Chapter 16.1
Finish the Fight, Part I
It was quiet, cold… and empty inside the large, metallic tower. Amongst the metallic floor that chilled the unprotected flesh of any creature, there was nothing but the feeling of the air inside. No furniture, no decorations, just the emptiness of the color of white was the only thing visible to mortal eyes.
The cold air felt dreadful and depressing, feeling a sense of fear and sadness that overcame the bodies of innocent souls who felt it. The quiet atmosphere felt disheartening and frightful, leaving a sense of loneliness to the mind.
And the overall emptiness of the large structure only proved that any person inside was just a mere speck compared to its powerful appearance. Once inside, a person could only feel lost, having no one by their side to protect them.
The Stranger, though, did not let any of the tower's attributes affect him. No, instead, he used it to fuel his anger and hatred even more. The negatives of the tower became his strength to push forward with every limping step, power to progress and never stop, fuel to end it once and for all.
His mind and body was completely shrouded with the effects of war. The Stranger's own body was littered with mud and a mixture of wet and dry blood; his grey body used as a canvas to be painted in a dark crimson red. Pieces of organs and large trails of blood covered his face and the entirety of his body, practically soaking in the sticky and dry blood of hundreds of lives he murdered with his own hands. His own wounds, the scars of the past, and his right ear, which was blown clean off, where showing their marks, horrifying to the eyes.
The Stranger's clothing, destroyed and beyond repair. His pants, stained with mud and soaked in water, was ripped open in multiple areas, leaving small visible areas of his fur. His vest was all but wearable, barely hanging over his shoulders by his shoulders. His wool cap was missing out in the field, and his long shirt tattered. His most fearsome look, though, was his brown boots, now dark red underneath while leaving bloody footprints and pieces of brain matter in his tracks.
The stability and sanity of the Stranger's mind was by no means safe. His breaths were heavy from exhaustion and anger, his eyes staring blankly in front of him, his arms hanging downwards, and his legs slowly limping with each step. He did not concentrate on the fact he was alone, or the cold air, or the emptiness of the room.
After fighting for months on end, seeing everyone he knows and loves dying in front of him, along with his dearest and most trusted friend, and the countless kills he has made by his own hand, the Stranger's rage-filled mind had only one thing to focus on.
"Kill… end it… forever…"
After multiple heavy steps, the Stranger made it to the center of the huge room. He looked around his environment, and could not make out much of what he saw.
The room was nothing but the color of white, with a slightly-grey metallic floor underneath his feet. The first room had the appearance of taking up the majority of the tower, as the Stranger looked up to see no other floors above him, at least nowhere near him.
The only object of interest the Stranger could point out was a lone cylinder elevator at the end of the room, small enough to house only one occupant. His eyes followed up the clear tube it would travel up, and noticed it could possibly go on forever. The Stranger knew, though, that this elevator was his one-way ticket to his destination, and was willing to take the ride.
Pausing for a brief moment to think and calm his mind, the Stranger nodded to himself and stepped forward to the control panel next to the elevator. Seeing that the doors were closed, he looked over at the panel and noticed only one button he could press.
"UP"
A little suspicious of the lone button, the Stranger shrugged his shoulders and pressed his left thumb on the button, hearing a silent 'click' sound upon activation. The button lit up in a dull-looking yellow light, and stayed lit for over three minutes.
The Stranger, tapping his feet repeatedly on the metal floor, was feeling agitated over the long wait for the elevator to show up, gritting his teeth and gripping his gun tightly. All he wanted to do was kill the man responsible for all the deaths he witnessed, and was feeling quite impatient with the wait.
"Oh for God's sake, where the hell is the-"
A sudden bang, followed by a violent vibration, was made, the Stranger shaking and doing his best to hold his ground. He turned his head around to see an oversized metal door blocking the way towards the exit corridor, completely impenetrable. A little shaken by its appearance, the Stranger ran forward a bit to investigate.
He then looked behind him to see the elevator door be wrapped up by a second metallic layer, completely restricting any access to its doors. Breathing rapidly, the Stranger looked back and forth in his position to see he was locked in securely, leaving him completely stuck inside the large circular room.
"Damn it; it's a trap!" The Stranger lifted his gun up and looked around with his peripheral vision to check his sides. "Come on, you son of a bitch, show yourself! Stop hiding and fight me now!"
Ah yes Stranger, I would surely love to fight you right now and get this over with, but I'm a little tired right now and need my rest. But I see you are indeed very eager for a fight, and to prepare yourself for our little meeting, I've set up a little warmup exercise with a couple of my friends.
The room suddenly became shrouded in darkness, a large cloud of dark smoke surrounding the Stranger's position. The Stranger looked around to see nothing but the dark and smoke surrounding him and, upon closer inspection, could hear the violent cries of a familiar threat.
I say, Stranger, I think we've been in a position like this before, haven't we? Though now, it's a little more… real."
The smoke cleared away, and the Stranger tensed up his body when he noticed dozens of Shadows, dawning a variety of weapons and armor and looking directly at him, holding up their weapons and showing their dark and bloody teeth. Their crimson eyes kept their focus on the Stranger.
The Stranger went down into a defensive pose and slowly looked around his compromised position, making sure to identify every Shadow around him.
I hope you prepared yourself, Stranger, because, as I said, I can do anything. Now… go off and have FUN!
The mad man left the Stranger's mind and left him alone in the darkness, surround by a vicious enemy who's only goal is to stop him right here, right now. Before he could move any further, he had to fight them.
And he must do it all on his own.
Looking around his spot one last time, the Stranger could see the Shadows slowly walking as a group towards him, holding up their weapons, consisting of swords, axes, maces and spears, and ready to attack at any moment.
The Stranger looked down at his feet blankly, his mind shutting off for a brief time. He emptied all of his thoughts and emotions, and inhaled a large sum of oxygen to fill up his lungs. He then proceeded place his pistol in his back jean pocket before removing both his ruined vest and shirt.
The Shadows stopped and observed the Stranger removing his top half of his clothes and dropping them hard onto the floor. He stood half-naked, wearing only his pants and boots now. His face continued to look down only at his feet, his eyes completely blank and lacking emotion.
His enemy jumped a little when he suddenly looked up in an instant, staring at a sole Shadow with a sword in front of him. The Stranger stared and examined his enemy for a moment, and slowly entered a defensive stance, holding both his fist up while having his left leg a step behind him.
He took one deep breath and nodded his head toward the Shadow.
"You want to fight me? Okay then… come and fight me."
The lone Shadow looked around his comrades, and they all snickered as they gestured him to run forward and attack. The Shadow shrugged his shoulders and laughed at the Stranger, standing perfectly still while looking at him, holding nothing to defend himself with.
