Chapter Twelve: The Monarch's Secret Weapon
Location: The Mighty Flying Cocoon
"Henchmen! TO BATTLE!" The Monarch bellowed, his yellow-garbed Henchmen shouting war-cries in suit.
(Recommended Music: Symphonic Razor from the Killer is Dead OST)
The Henchmen fired their darts into the air, the needle-sharp darts raining down in a sea of orange atop the three men. Jack and the Overlord braced themselves for the impending attack, while Eddie ran in front of the two, plucked Clementine off his back, and slammed hard on the chords, causing an earthshaking blast that shook the foundations of the Cocoon, knocked the Henchmen to the ground, and redirected the darts around them, scattering harmlessly on the floor. The Monarch looked on in bafflement.
"What the hell?" The Monarch muttered, steadily regaining his stance by his throne.
"Earth Shaker!" Eddie called out, holding his fingers in a horn form. "The best way to knock a crowd of their feet!"
(Slick: Not the best trick of the trade, but it gets the job done.)
"Pah! No matter!" The Monarch spat out, cracking his knuckles. "I've still got other means of disposing of you." Slamming his fist on a button atop the arm of his throne, red sirens began to blare, lighting up the purplish room. A hatch opened up in the center of the room, and out popped two new unique Henchmen: a pair of little people, one black and one white, wearing yellow pupa costumes and clutching sharp knives, sporting sinister and homicidal grins. "Sic 'em, Pupae Twins!"
The Pupae Twins, Tim-Tom and Kevin!
THE SHRIMP HAVE KNIVES!
(Rick: Oh god, these two are nuts.)
(Slick: Tell me about it. Formerly the Murderous Moppets, henchmen for the Lady Au Pair (now Dr. Mrs. The Monarch), these two psychopathic achondraplastic dwarves are completely insane. All that runs through their beady little heads is 'Stab in the Face' over and over again.)
(Rick: Don't let their size fool you, because they are mean sons of bitches, especially since they can get the jump on you when you least expect it.)
(Slick: And that's how I lost one of my kidneys.)
(Rick: I thought it was alcoholism that did that.)
(Slick: You're thinking of my liver, dude.)
"Looks like we get to have some fun after all, eh Kevin?" The white Pupa Twin asked in a Cockney accent.
"Yeah, you got that right, Tim-Tom," The black Pupa Twin chuckled, flicking his knife. The three men looked at the dwarves, and couldn't tell whether to be afraid or to laugh uncontrollably. "Time to gut us some jackasses in black."
"Is he really throwing those little guys at us?" Eddie asked, clutching the handle of the Separator. "And this guy's one of the Ranked Fighters?"
"I've killed Halflings more threatening than that." The Overlord growled, hefting his mace. "I can handle both of-OOF!" Before the intimidating lord of evil could continue, he was immediately knocked to the ground at full force by both of the Pupae Twins, who proceeded to stab at him repeatedly, their knives causing nicks in the armor. As the fully armored giant of a man flailed about, trying to knock the two dwarves off him, Eddie and Jack stood and watched in amusement.
"You were saying, big guy?" Jack asked, folding his arms across his chest. The Overlord screamed in response, as Kevin had managed to find an opening in his armor and stabbed him in the side. "Alright, enough dicking about." The DeathWatcher grabbed Kevin by his head and flung him into a set of terminals and delivered a powerful kick into Tim-Tom, sending him flying into a crowd of disoriented Henchmen. Jack reached down, extending his hand towards the slightly bleeding Overlord. "There, better?" The Overlord huffed, slapping Jack's hand away and rising on his own volition, his blood-red eyes burning with fury.
"I WILL ROAST THIS COCOON AND ITS DENIZENS IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL!" The Overlord roared, charging towards the Monarch with the ferocity and speed of a rhino. The Monarch yelped, diving away from his throne as the Overlord plowed straight through it, knocking the seat off the ground as though it were a mere snow-fort. Shrugging their shoulders, Jack and Eddie readied themselves and took off after their friend, weapons at the ready, only to be intercepted by the Pupae Twins. While his elite Henchmen were handling the Heart of Steel, the Monarch pulled himself up on a console, and grabbed the microphone attached.
