Chapter 16.2
Finish the Fight, Part II
"Show me your strength!"
Two bitter enemies stood on each opposite end of the large open room acting as their arena. The Stranger, grasping the steel sword by the handle with both hands, stood on the right side, close to the hallway door he entered from only a few minutes ago. On the other end, by the Administrator's Bedroom door, stood the Mad Man, his dark suit almost as menacing as the large katana blade sheathed on his left side. The Mad Man's right hand laid gently its handle, ready to strike at any moment.
The Stranger brought his body to an offensive position, gritting his teeth and staring straight at the Mad Man with fury and determination to win. The Mad Man nodded his head slowly with a silent chuckle, not fazed by the Stranger's anger, and standing perfectly still as his long cape fluttered in the small breeze.
The two stood at the ready on the opposite sides of the room, waiting for their opponent to throw the first punch. Silence filled the room as neither one made a sound, not even taking a moment to inhale oxygen. Their minds were concentrated on only one goal.
Win.
The Stranger brought his eyes back and forth between the Mad Man and his katana. He swallowed his throat and his body sweated as his eyes examined the blade. It was beyond the boundaries of reality; its sheer length, measuring almost one-third of the room, made it impossible for any mere soul to wield, and its blade sharp enough to pierce the toughest of metal.
He shook his head as he made himself only keep the thought of succeeding. This was his one and only chance of getting home, and he wasn't going to let it fall out of his grasp. Through all the pain and torture he fought through, he wasn't going to give up now.
It was possibly five minutes before one of them made the first move: The Stranger, making the tightest grip he could make on his sword, marched forward slowly and carefully as he kept his eyes on the large blade wielded by the Mad Man. A single hit from the blade would end his life for sure, and he had to prepare himself for any incoming blows at any moment.
The Stranger's heart was pounding violently with every step he took forward towards the Mad Man. His enemy wasn't even making a single motion despite moving inward. The Mad Man only stood in his place while looking down at the Stranger from afar, keeping his one hand on his handle but never grasping it. The Stranger knew something was going to happen, and drew his sword upward for protection.
He made it halfway across the room, now reaching the center portion of the small white arena. Judging the length of the katana, the Stranger was almost and in the strike zone of the Mad Man, who continued to only stand and wait. Taking a few more steps forward, the Stranger's eyes jumped to the Mad Man's handle, and realized in horror that he had now grasped the handle tightly.
His eye's jumped back to face the Mad Man, and felt time had paused briefly. The Mad Man gritted his teeth, and hopped forward a short distance as he pulled out his oversized katana blade, slicing it from left to right in one heavy swing. The Stranger quickly jumped back, keeping his eye on the blade that was slowly closing in on him.
The Stranger breathed in heavily, holding his neck back as far as he could. As he was in mid-air jumping back, he could feel the very tip of the katana blade touching the tiny hairs of his fur beneath his neck. The fast and heavy swing created a small gust of wind in its trail, making the Stranger's fur wave in the direction of the blade.
He landed on his feet perfectly while letting out a rapid succession of scared breaths, his heart beating at an unimaginable rate. The Stranger watched the Mad Man hop back to his original position as he brought his katana blade up, grasping the handle with both hands and holding it from his top right side, the blade hanging at an angle downward across his body.
As the Stranger got back in position, the Mad Man laughed loudly at the sight of the Stranger's fear. "What's wrong… are you scared? Come on, Stranger. You wanted to fight me, so come, fight me!"
The Stranger brought his sword up instantly as the Mad Man slowly walked forward, keeping the blade of the katana in front of his body while keeping his grip tight, prepared to swing at any possible moment. As he moved slowly, the Stranger decided to wait for his move this time, letting his enemy come to him.
But his move would prove ineffective as his eyes caught the slow movement of the Mad Man grasping the blade's handle tightly, and, in an instantly, raise it high in the air. Knowing dodging was no way possible, the Stranger had no choice but to attempt a defensive maneuver by raising his sword upwards, blocking his face and chest.
With the strongest force he could muster, the Mad Man slung the katana blade down from above, aiming directly at the Stranger's head. Luckily, the Stranger deflected the katana blade on the first hit, preventing it from making contact with his fleshy body.
This would not be the only swing from the Mad Man, though, as the moment the katana blade deflected with the Stranger's sword, he quickly hopped forward while preparing to perform a side-sweep attack. Seeing such fast reflexes, the Stranger made his attempt to be fast, bringing his sword to block the side-sweep just in the nick-of-time while hopping backwards.
The Mad Man followed his attack with a 360-degree spin, his katana blade going in a clockwise rotation as his cape fluttered in the air. The Stranger ducked while keeping his sword up, blocking the hit again while trying his best to keep a sturdy position on the ground. Every hit the Stranger deflected was gradually reducing his strength, as the blows were some of the hardest hits he ever encountered.
After performing his final move, the Mad Man hopped back while bringing his katana upwards, breathing lightly after the fast consecutive blows. "I see you're quick to go for the defensive, Stranger. But how do you suppose to defeat me while not making an attempt to attack?"
Gritting his teeth in anger, the Stranger stood his ground as he kept his sword in front of him. The Mad Man, coming up with a variety of ways to strike down his opponent, decided to go on a fast-offensive approach. He grasped the katana handle with both hands and brought the blade to face up, and quickly began to make a counter-clockwise circular dash around the room.
Not wanting to be flanked, the Stranger followed suit, staying on his side of the room while running in the counter-clockwise rotation. He kept his eyes on the Mad Man, who dared not to look at his opponent. After a short dash, the Stranger noticed the Mad Man make a sudden stop before making a forceful leap in the air, heading in the direction of the Stranger.
The Stranger gasped as he noticed the Mad Man quickly positing the long katana blade to face downward, ready to strike from above. The Stranger braced himself, and performed a dodge roll to the right, barely escaping the sharpness of the steel blade of the Mad Man's katana. The katana blade struck deep into the hard floor, causing cracks and a forceful wave through the room.