Knowing he was going to enjoy his kill, the Shadow yelled in a loud battle cry as he grasped the handle of his sword with both hands and charged forward, holding the sword upward and readying himself for a downward swing.
The Stranger dared not to look away at the incoming danger, watching it take a step closer every half-second. His eyes stayed open, looking at the long, dark sword that could certainly cut through the flesh and bone of any living creature. If he were to be even jabbed by the edge of that sword, it would be all over.
He grunted silently as he closed his eyes, letting his left ear catch the heavy clanging of footsteps getting ever so closer to him. The Stranger waited, and waited, and waited, and continued waiting until he knew it was time…
…
The Stranger flashed open his eyes and slid to the left as the Shadow swung his sword down, just missing the Stranger by not even a recorded millimeter. A small tuft of fur on the Stranger's head was sliced off, the only thing the sword successfully came in contact with.
Time slowed down as the Shadow's eyes opened widely in shock of the Stranger's fast movement, and was caught off guard as the Stranger kicked the back of his right leg, sending him down to his knee. The Stranger swiftly came back to grab his throat with his right arm and, with a sudden twist, snapped the Shadow's neck instantly.
The watching Shadows gasped at how one of their comrades were killed in an instant, and noticed the Stranger throwing his body on the ground while throwing the sword up in the air, catching it by the handle and entering an offensive position, the sword held up high and pointed forward.
The Shadows gritted their teeth and growled in anger as the Stranger smiled devilishly and nodded his head.
"Come on, let's party!"
The Shadows all cried out loud and charged forward, their weapons raised and their bodies ready for war.
The Stranger ran forward to the Shadows on his front side, ignoring the fact he was surrounded on all fronts. He gritted his teeth and breathed heavily in anger as he charged forth into the crowd of his enemy.
One of the Shadows with a small axe jumped upwards in the air, ready to swing down with the sharp edge of his axe. Seeing his opponent in the air, the Stranger used whatever strength he had in his legs to jump upward, and, with a massive upward side-swing, slit open the stomach of the Shadow, killing him in mid-air.
As the Shadow spewed out blood from his mouth, the Stranger spun his sword to face the blade down, and shoved it down the head of unsuspecting Shadow. Jammed tightly into his skull, the Stranger used his feet to push him and his sword off, bringing the head of the Shadow clean off and dropping onto the floor.
Without even looking behind him, the Stranger did a 180-degree spin with his sword, slicing open three other Shadows and dropping them dead, their blood splattering all over the dark floor and onto his body.
The Stranger yelled loudly as he swung his sword left and right, anger fueling the strength in his arms. "Is that all you got you fuckers?! Fight harder!"
A Shadow, aggravated with his insult, caught the Stranger by surprise as he was busy dealing with another Shadow with a hammer, shoving his sword deep into his chest. The sneaky Shadow used his small dagger to jump onto the back of the Stranger and jam his tiny sword into his right shoulder, just missing the bone and cracking it open.
The Stranger cried out in pain, but kept an evil smile on his face. "That's right, hit me back! Hit me back harder you bastards!"
The Shadow opened his eyes widely as the Stranger leaned forward quickly, throwing the Shadow off his back and bringing his dagger with him. The Stranger, seeing his little assassin beneath him, smashed his face in with his boot, cracking open his face and killing him instantly.
With blood and gore smashing across the dark ground beneath him, the Stranger flipped his sword to be held in a backhand method, and stabbed the Shadow behind him without batting an eye. He spun around swiftly and used his strength to push the sword upward, cutting the Shadow in half from top to bottom, opening up his organs and squirting blood on the ground.
A Shadow with a war-hammer ran forward to smash his weapon into the Stranger's skull like of soft fruit. Timing his defense just right, the Stranger raised and held up his sword sideways, blocking the incoming blow. Struggling in a hold for a brief moment, the Stranger tilted his sword to the side to let the Shadow's hammer slide off, leaving an opening for a strike.
The Stranger, taking the opening into account, performed an upward swing, slicing the Shadow's arm off and removing his use of his hammer. As the Shadow screamed in pain, the Stranger slammed his fist onto his stomach, literally pushing the air out of his lungs and collapsing him to his knees.
Sliding around to his back side fast while swinging his sword to the right side, cutting the head off another Shadow, the Stranger used his left hand to grab the down Shadow's forehead and looked into his crying eyes.
"Didn't your parents tell you not to mess with strangers?! Because this is what happens when you mess with strangers!"
The Stranger raised his sword high in the air and shoved the blade down the open mouth of the screaming Shadow, piercing through his throat and into his torso. Jamming it inside tightly, the Stranger released his sword and let the body fall and choke on its own blood.
The remaining Shadows were beginning to watch in fear as the Stranger became more violent and enraged during the duration of the fight. Only one Shadow successfully laid a blow on him, and it barely affected him.
One Shadow, though, remained unfazed by the Stranger's violent act and threw his axe towards him, aiming dead center of his face. Without looking, the Stranger quickly stepped to the side and grabbed the throwing axe by its handle, practically being given another weapon by his enemy.
The Shadow's eyes open widely in fear as the Stranger flipped his axe around to be held correctly, and swung violently left and right to the crowd in front of him. Even with their best efforts to deflect the blows, the Stranger was cutting open the Shadows without difficulty, pulling out their organs and painting the dark ground in crimson red.
Seeing how getting close to him was not an option, one Shadow with a spear pointed his weapon forward and charged with a battle cry, ready to shove his pointy weapon through the heart of the Stranger. Turning instantly in surprise, the Stranger kept his eyes on the flimsy looking spear, and judged the distance between him and the pointy edge.
Nodding his head determinedly, the Stranger slung his axe upward and split the spear in two, removing the pointy edge from its handle. As the Shadow saw his own weapon be destroyed, the Stranger slammed his axe into the Shadow's shoulder, making him shriek in pain and dropped to his knees, placing both his hands over the axe to make a futile attempt to pull it out.
The Stranger jumped up and grabbed the broken end of the spear, holding it by the remaining half of the weak wood. With the small spear in his hand, the Stranger used his right elbow to hit the back of the down Shadow's head, knocking him down to his hands in knees.
He got into a charging pose and looked at the down body of the Shadow.
"You've been killing innocent lives for years. Let's see how you feel being on the other end of the stick!
Using his anger to fuel the strength in his arms, the Stranger shoved the spear up the rear end of the Shadow, pushing the blade up his rectum and laying unimaginable pain onto his body. The Shadow screamed loudly in agonizing pain, and collapsed in shock before shortly dying afterwards.
