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Doctor4t calmly stepped on a stone bridge, ClownPierce by his side and two other people — SmallEnderman and Talon — trailing behind him. Netherite clinked as he went on forward, stopping only few metres before the Mason, otherwise known as Arathain, and his pawns, Luxintrus and Diansu. With a glance to the bridge's sides, where two Soul Moulds imposingly stood, taunting, he smiled, feeling the presence of others behind him like never before. "Those are some nice statues you have, Arathain... But uh, we came here to discuss, uh—" he looked at the skies, pretending to ponder very deeply, "—how about you surrender and maybe I won't absolutely obliterate your shithole of a town?"
"Rat, surrender?" The Mason scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. His voice, though, dropped immediately down to ice, face straight. "What would the terms be? You would want to kill me, wouldn't you."
"Well, I mean... yeah." It was true, Rat would kill him immediately as soon as he would've gotten the chance. Seemed like the Mason wouldn't be surrendering any time soon, then. At least no surrender meant more fun for them all. "So, yeah, I'm guessing— I'm guessing no peace treaty, I'm guessing no peace treaty?"
The Mason threw him a puzzled look from beneath his netherite helmet. "Rat, what would... the peace treaty even..."
"...be about?" Lux pitched in, stepping forward. Why did everyone need to make it ten times harder with their own opinions? This was between him and the Mason. Always had been. The end.
Rat waved a hand, grumbling at the sudden bother. "Lemme— hold on, lemme get closer, lemme get closer..." He ignored Lux's complaints and came closer. Carefully, his gaze ran up and down the Soul moulds, but after they stood, still as they were, Rat peered back at the other with confidence. "I'm listening to you, Arathain."
Someone behind Mason’s back grumbled, "are we gonna blow up now?"
Rat only laughed at it, flashes of red buttons and remote detonators sparking before his eyes. "No, nothing's gonna blow up. Give it a minute, alright."
The Mason loudly cleared his throat, sighing, "Rat, I... I have a single question to you... What— did I do wrong?" I sounded so genuine, like he didn't actually know. Such bullshit. "Tell me."
"Well, I mean," Rat put on a 'you got to be kidding' face, playing along, "you kind of changed netherite spawn rates... behind my back. You kind of— hid that with other players, just to make your—" he wildly gestures to the Soul moulds, "—little robots a little less cheaper to craft, instead of just... changing the recipe. You hid that behind me, and I know— that's not very nice. Why did you do that."
"So... your only justification for that... I was merely trying to, for the betterment of everyone—" Ah, now pulling out the 'I did for everyone' card, completely missing Rat's point of the action being a crime itself. "Didn't everyone profit from the netherite changes? Wasn't that a universally good thing?"
Rat sighed, rubbing at the root of his nose. No, whatever. "This is not about the changes, it's more about...
"—your power," the Mason lowly chimed in.
"...the journey, you see—"
"—it's about your hunger," he continued.
Rat scoffed. "I'm not hungry!"
The Mason kept on going, "—your greed, your... necessity," he threw out his arms, "to own power over others, to make sure that you are in charge. I mean, look at this—" he pointed at someone beside Rat with a frown, "—you literally have Clown Pierce as a... a show puppet—" No?!
"Hi." Clown waved, his scythe resting over a shoulder.
"—right next to you." Rat was just about to talk when the Mason made another point. "You're literally parading Clown around like your— like a trophy."
"I'M NOT PARADING CLOWN AROUND! He's here to help me because he's a friend, ain't that right, Clown?" All truth, all truth, no lies. Clown actually was here because he wanted to. Otherwise Rat wouldn't even let him come. It was between himself and the Mason, after all. Speaking of... they could finally get going, couldn't they?
"Hello." Clown waved again at the mention of his name.
Rat passed the Moulds and turned around. "You know, let's— let's— okay Arathain, before we- we tear each other to shreds, let's actually go to Bonesburrow, let's actually go to Bonesburrow." Or at least closer, wherever the fight was going to be. Although he knew the fight would probably be in the village, the Mason or Lux could attack at any moment — there was no reliance the fight could start sooner, maybe even now.
Rat just hoped they would make it to the traps he had planted before.
~•~•~•~
Nice, everyone stood as they should, right above the detonator in the village's square. Rat cackled in his mind. "Okay. Arathain?"
