ons to betray him too; Omega is likely, but he wasn't sure about Epsilon, who seems to just go along with whatever's interesting. But then again… he's with the Judge.
"Yeah, I'll back you up!" agreed Alpha.
"Hm. I wonder if an official union is possible now." The Judge touched Alpha.
Add-On Alpha has joined the Judge's party!
The Judge goes back to smiling, satisfied by the cosmic unity. "With that settled, we must hurry. We have retribution to deliver."
The Batter, Omega, and Epsilon's travel through the rest of the Room is odd.
There were three re-iterations of the Room, reset at the entrance every time. Once, the Room was populated by Elsen; the Elsen however seemed less like people but figments of the past, milling around like ghosts. Another variation had shadows of Elsens walking around, looking more like real ghosts. In the other variation, the Batter found himself on the ceiling, unable to reach a door that was in plain sight.
I'm going to be honest, this part of the game was boring with its weird puzzle shit. Not even the inexplicable giant Elsen saves it for me, so let's fast forward.
Anyway, after solving a bunch of weird puzzle shit, the Batter, walking through the upside down hallway, suddenly finds himself reoriented to walk rightside-up, able to pass through a door that was in plain sight. Beyond that door is… another puzzle.
"This should be the last puzzle. Hopefully." The Batter said. He approaches the floating blocks and presses them in order (3755 for those that don't care either).
"We must be getting close - why else would we be getting so much puzzles?" said Epsilon.
"What will be at the end… I wonder…" Omega openly thought.
With the block puzzle satisfied, they started heading back (during which, they were grateful that they remained rightside-up the whole time). Passing through the threshold, they find themselves bathed in light…
Today, papa gave me a comic. But I want to go out and play. I hate this place. I'm sure mom will pick me up.
"You're a guardian, right?" Alpha questioned, as he and the Judge cross the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
"Ah, you've caught on?" The Judge walks with careful steps while Alpha floats - the texture of the ruined earth didn't feel right to his ruined paws. "What evidence brought you to that conclusion?"
"Zacharie's been helping the Batter the whole time and doesn't really seem to care about the Zones getting destroyed. Credits come even before fucking oblivion, apparently." Alpha stated. "Sugar didn't turn out to be a guardian either, and someone has to be running Zone 0."
"Sugar? Ah yes, Zacharie's ill-fated companion. I planned for her and my brother to share space in that cellar but…" He paused, clearing thoughts of his brother out of his mind. "I suppose there's more waltzing room for her."
Alpha thought that it best to not to him that they killed Sugar for no real reason.
"But indeed, I am the guardian of Zone 0."
"What's the point of that Zone though? Like… there's jack shit there." The Add-On pointed out.
"That is something I used to ask myself too." The Judge answered, nodding. As they begin to trek up a mountain, the Judge leading the way, he continues, "My Zone lacks the industry and entertainment that the other Zones had. However, now, I believe that my Zone has a hidden purpose; I believe that the part of the world entrusted to me is a failsafe, a safehouse in case the rest of the world has fallen into disrepair. As long as I live and as long as my Zone stands, I refuse the Batter his victory…"
The Room is normal. No monsters. No lethal floors. No inexplicably giant Elsen.
The only weird thing, the only thing to note, was the book that laid in the center of the child's bedroom.
"What is that?" Omega inquired, watching as the Batter walked over, picking it up. The title bears a sketch of a boxer, with the title:
Boxxer's Adventures Issue 5: Adventures in Ballville
"It's… an old comic…" The Batter said slowly, as if he knew the comic from the past and tried to remember the details of it. Failing that, he begins to read it…
"What a beautiful day." The character that's clearly intended to be the Boxxer says in the first panel, though the reader can only take his word for it because the background is otherwise a blank void. "Ballville is peaceful today. Let's hope that nothing will ruin that sweet blue color in the sky."
Without any real visual transition, the next panel has a crazed looking man, wearing a baseball player's uniform. "Ahaha, you're forgetting my diabolical genius!" A little text box pointed at him, referring to him as the "Ballman". "...And my new invention! The cloning machine! I filled Ballville with clones of my evil self, there is no way to stop us now, Boxxer! And also, I kidnapped your little girlfriend."
"Oh no. Maybe it isn't such a good day after all."