Looking up and breathing heavily from the intense battle, the Stranger noticed only two more opponents remaining: one small Shadow holding only a small dagger, and a much larger one wielding a massive flail. The smaller Shadow was quivering in fear at the sight of his fellow soldiers be killed in front of his eyes, and retreated behind the larger Shadow for protection.
Placing his hands outward to his sides and having one leg placed behind him, the Stranger watching the large Shadow swing his flail in circles high above him, making the heavy, spiky metal ball spin at intense speeds. The Shadow then stopped and used the built up momentum to bring the metal ball downward, the force enough to crush any skeletal body.
Jumping back quickly, the Stranger barely dodged the metal ball as it smashed directly in front of him, creating a massive shockwave on the ground while leaving a deep dent on the metal floor. The Stranger noticed the Shadow swung his flail too hard, and his weapon was now stuck onto the floor.
Seeing his opportunity to strike, the Stranger looked down to see the old smashed body of the Shadow with a dagger, and quickly bent down to pick up the tiny weapon before running towards the large metal ball. The Stranger placed his left foot over the large ball, and jumped forward to grab hold onto the large Shadow's tough body.
The Shadow let go of his weapon and was frantically swinging his body around as the Stranger climbed behind his torso to hold onto his back, slowly moving himself up to his large head. Gritting his teeth tightly, the Stranger placed his dagger in a backhand position and jammed it deep into the top of the Shadow's head, piercing through his thick skull and slicing open his brain.
The Shadow died instantly while still standing, and gravity brought its dead body to fall onto the ground hard. The Stranger jumped off just before it felled, landing on his right foot and left knee.
The Stranger kept his eyes closed as he breathed rapidly, trying to relax his body after killing so many Shadows in a single setting. He paused and swallowed his throat, and was surprised when he noticed a strange sound.
Silence. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked up and notice a large pile of dead Shadows in the center of the room, either cut open with their organs shoved out of them or bleeding out across the floor. Blood was painted onto the darkness of the ground, turning the entire room into a crimson red, both their bodies and the environment.
The Stranger slowly stood back up as he kept his eyes on the dead bodies he caused. They were already beginning to leave the stench of death, and their blood continued to trail off and flood the room.
He tightened his fists and yelled loudly in the room, his voice echoing as he spoke.
"Anyone of you assholes still want to fight?! HUH?!"
The Stranger heard a whimpering cry and instantly turned around to see a Shadow with a small dagger in its hands. The Shadow, though, appeared too scared to fight, and instead was cowering away from the fight. He gasped as he saw the Stranger march towards him, and dropped his weapon beneath his feet to show he was surrendering.
The Shadow shrieked in fear as the Stranger grabbed him by the throat tightly, crushing the bones around his neck. As the Shadow was choking on the tight hold from the Stranger, he attempted to speak through his gasps for air.
"Please… don't… kill… me…"
The Stranger stood surprised by the Shadow's plea for mercy, and smiled widely at him. He gently laid the Shadow to sit on the ground, and gave him a reassuring nod.
"Kill you? Why would I kill you? You didn't do anything wrong; you're just an innocent person aren't you?"
The Shadow smiled nervously and nodded his head quickly. He dropped his smile when he noticed the Stranger turned his face back to anger again.
"But… those Tree Friends… they were innocent people too, yet you and that mad man killed them for over a decade. What did they do to deserve it? They were innocent, yet you still went and killed them."
The Shadow was breathing rapidly in fear as the Stranger brought his face closer to his.
"You know what, though? I won't kill you… in fact, why don't I feed you instead?"
The Shadow tilted his head in confusion and watched as the Stranger reached to his pocket to reach for something. He gasped and shook in utter horror as the Stranger pulled out a grenade from his pocket, and instantly pulled the pin without thinking.
"Open wide!"
Screaming at the top of his lungs, the Shadow was force-fed an active grenade down his mouth, and the Stranger flung his body into the dead pile of Shadows. The Stranger counted to three to himself, and watched the pile of dead bodies explode violently, their organs and limbs flying across the room, some pieces even landing onto the Stranger's body.
Without blinking an eye, the Stranger watched how the large pile of dead bodies instantly disappear into a pile of exploded organs. Noticing a little piece of brain matter stuck to his cheek, he flicked it off with his right thumb and snorted silently.
The darkness slowly faded away, and the white room reappeared once more. The Stranger looked around to see he was back to where he started. His left ear caught the sound of the elevator door, and looked over to see the metal covering sliding away, with the door now opening to reveal an accessible elevator.
The Stranger looked up and down the elevator tube once more, and nodded his head to himself. His ride to the mad man was now available. The fight was finally going to be put to an end.
He reached into his left pocket and pulled out Flaky's quill, and observed it for a short time. A tear dropped from his left eye as he gripped it tightly, whispering silently to himself as he held it.
"Just hold on for a little while longer, Flaky. We're going home."
The Stranger placed the quill back into his pocket and reached for his pistol once more. Making absolutely sure it was loaded and ready to fire, he moved towards the elevator and walked inside the small space. He looked over at the control panel, and noticed only two buttons that could be pressed.
Up and Down
Instantly pressing the 'Up' button, the Stranger watched the elevator door close, and was swiftly being brought up to the top door. The clear frame allowed the Stranger to look below and see the large room beneath him, observing the destruction and death that now laid there.
The Stranger placed his head against the glass and thought deeply what he just did. He didn't enjoy what he did, nor did he like the way he was acting. He felt sick during the entirety of the fight, including the war that took outside. But he had no choice; he had to kill if he wanted to fix everything. And these were all spawn of a mad man, who he knew deserved to die.
He did not regret what he did, nor what he was going to do.
It was only a few seconds that felt like multiple hours before the Stranger was taken to the top floor. With a loud 'ding' sound, the glass door opened, and the Stranger looked up to see a long and open corridor. It was spacious and lacked any decoration, similar to the room beneath him as it was also painted white.
Taking a few steps forward, the Stranger listened to his boots hitting against the floor. Unlike the metallic floor in the first room, this floor felt like stepping on a tile floor; hard and solid as his feet echoed with each footstep.
The Stranger walked slowly forward, taking a deep breath with every step. As much as he was prepared to face and kill the mad man, he couldn't help but feel a sense of fear in his heart. He has no clue what this mad man looks like, nor what he is capable of doing in person. This was an insane person that he has never came in contact before, and he had no idea what to do or say when they meet each other eye-to-eye for the first time.
He did, however, know his one and true intention, and was more than willing to carry it out whenever.
"Kill him…"
After a long walk through the corridor, and deep mental thinking, the Stranger found himself standing outside a tall door, the height about twice his own size. Above the door, he could see a glowing sign in bright blue letters, which read 'Administrator's Office.'