The Mason, overseeing from a roof, was just finishing a comment he uttered, "—you would not last a day on lifesteal, lemme tell you that much... okay, go on."
Rat slowly brought up his red button and aimed it on the ground. He stalled for a moment.
And then pressed it.
Click.
Flash of white. Ear-piercing bang. A blast wave sending him on the ground. Chunks of dirt and splatters of red paint shooting past him. Curses and yells of those impacted. Fires, smoke, and residue in the large hole bitten deep in the square. Others still picking themselves up.
Rat dusted himself off and quickly stood back up, looking upon his creation. The engineer in him was definitely proud. (Not just from it working, but also from the boom booms. A satisfying explosion was as important as it doing the thing it was supposed to do.) "Alright! I like folly red." He eyed at the Mason, who didn't seem impacted by the boom, and hopped over at the roof he was standing on. A wicked grin appeared along a deadly scythe. "Now, Arathain, since you don't want to give up... I feel like— I feel like we're gonna resolve this... with violence, that's the best option, isn't it."
The Mason looked at the crater seemingly unphased, although his voice told otherwise. "Well, that is... your option, that is your choice— well, yours as much as you're able to be in this current state..."
Silence. Rat's fingers spasmed around the hilt of his scythe, itching to finally be let free into battle. After a while, the wait was near unbearable.
It would be lame to start with the Mason. And the person who annoyed him the most after him was... "I don't want to start with you, actually..." He leaped off the building and rammed into Luxintrus, ducking under her blade, before giving the Mason a last long stare.
"I think I'll start with Lux."
~•~•~•~
After toying with Lux for a bit, Rat retreated, swiftly threw a fire resistance at his feet, took a bite out of a god apple, and turned around just in time to witness Diansu give rise to a Soul Mould, which instantly started pouncing at Small. "Oh— Kill—" Rat jumped close and dodged its blade just in time, but when he watched Small get absolutely obliterated, he dashed away to circle around the Mould. "OH NO! Get rid of the Soul Moulds! Get rid of the Soul Moulds!"
Lux suddenly appeared next to them and while she was attacking Talon with a gun, Rat quickly dashed and swung with his scythe, hitting her shoulder. She flinched and immediately swept her sword back at him, which he repelled off its way to hit him and rushed away. A trident swished next to his ear when he turned, seeing Diansu once again spawn more Soul Moulds.
Talon sprinted next to him with a 'oh geez' on his lips, at least three Soul Moulds just on his heels. Rat opted to circle around the Soul Moulds, hitting them one by one, when he, with a corner of his eye, noticed the Mason racing on top of the village's buildings, chasing someone.
Rat needed the Mason to retreat back to Bonesburrow, where they could finally have a meaningful conversation with those detonators planted all around. Now, Rat couldn't show him even a smidge of the revenge he had planned. So, when Clown appeared next to him and sent him a quirk of a brow for why he wasn't going after the Mason, flourishing his scythe from side to side, Rat felt the need to explain himself. "I'm not going to go after Arathain just yet."
Dropping lower in the village, looking around his allies to find someone he could actually, you know, attack, he noticed Diansu standing on a dirt mound, throwing amethyst bombs into the battle. With a quick exchange of weapons, Rat strung up his bow and sent a harming arrow Diansu's way, smiling when a curse left the other's lips as the arrow perfectly hit its target.
He jumped away from an incoming bomb and sent another arrow, which missed this time. Mindlessly dashing into a deep cave wasn't also his best idea and he recovered with a surprised inhale, searching for Diansu once again, who was now climbing on top of a nearby hill. He shot at him once, twice, thrice, laughing when fireworks flown above and bombs rung out. "Gotta get him with... chaos."
Diansu retaliated, though, with an arrow of his own, and Rat got just enough of this shootout. "Okay, Diansu— come here, you're dead." He dashed after him, but Diansu was quick to notice and hid behind a metal pile of Soul Moulds, which were really conveniently grouped up close to a detonator. Rat got an idea and backed off with a red button coming into view, and then, BOOM, the ground next to the Soul Moulds exploded.
Diansu propelled back from the blast and rushed away with Rat on his back. Eight, a new member of this battle now, came into view and Rat's gaze snapped at him. "Hey, are you with me or against me?!" He pounced at halted Diansu, jumping away from a blow. "I need to know now before I slaughter you."