Omega and Epsilon, who were reading over the Batter's shoulders, pull away. "That is… erm… kinda awful to be honest. The artist clearly neglects the backgrounds and the plot is, um, rushed."
"It could be one of those minimalist indie things." Epsilon whispered to him.
"I've seen minimalist indie works and, well, a lot of them is good. But this isn't minimalist. It's just… lazy."
They look to the Batter, expecting him to agree, but surprisingly, the man is engaged with reading it. Was it nostalgic fervor driving him? Whatever it was, the Batter was too distracted with the comic to pay attention to the Add-Ons.
And because of that, Epsilon found the motivation to ask Omega, "Should we stick with the Batter?"
"Huh?"
"Well, I believe that friends should stick with friends, but… I don't think the Batter is a friend to us. Or anyone. But I think Alpha is our friend, even if he's kinda rude…"
"...The thing is, I'm not sure…" Omega admitted. Looking back at the Batter to see if he was listening (he wasn't), he continues. "...I… I believe that it's too late to turn back for me… I-I… I'm responsible for assisting the Batter, I… I am guilty. There's… nothing. Nothing to go back to. No forgiveness. The only thing I want to do now is… to finish it all."
"What are you saying?" Epsilon gasped.
"I will stick to the Batter and… besides, I believe that the Batter is correct, in.. in saying that our world is doomed. A mercy kill… that will be the world's last swan song…" He related, forlornly. Then, "What about you?"
"I don't know. I joined because I thought it'd be a fun and exciting adventure." admitted Epsilon. "But… if you want, I'll stick with you! You seem sad, so I'll be around to cheer you up, even in your last moments!"
"That's morbid, but I appreciate it…"
As for the Batter, he's at the end of the comic. The Boxxer is surrounded by multiple clones of the Ballman, who looks like he's been copy-pasted all over the place. One Ballman, presumably the leader, declares, "This task is even impossible for a superhero! You have no chance to succeed!"
"No… Daisy!" Boxxer says.
How will the Boxxer get out of his predicament? Will Ballville be saved? Will Daisy be rescued? Find out in the next exciting issue of Boxxer's Adventures!
The Batter, after blankly staring at the comic, shut it close, sighing. "This is really stupid." Facing his Add-Ons, apparently having not heard them, he added, "Let's go."
With that, they walk back out of the room, though, they don't find themselves in the next room…
Today, mom finally picked me up.
"Puzzles suck." Alpha stated, watching the Judge as he looks at the finer details of a card with his big cat eyes.
"Granted, while they do slow down the flow of an adventure, I find them quite endearing." The Judge answered back.
"Well, they're slowing us down from kicking the Batter's ass, so therefore, puzzles suck."
They are at the entrance again. It looked similar to the first instance of the entrance, with the red block that could take the Batter to the Nothingness. However, this time, there's a sign of genuine life -
"Hello, old friends." Zacharie chuckled, the salesman standing at the edge of the plastic pools. "The end is near, my friends. It's entirely possible that this might be my last appearance in this story - beyond the door behind me is the Queen, and we cannot delay these climactic battles any longer, ha ha… hm? Where's the rude Add-On?"
"Gone." stated the Batter bluntly.
"...Hm, I suppose I'll just have to read this chapter later, since you can't be bothered to give a straight answer. But enough of him - you have credits to spend and a Queen waiting for you."
And so, for the last time, the Batter, Omega, and Epsilon buy stuff from Zacharie. Seeing as they're at the end, the Batter decided to just burn through the rest of his money, buying everyone top-of-the-line weapons and armor as well as a sheer abundance of healing items that he'll probably never even need to use; fights were just easy to them, at this point.
Freshly outfitted and all their credits gone, the gang of purifiers head through the door, and they hear Zacharie offer some last words as they leave him: "Bis vincit, Qui se Vincit in Victoria."
Unfortunately, none of them know how to speak latin, but it's the thought that counts.
Beyond the door is a hallway.
But beyond the hallway wasn't the familiar room layout that they've been through multiple times.
Instead, they are now outside, on the front steps of a huge staircase leading up to a platform suspended in the air. Clouds drift through the lavender sky, with a bunch of them spinning at the summit, ominously.
And so they start.
After the first few steps, they realize that the staircase is suspended over nothing, with no apparent ground in sight. Concerned for the Batter's well-being, Epsilon asked, "Do you need help, Batter?"