"So… that's what he is called… an Administrator…"
He looked down and noticed the double doors once more. They were partially clear, but had a blurry overlay, making it too hard to see the room on the other side. The Stranger held his gun tightly and placed his left hand on the door.
"This is it… you're one and only shot… make it count… and finish it…"
With one deep breath of his body and his mind set on only one goal, the Stranger jumped through the double doors and held his gun up, ready to shoot the mad man dead and end it once and for all…
…
But there was nothing. The Stranger stood baffled as he looked around the large circular room. Just like everywhere else, the room was practically blank, with nothing but the color of white noticeable. Out of anything he could see, the Stranger could only notice two areas of interests: a set of sliding double-doors on his right with a lit sign above it saying 'Administrative Control Room' and another door at the opposite side of the room with a sign that said 'Administrator's Master Bedroom.'
The Stranger took a couple of steps forward, slowly making his way to the center of the room. Once there, he looked around curiously, still not seeing anything of importance.
Nor any trace of the mad man.
Aggravated by the silence of the room, the Stranger growled with anger and waved his gun wildly in the air.
"I'm here now, you cocksucker! Show your fucking face!"
For a brief moment, the Stranger could still hear only the eerie sound of silence and the gentle feeling of air inside the cold room. His eyes darted around, carefully looking for the appearance of the mad man.
His left ear perked up and he turned around instantly at the sound of a door sliding open. Breathing rapidly out of sheer shock, the Stranger noticed the bedroom door had opened, yet no one was standing by its entrance, still left with only a blank space.
The Stranger could feel his heart pounding out of his chest when he could hear the heavy footsteps of a person coming from the bedroom door. Every step he heard told the Stranger that someone was getting closer, and that any second someone will appear in front of his own eyes.
He swallowed his throat and made the tightest grip he could make on his pistol. The Stranger doesn't know what exactly could appear from behind the bedroom door, nor what would happen when that person showed himself. He took a step back and kept his grip on his pistol, ready to bring it up at the right moment.
The Stranger dropped his jaw when he could visibly see a pair of old black dress shoes standing from the corner of the door. His breaths picked up in pace and his eyes widened by the second as he stared at the shoes standing perfectly still by the door, not moving an inch.
Then he saw him. With just a few more steps walking out of the door, the Stranger could see the person that he feared the greatest. The creature whom tortured him for months, who enslaved dozens of innocent lives for years, who haunted his dreams, who wields the ultimate powers of a god used only for death and destruction, and the person who deserved death more than anyone else.
Standing just in front of the bedroom door a dozen feet away from him, at a height above six feet tall, dawning a long white lab-coat, dark-blue work pants, old black shoes, and a medium-sized grey beard with thin, dirty and long white hair that laid behind his head and reaching his backside, was an old man, having a tired look on his face.
This was the Mad Man.
The Mad Man yawned deeply, stretching his arms upward in the air while cracking a few bones in his body. "Oh dear, what's all this noise going on about for?" He looked down and noticed the Stranger, shaking violently while staring back at him. "Oh, Stranger, it's you! I was wondering when-"
Too scared and filled with rage to hear him speak, the Stranger brought up his pistol and aimed it over the mad man's head. "Shut the fuck up and keep your hands in the air, you son of a bitch!"
The Mad Man, though not looking shocked at all by the sight of the pistol, kept his arms in the air. "Alright then, Stranger, you're the one with the gun, so I'll listen to you."
The Stranger, while holding his gun up to the Mad Man, was a little shocked by the Mad Man's willingness to accept the Stranger's commands so easily. In truth, the Stranger thought he would instantly start a fight, or be reckless, or disobey, or anything else, but not surrender. The Mad Man didn't even show any signs of fear with the fact that a gun was held up to him, which felt even stranger than ever.
But what shocked the Stranger even more was the Mad Man's height. He completely forgot that he was not in the body of a human, and instead, an anthropomorphic creature, just like the other Tree Friends. The Mad Man, though, was very much human, and his stature showed it. If measured correctly, the Stranger was only about half of the Mad Man's height. Even his gun, retrieved in his world, was puny compared to the Mad Man's hand.
The Stranger shook his head and breathed slowly to calm his aim over the Mad Man. All he wanted to do right now was pull the trigger and kill him instantly, to avenge the deaths of Flaky and all of his friends, to make him pay for all the torture he placed on him. But he had to wait for the right moment, when it was necessary to do so.
The two stared at each other silently, the Mad Man keeping his hands above his head while the Stranger aimed his pistol at him. The Stranger used his peripheral vision to see the Control Room, the doors slammed shut. He noticed a keypad by the door, concluding with the idea that was used to open the door.
Squinting his eyes at the Mad Man, he gestured his head to the door. "Open it… now!"
The Mad Man shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the keypad of the door, keeping his hands up while moving as the Stranger kept his gun over his head the entire time. Once by the keypad, the Mad Man slowly lowered his right arm while still leaving his left up, and punched in a few numbers on the panel.
After a few seconds of registering the code punched in, the double doors slid open, revealing a massive room filled with a variety of technology that even the Stranger stood in awe of. The Mad Man turned around to face the Stranger, suspecting a happy smile for his cooperation, but was faced with only the barrel of a gun.
Still keeping his eyes on the Mad Man, the Stranger swiftly pointed his gun to the room and back to him once more. "Move."
"Alright, Stranger, as you say."
The two rivals walked through the entrance to the Control Room, and the Stranger gawked at the sight of the room.
It was massive, at least to his small size. It was dark unlike the rest of the building, with the floors and walls having a black metallic look. The walls were littered with mysterious looking machines that were constantly running, their lights blinking and making weird sounds as they performed their scheduled tasks.
What stood out the most, though, was a large screen at the end of the room, one that even stood taller than the Mad Man himself. It laid behind a medium-sized control panel, which featured a much smaller computer beneath it, the Stranger guessing it was the main tool that managed everything that ever occurred in the world.
The Stranger's eyes widened as he examined what was on the large screen. It was littered with so much information that he could not comprehend any of it. From camera positions overlooking the world to lists of processes running simultaneously to keep the virtual world working; from active logs tracking every action to live character analysis reports, the screen was showing everything…
Even his friends.
On the screen, he could see all 21 active Tree Friends who resided in the world, the ones that were being inhabited by human captives. They were placed in rows on two sides of the screen, and displayed life statistics of their condition. Monitors tracking the actual human's heart rate, processes managing in the background, and all private information about them was displayed in bars, along with a photo of their avatar.
One of them he picked out instantly was Flaky, which showed her human self was alive… but a blank line was shown on her character health, showing her life was brought to a close until the next character reset.
The Stranger was saddened with the reminder of her death, but then tilted his head in confusion as he noticed a 22nd character graph on the screen, but lacked a photo of the character, name of the person, or any other information; just a heartrate tracker.