As the Stranger completed his roll and got back up to his feet, he quickly turned around and brought his blade just in time as the Mad Man swiftly brought his katana blade from the floor and performed yet again a quick 360-degree side-sweep, hopping back slightly after performing the move.
The two opponents were slowly getting exhausted from the constant running in such a short amount of time, swings of their heavy blades slowly degrading their strength in the fight. The Stranger, however, made sure to keep his will to fight strong and alive, prepared not to back down yet. The fight had to be finished today, and he was determined to finish it.
As the two rivals proceeded to march in a clockwise rotation around the room slowly, the Stranger decided to make an offensive move again, in hopes to actually cause damage to his enemy. Knowing a slow approach is not advisable, the Stranger dashed forward, preparing himself for an attack and ready to dodge at any second.
The Mad Man stared down at his half-sized opponent and decided to dash forward as well, preparing to swing his blade downwards. The Stranger grasped his sword's handle with a strong grip, ready to bring it up to deflect the incoming blow.
But, in a white flash, the Stranger watched the Mad Man disappear in an instant. The Stranger halted in his tracks as the Mad Man was suddenly gone from the room, nowhere to be seen. The Stranger breathed heavily as his eyeballs jumped around, trying to pinpoint the Mad Man's position for any surprise attack.
"Think fast!"
The Stranger's eyes widened as he spun around to see the Mad Man appear out of another flash of light, lunging forward to commence an upward swing. Knowing there was no time to run, the Stranger jumped upwards while bringing his sword down, barely deflecting the blow from the katana blade. The strong hit sent him into the air, slowly rising about half-way into the room.
As the Stranger was flung upwards, the Mad Man jumped in pursuit, bringing his sword at the ready to attack. Seeing him quickly coming forward, the Stranger, with fast reflexes, attempted to deflect and dodge all of the Mad Man's swings, the force of each blow bouncing him around in the air like a ball.
Deflecting a third blow, the two came falling back down, with the Stranger landing heavily on his feet while the Mad Man made a perfect landing, hopping backwards to the other side of the room.
The Mad Man chuckled as he brought his katana to point forward, the blade's length once again covering nearly half the distance between him and the Stranger. "Oh come on, Stranger, are you that dense? Don't you remember that I am a god?! I can bend reality and fight all laws of physics! Observe…"
Keeping his sword up to prepare for the Mad Man's next move, the Stranger watched as an ominous purple glow emitted around the Mad Man's dark cloak, and slowly levitated off the ground. After flying up a couple of feet, the Stranger tensed up as his opponent leaned forward in the air and swiftly flew towards his direction.
The Stranger quickly rolled to the left as the Mad Man slung his katana in an upward sling before disappearing into another flash of light. As the Stranger got on his feet, he quickly rolled to the right as the Mad Man appeared from the void to swing once more, only to miss and disappear into another flash of light.
As the Stranger got onto his feet one last time, he brought his blade behind him to quickly deflect the incoming strike of the suddenly-appeared Mad Man, turning around sharply and hopping back after making a successful blow.
Now standing tall with his katana still raised in front of him, the Mad Man, still levitating slightly off the ground, slowly began to rise up in the air further and, after getting enough altitude, leaned straight forward again with his blade struck forward, the sharp edge ready to strike deep into the soft flesh of his rival.
The Stranger hopped to the side as the Mad Man flew forward in an instant and, upon colliding with the wall, rebound off the side and headed off into a random direction like a pinball, his sword still pointing forward. The Stranger rolled left and right again as fast as he could as the Mad Man furiously bounced around the room and rebounding off the walls with his katana out forward.
After a few seconds of quickly missing his target, the Mad Man rose high to the top of the room and came crashing down with the blade of the katana pointing towards the ground, piercing dead center in the room. The heavy impact created a walls of force that headed in multiple directions of the room, the Stranger dodging one of the lines of force quickly.
The ominous purple glow of the Mad Man slowly deteriorated and returned back to its original dark color. The Mad Man pulled the katana from the floor while performing another 360-degree spin, holding onto the katana blade as tight as possible.
Gritting his teeth in rage, the Mad Man looked up to see the Stranger running towards him, holding his sword with both hands. Anger fueling his mind after seeing his moment continuously dodge his every move, the Mad Man rushed forward with his katana raised high in the air, ready to swing down when the moment was right.
When the Stranger was in range of his target, he performed an upward side-swing down at the Mad Man's legs due to his small height. The Mad Man hopped in the air before swinging down his katana, the Stranger leaning to the side in time to have only the tip of his fur be cut off. The Stranger retaliated with a jump to the right while swing from left to right with his sword, though it was deflected by the Mad Man's quick movements.
The Mad Man carried out an 180-degree swing from right to left while hopping forward, aiming for the neckline of the Stranger, but the Stranger quickly raised his sword in the air in time to counter against his katana. To his surprise, the Stranger moved quicker in his counter-attack and, in an instant, was able to perform a second upward swing that graced the right forearm of the Mad Man.
The Mad Man cringed in the slight cut and jumped high in the air before landing on the opposite end of the room from the Stranger. He looked at his forearm to notice the cut, while small, was deep, and was slowly gushing blood from his suit. The Mad Man yelled loudly in rage and looked straight at the Stranger's eyes, who were looking at him with a cocky expression.
"Is this what you really plan to do all this time, Stranger?! Constantly countering and dodging, you damn coward?! Fine, how about I give you some inspiration to be a little more aggressive?"
The Stranger got into an attack pose as the Mad Man, with a swipe from his left arm, summoned a large protective orb around his body before hovering in the air. As the Mad Man hid behind his protective ball, he pointed his katana blade at the center of the room, with a large purple light emitting from the tip of the blade.
