#101

You, Jacob, Mina, and Susie stand up; as do the two Ultramarine Guards. The latter look down at Mark, who is thankfully face-down. “I'm...sorry about your friend,” one of them says.

No one says a word. Susie shakily walks off by herself, and You instantly pursues her.

“Susie.”

“Don't.”

“You don't even know what I was going to say.”

“I don't care. I need a minute.”

“Susie, we all hardly know each other...”

“I hardly know You anymore, You. You's barely reacting to this at all. I know I barely knew Mark, but he had become my friend. He and I...aboard The House, we made plans. I-I can't explain it, but...I just don't understand how You became so cold.”

“How I became so cold? Maybe it was the torture! Maybe it was the fact that I've been wandering for miles and miles, without any sleep, with barely any reprieves at all...”

“You forgets that I did that too, You. You's not just the main character in a story. Even if it does always come back to centering around You.”

You is saddened by this, because it all clicks in Your head. That's what it all is. That's why the pronoun stuff is so weird about the group; why the group always seems to center around You. It's the APPLE. It's making You always the center of attention; the main character.

Maybe now You understands why people hate people who have Your mutation. Because somehow, it is always about them.

In the days before the Empire, did apples go on long adventures that proved them to be heroes? Did they always do it right, because they curve the tense of the universe around them to make themselves so important? You feels some sort of deep-down confirmation of this; as if You's communicating with the apples of the past, from the era before they became hated.

Or maybe this is all wrong. It's all wrong, and You's just a narcissist in disguise. Or maybe You's just scared of hurting Susie.

Then You acknowledges the depths of Your fears of losing Susie. Because she's been Your only friend, for such a long time. But unlike her, You sealed Yourself off from making new friends. You hated Mark just because You was tired, and Your exhaustion made You hateful, and You didn't even consider understanding another person. You's ignored Jacob and Mina, and Doctor Kai, and You's always viewed Klaus as a tool, an instrument, to getting to Susie. You wasn't worried about her when she was happy with Mark because You, y'know, liked her or something—because know You remembers the Die, which says she may well be Your sister, or at least considered as such by both of you. You was worried she was going to think Mark was a better friend for her than You. And now, in his death, he is.

Because You did this all because You was selfish. Because You didn't want to be alone.

You looks back at Mina and Jacob. You doesn't feel like You can be friends with them, now. Perhaps You's destiny is to be alone.

But for now, there can be none of that. You can't just leave now. Your group—the group—has to stop the Emperor.

The group begins walking down the hallway, towards their fate.

As they walk, the Ultramarines of course walk with them. Without them, they all know that they would have surely died. They want to talk to them, but they can't conjure up words now.

Eventually, and inevitably, the hall ends. The silence continues even as they stand before the Emperor.

Inspector Fox is at his side, and Jacob suddenly flashes back to the “virus” he got from the Skype session. He's suddenly slightly afraid of the three-headed creature, but he chokes down his fear, justifying it by saying that being scared isn't cool—but he knows he's partially lying to himself in that respect.

For awhile, as it was before, the only sound is the grunts of pain from Lefty Sinister, which the kids try to ignore, because it's incredibly weird to them. They want to question Inspector Fox, but don't for now. Because for now, the Emperor is speaking. And applauding.

“Excellent work, my son!”

You regards him as coldly as You can. “Dad.”

“Getting past the three stages I set for You and Your friends was no easy task. However, I am disappointed that You had to resort to cheating on all but the first. So, really, You did no hard work at all, which in Your future services to me will be noted.”

“Dad, I'm not going to serve the Empire. I—we have come to stop you. We'll kill you, if we have to.”

“Oh, yes, killing. There will be much killing today. I was about to get to that; but I want to only to punish the elements which helped You cheat.”

He presses a button on his seat, and suddenly, faster than the eye can catch, a pair of massive spears fire from the wall, directly into the two Ultramarines. They're impaled straight through the heart and have no chance. Blood is everywhere as they fall heavily to the ground.

You looks up at him with rage in Your eyes. “You didn't have to do that! You didn't have to!!”