"Is that supposed to be… me?" The Stranger observed the 22nd character monitor for a short time before shaking his head and looking back at the Mad Man, who just stood tall while looking down at the Stranger with an eerie smile.
"The machine… marvelous, isn't it?"
The Stranger gritted his teeth and held his pistol tightly, still holding it over the Mad Man's head. "Did I say you could fucking speak, you asshole?!"
The Mad Man dropped his smile and spoke in a serious tone. "Stranger, you're going to kill me in the end anyway, no matter what I do or say. Why not give this old man one last time to speak, you know, the honorable thing to do? It's not like you know how to work this machine on your own, right?"
The Stranger looked down briefly and thought about what the Mad Man said. This technology greatly surpasses his knowledge, and would, in any way, not be able to work with it on his own. He stomped his foot on the ground hard and looked back up. "Alright… fine, go ahead and say your last words. I don't give a shit anymore."
"Fair enough…" The Mad Man lowered his hands and clasped them together in front of him. "So, Stranger, what would you like to know first?"
"I like to know how I can use it to destroy this hellhole, kill you, and leave forever; how about we start off with that, hmm?"
The Mad Man chuckled softly. "Oh, come on Stranger. Surely you're interested into what this machine is capable of, what is can accomplish. You must admit, that all of this," he gestured his hands across the entirety of the room, "is quite an achievement for one measly old man such as me, right?"
Though not liking it the slightest, the Stranger had to admit it: a virtual world capable of hosting multiple subjects, it is something out of a sci-fi movie, but was now a reality. And all devised by one person, surely that is an achievement worth boasting about.
But he shook his head and returned back to his original intentions. "Okay, fine, it is amazing. But let me ask you a question then: why?"
The Mad Man kept his smile as he nodded slowly. "I thought that'd be your first question. Very well, let me give you the detailed answer." The Mad Man walked slowly around the Stranger, his rival still keeping his gun pointed at his head.
"Even when I was young, I was always the… 'Creative' type, you know, always looking beyond the boundaries of reality, and turning it real. Science was always a field of interest to me, and thus, sci-fi was a big subject that captivated my emotions. The imaginations and creativity people could make, and all it would take is a little knowledge, and what was only a dream before could soon become tangible, something real."
"So, when I grew up, I focused all my life, from sunrise to sunset, on science, technology, and the unimaginable. I wanted to create something that the world could benefit from, something that would entertain the masses with its mere existence. I wanted to surprise the world with what I could do. And thus… the idea of a virtual reality was born.
The Stranger tilted his head. "But virtual reality already is a thing; it's already been done."
"Ah, but on a grand scale such as this, implanting full bodies and emotions into a single, actual size world that could be truly interacted, felt, and experienced? The technology existed, but I saw something that they were only starting small, and made it into something more. And with that technology, and my ambitions, gave rise to my invention: A fully manageable virtual world capable of hosting dozens of life units."
Oddly curious, the Stranger spoke up. "Exactly… how does all of this work?"
"Ah, curious now, aren't we?" The Mad Man laughed lightly as the Stranger groaned angrily. "Well, it's quite simple. Hosting Caskets, up to a maximum of 32 per server, is attached up to one large pillar, which is actually an overcharged supercomputer running billions of processes and rendering programs by the nanosecond. These caskets hold a VR Headset, attached to the cranium, and followed with a large screen at the top of the casket visible to the host."
"Once the Headset is attached, multiple sensors are ran through the host until finally, the machine 'captures' the Host's mental conscious and effectively gives it up to the server, allowing ultimate customization to the administrator, which happens to be," The Mad Man pointed to himself, "yours truly!"
"Once the Host is synched with the server, the administrator is given complete access to the Host's mentality and biological setup. In short, whatever makes a person, I can change it. Language, body structure, history, family, anything, I can either leave him as is or change him radically. Here in the HTF server, I adjusted the body structure to randomize as woodland critters, with the language completely changed and a new universal history completely diverse from the real world."
The Stranger looked dumbfounded as the Mad Man continued to speak. "But, since I wanted this world to be as unique as possible, I needed each subject to be different. Thus, I forced a manual setup on every Host, allowing me to customize their entire attitudes based on their actual human traits. That green bear, he had a past record of PTSD, so I adjusted its severity to an extreme to make him a little… unique. Oh, and the red porcupine, her mind showed shyness on a marginal level, so I brought that to an extreme, causing her to be completely paranoid. In short, every person you see is based on themselves, but pushed to the extreme."
The Stranger gritted his teeth in anger. "So you fucked with their lives to meet your own goals?!"
The Mad Man shrugged. "Eh, more or less. I had to keep things interesting; if I left them as is, they would be boring." The Mad Man looked away from the Stranger's anger and proceeded to walk in circles around him.
"Once everyone had their character setup, the final requirement was to have an Administrator access the terminal within the world itself. Only so much can be done on the outside; the REAL work happens right here, in this very room. Anything that can happen or will ever happen all started here, and all done on that very computer."
The Mad Man pointed to the computer, which the Stranger stared briefly before looking back. "Beyond that point, it's all smooth sailing. The Administrator keeps an eye on the server, make sure it's free of bugs or viruses, checks health levels of the Hosts, etcetera, etcetera, until either a timer ends, ejecting all Hosts, or upon the Administrator's own accord. And with the life support systems built into the pods, Hosts could technically live for decades without aging as long as the server is kept up to date. You'll never have to leave!"
The Mad Man's last sentence only infuriated the Stranger, who started to hold his gun tighter and place his right index finger on the trigger. "No, YOU don't want them to leave, but WE DO! We never asked to be placed in here, nor asked to live this type of life; this was all YOU! We don't want to live in this shit, we want to live our old lives again!"
The Mad Man nodded his head with a smile. "Well… they seemed quite content before your arrival."
"That's because you fucking brainwashed them! You made them believe this was normal, that this shit is real! Not just that, you erase their memories and everything!" The Stranger lowered his gun slightly as he continued to yell. "In fact, tell me, how you accomplished that?! How did you get 21 innocent people to agree and sign up for this shit?!"
The Mad Man weaved his right hand through his beard while pondering an answer. "Well that was simple: once the project was completed, I moved the machines into a secure location far away from city life, just to keep things secluded. I then promoted it at a nearby town, saying that I needed 21 people of different traits to test out a machine that could revolutionize the world, along with a very large compensation for doing so. Hey, money can convince anyone in this world, right?"
"So you scammed them, is that it?!"
"Well I did promise them they get to test out a machine, I didn't say what could happen."