"Eheheheh… Honey?" The Monarch nervously asked. "Could you possibly, eh, activate the secret weapon we have stored?" Tim-Tom flew past him, crashing into another console. "And get it here NOW?" Sirens began blaring as the Cocoon began to rock back and forth, the Pupae Twins regaining their stance while the three men barely could hold their ground. Deep below, while Travis and Henchmen 21 fought blade to blade, the room shook violently as machines pushed a large compartment upwards. Travis shoved 21 back with his beam katana, staring at the large compartment as it rose towards the command room.
"What the fuck is that thing?!" Travis shouted over the rumble of the Cocoon.
"Oh, nothing much," 21 chuckled, wiping blood from his mouth. "Just a little something we picked up from a Forbidden World." Travis' jaw dropped, glancing at the cargo once more.
"You idiots went a Forbidden World?!" Travis exclaimed. "What the hell did you pick up?!" 21 chuckled again, scraping his wrist blades against each other.
"A super-weapon." Back in the command room, the compartment finally arose, taking up most of the space in the room. The Monarch cackled loudly, running over to the front of the compartment with his arms and wings fully spread.
"Hahahahahaha! Tremble, fools," The Monarch laughed, a sinister smile curled on his face. "For now you face the wrath of an ancient weapon of both magic and technology, sealed away in one of the Forbidden Worlds!" The Monarch slammed his foot down, and the compartment opened with a hiss, the doors sliding back into the ground, revealing a massive and truly tremendous sight. It was a gigantic butterfly construct, standing at three stories with four elegant bluish-purple wings sweeping about the room. It had a golden body with white tendrils sweeping below, a golden horn, formed by two spiraling rods, rested atop its head, and a multiple-spoked golden wheel hovered above its back. With a mighty flap of its wings, rushing winds knocked the bodies of the Henchmen and the Pupae Twins off the ground while forcing the three men of the Heart of Steel to brace themselves.
"No way," Jack said through gritted teeth. "That can't be…"
"They actually got one," Eddie grunted, digging his axe into the ground. "Holy shit…"
"I thought they were all destroyed…" The Overlord mused, grasping onto a nearby console. "And that idiot has one."
"Yes! Fear the awesome power I behold!" The Monarch gloated, flying upwards and landing on the back of the butterfly construct. "For there are none left in the universes but this, so quake with peril before my greatest weapon: THE MOONLIGHT BUTTERFLY!"
The Moonlight Butterfly,
Ancient Weapon of Arcane and Science!
(Rick: Okay, before we file that report to the Upper Council that the Monarch is now in possession of a contraband weapon of mass destruction from a universe forbidden to enter by almost all the Universal Powers, why don't we give you all the rundown on that thing? Slick?)
(Slick: The Moonlight Butterfly, a powerful construct from the land of Lordran, one of the Forbidden Worlds due to the incurable Darksign Curse, created by a dragon known as Seath the Scaleless, founder of sorcery and traitor to the Everlasting Dragons. No one really knows why Seath created the Moonlight Butterflies, but we do know that they are a force to be reckoned with.)
(Rick: Being imbued with the purest of magic, the Moonlight Butterfly's horn is a powerful catalyst capable of blasting magical beams and bursts strong enough to rival a Kamehameha or a psionic beam. Their horns were so sought after by adventurers and Undead on pilgrimage that they were hunted to extinction… but apparently they missed one.)
(Slick: That thing is fast, and I mean REALLY fast, not to mention incredibly durable. Luckily, their attacks are only magic-based, so anyone who can handle a blast of sorcery can easily stand up to this thing. If that doesn't work, anti-magic armor or weapons can work just as well.)
"Of which we have none…" Jack muttered, listening in on the broadcast playing from a nearby camera drone. The Monarch cackled, waving his hand as he gripped the neck of the Moonlight Butterfly tightly.
"Now, my gigantic pet," The Monarch said, pointing at the ground. "DESINTIGRATE THEM!" The Moonlight Butterfly bowed its head, aiming its horn at the wall as it glowed a translucent blue.
