Hayato had slept for an hour, lost in his dreamscape. It was once again the same house he never knew. Still, he felt his body roll on the ground every second. His world within shook like an earthquake far away. Sweating bullets, he ducked under a table.

He opened his eyes and saw the man he would become, Ted. All he had was a smirk, beckoning him while seated. “Closer, child,” he patted the floor. “I’ve no means of harming you even if I wished.”

Hayato smiled, but it was outside his control. He shook his head, yet he was already different. The red walls gave him butterflies in his stomach, grinning. He slowly walked toward the man in sweat. As promised, no harm whatsoever.

Ted held his shoulder before him. “Listen. I don’t know what’s happening out there. But based on experience, it’s your parents fighting.” He held his other shoulder and returned the smile. “You see, child? The world doesn’t want you alive. They want your head.”

He sweated more and backed away. Not because of the most evil monster, but himself. Now feeling sick, the uncontrollable lust returned. Red was his favorite, after all. “Stop!” he threw a punch that flung him to a wall. “I’m not you. I’ll never be you! I’m. I’m….” His memory failed to jog.

Ted got up and chuckled, sitting back. “You don’t know, child? I didn’t groom you to be me. You always were.” He mocked the name his clone had forgotten. Cackles echoed through the dream’s roof. “So tell me. Can you really blame us?”

He denied louder yet failed to say his name the next second. Tears with no end, his grin returned to the red walls. The new memories began overwriting his last. He shouted again, forgetting the smile of his younger sister. Then, the sounds of crawling.

Annoyed beyond belief, he turned a few cockroaches into compact pins. Such emotion only meant one thing. He bawled in a fetal position. Ted surprisingly went for his comfort. “It’s not so bad, child,” he rubbed his back. “We’re not alone!” He smiled from afar.

Hayato slowly opened his eyes, then fast. Confusion overcame him upon another man. Perhaps anything was possible, but not this way. The latter looked like any average joe: blue jeans and a white shirt. Even with his new memories, he never saw him.

Ted stood and shook his hand. “Everything went as you planned, Mr. Gankyū! Imagine. My revival and your ingenuity. The world’s so small until then!”

The man’s eyes failed to express disgust, unmoved. He could not even frown. “Your tie’s loose,” he said in a monotone, pointing below.

On the other hand, he expressed great shock. “Oh! Excuse me,” he fixed it in under five seconds. “Anyway, we together can—” He had more shock: a shooting pain in the gut.

Hayato gasped loudly upon a massive vine spike. Before long, more had restrained his true self in midair. Ted struggled to no end but to no avail. Neither their psychic powers worked. The man before them could not even show joy, laughing.

“I’m happy,” said Gankyū softly. “To think I’d have more… interesting experiences with your power.” The plants beneath formed a table, strapping his next victim.

Ted, the most evil monster, struggled and yelled more. But for the first time, beads of sweat on his face. The man’s pressure made him quiver, yet Hayato felt nothing. Still, the two remained terrified and shaky.

Gankyū sighed with no change. “You know, Ted? I don’t know pleasure, unlike you. And I don’t know how to like it.” He pulled out a khyber knife the size of a broadsword. Dried trunks served as the sharpener. “Either way, your Core makes me interested. I haven’t done this in a long time.”

Hayato wanted to look away throughout that time. But the screams of the most evil monster were like a weaned pig. Curiosity took over his heart every minute. Then, the endless vomit commenced. Now he realized what could top monsters: a thing with human skin.

Another hour passed. Gankyū had minced halfway through Ted’s shaking body. “Almost there,” he had trouble with the torso, striking thrice. “The shock will end soon.” It went slower than he expected. He forgot the hardness of a skull. Ten minutes of hacking later, he returned to the chest cavity. The round prize glowed bright yellow.

Hayato shielded his eyes as it dazzled to its limit. Seconds in, he gasped at said limbs. His hands cracked, then crumbled with the wind. “W-W-What’s happening?” he failed to stand up, falling on his back. No pain, yet the bolstered confusion made him pant.

The man’s palm absorbed the Core for good. He failed to express pity or regret. If anything, he questioned himself if he ever had such things. Still, he kneeled. “He was wrong, kid. Hell isn’t for you at all.” He wondered what angels sounded like. Their wings intrigued his imagination.

