The devils shuddered, their black, wretched souls crumbling at the wild, distorted roar of an instrument so fierce. Not one dared to approach. Not a single beast had the nerve to defy the newly arrived challenger.
And then the divine deity spoke.
A calm, quiet sound, a soothing balsam on Andy's heart, almost as if healing his wounds and filling his soul with unwavering hope.
"... Who do you serve, devils of the north? To whom do you answer?"
A small murmur shifted through the crowd as the gigantic figure by the white haired figure crossed its massive arms of iron, towering over the mortals. Andy couldn't quite make out the shape of the creature, nor what it actually was. A bear? A dragon of Yan? His mind went blank as his gaze shifted to the melting ground, feeling as if he was going to lose his grasp on reality and fall into the sky at any moment.
"We don't serve anyone, Timewalker. Nor do we have any intent of doing so. Your puny efforts add up to nothing, 'o dame of old."
The deity's sharp gaze suddenly faltered. Their face twisted, making way for a… a confused smile?
"Dame of old?"
"Isn't that a moniker of yours? One of many, o' great-...?"
They let out a snort and reached behind their back, grasping a large shadow resting against their cloak. A bright, red shimmer lit up the entire clearing, causing a few trees to turn to mush and fall upwards, into the sky's gaping endlessness.
"Nuh-uh. You got it mixed up, pal."
Their voice turned teasing. With a swift move, they pulled their hand from behind their back, grasping an extravagantly massive blade, thick and long far beyond reason. With no unnecessary engravings, no fancy finishes or decorative pommels, except for a large, red, oval shaped jewel in the very middle of its crossguard. It lit up, a sort of iris shape inside forming instantly, running wildly along its restrain, scanning the entire area. For just a second, Andy locked gazes with the gem, feeling a strange sense of dread tugging at his heartstrings. Or maybe it was just the pierced lung.
With each little movement, the weapon kept emitting a low, crackling hum, a warped, sinister buzz, like a pierced amplifier connected to a dying star.
The figure stepped forward, grinning smugly and twirling the colossus of a weapon around their hand, absolutely effortlessly. It was as if the sword itself weighed not a kilogram more than a fallen twig to the wielder. As it spun, another distorted howl pierced the night.
"I, gents, am simply asking whether you're WITH or AGAINST Her Majesty, the one true ruler of Kazdel and all its… Blah, blah, you get the gist."
The fiends turned to themselves, whispers of weary escaping their minds, joined together in one, inaudible buzz. One daredevil spoke up, stepping forward, standing up to the feline.
"As big as that sword is, it's numbers that really count. You against us, a lone traveler against the indomitable force that is the Third Bounty Hunters' Regiment, brought upon by the Military C-..."
"I'm just asking a question! No need to get all pissy, I wanna hear a simple yes or no. You boys like our Tessie, or not?"
Andy got a better look at the sword wielding creature, noticing the messy stubble covering their chin, a sharp, yet gentle jawline, lean and fit body, devoid of any significant muscles… Just a guy. A guy with an incredibly long ponytail, swishing in the wind behind and unwittingly sweeping the ground, collecting leaves and spruce needles. The boy sat down on the soft forest litter, his head feeling a bit woozy from the drug ravaging his system. His hands were melting. How fun.
The devils once more exchanged a few looks amongst themselves.
"... No."
The swordsman's smile grew sinister, eyes narrowing in anticipation. A string of distorted nonsense spilled from his mouth, as he gripped the blade just an octave tighter.
"Exactly what I wanted to hear."
The devils' horns pierced their hats and leather hoods, shooting upward and tilting to the sides like a knot of venomous serpents, snakes eager to bite anything that comes within their slithery grasp. The crossbows rose, barely containing themselves from firing off a salvo of mind melting bolts, yearning for the moment when their deadly fruits finally pierce the cocky swordsman's heart, twisting his brain into a balloon dog and leaving him completely docile.
Yet the challenger remained unwavering, simply raising his other hand once more, and pointing to the firing squad. His grin turned silly, those soft, green eyes kept melting, spilling from his sockets and running down his face.
"Alright, Uri, I win. You start."
A gentle whisper of iron grinding against iron intruded the night's calm cycle, as the creature of darkness stepped from behind the melting human alloy, burying him underneath its mighty shadow. Grand, towering over everyone present, with a pair of deer-like horns atop its head, hanging just barely above its elongated face. Andy managed to focus his gaze on the giant for just a few moments, before his head filled with silly thoughts.