Suddenly, a thin laser was shot out, and, upon hitting direct center of the room, created a dark black portal, along with dark-purple particle hovering around the edges. The Stranger tensed up as, after a short time, Shadows like the ones on the first floor started crawling out of the dark void, carrying their signature medieval weaponry. Their eyes glowed crimson red, and their teeth showed their sharp razor blades.
After a few seconds of letting his minions crawl out, the Mad Man brought his sword away, and counted four well armored Shadows, unsheathing their swords and standing at the ready. The Stranger stood still as he looked at each of his opponents slowly walking towards him, ready to do their master's bidding.
The Mad Man spoke loudly, his voice echoing across the room. "Take him down."
The Shadows roared as a group, and charged forward at the Stranger. Not ready to back down yet, the Stranger charged forward at his enemy, quickly devising a plan-of-attack to take out each Shadow in a certain sequence.
As time felt like it had slowed down, the Stranger looked to his upper left to see one of the Shadows swing too early, wrongly performing a downward swing with his sword. Seeing an opening, the Stranger performed his own 360-degree spin in a counter-clockwise rotation, and aimed his sword at the torso of the Shadow.
His sword struck deep into the Shadow's body, and was carried out to the other side, slicing the Shadow's body in half. The Shadow gurgled and spit blood as his organs slowly rolled out while falling over in two pieces. With the Shadow lying dead, the Stranger quickly spun around while raising his sword up, deflecting the second Shadow's attack.
Locked in a struggle-hold, the Stranger kicked the Shadow with his right foot while jumping to the right to dodge the third Shadow's side-swing. As the Stranger landed on his feet, he slung his sword to the right to slice the head off the fourth Shadow without even taking a glance at his opponent's position.
As the Mad Man slowly healed his forearm with his administrative device, he looked down to see the Stranger killing off his troops without breaking a sweat. He growled furiously as his minions failed to lay even a finger on his foe.
"You idiots! Fucking kill him!"
Sadly, his command would not be carried out as the Stranger successfully dispatched the other two Shadows with one right to left side-sweep, removing the last of the Mad Man's troops. The Stranger stood dead center of the room, breathing heavily as he proudly stood over his easy kills.
Taking the advantage for a surprise attack, the Mad Man, still in his protective orb, rose high to the center of the room, directly above the Stranger. Feeling an odd presence, the Stranger looked up to see the Mad Man dispel his protective shield, and came falling down with his long katana blade facing downward.
The Stranger dodged to the right as the Mad Man came crashing down, his sword piercing deeply into the ground once more while sending small shockwaves into the room, almost hitting the Stranger and ruining his balance. As the Stranger performed his roll, he quickly brought his sword behind him to protect his back side while the Mad Man attempted an upward swing, his attack deflected and making him hop back away.
The Stranger turned around to face the Mad Man, whose was showing a growing sign of aggression. The Mad Man tensed up his body as he held the katana handle with his right hand only. He stared down at the Stranger while speaking in a furious tone.
"That's enough, Stranger! If you won't face and know your place in my world, then I'm going to make sure you will feel every bit of pain from it!"
Not standing to take the Mad Man's threat, the Stranger charged forward with his sword held with both hands while aiming forward, ready to strike. But, when he was only a quarter a distance away from the Mad Man, he noticed his gauntlet slowly light up as he brought it across his chest.
The moment the Mad Man formed a fist across his chest, the Stranger felt a sharp pain occur in his heart. He stopped briefly, confused on the sudden appearance of an attack on his heart. The Stranger gasped for air as he looked up to see the Mad Man swipe his left hand in the air while staring at the Stranger, and, upon completing the movement, the Stranger could feel a sense of electric shock covering his entire body, paralyzing him in his place.
The Mad Man made an evil smirk as the Stranger was slowly feeling his heart trying to helplessly fight the massive electric shocks piercing across his body, slowly beginning to come to halt and die. The Stranger cringed in agonizing pain as his vision begin to blur, the Mad Man slowly disappearing from his view while only a few feet away from him.
He shook his head angrily, not wanting to let this be his death. The Stranger jerked his head through the electric force holding and slowly killing him to see his sword still grasped in his right hand. He then looked back at the Mad Man and calculated the distance between him and the Mad Man.
The Mad Man made a confused look as he notice the Stranger slowly lean his right hand backwards, and his eyes widened openly as the Stranger yelled loudly.
"Come on!"
The Stranger, with all his might to fight through the electric force, threw his sword in a spinning motion, being thrown like a boomerang straight at the Mad Man. Seeing the sharp blade heading in his direction, the Mad Man quickly dispersed into another flash of light, releasing the painful grasp on the Stranger.
The Stranger ran forward and performed a dodge roll as the Mad Man quickly attempted to appear behind him and perform a side-sweep, just swinging above the Stranger's back. The Stranger came up to the Mad Man's original position and found his sword on the ground, quickly kicking it up in the air and grabbing it with his right hand while turning around in an instant.
The Stranger chuckled as he breathed heavily from almost dying from electric shock. "Is that… is that all you got?!"
The Stranger's taunt was enough to fuel the internal rage boiling in the Mad Man's mind, and he raised his sword far to the right, the blade pointing directly behind him. A purpled haze formed around him and the room slowly darkened, slightly frightening the Stranger.
The Stranger widened his eyes as the Mad Man prepared his body to lunge forward. Gritting his teeth while lowering his, the Stranger brought his sword upwards, ready to deflect the attack.
Suddenly, the Mad Man ran at the speed of light, quickly running towards the Stranger with one heavy and fast side swing that occurred in a blink of an eye. The swing was powerful enough to slice through any object, and the Mad Man smirked as he appeared on the other side of the room, performing a move that was nearly impossible to deflect.
Nearly was a key word as the Mad Man heard the sound of multiple deflecting sounds made, and quickly looked behind with his peripheral vision to see the Stranger successfully deflecting every hit the Mad Man made in his lightning fast attack. Despite the fast move, the Stranger dodged his attack.