Confusion had reached its peak. Even if it was true, Hayato shouted no over and over. His old memories stayed in the living realm. However, six faces appeared before him. Perhaps a smile had never hurt. A quarter of his head joined the wind, yet he continued in tears.

Mom, Dad, Uncle, Big Sis. Everyone, thank you.

The central park had scorched beyond repair. Its other half was a frozen wasteland. The angry mob who sought the little boy would not dare move. Nevertheless, many stayed as spectators. “Woooh! Go get him, Hagel!” one shouted, hands cupped. But they all backed away once more.

He glared, his skin veins now four times larger. One could mistake it as a parasite strangling him. It did not help with his seventeen-year-old build. “Away with you lot!” he raised a hand, eyes stern. “None should ever disturb a hero’s battle.”

Haruto came out of the twenty-meter deep grave. Even blistering white ice melted with his canines. Now on the surface, he lunged for another chomp. His new arms returned within milliseconds, clad in blue fire. He clawed the foe’s back half deep.

The mob heard Hagel’s pain even at eighty yards. His shoulder crunched to jelly with such bite force. Worse yet, it was like molten metal he could not remove. He screamed again as Haruto shattered three spinal columns. “Damn you!” he returned the favor in his icy armor.

He flung the demonic mage onto another acre. His right arm had no feeling; casting runes, he pulled out his third syringe. Work, Icarus, work! The sensation returned. The mob found out that the epidemic did wonders for the strong. Their hero’s limbs reverted faster than their blinks.

Haruto’s flames flickered by the second, coughing smoke. He could already feel the other side’s path. With his broadsword, he made the final gambit. Everyone ran from the intense blaze, dwarfing the foe’s ice spires. He held his weapon high brighter than the sun. “Die, you motherfucker!”

Hagel grunted, annoyed at its peak. A mere hand raise gave him an equal attack. Many ears had bled, and the clash rippled bedrock like water. High above the world-ending battle, the fire cage protected a family.

The husband/father yelled when icicles flew above as an aftereffect. He wasted no time to flash-step, pinning the foe. The latter’s face felt a million bludgeons. He even severed the arms and pounded the chest to dust. Hagel somehow recalled videos of raging chimps—perhaps his roars. But he vomited red before any counter.

Haruto’s infernal revenge lasted another five minutes. Then, it was lights out, now harder to breathe. He never thought oxygen would not reach his lungs next. He plopped down, and the foe grunted his way out. He still tried forming a few flames, hands shaking.

Damn it! I guess it’s my turn.

Hagel panted and checked the archmage’s chest. Hearing no pace, he chuckled once more. “A hero prevailed!” his arms raised in a V, scaring grebes of the same crest shape. But unlike them, he did not feel free. A sharp, stabbing feel haunted his limbs. He had indeed ‘healed’ yet skin blued, falling in a rot.

Outside the chaos, the king’s home broke its prison. Feuer slowly heated the frostbite off his Novus comrades. After everyone else, Harald issued a heretical mission. The former questioned at the top of his lungs. The latter shook his head. “Your brother is the world to you, yes. But is he still now? I’m not forcing you a choice, old friend.”

He would never deny such regal eyes, kneeling. Still, he asked his comrades to stay. Aria instantly declared him trash should he fail. A vein popped within her childhood friend. “Show some respect for once, you freak!” She swore loudly outside, hoping for alcohol poisoning. At least her karaoke bar had unlimited gin.

Alongside brigade mages, he stumbled upon a Coelestian comrade. None could do anything, yet they wanted to. “Stay back, dipshits!” shouted Kenkō, healing her little sister in the park. “Go do your sick mission. But don’t you dare stop me!”

Feuer sighed, finding no words of comfort. He understood either way. Humanity: saved yet with a cost too heartbreaking. “We shan’t even forgive ourselves, little one,” he kneeled, hand warm. “But any help now is still enough.”

Yukino’s body had looked brand new except for blue, cracking skin. As it became lively, she rubbed her eyes. Her sister hugged as if the world depended on it. So she returned the tearful joy tenfold. “I love you, Big Sis! I love you! I love you!” Such few words had the brigade mages look away.

He cracked a smile, seeing siblinghood he long forgot. A pair of yellow gloves fell on his hands. Bolts had sparked upon caressing them. Maybe now, he could recall. Let’s fight together, brother.