The Stranger, keeping his finger on the trigger, was continuing to be both angered and curious by the Mad Man's story, and had to know more. "So… are you saying I agreed to it, just like them?"
The Mad Man shook his head while crossing his arms together. "That is an answer I can't give you, Stranger. You see, one day, while managing the next runtime processes for that day, the server picked up an unwanted user entering the world. At first I thought it was just a bug, an error picking up a generic Tree Friend, or any AI, as an actual Host, so I ran a virus scan, only to find out… it was a real person."
The Stranger took his finger away from the trigger as the Mad Man looked down at him. "I couldn't believe it at first, but once I turned my cameras to view one of the entry spawn points for new Hosts, I found you. You and your mysterious body, just teleporting inside the world from out of nowhere. I did my best to erase you, to decline your entry beforehand, but it was too late, and you entered the world completely… well, almost."
The Stranger placed his left hand by his side while still holding his pistol up. "What does that mean? Why wasn't I completely tied like the rest?"
"As I said, when a Host enters one of the caskets, the Administrator can change and alter any settings not naturally placed by the server. This includes life support, traits and everything in between. The only thing the server affected on its own was your avatar, which is actually just a base unit for creating other avatars. Everything else would have to be my doing, and since you came in late, I had no time to make you fit in, nor time to know your name, past, or anything else. Thus, besides your avatar, you were left unaffected."
The Mad Man looked off in a random direction briefly while letting out a sigh. "I have no idea what could possibly give you the motivation to just jump in here, Stranger. Really, I'd think people would stay away from weird things. I guess your real self is the reckless type, or you're just too damn curious. Either way, you came into this world and here you are now." He turned his head to face the Stranger and nodded his head. "And there you have it. Quite an interesting tale, huh?"
The Mad Man and the Stranger stared at each other silently for a short time, not even thinking of a word to say. The air conditioning from the vents were the only thing making anything audible, and the silence made the cold atmosphere feel creepy.
The Stranger's face dropped into a mixture of confusion, anger and sadness, and spoke calmly. "I… I just don't get it… you designed a powerful machine and got people to actually enter it. You did something amazing that the world has never seen, something that everyone could enjoy if made public."
The Mad Man smiled proudly. "Why, thank you, Stranger, that's-"
"So why did you do this?"
The Mad Man's face showed confusion, and he tilted his head to the left. "Did what?"
"This?! THIS type of world! You didn't make a peaceful land where people could prosper in harmony, you created a Hell masquerading as paradise! You place this cute and cuddly look on the outside, only to reveal itself shortly after as a fucked up world filled with chaos! Not even that, you made these people as pawns, toys of yours for your amusement, not as everyday people to enjoy life. This 'Happy Tree Friends' is nothing more than a sick world that promotes itself to be good only to show it to be pure darkness and death!"
The Stranger gritted his teeth and brought his gun up once more, pulling the trigger slightly without firing off a round. "And the worst part is that you ACTUALLY ENJOY THIS! How could anyone just sit down and watch these innocent people die horrifically day after day, and laugh their asses off like a joke! This isn't funny, this isn't how people should live; this is HELL! And you did all of this out of fucking entertainment!"
He took a few steps closer, looking up to the Mad Man while shedding a single tear. "So why?! WHY did you do THIS?!"
The Mad Man stared at the Stranger blankly, taking in a deep breath before speaking. "I'll be blunt with you, Stranger: I'm sick, I'm evil, and I always wanted to play God. To control over the lives of others and to make them abide to my rule, it was a dream come true when I created this machine. To have such limitless power, to control and do anything, I could have so much enjoyment doing whatever I want. And with it being virtual, there would never be any consequences; I would always be free to do what I wanted and no one would ever be harmed. I was God!"
The Stranger did all he could to resist pulling the trigger of his pistol. "So all you did was thought of yourself, is that it?! You used others to fulfill your wishes, making them slaves so you could just have the fucking time of your life by watching others be harmed. That's your idea of fun?! And being God; you think the best way to be a God is to forcefully have themselves killed, purposely creating situations to kill them, and that pleases you?!"
The Mad Man kept his face from showing any emotion. "It's just the type of person I am, Stranger. I had become God of my own world, and they became my subjects. It was an opportunity to do whatever I wanted. I spent my entire life creating this machine, and I wanted to spend the rest enjoying what I created. And to me, this was the entertainment I wanted; to control the lives of others and watch them face their destined fates."
Silence filled the room once more, the Stranger shaking violently out of rage from the Mad Man's explanations. In short time, the Stranger spoke up once more. "Well it all ends today! Your time of playing God is over; it's time you let everyone go and accept defeat, to face the consequences and end it all forever. You are going to free us right here, right now!"
The Mad Man stood staring down at the Stranger silently, and turned his body over to the terminal. The Stranger stood watching as the Mad Man worked his magic on the tiny computer beneath the big screen, pressing a variety of buttons at a fast pace that the Stranger could not keep up.
He then stopped instantly, stood straight up, faced the Stranger, and gestured his hands to the computer. "It's ready."
The Stranger lowered his gun to his side, and spoke with anger and confusion in his voice. "What's ready?"
"You and everyone else's rides out of here. All you have to do now is click 'Shut Down,' and the server will instantly print a save state of the world while ejecting every current Host. This world will be destroyed and everyone will be able to return home. It's just a button away, Stranger, and I'm giving you the honor to finish it."
The Mad Man dropped the tiny grin on his face before slowly bringing his hands up in the air. "Or… perhaps you feel the need to kill me still? I've given you what you want, what you were fighting for since the beginning, so do you still want to finish me off? Does your anger fuel you mind, saying that I deserve to die? Is your hand itching to pull that trigger, and kill an old man stuck in his past and currently admitting his faults? What is it that you want to do now, Stranger?"
The Stranger breathed heavily as his eyeballs examined the Mad Man from top to bottom. He felt like something was wrong; he was surrendering way too easily, practically throwing in the towel without hesitation. He was handing his life away without even putting up a fight, something the Stranger did not expect. None of it felt right at all…
But this still was the man who tortured his life, who dozens of people captive and used for his entertainment, who made his life a living Hell. And right now, he had the chance to both kill him and return home. He wanted his revenge to be fresh, and his chance was available to him right now.
He aimed his pistol directly center over the Mad Man's forehead, and spoke calmly. "You're a monster, a creature of pure evil. You are far from human, and your actions are unforgivable. You murdered the lives of innocent people, despite them surviving it or not. You do not understand the qualities of human morality, or the difference of right or wrong. I believe in the motif 'an eye for an eye, a life for a life,' and you owe thousands of lives. You're an insane murderer who must be put down once and for all, and I intend on doing that."