“I'm petty, son. I will admit that. But unlike some, I have my mind focused on larger goals as well...” His face doesn't change at all. “I will still let the four of you surrender. If you do not, I will not spare you. And those are the facts.”

“You and Susie have told us about you,” Jacob says then. “I don't take too kindly to dictators. And also...who is that behind you?”

The Emperor gestures as if the Inspector doesn't matter. “Who, this?” He privately sweats at such confidence. “This is Inspector Fox, a very good friend of mine. Unless you mean the person in his mouth. That's nobody.”

“You. I don't think Your dad is the problem here. I know that other guy, the Fox guy. He...did something on my Earth.”

“Oh!” the Emperor interrupts. “You're from Earth-Beta-2! I suppose that's quite interesting. And the girl and you, she looks related to you. Sister, perhaps? Fascinating. Well, I'm not biased in this situation—if you two want to join me, you can feel free.”

“You killed my cousin,” Mina interjects. “And his brother. He was our friend.”

“I haven't personally killed anyone in awhile,” the Emperor says. “In fact, I want to keep things that way.”

“How about this, Kai?” Susie replies. “We'll fight you, and if we defeat you in personal combat, we'll let you live. But you will have to unconditionally surrender.”

The Emperor suddenly seems amused. “Susie, I've always been impressed with you...”

“I think we both know that's bullshit by this point.”

“...and I'm still impressed with you. Tell you what. I will challenge You to unarmed combat...and you three can take on Inspector Fox. He does have three heads, in case you haven't noticed. It'd be three against three, in all honesty. How does that sound?”

You doesn't even look back to see the expressions of the others before he speaks. “I will fight you, Dad.”

You continues to avoid looking back. You can't let Yourself be swayed. This is what You must do. You isn't going to hide behind Your friends, because You realizes now that they are, or could be, Your friends.

“Is You sure?” he says. “If I defeat You, I will kill You, and I will take the Item from Your body. You knows this, right?”

“I do.”

The Emperor blinks then, but the emotion that blink conveys surprisingly isn't fake. “Son, I...” But then he blinks again, and that feeling is gone. “Step forward. The Inspector will fight Your friends first.”

You does step forward, standing near the throne. The others don't move, and Fox moves towards them, silently. You watches them, privately shaking, while making sure Your back isn't exposed to Your dad.

Jacob takes off his gloves, and Susie throws her Tommy gun aside; they grab the rifles from the dead Ultramarines, while Mina hangs onto her apparently actually magic guns. Fox stands before them, and they aim their weapons and him.

Without moving Fox fires an enormous beam of energy that instantly burns them to broken skeletons.

“No!!!”

They didn't even have time to scream.

“NO!!! No, no, no, no, NO!!!”

Unmoving, You instantly begs whatever God You may believe in for it to just be a hallucination; or for You to just wake up in Your bed, with no memory of this nightmare. But You realizes that it's not a dream in a manner just as swift as the actual killings that just took place.

The Emperor still stands behind You. “Too bad,” he says quietly.

You turns and looks at him, tears streaming down Your eyes. You sobs heavily, hyperventilating. Nothing could have prepared You for this. Nothing. You looks at the man who looks so much like You, but older, and wonder how this man—this monster—could have ever sired You. And You stands up is about to run towards him, to strangle him in his bare hands, to crush his throat, but as You does so Inspector Fox raises a glowing hand towards You.

“We must fight as agreed, You,” the Emperor says. “I'm sorry, son.”

“Sorry?” You harshly takes a breath. “You're not sorry. You don't know what sorry is. You're insane, you're a torturer, and you're a murderer. We'll fight, yes, but I will beat you. And I'm changing my terms. I will not let you live; I'm going to kill you. And then I'm going to kill your triple-headed mutant, or die in the attempt.”

“You speaks frankly, and to the point. A noble attribute, which I never noticed in You before now.”

“Just be quiet and fight me.”

To this he nods, and Inspector Fox leaves the room. He then walks back to his throne, and pulls out two swords.