Hoping to catch him by the surprise, the Mad Man quickly spun around with his katana blade to slice the Stranger in half, only to have his attacked deflected by his sword and sending the Stranger to jump back multiple feet away from him. As he stood in shock at his opponent still standing, the Mad Man furiously lit up in his signature purple light.
The Stranger, walking backwards to the center of the room once more while keeping his guard up, watch the Mad Man disappear in a flash of light. Looking around in all directions, the Stranger looked up once more to see the Mad Man appear from a second flash of light, levitating high above the ground while his cloak and cape fluttering in the air.
The Stranger hopped back as he stared at the angered expression on the Mad Man's face, who aimed his katana blade directly at him. He kept his sword up to protect his upper torso, and kept his eyes on the Mad Man's sharp blade and prepare for any move.
He did not, however, expect to see the Mad Man slowly bring his katana back, lowering it down to the ground. As he lowered his guard while staring at the Stranger, the Mad Man spoke as calmly as possible while still having the crackle of rage in his voice.
"Stranger, I had enough of this pathetic and shitty game of yours. I did not let you come in my tower just so you could mess with me and not fight me on the offensive. If all you want to do is play this game with me, then I'm going to finish it for you!"
The Mad Man swiftly brought his katana blade upward, the edge of his blade touching the ceiling of the room. As the Stranger stood helplessly with his sword raised, he watched the room turn almost pitch-black darkness, with a small rolling of dark clouds appearing above the Mad Man.
The Stranger then noticed an ominous orange glow appearing amidst the dark sky created in the room, and shook nervously as he watched the Mad Man jerk his head down to face him with a rage-filled expression.
"THIS ENDS NOW! Let's see you dodge this!"
The Stranger looked directly above him to see the same circling hole from the ones that appeared outside in Happy Tree Town. An orange glow started to appear from its entrance, he knew exactly what the attack was.
Not taking any chances to stand and wait, the Stranger rolled to the left as a tiny flaming meteor shoot out of the hole, crashing heavily onto the floor with immense force. The sudden impact left a giant crack in the solid floor, while the flames stayed lit and brightened up the already dark room.
As the Stranger quickly got up on his feet, he looked up and noticed another hole appear above him, glowing brighter much faster than before. He dodged to the left again, barely in time as the meteor came crashing down, and the heavy shockwave it created on impact almost making the Stranger lose his footing on the floor.
Knowing the attack was not going to stop, the Stranger continuously ran to the left in a circular motion as the Mad Man kept his sword raised in the air while floating in the center of the room. As the Stranger ran, a constant barrage of meteors came shooting out of holes in the sky that followed in pursuit of the Stranger, making the attempt to crush and kill him.
The Stranger was in an adrenaline ruse to stay alive, his heart beating fast as the flaming rocks from the ceiling above him started to get ever so closer to hitting him. Each impact made him forcefully jump a little, each jump making him lose his footing more and more. Soon enough, he was running around already crashed meteors in the room, almost to the point he was squeezing through the crack between them.
The meteors suddenly stopped shooting out of the holes from the dark sky, and the Stranger came to a complete halt as he stood dazed and confused from the cease fire. He then looked around and noticed the meteors started to glow a dark orange color, and their flames slowly began to rise in intensity.
He noticed his feet were getting warm, and looked down to see an orange circular pattern around the area of the Mad Man. As the Stranger stood still, his feet began to burn up, melting away his fur and flesh underneath his feet. He cringed in pain as he hopped multiple times, looking around to see where to run.
The Stranger had no choice but to run and forcefully jump back, hoping to jump from whatever attack was going to occur. His move proved to save his life, as, from the circular pattern, a large wall of fire appeared from the floor, rising high in the sky while destroying whatever was in its area of effect.
Landing heavily on the floor while his feet stayed burnt from the intense heat, he jerked around to see the Mad Man was hidden within a wall of fire in the center of the room. The Stranger was breathing heavily as he stared at what could have been his cause of death, and was wondering where the Mad Man could have run off to.
He did not have to look long as the Mad Man jumped from the fierily wall, his sword raised high above him to strike down the Stranger. Looking to his right to see a clear path, the Stranger rolled on his body to barely escape the collision of the sharp blade of the Mad Man's katana, and attempted to get on his feet in time.
Sadly, he failed to do so as he was only able to raise his sword up to slightly deflect the Mad Man's counter-attack, the strong force from his swing sending the Stranger to fly backwards and land on his back hard. Luckily, the fierily walls and collided meteors were gone, but the floor was still scorching hot, burning his back as he laid on the floor injured.
Getting up as quickly as he could, the Stranger wobbled on the heated floor as he noticed the Mad Man quickly dash forward. Attempting to defend himself, the Stranger was only able to prevent the Mad Man's katana from hitting his left side, the force once more sending him flying to the right. He flew in the air for a brief second before colliding to the wall opposite of the Control Room.
The Stranger cringed in pain as his back was almost broken upon the heavy impact. He looked up and noticed through his squinted eyes that the Mad Man was standing in the center of the room, blocking his direct path to the Control Room. While sitting down, the Stranger looked around his position to see what he could do, his body too weak this time to get up again.
He then jerked to his right to see his pistol from earlier was not harmed from the wall of fire, and was still laying intact on the floor. The Stranger, knowing it was his only chance, quickly dropped his sword and lunged for the pistol, ready to make the one final shot.
But his movement was suspected as the Mad Man rushed forward to stomp his right foot on the Stranger's right hand, crushing the fragile bones in his fingers. The Stranger cried in pain as the Mad Man left his foot on the Stranger's hand, twisting back and forth to leave the growing agonizing pain on the Stranger.
Almost going unconscious from the severe pain, the Stranger felt his back be grabbed by the Mad Man's right hand, grasping tightly onto his fur and squeezing his skin. He was then flung far across the room, high in the air before landing face first on the metal floor, his left cheek and the side of his nose taking a large sum of the impact.
The Stranger grunted and pushed himself up, spitting out blood as he bit his inner cheek from crashing onto the floor. He shook his head as he looked up to see a shocking sight.