Eight idly followed, yelling out, "neither! Neither, I guess, I don't get anything from killing you."
The Mason abruptly popped up and sent a firework straight at Rat's feet, sending him far into the skies with a sudden jerk. "Oh god—" Breezing through the air, his eyes locked on still Lux, and Rat decided to swoop down right at her, legs kicking out to land on her chest. It propelled her back on the ground, but she rolled back over her shoulder and jumped up on her feet, instantly firing a firework straight into Rat's face. He growled in pain when it projected him backwards, a random trident hitting him for good measure and freezing his left arm with an enchantment.
In a slight panic, he used up some gapples and gave him a quick breather before dashing around and back to the main battle, noticing Clown join him with a calm face and blood dripping from his scythe. Rat quietly yelled out at him, "okay, I've placed bombs around Bonesburrow so I can detonate them at any time I want." Clown nodded and got off to somewhere, and Rat mumbled to himself, "I just need to get people close."
A firework fired at him; Rat noticed the Mason staring him down from a place... he remembered had a detonator close. Nice. "Wait— Arathain is close." A button pressed, the ground behind Mason’s back shook and blasted open, knocking the Mason with it. Though, the other survived the bang pretty well and was now firing a white firework after a white firework, getting Rat a couple of times. And they were hot. "I'm not— Arathain, I'm not killing you." Another blast of those fireworks launched Rat forward, from which he angrily murmured, "just yet," and he landed right in between fighting Talon and Diansu. He tried to join with a send hellfork, but Lux crossed his way with a firework burst of her own.
Rat hacked after Lux's head, but she ducked and thrusted forward with a trident, freezing his lower abdomen in a painful clench. He dashed away, noticing Clown hitting her, and sending a last harmful potion, before running off with Diansu. Rat, after gappling some more, finally got the feeling of his abdomen back and leaped back on Lux, striking with his scythe while dodging her trident. She, weirdly alarmed, dodged and weaved around his strikes, chugging a gapple down, and only then started attacking back. "I was so low! You could've killed me right there and then!" Send trident and swung sword. "But you can't, bud, you can't!"
Rat dashed away after a couple of hits and landed right next to Talon, who readily warded off Lux's attack. "Why's Arathain rocket-jumping so much?" Huh. He was? Wasn't he supposed to like... get a lot of damage from fireworks? Because of his species? Regardless, even if he was rocket-jumping, there only was one explanation. "Uh... because he's trying to stay away."
Talon grumbled, dodging Lux's blow, and turning to swing with own hellfork. "No, but how? How? He's supposed to take like a lot of damage from it, doesn't he?"
That was what Rat was saying. Maybe... just maybe, there might be another explanation. "Actually, maybe he coded an advantage now that I think of it—" Rat scoffed and lazily swung at Lux. "That's his whole thing, I just realized, this is why we're ending this."
Lux unexpectedly rocket-jumped too after pulling out a god apple, most likely injured from Talon's harsh blows and alarmed at her weakened state. Meaning... she was the best target now. "Get Lux, get Lux, get Lux..." Rat yelled out, Talon and Clown summoned at his side as he watched her sorely come down from the skies. A firework exploded right next to him. "Get Lux, get Lux," Rat thrusted his hellfork at her, watching her gasp at the feeling of the trident piercing her leg. "GET LUX! She's low! She's low! She's low! She's low!"
He circled around, noting Small plunging his freezing trident into Dainsu's shoulder. The other collapsed on the ground, breathing out his last words. "Oh, Diansu's dead, Diansu's dead, it's only Arathain and Lux..." Rat reported to Clown, a white firework hitting him in the back as he jumped closer to him with a groan. "Just kill Lux first." He threw a pearl to get him away and gappled to fix his burned back, before jumping in to help Talon and Clown fight Lux.
She threw her trident at Talon, turned around to propel Clown's scythe back and rammed into Rat with her shoulder, Clown's sudden firework launching her away from him. Rat followed her and slashed at her legs, which she managed to crookedly turn away. Immediately after, she dashed forward and tried to get on Rat's back, but missed with a bitter laugh, "oh my god... I'm actually suffering."