Far, far away, the sun shone brightly. High noon had peddlers run their carriages faster. Police whistled, swinging their jitte at several conmen. No one deserved such cheap katanas, declared a passing ronin. Sadly, the ground thundered as the conversation went casual.

Hokori crawled out of the crater thirty feet across. Citizens gasped, and some even more upon his face. Most stood in sweat when he regrew an arm and a leg. He laid his hand over the forehead and squinted. Mikazukihantō. He eyed its capital far away. Wonder if that old fart’s still alive. But I ain’t got time.

They screamed and shielded their eyes. Only the nation’s peerless samurai had seen his leap. Even then, it was like the stop motion trending in their home. Many clouds left a round impression above. They sweated more.

In Coelestis’ park, Kenkō restrained her crying sister. Not even Feuer and his men would step forward. Their majesty was right all along. The truth had shown them a low smirk. However, Hagel showed disappointment in the two siblings. “I know you want them back,” he pointed above behind him. “But alas, they cannot. Ever.”

Yukino had more tears, looking up. Her parents became a bloody, frozen ornament. The crucifixion of the two ‘heretics,’ as declared. Not a light had shone from their eyes. A red waterfall had slowly dripped, thorns adorned. Once again, there was no light. “Liar!” she still shouted. “They’d never die to you. Give them back!”

He glared and raised a hand. “As you wish.”

No warning could stop her rage. Kenkō cried in tears, seeing the ice spike grow sharp like a vine. Her sister finally stopped, yet it was an inch away from her eye. Luck was not quick to save herself. The attack merely moved toward her other organ.

The air got sliced every millisecond. Yukino blinked in reflex, no time to recall faces. A damning way to go, she thought. However, more days awaited her. The air moved to the right in a gust. Hearing shattered ice, she slowly opened her eyes and gasped. She recalled the fateful bar that brewed their family ties.

Hokori’s hand swipe had broken the winter “wonderland” a kilometer across. Hagel never imagined a shockwave would fling him. Impossible. 3,000 miles back here!? He pushed uprooted trees out of the way, glaring more. But the smirk returned. “Fantastic. A villain cometh.” He believed a frozen army of spears was a fitting end.

The archmage pulled out his earpods. “Ya joinin’, pretty boy?” he turned to his brother.

Feuer wore his gloves. The yellow lightning never lost power, trees burning to ash. “Of course. The eldest must always be responsible.” Despite the resolve, a hand blocked him.

“Sorry, bruh. Wait for three minutes.” He did not think to find his element now. Either way, the slow intro of Frank Ocean’s ‘Chanel’ had him crack the joints. He flash-stepped and moved a spear to the left, busting the head. More of the army decided on a dogpile—only to shatter toward the other side. Or so he thought about the nonliving.

Whatever his random thoughts, three hooks and a roundhouse kick—beat by beat. Then, a straight punch had removed foes in a long row. Another fist went downward and rippled the bedrock to dust. His comrades stepped into portals away. Still, he smiled upon his niece’s good luck cry. Now he played soccer with heads, still on the beat.

Hagel backed away, grunting with clenched teeth. “Enough!” Sadly, he thought freezing his head would work. His eyes widened; a right hook greeted his face. Teeth flew, and he screamed toward five boulders right through. The dust settled with the culprit returning his glare tenfold.

Still, he chuckled and got up. “No, no, no… Villains shouldn’t be so fair. Of what of your cheap shots long ago, ‘brother’?”

Hokori walked closer, eyes now stern. “Ya think I’d need that, you little shit? Look at yourself.” None expected him to know every symptom of the Icarus Folly. The strong would gain unmatched power. But only to look like rotten fruit.

He chuckled again, caring less. “I’d show that a billion if I must. After all, have you any reason not to have me ‘monologue’?” He went so far as to pin the blame on him. Every recent event went back to his nephew’s rescue.

“Go on, then,” his glare returned with crossed arms. “Try to ‘hurt me’ like ya always did. I will hold my breath.”

He peeled the skin off his whole left arm. With the itch gone, he breathed deeply for the speech. “I am a hero now, first and foremost. And even ‘forever till the end,’ as your ilks say. After my deathbed, I shall hear the praise above. Flowers and vigils: adorning my golden effigy.