He noticed he was thrown into the inside of the Control Room, with the computer just a couple dozen feet away from him. He could see the failsafe screen already open, with just one click away towards freedom. All he had to do was activate the failsafe, and he would win. It was that easy.
Nodding his head determinedly to his plan, the Stranger quickly got up to his feet and made a mad dash for the computer, preparing himself to click the button and end it all. He did not bother to look back to see if the Mad Man was on his tail, he just had to focus on ending the world and freeing everyone. Once done, he could finish it on the outside.
But suddenly, a sharp pain was felt on the Stranger's right thigh, something piercing straight through his flesh and out the other side, spewing out small amounts of blood. He cried out in pain as he tripped over and fell to the floor, landing on his left side hard.
As his body laid against the steel floor, the Stranger shook violently as he placed both his hands over the source of the pain. Slowly opening his eyes as he cringed in pain, he moved his hands away gently and noticed a large bullet wound through his right thigh, the wound completely open and visible on both sides. He was shot.
The Stranger heard a chuckle, and looked behind him to see the Mad Man had sheathed his katana and was holding the extremely small handgun, his own hand bigger than the gun. The Stranger could see a small smoke trail coming out of the barrel, and knew that the last round was spent on him.
The Mad Man threw the gun to the side as he proceeded to walk towards the Stranger. "Didn't your parents teach you not to play with guns, Stranger? You can get yourself hurt by messing with them."
The Stranger quickly glanced back and forth between the Mad Man and the computer, now just a dozen feet away from him. Gritting his teeth and groaning from the growing pain travelling up his leg, the Stranger used all of his strength resting in his arms to crawl forward on the cold metal floor, going as fast as he could to reach the desk.
But every attempt to pull himself forward was proving nearly impossible. The sharp pain from his leg was almost killing him, not to mention the fast loss of blood oozing out of his wound. Each attempt to push forward was exhausting and painful, and he had to take deep breaths between each time he pulled himself toward the desk.
The Mad Man slowly walked towards the left side of the Stranger, looking down at his struggling opponent fight for dear life. He shook his head in disgust at his opponent try so desperately to fight.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk Stranger. You honestly never know when to quit, do you? You constantly keep the believe that no challenge is too much for you, and yet, here you are, on the cold floor, bleeding out, and still trying to fight for a lost cause. Stranger, I thought, through all of this, you'd learn to face the truth, the reality of your situation, and stop. But, even in this darkest of moments, you still believe you can win. Stranger… it is honestly pathetic at this point."
The Stranger closed his eyes and tried to block out the noise of the Mad Man standing over him with his taunting words. He cannot let the Mad Man's words stop him now, not when his tool to freedom was right in front of him. He continued to use all of his strength to push himself forward, keeping his will strong and alive to win.
The Mad Man continued to slowly walk beside the crawling Stranger. He closed his eyes briefly and let out a heavy sigh, resting his left hand on the handle of the katana blade.
"Stranger, I must ask you: did you really think you had any chance to defeat me? Did you really have no doubts at all, that you could have won so easily, that I could just really hand this victory over to you without question? You've seen my entire power occur before this day, through all my challenges that was laid forth before you, yet you stuck to the belief that it was going to be so easy in the end. You were so a smart and challenging opponent all these months before, your will fighting against my taunts and courses. But now… you just lost it."
The Mad Man lowered his body down, his face almost eye-level with the Stranger. The Stranger could feel the Mad Man's cold breath hitting face, and looked with his left eye to see him giving an eerie smile.
"Stranger… give up. You don't have to keep fighting anymore. You don't have to make this futile attempt to fight and win, as you and I both know that this game has already chosen a victor, and it is certainly not you. Stay still and accept defeat, and return back to the old ways once more."
The old ways. The violent world that he swore he would destroy and break away from. The world in which innocents die in the most gruesome ways and are forced to live by that rule for all of eternity. A world filled with lies with no freedom to act as yourself. He was being suggested to stay in a living hell; that's what the Mad Man was telling the Stranger to go back to, just give up and return to that world again?
The Stranger paused for a brief moment, taking multiple deep breaths while thinking of the Mad Man's proposal. He looked up again to see the computer merely five feet away from him. His key to freedom in his reach. The Stranger glanced over to the Mad Man, who was still leaning down and looking at the Stranger with a smile that pierced his mind.
After a short stare-down, the Mad Man dropped his smile as he watched the Stranger helplessly crawl forward once more, failing to accept the Mad Man's proposal for surrender.
He stood up straight and brought his right hand to the handle of his katana, walking forward far enough to be in front of the Stranger. "You, once again, disappoint me, Stranger. You, once again, fail to listen to my demand and warnings. You never learn, Stranger, so you must pay the price for your incompetence."
The Stranger brought his left hand forward, ready to push himself forward one last time before he was beneath the desk of the computer. But as his hand laid flat out in front of him, the Mad Man used his right foot to crush his hand, similar to what his did to his right hand. The force of his foot against his bones made loud sounds of bones cracking and breaking, making the Stranger shriek and cringe in pain.
The Mad Man laughed evilly as he watched the Stranger, in a futile attempt, try to push away his foot away from his hand, his fingers on his left hand bending in motions that cause the upmost pain on the Stranger's body. The Mad Man, though, intended to make his rival suffer for his ignorance.
Keeping his right hand on the handle on the katana, the Mad Man took his foot of the Stranger's hand and bent over to grab hold of the Stranger's left forearm with his left hand. The Stranger gasped in horror as he looked up at the Mad Man, slowly unsheathing his katana from its scabbard.
With his left hand grasping tightly around the forearm of the Stranger, the Mad Man stared into the horrified face of the Stranger and spoke insanely. "Here, Stranger, let me give you a… hand!"