The Mad Man nodded his head as he kept his arms in the air. "I'm a little disappointed to hear that, Stranger, but I guess I should have suspected that coming from you. Alright then, Stranger, do as you must. You win…"
The Mad Man closed his eyes and breathed in a calm pattern, awaiting to receive death. The Stranger stood still briefly, staring at the Mad Man blankly while holding the gun over him.
He took one deep breath, and with a strong pull of his right index finger, fired off a round that directly hit the Mad Man center mass on the forehead, piercing his skull and entering his brain. The inside of his skull began to spew blood as his brain splattered in pieces, and a little hole was left behind on his forehead.
The Stranger's eyes widen in shock and he took a few steps back as the body of the Mad Man slowly leaned forward, falling down like a heavy statue. It was only a second when the Mad Man went from standing tall above the Stranger to falling down face-first onto the dark, metal floor. His large size made a small vibration upon impacting the floor, making the Stranger shake a little.
The body bounced lightly after the high, sudden drop, and then became completely limp, right in front of the Stranger's eyes.
The Stranger lowered his pistol to his side, breathing heavily while still shaking violently. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, his mind could not comprehend the sight. After months of fighting through his worst nightmares, surviving every challenge that nearly killed him, it was all over.
The Mad Man was dead.
The Stranger swallowed his throat and walked slowly over to the dead body of the Mad Man. He tilted his head to the right side when he stood over the large head of the evil god. Blood was slowly running out of the tiny hole from his head, and the floor beneath him was being flooded by it.
The Stranger brought his right foot up, and, with a heavy forceful kick, pushed the body of the Mad Man to lay on his back, to get a clear look of his face. He stood back and observed the dead expression of the Mad Man, and nodded his head to himself while looking at the body.
The Mad Man's body was cold and limp, the hole on his head still oozing blood. His eyes were shut and his jaw slightly hanged. No visible signs of breathing were noticeable, and the body did not move an inch.
The Stranger grunted while holding onto his gun tightly, standing victoriously over the dead body of a once evil god. It was finally over, and the victory was handed over to the Stranger and the Tree Friends.
"Well… so that's what I'm going to look like when I die."
The Stranger's entire body froze in absolute horror. His heart was almost banging out of his chest, and his legs felt like they could collapse any second. His eyes began to dart around frantically while his breaths picked up to the point of hyperventilation. His body began to shake furiously, almost entirely impossible to control it.
He was deaf in his right side, but his left ear could easily pick up that voice from anywhere. The Stranger closed his eyes in fear, too scared to turn around and face what his mind was thinking. It was impossible, there's no way it could be done. It had to be an illusion, a trick on his mind!
Taking in a large gasp of air and shaking violently, he slowly turned his head around and gasped what stood just beneath him.
A pair of old black dress shoes.
The Stranger looked up instantly, and he swore he died upon the instant he saw the horrific sight that stood tall above him, a figure looking down at him with its head tilted to the side while dawning an eerie smile.
It was the Mad Man.
"Hello there, Stranger."
Quickly attempting to raise his gun up, the Stranger found himself in an invisible choke hold by the Mad Man. Without even laying a finger on him, the Mad Man stretched out his left hand and grasped the Stranger's neck, choking him with immense pressure. The Stranger was gasping for air as he felt his neck bone slowly begin to crack, sucking the life out of him.
The Mad Man chuckled as he waved the Stranger in the air, swinging his body back and forth until he built the momentum to throw him from the Control Room and back to the Administrator's Office, hitting the floor hard and rolling across it until he hit his entire backside against the wall on the other end of the room.
The Stranger groaned in pain as he breathed heavily for oxygen. With his vision blurred, he looked up to see the Mad Man walking forward while pointing his right index finger at him.
"Dear God, Stranger! Did you honestly believe that it was going to be THAT easy?! That I was just going to surrender and let you go because you had a little gun in your hand?! You really thought you could kill me without even breaking a sweat?! REALLY STRANGER?! I swear, you can be the absolute biggest dumbass my eyes have ever sadly made contact with."
Filled with rage and the urge to kill, the Stranger brought his gun up once more to shoot the Mad Man. But as the Stranger fired off another round, the Mad Man teleported to the side, dodging the bullet at the last possible second. The Stranger fired off a second round, with the Mad Man teleporting to the side again. With every shot he fired, the Stranger missed the Mad Man due to his ability to teleport around the field.
With one last bullet left, the Stranger attempted to fire, but was stunned when the Mad Man teleported right in front of him, grabbing his right arm and twisting it, making him drop his pistol and cry out in pain. Seeing him now disarmed, the Mad Man lifted the Stranger up and brought his wounded and scared face to meet his.
"You've been here for how long, Stranger?! You know about the resurrection cycle; didn't you stop to think it would work on me as well?! I CREATED THIS WORLD! I'M A GOD!"
The Mad Man lifted the Stranger high and smashed him hard onto the ground with strength that was superhuman. The Stranger could feel his entire body breaking apart as the impact nearly killed him, and he laid there whimpering in pain.
Shaking his head at the sight, the Mad Man got down on his right knee and looked at the Stranger angrily. He spoke loud, piercing the inside of the Stranger's head with his rough voice.
"I just can't believe, Stranger, of how stupid you could really be. I thought I taught you better, throwing every challenge at you, that you would know what you would be facing. Yet again you ignored every word. This is what happens when you fail to recognize my warnings, Stranger!"
The Mad Man slowly grasped his left hand once more, the Stranger feeling the invisible pressure around his neck once again. He looked up while holding his hands around his neck to see an odd glove covering the Mad Man's left hand, something he failed to notice the first time around.
Seeing his eyes come in contact with his glove, the Mad Man smiled and let go of his grip on the Stranger. "Ah, I see you've found interest in another one of my favorite toys."
Lifting his left arm up and pulling back his sleeve, the Mad Man revealed a tool that scared the Stranger at the sight.
It was a virtual computer that was attached to a large white gauntlet, a glowing looking circle underneath the palm of the glove. The screen attached to the glove was showing a variety of untranslatable details, and the circle underneath was glowing brightly.
"Say hello to the Administrative Tactical Computer; ATC for short." The Mad Man rolled down his sleeve and stood tall over a downed Stranger. "Those days of absent violence? That was my time working on this bad-boy. I thought to myself 'hey, why limit myself to that computer when I can do it on the move,' and decided to create a new gadget that could turn me into the god I always dreamt of being."
The Mad Man turned around and aimed of his left palm in the center of the room, shooting out a virtual 3D map of all of Happy Tree Town. The Stranger laid on the ground in pain as the Mad Man spoke proudly.