It was big. Too big to be human. Too big to be… Anything, really. He's never seen an animal like this. Then again, he's never really seen the ground melting and falling upwards into the sky, either. He giggled in a childish manner, finding the situation incredibly funny. There was a genuine wendigo standing right in front of him. What an original way to die!
The devils stood frozen in fear, with the ground slowly seeping and escaping from their feet. One poor guy lost his balance and got dragged off along with it, silently giving into the night sky's unending hunger. The three headed houndbeasts by their feet cowered in terror, too frightened to bark or howl at the apex predator in front. Not even the additional pair of teeth managed to soothe their nerves.
The king of fiends gave a weary shrug and flipped the swordsman off. It stretched its heavy, thick built limbs, producing an unpleasant creaking and grinding of metal with each move. Andy laid back on the soft, cushy ground, feeling his body melting into the mushy texture. He couldn't even feel his pierced lung at this point. He couldn't feel anything at all, but an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement.
With a little run-up, it sprung forward, like a fowl of prey diving to grasp its elusive target, the creature fell on all fours, thumping and clanking along, producing a ratchet so great that only its size could match the noise's might. With just a few swift moves it leaped over the boy and threw its heavy body into the formation, like a feral stagediver turned domestic terrorist. The devils scattered, unprepared for the unprompted rampage taking place, firing off bolts of mind dumbing concoction into the beast's hide. The houndbeasts ran off into the night, wailing in fear and desperately searching for safety, only to be consumed by the earthly sea's raging storm.
As it fell into the ocean that was the ground, the entire creature fell apart, squashing a few hunters beneath its weight. Waves of blood shot in each direction as the giant reassembled itself and tore its piercing claws into another hooded figure in front. One tried to get a decent shot at its head from behind, only to be immediately jabbed in the face, having his skull crushed instantly. The fiend threw the clawed victim to the side, turning to the rest and grasping a pair of crossbowmen by their scalps, holding them up in the air like a toddler playing with toys in a sand pit. Surrounded by little, green army men, jumping stiffly and shouting rough commands to their platoon members, the beast slammed its iron palms together, instantly crushing the heads of both hunters, sending a waterfall of blood cascading down its torso. Andy let out a childish squeal of excitement. How fun it was, watching this oversized hound tearing apart his would-be executors…
He wanted to clap in joy, but forgot that his hands had already melted like peach flavored ice cream in the hot Lateran sun.
"Aaaand, HOP UP!"
The joyous swordsman raised the mighty blade behind his head and rushed forward, delivering a woozy throw. The behemoth of iron twirled through the night air, its eye-like jewel shining brightly and creating a circular light show amidst the Great Dark high above. All the while spewing an electric cacophony of distorted gospels without a voice of its own, it tore the night sky open. In an uneven, curved trajectory it went, skipping along the trees, ripping through their mushy trunks and spilling the blood of the unmoving ancients all over everything it passed. A lone hunter, taking aim at the beast ravaging his comrades' insides, failed to notice the imminent threat, being deaf to its ear piercing scream. The blade bit into the ground beneath his feet, sending tides of liquid earth exploding high, far beyond the rubber tree tops. It rested calmly in the disfigured remnants of his liquified corpse, having split the flesh dealer completely in two, a perfectly horizontal cut.
As if someone took a paintbrush and gently wiped the swordsman's silhouette off the mortal plane with a few taps of water, he disappeared from his place, being carried along with the unnaturally warm breeze in the form of nothing but a bright smudge of paint. The invisible painter trailed his tool along the battlefield, only to lead the joyous feline back to his mighty weapon, realigning his melting physique with just a few strokes of the brush, painting him anew. With his hand gripping the blade's hilt tight, the two fused together, turning their touch into an unbreakable act of marriage between man and iron, a savage beast in the arms of a soul so bright. Melting, molding, creating an alloy both fierce and gentle, brutal and gleeful.
His overly long ponytail waved behind, tugged at by the wind's force. Andy kept his jaw hanging wide open at the show in front. He didn't even notice when the sky started cracking and falling down onto the ground.
"Ha!"
The swordsman exclaimed in joy, plunging the tip of his colossal pile of iron into another terrified hunter's empty face. It roared with excitement, letting a few distorted squeals of delight. Crimson blood shot upwards into the sky as he jerked the blade up, forcefully shattering the top of the bounty hunter's skull and setting the deadly mass free.
"Uri! Hand!"
The king of all beasts turned its wary head towards the man, feeling a puny mortal jabbing at its stomach with the tip of their knife. Grasping its own horns with both iron grasps, the monster tore its entire head off and jammed it straight into the weakling's skull, caving it deep into their shoulders. Having dispatched the laughable threat, the creature hastily readjusted its own head back onto its neck, stomping through a pile of bodies sinking into the earthly ocean below. Their hands met in a tight grasp, the swordsman's melty eyes locked on the fiends' empty sockets. His grin grew wider.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND, LAUNCH!"