"No." The Batter shook his head, stepping carefully, whilst making sure that his eyes only look at the stairs instead of the empty air around it. "I will prevail. Fears can be conquered."
A dark thought briefly comes to Omega's mind, as he realizes that one "mistake" (*cough* push *hack*) and the Batter's quest comes to an end. But then he remembers: what's the point? So, instead, Omega complimented, "I-It's fantastic that you're conquering your fears."
They continued on their way, the Batter's sheer perseverance for his goal pushing him on despite the height; this would honestly be inspiring if the Batter's goal wasn't completely wrecking everything.
Eventually, the humanoid and the Add-Ons reached the top.
And the Batter saw the woman of his dreams: the Queen.
The holy matriarch, a gray being, stood valiantly, tentacle-like arms twisting around her own body. Her hair, despite the strands going all over the place, is perfectly static despite a soft wind blowing her long dress.
The first thing she said was… "You're finally here, Batter." Her words came out as an eldritch whisper. "The wait for your arrival has been a long one… But your way was in vain. You will do naught but raise trouble here. Return home."
The Batter stepped toward her. Always keeping his icy assurance, the Batter said, "That's what I did. This here is the cradle of my father."
Epsilon leans over to Omega. "What are they talking about?"
"I don't know.. um, maybe it's symbolic…" He answered.
"Your guardians have fallen. You're now a Queen of a kingdom that no longer exists." The Batter declared.
Surprised, but not at all taken back, she asked, "Why have you destroyed the nation I have rebuilt?" in a cold tone.
The answer was simple. "You've never been in this place to do the slightest thing. Your role was to take care of him. You failed your task." He accused. "Now, because of you, I must complete my sacred mission."
Continually withstanding the attacks that the Batter had brought into the monotonous dialogue between them, the Queen decided to call a spade a spade.
"I have done all this for him. I truly wish for all my children to be happy." the Queen claimed.
"We were so busy preparing for the birthday party, we forgot who it was for." responded the Batter.
"Birthday party…?" Omega's trying to figure out what on earth they are talking about. "What does… w-who is 'he'?"
Epsilon shushed him. "This is getting good."
The Queen lacked the face to convey emotion, yet, they could feel a furious energy radiating from her, the patience of royalty having been eradicated. "You have ruined the carnival, Batter. You will not lay a hand on the son that brought us into this world."
The Batter hears two loud gasps behind him. "W-w-wait, what?" exclaimed a stunned Omega. "You're a.. father?"
The Batter rolled his eyes. "I thought that the foreshadowing was obvious."
"Then that means you're married to the Queen, right?" questioned an equally shocked Epsilon.
More eye-rolling from the Batter.
"Ah, Add-Ons. The extensions of your will." The Queen murmured to herself, watching the Add-Ons talk to the Batter. "Allow me to show you my will, my dear. My will that upholds this world."
Then, there's a sudden flash of light behind the Queen, grabbing the attentions of the off-track purifiers. When the light went away, there were three figures behind the Queen, floating around her; two of them looked like elaborate heavenly wings, the last hiding behind her back like her abnormal arms. Curious, the Batter used a Wide Angle. "That is the Queen, or, her name, Vader Eloha. Around her are her royal Add-Ons: Delta, Sigma, and Ipsilon."
An indignified gasp came from Epsilon. "They… they look better than us!" She said, referring to her and Omega. "Batter, can we look that cool?"
"You cannot!" A loud voice declared. It did not come from the Queen - but rather, the royal Add-On that floats behind her. "You can never look cool!"
"W-who says that you're the authority?" Omega stammered, kinda channeling Alpha a little.
"Me - or rather, us! I am Ipsilon, and I represent the Queen's authority over this land, and our complex, beautiful forms is a mark of our power!" The back Add-On claimed.
"I am Delta, and I am the kindness of royalty." One of the wings remarked. "Give us time, for we will rebuild the world. The Queen's done it once and she can do it again. We will nurture the people that remain and the people that may come after."
"I am Sigma, and I am the necessary cruelties of power, hoo-rah!" The other wing screamed boisterously. "You are guilty, Batter! You are guilty, Add-Ons! None of you are free of sin! For the crime of purification, your sentence is death!"
"We are the heavenly host, the guardians of the world itself. What say you, Batter?" cooed Vader Eloha. "The Add-Ons that follow your will are plain and simple - they are extensions of your simple will to purify and destroy, one for every Zone - and I am thankful that one of them has seen the truth."