“It is the most natural. Many already yelled for my victory before. Yet I still must perish. A hero’s only worth remembering with the justice they had brought. I showed many in spades, but I can never stand the wails. The tantrums of those out of line! Villains, they are. Villains!

“I am a footsoldier of the Gods and their rule. Everso divine, they mended my heart in your absence. Your fault, ‘brother.’ I shan’t even need to lay a finger on you or your family. Why?

“I am your pain.”

Hokori’s soul could now engulf the otherworld. Even his former home would feel the aftershock. However, his pressure had not even lowered the foe to his knees. A savage commoner and a madman: a long-dead brotherhood. He showed that with a finger flick. But Feuer only saw a gaping trench. Eyes frowning, the teamwork never occurred.

He cared not about using far more power than usual. He wished he had his Kili calculator for the measure. Now, he only wanted to share the pain with another flick. Hagel had no limbs to counter nor eyes to see. Pools of red dripped from the rocks. The outside veins pulsated less, then stopped.

He walked up the chasm, hearing stones from above and rushing water. What made him stop in his tracks was a fainter tune. He recalled his pride and joy and the laughter.

Hagel coughed after his whistle. “I’ve not sung it for you. Leave me in peace, never to turn back.”

His eyes were still unmoved. But at that point, a parting was possible. “I didn’t kill ya for hurtin’ me. Ya always pissed me off since that day.” He continued walking.

“I rode with my pain even before I came here. It won’t go ‘til I’m six feet under.”

Even with all that, his foe’s grave left a scar. The dripping stalactites faded, exiting above. No light had ever reached the bottom.

His face still had the unfazed mouth. On the surface, Yukino bawled over her parents. Her brother lived, but the cost affected even the oldest veterans. Luckily, he had no time for drama. Blood vessels covered the two, and a loud gasp. The happiest daughter alive came to be that day.

He smiled, looking down. “Geez, boy. Haven’t seen ya cry that much.”

Haruto stood alongside his wife. “Of course…” he dried his eyes. “You’re all I have.” Tokino wasted no time saying the same. Her hug for both lasted for a minute, and the crowd cheered. Even Feuer put his grief on hold, acknowledging the reason.

Kakunō finished rubbing Kenkō’s back and turned to the rest. “So, looks like we got cleaning to d—”

Everyone felt like a bullet train had crashed into them. An invisible psychic dome surrounded Hayato. The king dispatched the lower ranks for injured citizens. Hokori stood first, then his family. He sweated bullets upon memories—a shield he could never break without fetal risk.

“No… No!” He threw a flurry, shockwaves warping the ground beneath. “Nooooo!”

Tokino fell on her knees, saying the same but softly. Her family backed away, feeling an immense failure. Not a silver lining came with their sacrifice—all for nothing. But none expected their last moment with the once saint mage.

Hayato now had a voice fit for a salaryman, humming Auld Lang Syne. With such an uncanny valley, he split a literal one. “I hope you ‘like this,’ as they say,” he looked at the two hills between the park. “It’s been so long doing a ‘nice thing.’”

Haruto never gave up and drew his sword. The psychic shield had a small crack, but he grunted. With too much magic used, he merely sat and looked. “Who are you!?” his eyes narrowed, seeing the blank flag on the nape.

His once son turned and failed to show smugness. “Gankyū. All you should know is that the world will change. And I’m ‘happy,’ as they say. More interesting things to come.” A door materialized: Drury Lane, it said on the plaque.

The shield vanished. Tokino cried out his name with her daughter and siblings. Haruto only had eyes lit up, chuckling in sweat. “All for nothing,” he muttered with a shaky grin. “It was all for nothing!” Down on the ground, he recalled the scent of his once little boy. “Hahahahahahahahahaha! Haha—”

Hokori rammed his face two-thirds deep. He never wanted to hear such despair ever again. Yet he had one more thing to solidify. “Go…” he pointed at the distance. “Save him another fucking time. Search the world’s edge and give me a call!”

His niece bawled once more; the family had slow sorrow. However, he walked past everyone. He turned one last time, holding his chest. “Go ahead. Do what you must. But I alone won’t save anyone again.”

All had wished the day was never so bright. Gloom over their heads, they prayed for rain. All he felt were scorching rays, wiping his forehead.

“‘Forever till the end,’ my ass.”