With a spin, with a twirl, the beast turned the melting man to a projectile of the highest caliber, sending him flying through the air, accompanied by a cacophony of the heaviest, most unintelligible distorted buzz Andy's ever heard. Not even the black metal kings of Kazimierz could compare.
With a loud thud, the man flew into a group of escaping hunters, scoring a perfect strike, knocking each and every single one of them off their feet. He quickly got up and gathered himself, laughing maniacally and slashing all around, spinning like dreidel of death, each side a harbinger of the end's quick approach.
Amidst his laughter, amidst the blade's distorted squeals of joy, plumes of blood kept pouring out from each of the hunters' melting hides, tearing their leather prisons with ease and leaving them as nothing but fodder for the sky's insatiable hunger. Filling the thick, watery air with a gleam of green, his eyes kept pouring from their sockets, running along the entire forest like a pair of starving serpents, desperately searching for a victim to bite into. Laid out on the soft, endlessly twisting grass was a pile of meat wrapped neatly in a cocoon of leather, aimlessly twisting in protest trying to spin its fate around. Andy stuck his head out from beneath the murky ocean of earth, eager to witness this meek worm's demise at the hand of death itself.
The man called upon the beast of iron and hastily dragged his rubbery eyes back into their sockets, letting them light the way ahead with a soft, greenish glimmer. With each move, each wiggle, the worm kept trying to outrun the reaper, pitifully twisting further into the melting ground. An iron grasp locked around its neck, bringing it into the open, illuminated by the fallen sky's moon.
Amidst the soft trees, bending under their own weight and seeping tar from each little hole and scratch, the beast dragged the meat puppet into a corner and took a triumphant seat on the opposite side. An arena formed between the two, the sky lending its stars to be used as the ring's stuffy walls, locking the two within its containment. Andy gasped in excitement.
A loud buzz pierced the night, as the long haired swordsman produced an instrument from within the melty rags adorning his body. Long, as black as the night itself, with six strings ready to sound a farewell riff to the trembling meat bag. His fingers became one with the fretboard, creating sounds and noises that Andy has never even dreamt of hearing before. They filled his little head, bringing an overwhelming sense of violent exhilaration.
"Y-Yeah!"
He yelled, pumping his handless arms up into the air, spilling his skin all over the place. His lungs felt his excitement and reciprocating by forcing a shower of blood to pour from his mouth and into the endless ocean that was Terra.
The noisy showman finished off his performance with a loud shriek of skull melting notes, sending them scattering away into the night. The moon's glow illuminated the arena, as even Mother Nature herself decided to grace the showdown with her presence and witness the unspeakable.
He grasped an invisible microphone and spoke, his voice amplified tenfold.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the sporting event of the year? Introducing to you: In one corner, Weighing in at ten thousand tons of pure iron, He is currently undefeated in his campaign, With three-point-five million wins, and all of those coming in by way of violently massacring the opposition, Hailing from the very land that was once his boundless kingdom, Nowadays known as Kazdel, The hardest working living weapon on Terra, The reigning, the defending and the undefeated and the undisputed super-colossal-weight champion of the world…"
He took a small breath and pointed towards the monster, ready to scream his lungs out.
"KING OF ALL TEEKAZ, RULER OF ALL DEVILS, THE LORD OF IRON, URI'ZEN!"
A song of death and destruction arose from the instrument as the fiend simply raised his massive arm in acknowledgement. Andy couldn't help but wail, lost in a feverish feeling of enthusiasm and excitement.
"Aaaand in the other corner, Wiggling in pain, writhing in fear and terror, a son of the Military Commission of Kazdel, Loyal to the false idol of a future long lost, The cowardly, the spineless, the slithering pile of maggots…"
His melting finger pointed accusingly towards the lively pile of meat.
"NAMELESS, SHAMELESS, DISREGARDED IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, A DEAD MAN WALKING!"
The boy booed, spitting blood towards the spiritless ham. It let out a soft yelp, quickly drowned out by the guitar's mighty roar.
"BEGIN!"
The monumental mass of iron stood from its corner, shaking off heaps of blood as it walked towards the worm. With just a few thunderous steps, it broke into a violent rush, darting far into the air, touching the moon's beaming surface and leaving a massive dent in its surface. It plummeted down upon Terra with the force of a dying sun, preparing its elbow to deliver a killing blow. The worm stopped moving entirely, seemingly accepting its fate.