The Stranger was whisked upward above the ground as he was held by his left forearm by the Mad Man. The insane person holding him unsheathed his katana completely, its sharp blade more menacing in the dark indoor lights of the Control Room. The Stranger kicked and breathed rapidly as his heartrate picked up in pace, his mind entering a state of panic of trying to escape.
The Mad Man brought the blade of his katana to touch the edge of the Stranger's left hand, the cold steel rubbing against his soft flesh. The Stranger looked into the Mad Man's eyes in horror, and shook his head violently as he began to whimper in fear. The Mad Man, though, was only enjoying the sight.
He touched the Stranger's kind with the katana blade three more times, going further back with each touch. After the third touch, the Mad Man brought the katana blade as far back as he could, and, with one forceful swing, sliced the Stranger's hand clean off, dropping him onto the floor as his hand flew off.
As the Stranger landed heavily on the floor, he cried in agonizing pain as blood spurted from the empty socket of where his hand used to be. He rolled back and forth while yelling loudly, the blood for both his arm and his thigh gathering together in a large pool of blood underneath him.
While the Stranger cried loudly, tears running down his face in thick streams, and the blood gushing out of his body, the Mad Man chuckled as he picked up the cold dead hand of the Stranger. He wiggled in around, looking at the strings of flesh and blood hanging down, and laughed at the sight.
He looked back at the Stranger, who was still rocking back in forth while crying loudly, and hovered the hand over him. The Stranger opened his eyes and looked through his tears to see his own hand above him. Without thinking, the Stranger reached his right arm out, attempting to grab his hand and 'place' it back on.
The Mad Man, though, hovered it just high enough out of the Stranger's reach, and smiled at his pathetic appearance of trying to grab a dead hand. "Oh I'm terribly sorry, Stranger, but I seemed to have misplaced your hand." The Mad Man made a smirk as he threw the Stranger's left hand far across the room, and chuckled as the Stranger turned to see his own hand be thrown away.
While still crying in pain, he looked back swiftly to see the Mad Man once again bend down and grab him by his left forearm again, quickly hoisting him back into the air once more. The Stranger kicked around more furiously as blood continued to gush out from his left arm, and began to shake his again in total fear of what was going to happen next.
His eyes widened as he watched the Mad Man observe the length of his left arm, and smiled as he noticed the Stranger whimpering in pain. "Well… I guess you won't be needing this arm either!"
The Stranger screamed loudly as he tried to break the grasp from the Mad Man. But it was hopeless, and, with one mighty swing, the Mad Man sliced the remaining piece of the limb attached to his left shoulder, completely removing his left arm away from his body.
He fell to the floor once more, screaming in pain even louder while he kicked and rolled around. The large hole on his shoulder was gushing out a waterfall of blood onto the floor, slowly killing him. As the Stranger kept crying and screaming in pain, the Mad Man curiously examined the Stranger's tiny grey furry arm, and instantly flung it to the side without interest.
The Mad Man then looked down at the Stranger, who was slowly kicking himself away from the insane butcher while crying loudly, and leaving a large bloody trail in his tracks. The Mad Man shook his head as he walked forward, sheathing his blood-stained katana back into its scabbard.
He looked at the thick and large open hole on the Stranger's left side, noticing that it was not going to stop losing blood anytime soon. "Boy, Stranger, that's a pretty big gap you got there." The Stranger stopped moving as he looked up and noticed the Mad Man's gauntlet began to light up, the palm section emitting a bright flame from its orb.
The Stranger shook his head while closing his eyes, too scared to face the incoming pain. To prevent him from moving, the Mad Man dropped to his knees and grasped the Stranger's body with his right hand. Feeling his hand holding his body, the Stranger kicked around and screamed loudly, doing all he can to run away.
He looked up in a state of panic to see a large flame now coming from the palm of the Mad Man's left hand, and looked at the man himself, who was staring back with an insane smile. "Let me patch is up for ya!"
The Stranger found himself being pushed onto his right side, and, in an instant, felt the Mad Man's left hand smash against the open wound. The flame coming from his palm was lighting the flesh of the Stranger on fire, sending a massive shock of pain across his entire body.
As his wound was slowly cauterized by the burning flame of the Mad Man, the Stranger squeezed his eyes tightly while screaming loudly, his heart pounding at an intense rate and his lungs losing all of their needed oxygen from the constant crying. He could feel his heart slowly giving out while his vision slowly blurred into blindness. His body was becoming limp from all the pain, and was finally shutting down from the abuse.
Seeing his opponent giving up, the Mad Man removed his left hand away from the Stranger's wound, seeing the open hole now patched up and sealed due to the intense heat. He quickly then brought the Stranger on his back and slapped his face with the back of his right hand, waking the Stranger up from his almost unconscious state.
The Stranger leaned back as the Mad Man jumped forward and brought his face straight up to him, and yelled in his face with spit coming from his mouth. "Don't pass out on me now, boy! We're just getting started!"
The Stranger looked down quickly to see the Mad Man had grabbed his bushy tail with his left hand, and made a tight grip around midway in its length. The Stranger screamed in fear as the Mad Man lifted him high in the air, holding him up by his tail. He looked around frantically as everything in his view was upside-down, and his remaining arm dangling in mid-air.
He swiftly looked over to the Mad Man, who began to make a quick march back into the other room. "Let's take a nice view of the scenery together, shall we?!"
As the Stranger breathed heavily while jerking around in hopes to escape, the Mad Man carried him over to the wall opposite of the control room. He stood there tall while holding onto his rival by the tail, and spoke straight forward without looking at him.
"You tout yourself as a hero, right Stranger? A person fighting for the good of others, who only cares for the safety and life for the innocent? You say you're doing this for them and that you promise victory and peace?! Well, tell me Stranger…"
The Mad Man tapped on the wall in front of them, and suddenly, a large window appeared from thin air, revealing the remains of Happy Tree Town beneath the tall tower. As the Stranger looked down to see the outside of the window, he whimpered and cried lightly at both the pain in his wounds and the sight that laid in front of him.