"Hit the deck!" Eddie shouted, everyone diving out of the way. A powerful and massive beam erupted from the Butterfly's horn, tearing through the Cocoon (and the camera drone) like wet paper. Now with more room for mobility, the Moonlight Butterfly and the Monarch flew out of the Cocoon and into the swarm of Saints Helicopters.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Pierce shouted over ECHO. Jack rose to his feet, watching as the Butterfly began destroying helicopters with blasts of blue magic.
"A Moonlight Butterfly," Jack responded, pressing his ECHO. "One of the Lordran Relics."
"Shit! It's from Lordran?!" Pierce exclaimed. "Ain't that place a deathtrap with the whole 'Curse of the Undead' shit? How the hell did they get it here?!"
"Most likely someone gave it to him," Agent Cinder suggested, joining the ECHO call. "A smuggler hiding among our ranks. It has happened before, I remember when someone snuck in a Metroid Queen with intent to release the species into Base Prime, but they were stopped."
(Rick: Did we ever find that guy?)
(Slick: Nope, but rumors persist it was a Forest Guardian. Fuckin' tree huggers.)
"Can you give us any info on how to take that thing down?" Jack asked, helping Eddie and the Overlord to their feet. "It's tearing our backup apart."
"Unfortunately, most of the Lordran files not on active Agents are blacklisted," Cinder admitted. "So we're mostly in the dark. I'll get Murphy and Gnibble on it."
"Okay, now you're doing it on purpose!" Gnarl shouted in the background. Jack groaned, shutting off the channel. Looking around for something to work with, he came across Tim-Tom lying on the ground. The DeathWatcher grabbed the dwarf by the neck and held him in the air.
"How the hell can we take that thing down?" Jack demanded, shaking the little man.
"Get bent and shove a rake up yer arse." Tim-Tom spat, cackling slightly. "I ain't telling you nothing." Jack growled, raising his fist and striking the Pupa Twin in the chest.
"Tell me now, or I break your ribs." Jack calmly ordered. "How durable is it?"
"*cough* We made upgrades to it…" Tim-Tom coughed. "Replaced the iron body with platinum, it's even more durable then before!" The dwarf chuckled. "Bullets and blades won't so much as put a scratch in it." Frustrated, Jack tossed the dwarf away, rejoining his comrades as they watched the battle ensue.
"The Butterfly has thick defenses," Jack said. "We need to find a way to clip that thing's wings." He looked at the consoles, taking note that most of them were still intact from the previous tussle. "Anybody know how to activate a giant Plasma Weapon?"
"Search me," Eddie said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not qualified for alien tech. The most I can do is turn rock stages into fortresses, build vehicles from junk, and fix broken instruments into killer weapons…" Eddie walked over to a partially damaged console, flinching as yellow sparks erupted from a shattered computer. "But, I guess I can do what I can." Jack nodded, patting the Roadie on the shoulder as he rejoined the Overlord.
"See if you can get your Minions here," Jack instructed. "I'll contact Mitch and try and get as many of the surviving Fiends here as possible." The Overlord grunted, walking off to attempt to contact Gnarl. "We'll need everything we got to take that weapon down."
(Slick: Yeah good luck with that. In the meantime, let's see where the other fourth of the Heart of Steel has been hiding.)
A resonating boom shook the Cocoon, toppling boxes atop the pair of trained killers as they continued to fight. The cardboard boxes bounced harmlessly off 21 and Travis, both men looking exhausted and battered from their long battle. Travis had swapped out his Tsubaki Mk. III and now wielded his Blood Berry katana, parts of his red jacket torn and sliced. 21 looked worse for the wear, one of his blades was broken at the base, one of his goggle lens were cracked, bits of wing were shredded, and a dribble of blood ran down his forehead.
"You know…" Travis heaved, adjusting his sunglasses. "I haven't… had a fight… like this… since Henry!"
"Same… here…" 21 wheezed. "Sure beats… roughing up… newbies…" The Cocoon shook once more, the sound of explosions and the Monarch's manic laughter echoing outside.
"So… How'd you guys get a Moonlight Butterfly?" Travis asked. "I thought they were wiped out after the IDA declared Lordran and Drangelic 'dangerous and forbidden'?"