"AAAND, TOUCHDOWN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
It fell onto the weakling, morphing into one. Twisting into a mass of veins, meat and muscle freely on display, liberated from its fleshy prison. A river of blood erupted from within the leather tomb, gushing out in waves of sticky, crimson tides, joining the endless ocean below their feet.
Yet, the worm still managed to wriggle and yelp in pain.
The champion of iron stood up, bathed in the blood of his foe, eager to rip into the soft, mushy head of a fiend that simply refused to die. However, the referee stepped in, both hands on the guitar's fretboard.
"Sloppy aim on that elbow drop, Uri. Lemme help!"
With a wide grin stretching far beyond the contours of his melting face, the man grasped his instrument tight and approached.
Step after step, his hands melted into one with the guitar's neck, producing a constant, low buzzing.
"Hmmm… Am I evil?"
The wendigo shrugged.
"Oh, yes, I am!"
With a grand swing, he slammed his axe-shaped noisemaker into the worm's hooded face, drawing blood instantly. It embedded itself deeply within the coward's skull, turning his melting brain to mush. Grand fountains of crimson shot from the unmoving hunter's facade with each repeated swing.
"AM I EVIL?!"
Splat.
"YES, I AM!"
Splurt.
"OH, AM I EVIL?!"
Squish.
"YES, I AM…! No? Not in the mood for singing? You're such a killjoy, Uri."
He threw the guitar to the side and the ocean of earth immediately swallowed it whole. His monstrous friend shook his horned head.
"Y-Yes, I am! Ahaha…!"
Andy exclaimed weakly, drawing the attention of the two. He was overjoyed with the entire spectacle, sent to the very verge of his metaphorical seat, as blood kept pouring from his mouth. He sank deeper and deeper into the vast sea, feeling the ground becoming less mushy with each second, turning more and more liquidy every time he took a labored breath.
Soon, he saw nothing but the fallen sky's graceful glimmer, with the stars chasing one another across the great, dark plains. He wished he could join them, as he reached his handless arm out towards the sight, being swallowed whole by the earth. Everything dimmed, each sound muffled and eventually turned to pure, unbreakable silence. He gazed upwards upon the surface, upon the bright stars teasingly pointing him out to their brethren and poking fun at his fate. Drowned in the vast depths of Terra itself, what a way to go…
"Uuuup you go, bud!"
A great force grasped his wrist, pulling him from beneath the surface, back into the world of melting trees and bright glimmers. He was laying down on the ground, holding onto W's unconscious self, like a castaway clutching to a buoy, afraid to let go in fear of the ocean enveloping him in its dark embrace once more. His head was aflame, steam shooting from his eyes and ears, tickling his halo as it dissipated into the night.
He gazed upon his saviors. Upon the feline's bright smile, surrounded by that same greenish hue from before, and the towering mass of iron standing by his side. Dead, yet alive.
It was no wendigo, but an ancient set of armor fit for one. With no eyes behind the helmet's slits, no heart beyond the grand aegis, yet soaked with an endless, animating force.
Both the feline and the fiend crouched down to take a better look at the boy's face, still adorned with a silly grin.
"And who might you be, buddy? We're pretty far from Laterano, you know?"
His voice was young and full of vigor, lightly teasing, yet warm. Andy's smile simply stretched even further, as he tried to poke the man's cheek, only to remember that his hands had melted off.
"I'm… Who am I?"
A small, childish giggle left his lips. His mind was still soaring high among the stars, skipping over a jump rope with the clouds by its sides.
"I'm not sure…"
"Aha? Nice to meet ya, "Not sure."
He let out an amused snort at his own, terrible joke, which Andy quickly picked up, causing even more childish giggling.
His mind was a mess, ravaged by a burning fever, yet he couldn't help but shift his thoughts towards a place of endless, inquisitive wonder.
"... And you? Who are you, green man?"
The feline man smiled even further, rows of teeth spilling from his mouth.
"Me? Well, I've got a few names, but as of now…
He pointed to an ID card swinging from his neck. The fallen moon shone brightly behind his back, soaking him through in its grand embrace.
… I'm fine with "Newmaker." As for what I do..."
He grasped the card and squinted, reciting the miniscule text within.
"... Loyally sworn to serve and protect, to stand in unison against the approaching darkness and to be a beacon of Her Majesty's light, gathered as one under one flag and one name: …"
His eyes squeezed even further as the foreign sounding word left his mouth. Andy saw the warmth seeping out from his own head.
"... Babel."
And at that moment, he knew everything would be alright.