All of Happy Tree Town was in ruins, with flames and destroyed buildings scattering across the land. A red tint was seen in the atmosphere, and the skies above where still charcoal black. The environment he saw was indeed the picture of hell. But the sight of the world was not what made him cry.
It was what scattered the ground that scared him the most.
Hundreds upon hundreds of dead Tree Friends laid in the streets of Happy Tree Town, their bodies either ripped apart from medieval weapons, shot to death by arrows, crushed by buildings and meteors, or just torn limb from limb by the brutal force of the Shadows.
The worst sight of all, though, was the pile of dead bodies that laid on the No Man's Land beneath them. There, he could see the bodies of Pop and the remnants of his platoon, with Cuddles and other innocent Tree Friends caught within the cross-fire. What made him want to look away even more, though, was the fact that Flaky was amongst the dead.
Everyone he knew was down there… dead.
The Stranger was suddenly spun around while still being held by his tail, and was now facing the Mad Man. The psychotic god leaned his face towards the Stranger, his face filled with anger and hate.
"Tell me, does THIS," after yelling straight at the Stranger's face, the Mad Man flipped the Stranger upwards and grabbed him tightly by the top of his head, grasping his skull in a firm grip. After making him face up, the Mad Man slammed the Stranger's face into the window, breaking his nose and further damaging his cheek bone as his eyes were squeezed against the glass.
"All of THIS, right here in front of you, look like the work of a hero?! You come all this way, and you still feel like you're the HERO of this game?! Look at what you have done! You killed them, Stranger, not the Shadows, YOU!"
As the Mad Man continued to press the Stranger's face against the window, the Stranger whimpered and attempted to speak with his mouth have crushed by the glass. "N-n-n-no…"
"WHAT?!"
The Mad Man brought the Stranger away from the window, allowing him to speak clearly. "N-n-no! I didn't k-kill them… y-y-you did… y-you… bastard!"
The Mad Man was infuriated by the Stranger's rebuttal. "Oh no, Stranger, it is YOUR fault that their deaths occurred today, YOUR fault that everyone had to suffer this pain and torture, for you're the one who started this shit, remember?!"
"B-b-but they w-wanted to f-f-fight with m-me! They decided t-to h-h-help me!"
"Yeah, and look where you had led them! Straight into the depths of hell and to never returned. You could have stopped this from the beginning, Stranger. You could have secured their lives by never interfering. But…"
The Mad Man, rage fueling his strength, smashed the Stranger repeatedly against the window, cracks slowly forming against the glass as his face was slowly getting destroyed.
"BUT! YOU! JUST! REFUSE! TO! LISTEN! YOU! LITTLE! SHIT!"
Upon his last words, the Mad Man brought the Stranger away from the blood-stained window, cracks and splashes of blood scattered across the glass.
"Stranger, you ain't no hero! You were never the hero of this game! You never cared or thought of them! You weren't doing this for them! All you did was used them for your goals, to achieve YOUR wishes; they were always second to you selfish fuck!"
The Stranger, spitting out large sums of blood from the gums of his mouth, spoke quietly. "No… I-I… I w-was doing it f-f-for-"
"Stop it with the lies, Stranger! No matter how many times you say it, no matter how many times you try to rearrange it and make it sound like the truth, you were always the con-artist, the trickster who selfishly made everyone a target to capture to achieve a goal that was to benefit you first."
"N-n-no! I-"
The Mad Man, angered by the Stranger's constant attempt to counter his words, slammed him against the window once more. "STOP! IT! NOW! You honestly want me to believe that, Stranger?! How about we go back to the beginning, huh?! How about we recall you, after one failed attempt, stopped trying to help the others, and selfishly fend for yourself instead of fighting; and instant quitter!"
The Mad Man leaned his face towards the Stranger, still pressed up against the bloody glass. "And how about we discuss that plan, huh?! Let's go over how you wrote it to include yourself in it, which you plan to save others in order to just save yourself. Instead of just solely thinking of the innocent lives, you had to include yourself in the mix, making everyone else just some object or goal instead of a real person to save, all done to save yourself!"
The Mad Man brought the Stranger away from the glass one last time, and made him face forward. "Face it, Stranger, you aren't the hero of this tale. You never thought of them first. You never had the original intentions to save them. That promise to that little girl of yours? That was only done because you were on the spot, just to say something to keep her on your side, wasn't it? It was all a ruse to get support for YOUR freedom, wasn't it?!"
Hearing Flaky being brought up in the conversation made the Stranger tense up in rage, and he yelled back in anger. "NO! I did mean it! I do mean to save them! I do mean to make sure we all go home! I MEAN IT!"
"Really, Stranger?! You seriously mean it?! Okay then, Stranger; let me ask you one question then, one question that'll truly determine the kind of 'hero' you are!"
The two stared at each other briefly before the Mad Man brought the Stranger up to his face, and spoke calmly yet threateningly towards him.
"If you were placed in a situation, where you had to either sacrifice your own life to save all the dozens of innocent lives out there in my world, or sacrifice all of their lives to save your own, what would you choose?"
After the Mad Man finished his question, silence filled the room. Being held tightly on the cranium by the Mad Man's hand, the Stranger stared back at the Mad Man, not saying a single word. His eyes bounced around a little as he breathed slowly, refusing to respond to the important question he was asked. A question that could be easily answered, and yet, he was seemingly having trouble coming up with an answer.
Angered by his silence, the Mad Man tightened his grip on the Stranger's skull, making him cringe as he could feel his brain slowly be crushed by the tight grip. "Answer me, Stranger, what's it going to be?! Your life or theirs?!"
Once again, even with the tight grip being made on his head, the Stranger stayed silent on the question. All he did was bring his right arm up to try and loosen the grip on his head, and never saying a single word.
The Mad Man continued to tighten his grip on the Stranger. "You selfish son of a bitch… you would kill them, wouldn't you? You would seriously end their lives to save your own, wouldn't you?! WOULDN'T YOU?!"