"Truth is subjective." huffed the Batter, holding his bat, crouching into a pose. His Add-Ons get behind him, as if mimicking the Queen's royal Add-Ons.
"Indeed." The Queen admitted. "Today, what is considered true will be established."
"Justice will prevail - but whose?" speculated Ipsilon.
"Us, of course!" roared Sigma. "We are the ones in the right, because we're not scum like them! They only deserve death! Death! Death! Death!"
"What part of 'subjective' do you don't understand…" sighed Delta.
"They… their bickering is really no different from ours." whispered Omega.
"Silence." the Queen commanded quietly; her Add-Ons fall silent. "Face me, Batter. Show me your truth."
Without missing a beat, the Batter and his compatriots rush into battle. The Batter, rushing up to his (apparent) lover, swung; the hit connected, but aside from a small twitch, Vader Eloha did not react to it at all. The Queen moved back from the advancing enemies, her and her Add-Ons getting struck by malevolent soundwaves from Epsilon while doing so. As she moved, the Queen did not appear to be walking - instead, she glided, much like the specters that she's been accused of ruling over.
Her own Add-Ons get to work. Ipsilon, giving authoritative advice to their leader, buffs her; Delta, through soft encouragements, heals the wounds that had just been inflicted; Sigma, through harsh condemnations, returned Epsilon's auditory assaults with his own volley. Then, it was the Queen's turn to attack.
Suddenly, the Batter found himself in a black void, the platform in the sky gone. Standing directly across from him, alone, is Vader Eloha, alone. The Batter finds himself unable to move; no, rather, he could not will himself to do so, in staring down his former lover.
And she said onto him: "Have you filled your life with beauty?"
A simple question, really, but it was one that struck the Batter in the heart, pain seizing him. Was it a heart attack? Is the Queen Kira? Or… is he actually feeling intense emotions? Whatever it is, it also hit the Batter in the eyes, because now he's inexplicably blind.
The void around the Batter dissipated, leaving the Batter back in the battlefield; however, he cannot see, only hearing the sounds of conflict around him. Going to where the fighting sounds the most intense, the Batter runs in with literal blind faith and swung-
"Ow! Batter, w-why did you do that? D-Do you want me dead too?" He heard Omega screech at him.
"Oh sorry, not yet." He apologized.
"I… what do you mean not yet?"
"Fix my eyes." He demanded.
He heard the Add-On sigh, presumably getting ready to use a status curing meat or perspective. Yet, before he could do so, both are struck with another auditory attack from Sigma, distracting Omega and knocking the Batter.
"Rah! This is penance for your crimes, scumbag!" the Batter heard Sigma yell. "No conviction, no trial, we execute you her- ow! You, stop with your loud noises, yes you! You're not only an accomplice to him, but you're a disturbance to the peace - death penalty for you too!"
Epsilon seems to be distracting the Queen and her guards from taking advantage of the situation. With them temporarily out of the way, Omega hurries with curing the Batter's blindness. The Batter then found himself looking up into the sky, with Omega floating over him. Grunting a thanks, the Batter got back to his feet and ran toward the Queen and swings at the wing that was Sigma.
The Add-On let out a sharp cry as the bat connected, a crack appearing in their form. "D-Damn you! I… no, I can't die! You must be punished! In the name of the Queen, in the name of this world, in… the name of the people… who are gone… you must… die…"
With one more swing, Sigma shattered.
"My Queen, I suggest negotiation." Delta said hastily as they glided away from the man with the bat.
"Negotiation? Don't be naive!" retorted Ipsilon. "Certainly there are peaceful people in this world - but this man's not one of them! He threatens the Queen's authority and the livelihood of this world!"
"Yes, I'm afraid my love has gone off the deep end." murmured the Queen. "He is so ensnared in his idea of righteousness that he truly believes that there's one way to end this…"
"I'm doing this because you failed him!" The Batter screamed, running toward the Queen to go for another swing.
Yet, he finds himself running into another void, no matter how much the Batter runs, the Queen is always distant from him. And from that distance, Vader Eloha declared:
"He loves you not."
A venomous feeling fills the Batter's heart. Actually, judging by the physical pain it's causing him, it's probably actual poison.