“These are elegant blades, You. I know You hasn't fought with one before, but to be honest, neither have I. So this battle might even be a little funny, because we'll be pretty awkward.” There's a small chuckle. “Isn't it funny? Awkward together. Together.”

You says nothing as he hands You the sword. It's light, which You recognizes is an incredibly good thing for a neophyte like Yourself. The two blades are simple, though nice-looking, and identical.

As soon as the sword's in Your hand You aims for his heart.

But he parries, and You immediately swings again. This he also blocks but You drives him backwards a bit. This won't take long, You figures. Just bash through his defenses and chop his head off. Then figure out what to do from there.

You can't restrain a bestial cry as You lunges for him, which surprises him; drives him back further. As he blocks horizontally, as You wished, You swings down as he swings up. But You instantly twirls it around and comes down again; and then again, and again. You loses track instantly of all the strikes You makes, but he's good; he's fighting them, though You keeps driving him back. Though is that what he wants...?

Suddenly his leg comes up and clumsily knocks Your arm to the side. He's wearing steel-toed boots, which makes the kick hurt hard, but You quickly recovers, knocking aside a fatal stab. He swings the blade around like a clock-hand and makes an overhead strike; likely the first part of taking an offensive. You blocks and manages to turn Your block into yet another downward strike; then You spins, which leaves You open, but the subsequent swing upward, to knock the blade from his hand, avenges any chance he might have had on You.

Then You takes a leaf from his book, and kicks upward, this time flatly into his stomach. He gasps and actually sort of gurgles, but refrains from vomiting; still, that gurgle shows You hit him hard, even with Your simple shoes. This is Your chance—You moves in to impale him, but he stumbles, and this stumble saves his life; it barely parries Your strike. His face is red hot now, with either exhaustion or anger; likely the latter, given the briefness of the duel. For indeed, You senses suddenly that this battle isn't going to last long.

You takes another opportunity from his fumble to knock him forward by striking his back, sending him rolling and causing him to lie prone. With a cry of many things, You pounces to try to stab him, but he somehow tumbles away. As he rises he imitates Your spin, which actually knocks You off-guard and sending You back against the throne. You both flick Your swords out at once and sort of tango around each other, until he stands before the throne, as Your back faces the entrance. Your swords are crossed, and you both give each other pause.

“None of this is necessary!” he says then. You can tell he's not up for this, not for much longer; despite only being middle-aged he's out of breath, and now the redness in his face is tinged with sweat. “You doesn't have to do this. Don't end up like Your friends, You!”

“Well, to pop the cliché, I'd rather die than work for you.” Your heart is accelerating. Something is coming up, but...what is it?

“I need You!” he exclaims. His face actually softens, becoming that which You remembers from when he was raising You; from when things were good. But then, things were never good, were they? He was always the Emperor. And it would always come to this. “I need You, son.”

You doesn't even think before You speaks. “I'm not your son.”

There's a curious moment where a shadow pauses across his face; and it seems to be the shadow of sadness. But then, suddenly, it's gone, and all the softness in that face is gone. It's replaced with violet-hot rage. His features crinkle as he gives a bestial scream. Then, before You can flinch, he rams the sword through Your chest. The blade emerges from Your back.

You gives a little hiccup as this happens. But You doesn't feel any pain. Just coldness.

There's a hiss as the sword is pulled from You's body, and then it slices cleanly through the air, slashing You's throat. A steel plate then kicks upward, snapping the boy's head back, breaking Y̶o̶u̶'̶s̶ his neck, and driving his sinuses back into his brain. By that point, he's already gone. His body falls back, and there's an agonizingly loud thud as it hits the ground.

Blood swiftly pools and wets the bones of his also-lost compatriots. The Emperor sighs as he looks down at what he's just done. His breath only quavers a little.

Inspector Fox returns, having only stood on the elevator platform, watching from the shadows. The Emperor startles a bit as he enters, as if he had forgotten the Inspector existed.

Neither of them say anything as they look at the bodies. Instead, after a short pause, they walk to the platform, and descend to the bottom of the Red Tower. It's time to go.