"Yeah, that's what we thought too," 21 said, sitting down on a box. "But we ran into this weird guy, wore this old Victorian getup, top hat and everything, and had this creepy smiling mask and a crossbow. Kept snickering to himself." Travis felt the description was familiar, but he couldn't place the name to the image. "Anyway, guy tells us he could get the Monarch into the Assembly of Evil."
"So naturally your boss jumped at the opportunity like it was a spread-leg whore?" Travis joked. 21 gave a laugh in response.
"Pretty much, yeah." 21 continued. "He leads us to a Crow Sanctuary in the Guardian's Forest, and we meet this other creepy guy dressed like a Pardoner. Dude had all black on, a weird golden mask over his eyes, arms spread like he wanted to hug us, and kept rambling on and on about sin." The Henchman removed his goggles, rubbing the dirt out of his eyes. "Dude was definitely from Lordran, since he mentioned one of their gods."
"Which one?" Travis asked. His knowledge on the culture of other universes was often at times pretty limited, considering how he was more of a 'slash first, ask questions later' kind of guy, but the info could be useful later on.
"Velka, I think. Goddess of Sin." 21 replied. "So the Monarch talked with him a bit, then the Pardoner uses his magic and summons an inactive Moonlight Butterfly. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch got mad, saying stuff about contraband weapons, but you know how the Monarch gets with his new toys." Travis chuckled a bit. "So he gave us the Butterfly, we started working on it, and managed to smuggle it inside our Cocoon as a last-ditch weapon."
(Rick: *whispering* Did you let the Upper Council know about the thing?)
(Slick: *whispering* Yeah I did. Promotion center, here we come! Hey, why is that red light still on?)
(Rick: Shit! Left the radio on-!)
"You do realize that once the Tournament is over," Travis said. "Upper Council is going to rain shit down on your heads for holding that thing, even if you got it from a Lordranian."
21 scoffed. "Psh, you think we don't know that? That's why the Monarch wants to win that wish: To grant him immunity. Either that or to break Dr. Venture, or whatever."
"Heh, villains and one-track goals." Travis chuckled. The No More Hero rose to his feet, stretching and feeling his bones pop all over. "Well, this was fun, but I've got a generator to smash." Glancing around, he espied such generator, although it was more like a boiler fueled by a gigantic battery. Just vulnerable for the smashing. "Lo and behold! Time to smash!" Travis ignited his Blood Berry katana and sprinted towards the machine. He leapt in the air, delivering a loud battle cry and swung down, impacting not on the machine, but 21's blade gauntlet, enflamed in an orange glow.
"Yeah, still not going to happen." 21 said, knocking Travis out of the air and onto his feet. "You'll have to go through me if you want to shut the Cocoon down, and by my honor as a First Class Henchmen and top of the line elite of the Monarch, I vow to prevent you from bringing ruin to our-!"
*KRRRRRSSSSSSSSH*
21 turned around and saw Travis' beam katana sticking out of the generator behind him, a long gash on the machine and the world's biggest shit eating grin on Travis' face.
"Shouldn't have been rambling like a villain stereotype." Travis said, smirking. Travis sliced once more at the generator, cleaving the machine in two. 21 screamed in panic and bolted out of the generator. "Look at him go, like a buttefly without wings." Explosions rocked the generator, and the familiar sound of the weapons going off outside rocked the building. Travis dusted himself, congratulating himself of a job well done.
"Travis, what the hell did you just do?!" Jack shouted over ECHO.
"Relax, I just took out the generator," Travis responded to his irate partner. "The Cocoon is out of commission."
"Oh, really? Thanks Travis," Jack sarcastically said. "You just broke the one thing that could take out the Moonlight Butterfly that our target is riding! The cannon went off and missed because you broke the whole damn fortress!" And like an apple falling from a tree, gravity took hold of the now disabled Cocoon, as Travis felt himself notably become lighter. And aware of the radioactive label of the generator.
"Oh now that's just not fair." Travis complained. And then it exploded.