"With this tool created, I was able to improve my response time on all actions over 27% efficiency, while also making my administrative powers more powerful. I could view every part of this world at any angle, and cause any form of accident from this very room or anywhere else on the go, never restricted to the computer. It was quite effective fighting you during the battle, visibly seeing every path you took and precisely knowing how to corner you."
The Mad Man removed the map from the room and faced the Stranger once more with his eerie smile. "Besides always having the tactical advantage and ease of causing destruction from just standing here, it made me more powerful and mobile than ever! Teleportation, summoning any tangible object, ability to affect the environment through telekinesis, affecting the traits and conditions of Hosts in live time, and, best of all, the concealed ability to walk amongst my own subjects and control their lives firsthand!"
Kneeling back on his right knee, the Mad Man stared into the eyes of the Stranger, who still laid in agonizing pain. "Stranger, all those events and challenges that occurred in the past, all of those 'accidents,' you didn't think they just HAPPENED, did you? You may have never realized it, Stranger, but…"
The Mad Man brought up his ATC and opened up a virtual menu. With one click of a button, the Stranger crawled back a short distance as he watched the entire body of the Mad Man light up in a bright blue aura. He watched as the body of the Mad Man began to transform down to a smaller size and, after a large flash of light, revealed a whole new character.
His eyes almost popping out of their sockets due to utter shock, the Stranger now saw a purple generic Tree Friend standing above him, looking down at him with a devilish smile. The Stranger shook his head as the generic Tree Friend nodded his head slowly.
"I was always there, every step of the way."
The Stranger watched as the Mad Man continuously pressed the ATC, shifting into multiple colors and breeds of generic Tree Friends.
"Shifty and Lifty driving out of control? That fire lit up at the diner? That truck crashing into the tower? Flippy ignoring you at the carnival? Anything that has ever happened in your time trespassing in my world was my doing; I watched every step you took in the field, either saving those pathetic Hosts or just enjoying your days. Following you among the crowds of generics was quite an experience, especially when I fought down on the ground by your side and causing chaos in your fight."
The Mad Man took a few steps closer to the Stranger, keeping his eyes on him at all times. "Oh… and, let me show you my latest character design; you might like it…"
Pressing the button on his ATC one last time, the Mad Man lit up in a blue light once more, and the Stranger watched helplessly as the Mad Man began to take on a new form.
His latest form, though, enraged the Stranger beyond comprehension. He gritted his teeth, growled angrily, tensed his body up, and shed a single tear out of sadness and anger.
The Mad Man's latest form was a Shadow form of Evil, standing with a dark aura around his body and the demonic yellow eyes that glowed from their sockets. His smile was the signature razor sharp blades, and he chuckled at the Stranger's angered expression.
"So, what you think, Stranger? I call him 'Shadow Evil'… a little cliché, I know, but it works, doesn't it?"
The Stranger did not respond, only staring back as his anger began to build up strength in his weak body. The Mad Man shook his head as he knelt down again, moving his face close to the Stranger.
"I'll tell you a truth, Stranger: I never killed a Host with my own hands before. So when I got the chance to hold that red bitch in my hands, to shove my knife into her weak flesh, to pierce open her organs, it was such an erotic and amazing feeling that I was glad that you got to watch with me. Oh, Stranger, her death was unoriginal, but it was satisfying nonetheless!"
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
The Stranger lunged forward as hard as he could, but the Mad Man teleported in a flash, dodging the Stranger's failed attempt to attack. He landed a few feet away from his position, laying on the white solid floor once more in pain. The Stranger weakly pushed himself up on his hands and knees, and looked to his left to see the Mad Man appearing once more, this time back in his human form.
The Stranger tensed his body up in fear as the Mad Man raised up his left hand, revealing the tiny circular pad underneath his palm. The pad began to glow a dark red, and the Mad Man nodded his head.
"Prepare yourself, Stranger!"'
A large flash of light shot out of the small pad, and the Stranger lifted up his left hand while closing his eyes, looking away from whatever was going to hit him. He suddenly felt his body get struck by something, feeling an odd pain running through his entire body, making him cringe in place.
The Stranger waited for a brief time, believing he was killed instantly. He then took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, shocked at the realization of what happened.
His body was completely healed and clean. His right ear was back in place, all of his scars were removed, and all the blood was washed away from his grey fur. The Stranger was sent back into a clean state, fully healed of all injuries.
He then felt something heavy in his left hand, and looked over to see a large steel sword placed in his left hand, now forming a grip around the handle. The Stranger could see a clear reflection of his face in the sharp blade, seeing how he was completely clean. He admired the sword's sharpness, appearing to have an edge straight enough to cut through anything.
The Stranger could feel the strength in his legs returning, and stood up straight in the center of the room. Confused, he looked over to the Mad Man, noticing his body was starting to glow a dark purple. The Mad Man raised his arms and hands in the air in a 'V' shape, and spoke calmly.
"Stranger, I waited for this day for far too long. I may be a sadistic god, but if I were to fight any opponent, I would wish him to be at his best condition. This is a fight I've been dying to have, Stranger, and it must be perfect."
The Stranger placed the sword in his right hand and covered his eyes with his left arm as a dark black and purple light flashed from the Mad Man. A large gust of wind was felt, almost knocking the Stranger to his knees. Squinting his eyes tightly, the Stranger looked up to see an odd transformation from the Mad Man.
"I hope you're ready, Stranger! I am not like any of those pathetic weakling Shadows or the atrocity that is Evil. I am a GOD OF DESTRUCTION; THE BRINGER OF CHAOS; I AM THE ALL-POWERFUL RULER OF THIS WORLD! AND I WILL NOT GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT!"
One more flash of light was made, and the Stranger looked to see that the Mad Man had taken a new form of clothing. His entire lab coat was replaced with a black cloak with an immensely dark-purple overlay, and his pants now as dark as his coat. His black shoes were formed into a pair of tight boots, hard and sturdy enough that could crush anything beneath him. His right hand was hidden under a dark and long glove, while his ATC stayed intact. Behind him fluttering in the air was an oversized cape, black on the front and a dark-red in the back.
But what stood out more was a huge katana blade that was sheathed in his left side. Its length was unimaginable, and its blade sharp enough to slice open even the toughest of metals. The Mad Man landed on his feet, standing tall over the Stranger at the other end of the room. His eyes squinted at his opponent as he spoke calmly.
"It's time you show me what you can do, Stranger. You proclaim yourself as the hero of this tale, so… show me. Show me what you learned in you time here, show me how capable you are in taking down a god."
The Stranger got into a battle pose was gripping both his hands around the handle of the blade. He gritted his teeth and tensed his body up for a fight, ready to defend himself. The Mad Man leaned his right leg back as he brought his right hand to rest on the handle of his sword, and nodded slowly to the Stranger.
"Show me your strength!"