While Clown and Rat were brandishing their weapons, the Mason got himself involved in the mess with his forsaken white fireworks. Rat only groaned at the exploding particles, head pounding. "Arathain, why don't you retreat back in your little—" Lux rushed away and Clown managed to sneak a few slashes in between, then Lux swiftly dashed back and started chugging gapples in perceptible distress. Rat continued, "little- little town, while we're finished with Lux, and then I'll come to you."
He slashed at her and Lux rocketed him into oblivion with a couple of fireworks, Clown still somehow managing to stay on her. They circled around each other and Clown swept at her with slick words, "what do you say about my gapples, Lux?" She showed her teeth at him and kept on going with her own blows. Clown didn't stop. "How are those god apples serving you?"
Rat laughed and dashed close to them with strikes of his own. One even snuck under her armour, shallowly slicing her forearm. "Wait, is she actually using god apples?"
"Yeah."
Rat groaned at the still incoming Mason's fireworks, gasping when Lux painfully stabbed at his calf. "Oh my god..." He dashed forward after Lux in a try to swing at her without gappling first, but his leg gave out and he became the best target for Lux to throw a...
...comatose dart.
Oh no.
"Oh, I got comatose, this is actually bad." He was oddly calm. He knew Clown would protect him if someone tried to get him in this state. Yet, the feeling of his eyes falling shut and limbs abruptly locking in place, limp, was still a feeling of unnerving anticipation for others to swing at him.
Although, after a couple of dreadful seconds, the comatose fell off of him without any trouble. "Oh, okay." He gappled with relief and dashed back into battle, flying just right next to idle Eight. Rat couldn't believe he was still here doing absolutely nothing. "Eight, you either fight or you die!"
Eight flinched, "okay, okay, alright alright—" and jumped off the roof he was on, getting further away. "I'm sorry, I'm out, I'm out—"
Rat hurled a last harmful arrow his way, which got him Eight's last words. "OKAY! Okay, I get it, I get it—" He jumped closer to the village's top, suddenly noticing... Diansu? Putting down new Soul Moulds. "Aren't you dead?" Rat, slightly confused, thrusted at him with his hellfork. "I'm gonna kill you again, Diansu, you don't come back here—" Diansu dashed away and Rat followed, scythe cutting the air just next to his arm, "you get away or you die again!"
Behind him someone suddenly screamed out, "RAT— NO, AAAHHHH, AAAAAA—" to which Rat quickly turned back to see if they needed help, chuckling to only see Talon sprinting across the whole village with like five Soul Moulds after him. He went after him, but only Mason’s familiar face greeted him with an explosion of white fireworks coming right after. Rat growled, annoyed. When another firing of rockets hit the ground under him, sending him back a few metres, Rat let out his frustration with a comment, "oh my god... This is just a firework shitshow."
He bonked the Mason under his chin with the scythe's haft and eyed to the side of him, watching as Lux didn't quite land on her feet and sprawled on the ground with limbs in weird angles. She didn't stand up again. Rat joyfully breathed out, "okay, Lux is dead."
The Mason, meanwhile, danced all around, failing twice to hurl himself into the air with his rockets. Rat just stopped, watching the other stall with a chuckle. "What are you trying to do, Arathain?" For the third time, he managed to rocket-jump and Rat dashed back to the village's top, passing confused Small. "Where is— where is she?"
Meaning Lux, Rat thought, so he gave a quick response back. "I- I think there's only Arathain left alone." A dozen of Soul Moulds came into his view and he rushed at them, slicing their metal parts left to right, while Talon stood above them, throwing potions under.
After the potions splashed and nothing happened, Rat frowned. "I don't think they suffer from effects." While the Mason got in between the Moulds and now shot fireworks everywhere, Clown rushed nearby with a smirk, commenting, "well, Arathain sure does."
Small dodged the Soul Moulds' attacks, pointing at the Mason in the middle getting absolutely bodied and squished. "Arathain is like... kind of getting trapped by Soul Moulds—" While hellforking one of the Moulds, he bitterly noted when the mentioned man got out of there unharmed, "Arathain is kind of fucking undead."
He focused on one specific Mould and tried to tear it with shreds with all of he had, but the Mould just took it like anything happened and idly followed Clown, who had them aggroed on him. Rat hit it in the helmet a couple of times, before noticing Diansu forming new Moulds behind his back and rushed to him, unbelieving of the other's audacity to show here again. "Are those your Soul Moulds, Diansu?" He slammed into his stomach and Diansu flew back, before uttering, "uh... later," and turned to get away, but Rat couldn't let him go so easily. "Come here, Diansu, come here." They raced to a convenient detonator and Rat acutely blew it up with the button, slowing Diansu down just enough to slice his head clean off.