"SHUT UP!" The Stranger yelled loudly as his skull was slowly being crushed. "Shut up you bastard! I-"
"Shut up? SHUT UP?! That's your response to my statement?! You really are a selfish little shit! You really could just hand their lives over just to save yourself, huh?"
"NO! N-n-no I-"
"Then say it, Stranger! Tell me, the honest truth, WHAT YOU WOULD DO?!"
The Stranger and the Mad Man stared at each other blankly, both of them breathing heavily as their anger towards each other grew. Silence filled the room one last time as they waited for each other to make a response of any kind to the question.
The Stranger than tensed his body up and stared straight into the Mad Man's eyes, just before he spit out a thick slob of saliva from his mouth. The spit hit across the Mad Man's face, sticking onto him in a dirty mess.
The two continued to stare silently at each other as the Mad Man wiped away the spit on his face, and spoke calmly after cleaning himself up. "You know what… that's exactly what I thought you would say…"
With one heavy jerk, the Mad Man threw the Stranger onto the solid floor with immense force, making hit his right side and nearly busting his right arm, cracking the bones inside while tearing up his internal body structure. He groaned in pain as he laid on the still-warm floor, and cringed with every attempt to move. Pain was sent across his entire body, and he was practically immobilized beneath the Mad Man.
Seeing his rival weakened and on the ground before him, the Mad Man was now tired of the game. He no longer had the patience to constantly play with his opponent. It was time to finish the fight, and, as a god, he intended to continue his reign. All he had to do was take care of one remaining rebel.
As the Stranger laid on the floor, the Mad Man unsheathed his katana from its scabbard, and stood tall over the small weak body of his enemy. Rage still resting in his mind, he sent a forceful kick in the Stranger's stomach, making him slide across the room and just before the entrance of the Control Room. He groaned and trembled in pain, his eyes closed as it hurt even to open his eyes.
The Mad Man marched towards the Stranger, and stood tall above him once more. Wanting to make sure he sees everything that he plans to do to him, the Mad Man brought his right foot to rest on the body of the Stranger and pushed him to rest on his back, his face now looking directly at him.
He brought his long katana blade to have its sharp edge meet the tip of the Stranger's nose. The Stranger could feel the cold steel touching his skin, making his heart beat faster as his death was certain. This was the weapon that would kill the Stranger once and for all.
The Mad Man took a deep breath through his nose and out his mouth, and spoke calmly. "Stranger… it was fun playing with you."
The Stranger looked up for a brief second, and stayed silent as he stared into the eyes of the Mad Man. After a few seconds of waiting, the Stranger spoke weakly but loud enough for the Mad Man to hear.
"… same…"
Both nodding their heads at each other, the Stranger closed his eyes as the Mad Man raised his katana high in the air. Making sure he would hit directly at the neckline of the Stranger, the Mad Man tighten his grip on the handle, and swung the blade down.
To the Stranger, he could hear the blade coming down towards him, a loud reflecting sound of the sharp sword piercing through the air. As he kept his eyes closed, his mind slowly recalled the memories of the past. And not the memories of his childhood or the memories of the outside world. But rather the memories in this world. Being with Flippy and Flaky, the world he had seen and the work he had done; it was all worth remembering.
And was all worth dying for.
…
…
…
But the Stranger could still feel his heart beating. He could still feel the remaining blood in his body still flowing through his veins. Hearing the sword coming down at him, his death should have been instant, quick and clean. So what happened?
Opening his eyes once more, the sight was something that neither the Stranger nor the Mad Man himself could have believed to be true.
Pushing back the Mad Man through a variety of the fastest attacks and deflects he had ever seen, the Stranger could clearly see the sight of familiar green fur, with the body of a small bear wearing an infamous tattered army uniform. His attacks were lightning fast as he used both a large Bowie knife and an axe to fight the Mad Man, who was doing his best to deflect the fast attacks while slowly being pushed back.
The Stranger pushed himself up with the remaining strength in his body as the green bear had his back turned on him, standing just in front of him. He could not believe the sight, it just had to be a dream, for something like this would be impossible.
"F… Flippy?"
Instead of a response, the green bear pointed behind him without turning his head, his right index finger pointing towards the Control Room. The Stranger looked to see a clear path to the computer was available to him, but yet he was still baffled by the situation.
He looked back at the green bear and spoke louder. "Flippy?! Is that-"
The green bear sighed in agitation, and quickly spun around and placed both his weapons in his right hand, letting his left hand grasp on the tuft of fur on the Stranger's chest. The Stranger was hoisted up above the ground, held high in the air by the green bear, which gave a clear view of the person's face.
Aside from the tattered scars on his face, the Stranger could pinpoint one familiar trait on this green bear that he could never forget.
Emerald-colored eyes.
"… Evil...?"
Without responding, Evil threw the Stranger into the limits of the Control Room, and stared down briefly at him. As the Stranger pushed himself up, he could see Evil walk towards the keypad to the entrance of the Control Room, standing just beneath it due to his height.
Before the Stranger could say another word, Evil spoke loud and clearly to him, a command that he could not ignore or question.
"Go."
With his last word, Evil jumped up and smashed the keypad with his axe, breaking the circuits in the system and causing a malfunction in the door, sending in an emergency shutdown. The two sliding doors came to a close, locking up tightly and preventing intervention from both inside the Control Room and out.
Laying on the metal floor confused, the Stranger looked at the closed doors and was having a difficult time of piecing together what he just saw. He had just witnessed Evil save him from death… and was now helping him save the lives of others.
Shaking his head from the confusing and sudden turn of events, the Stranger used his weak right arm to push himself onto his feet, barely standing up as the wound in his right thigh was causing severe pain in his right leg. As he stood, he turned around to see the large computer in the room, still active and ready to use.
With the door close and the computer all ready to be used,
The Stranger now had the chance to finish it.
"Alright… just one last move."