The normal world returns to the Batter's view and he's already quickly getting out a Belial's meat to get rid of the poison. Meanwhile, Epsilon is keeping up with the tragedies, striking at the core of what remains of Vader Eloha's heavenly host, with Omega assisting with his own attacks.
Delta cracked.
"This… this is the end for us all." despaired Delta.
"No! It's only the end when we say it is!" Ipsilon screamed, though they had doubts lingering in their mind.
Delta faded away.
"...My Queen. I… believe that they're right." The final royal Add-On had to admit. "They are stronger and more numerous. I'm afraid… that the Batter's truth will be the prevailing truth until the end."
"..." Vader Eloha does not respond to them. Instead, drifting toward the Batter, she entraps the Batter in yet another void mindscape.
The Batter and her stared each other down. The Batter stood, glaring at the Queen.
The Queen answered his anger with her own: "There is nothing but the void after me."
Was she pleading? The Batter couldn't tell, a bit preoccupied with the pain caused by her cutting words. As the mindscape faded away, the Batter chooses to heal himself; he knows that even Omega and Epsilon alone could beat the Queen.
And indeed, after another strike from Epsilon, Vader Eloha heard a cry from behind her.
"...Authority can make mistakes, my Queen… were we wrong?" Ipsilon asked.
"...No. I believe that we're the righteous ones." The Queen reaffirmed. She didn't need to turn around to know that they too faded away.
One of the few basic things that the Queen learned when she took control of the new world is to never show fear, never show pain. The leader of a country reflects the country as a whole; so, the whole time, she's stood tall and proud against the Batter. She's aware of the situation she's actually in. She's shown little reaction to the Batter's strikes when in reality, they've been wearing her down; she's been shrugging off the pain, to maintain her image as well as the world's. But she knows she's losing.
And that was confirmed when the Batter laid the last strike on her head.
But she did not twitch. She did not scream. As always, she stands - representing the world's last defiance against its destroyer.
Vader Eloha shook her head, feeling her body fail, her form beginning to disappear. "That was very irresponsible on your part, Batter." She paused. "I even made a cake for the party tonight. Would you like some coffee… my love?"
The Batter pulled his cap over his eyes, trying to remain stoic. "Queen of the flies, it's time to join your disciples. It all went wrong. Time to forget about it and dream sweet dreams."
In her last moments, the Queen thinks of the last thing that would be in the Batter's way. "Look… he has your eyes…"
And she was gone.
"They are full of fear." The Batter said quietly, to no one in particular.
"Ah. Pablo." Zacharie greeted. The salesman looked up at the cat's new ally. "There's the rogue Add-On, I suppose I don't have to read this chapter after all, heh…"
The Judge looked up at him, smile disappearing in favor of a worried look. The cat's known Zacharie long enough that he could tell what he truly feels behind his mask. "Is it too late?"
"He's fighting the Queen as we speak… not much longer now, I'm afraid." Zacharie sighed.
"So what?" Alpha snapped. "We can still catch up, kick the Batter's ass."
"I agree, though I wouldn't have put it so bluntly." The cat stated. Looking at Zacharie, an idea comes to his mind.
"My friend, you've been an accomplice to the Batter via selling him your goods - but it's not too late to redeem yourself. Thus, Zacharie, I urge you to join us."
"Join you?" The masked man put his hand on his chin, contemplating this possibility. Then, presumably grinning behind his mask, he answered, "Very well. Some extra screen time will surely increase the power behind my brands, heh."
Zacharie has joined The Judge's party!
The story is now on PAUSE.
Author's Note: Okay, first thing to note, I forgot who was the Add-On behind Vader Eloha in her boss fight. Let's decide that it's Ipsilon. Fantastic.
Second, we've got something important to talk about. The next chapter will be very short, with the Batter facing off against you-know-who, and after that will be the final chapter. At the end of OFF, we are presented with two endings - one in support of the Batter and one in support of the Judge. In the case of this re-write that is slowly getting more serious and less silly, one ending will be shown - but whose?
So, I will let you guys, the readers, vote for whose ending will be portrayed in the story via poll in my profile. If you're reading this on AO3, go to my 'HyperInuyasha' profile on fanfiction to vote. Who will win? The Batter or the Judge? That's up to you guys to decide! It'll be like the Smash ballot, except less exciting and the Inklings from Splatoon are less likely to show up.