As the Monarch lay siege to the Saint forces atop his magnificent Moonlight Butterfly, he cackled madly as the magic beams tore right through their helicopters and cars with the ease of a hot knife through butter. It was beautiful, seeing his handiwork in action. Sure, they guys who gave him the Butterfly were creepy and shifty, but who cares, he was going to kill the Champion Kaos, win the Tournament and get his wish.
"Nothing can stop me!" The Monarch proclaimed over the roar of explosions. "Not even a…" He turned about, noticing the large shadow looming over him. "My… gigantic… flaming… Cocoon… heading towards… me?" Sure enough, the Monarch's own pride and joy, the flying Cocoon, was heading on a crash collision course towards him and the Moonlight Butterfly. The Monarch barely had any chance to yelp before his own weapon was swatted by the Cocoon, along with several Saint Helicopters. The Cocoon crashed upon the ground, falling apart and crushing anything beneath it. Through the broken windows of the command center, Jack and Eddie climbed out of the debris, while the Overlord walked right through the metal with ease. Jack looked around at the carnage the battle had taken, and was slightly pleased to see the mangled form of the Moonlight Butterfly trapped underneath a pile of rubble, the horn broken off and lying a few feet away. There was just one thing that was missing.
"Where's Travis?" Jack asked. A small explosion went off, and the No More Hero was shot through the air, smoking and screaming as he flew right towards the Heart of Steel. Luckily, the Overlord merely extended his arm, and Travis crashed right into it, landing on the ground with a pained huff.
"Nice catch, big guy…" Travis muttered. Jack pulled his partner up from the ground, dusted him off, and punched him dead in the face with his metallic fist.
"Mission accomplished, I'd say." Eddie said, with a smirk as Travis treated his nosebleed.
"NOT SO FAST, YA BASTARDS!" The familiar squeaky voice of Tim-Tom shouted. The four men turned around and saw Tim-Tom walking through the rubble, beaten and bruised, holding Pierce by the neck with a knife pressed against his throat.
"Let me go you little shit!" Pierce shouted, only to have the blade pressed harder against his neck, barely drawing blood.
"Shut up, Saint." Tim-Tom ordered. "Now listen here, you shits, you may have taken down the Cocoon and the Butterfly, but there's no way you're making it out here alive. Guild Wasps are circling the block, just waiting to swoop in and take yer heads."
"Ah man, don't tell them that yet," Kevin said, appearing amongst the rubble, holding his foot on the Monarch's back with a knife pointed at his neck. "I'd rather see them try and play hero than do this crap."
"Wait, isn't that your boss?" Eddie asked, pointing at the Monarch.
"No one owes allegiance to anyone in this Tournament." Tim-Tom interjected. "Especially when a wish is on the line. So we're going to cut to the chase: You can only save one of these idiots."
"You pick which one to save, he walks away with his neck un-slit." Kevin said, a creepy grin plastered on his face. "The other one, well," He stamped his foot on the Monarch's back, eliciting a groan of pain from his former leader. "Do I even need to say it?"
"And don't get any funny ideas about saving them both," Tim-Tom said, snarling. "Or we kill 'em both and you don't last five seconds before the Guild Wasps tear ya to shreds!"
"Look, I know we had a bit of a moment regarding Shaundi," Pierce bartered, sweating profusely as the blade cautiously drew near his jugular. "But if you save me, I can put in a good word with the Boss! An alliance with the 3rd Street Saints might be a great idea, eh?"
"Ignore that idiot!" The Monarch wheezed. "You may have destroyed my base, killed many of my Henchmen, and smashed my only weapon we could use against the Champion Kaos, but I have information and resources that could prove beneficial for an allegiance! So what do you say?"
"Think quickly, Heart of Steel." Tim-Tom questioned. "Or you won't be makin' any thoughts with bullets in your brains…."
Author's Note: And thus, we have another choice. Save the Monarch or Save Pierce. Which will it be, readers? Also, any Dark Souls fans could probably recognize the figures responsible for selling the Moonlight Butterfly to the Monarch. Speaking of, the Moonlight Butterfly is from the game Dark Souls and is property of From Software. Make your choice wisely, and remember: "The Fate of One is the Fate of All."