"Got Diansu again," he said to passing-by Clown, who simply nodded and dashed off to somewhere. Rat followed closely behind, rushing at an idle Soul Mould with his scythe and hellfork brandished. Striking it with a couple of times, he uttered, "oh god... these Soul Moulds—"
Small got involved, hitting the Mould with his own weapons. "These Soul Moulds are tanky as fuck, no wonder—"
Rat agreed. "Yeah!"
"—they increased netherite..." Small got hit in the head with the Mould's sword's handle, getting knocked down. "Jesus Christ—" Suddenly, the Mason jumped in the action with his glaive and kicked out at Rat while using his weapon as a point of balance. Rat dodged the blow and retaliated, but the Mason was quicker and stabbed with his glaive at Rat's side with a dark expression. Rat gasped, feeling the cold metal slice through the gap in between his armour plates, and dashed away, gapple pressed to his lips.
Beneath him, an aggroed Mould swept at Clown, who took his turn of running when the Mould's sword knocked him away. "Oh— Clown!" Rat was just behind, swinging in the Mould's back with all his might, even mightier when the Mould's sword stroke soundless Clown again. "CLOWN NO—" The Mould turned a corner and Rat's heart jumped into his throat when he saw no Clown there, just the Mould, and oh no, had he really—
"It's fine, I'm good." Clown suddenly appeared beside him, throwing potions at his feet. Rat, relieved, deeply exhaled. "Oh, I thought you died... I was scared." Starting at the Mould again, Clown chuckled back, "no..."
The Mould must have surely been low, there was no way. With Talon and Rat striking it again and again, it—
In the corner of Rat's eye, Small currently lost a duel with one of the Moulds and crumpled to the ground, with the Mould standing above a muttering a metallic sentence, signalling it had killed someone. Rat listened carefully, unbelieving from what the Mould had said. "What do you mean Small was temporarily enlisted as a soul warrior?! What does that mean?!"
Talon next to him shrugged and dodged an incoming blow, retaliating with his own. Rat joined in. "We're killing that Soul Mould, Talon—" He quickly stabbed forward, but Talon suddenly got in the way and Rat mistakenly hit him in his shoulder plating. "Oh shot, I'm sorry— " The Mould abruptly turned around and plunged its sword into Rat's leg. GOD that hurt. He stumbled away, but the Mould decided to keep on going and opted for his arm, which just burst into millions of blaring blazes. "Oh gOD—"
More pain shooting from his temple. Everything went black.
Rat awoken in a bed, room around a wooden one. "God," he muttered and got out of the room, stepping into the middle of Bonesburrow and rushing upstairs to get to the village. He was clever, you see, because, being so close to the actual battle zone, he had set his spawn here just— in— case. Now, it paid off pretty well. Meanwhile others needed to make a long distance back to here, which he didn't need to do. Very convenient.
Panting, he ran into the village and immediately stumbled upon Clown fighting a Mould. Sword against scythe. "Clown, be careful—" The Mould suddenly noticed him and swung its blade at him, while Rat stumbled around the village's remnants. "Oh god, I think I'm dead again—"
Everything went black, and he was back at the room. Annoyed, he groaned and rushed back up. Witnessing Talon landing too badly and dying, he hastily searched the area for his stuff. Only after a minute or so, his eyes landed on some Mound's footprints (the Mound they had been fighting), and he swiftly retrieved his armour and weapons.
Meanwhile, Clown seemed to be battling it out with the Mason, uttering comments along the way. "Yeah, Arathain is... is little tankier than usual." Rat nodded, watching Mason’s glaive and Clown's scythe jump back and forth between the two. "Yeah, he really is..."
"He- does a lot of damage... Arathain does a lot of damage." Clown hissed when the Mason got a hit and circled around, gappling, and calmly commented some more. "He really does a lot of damage, wow." Rat thrown the armour on, muttering, "yeah, be very careful."
When he got ready, Rat looked around, brows furrowed when the Mason was nowhere to be found, only Clown jumping around. "Okay... where is Arathain? Where is he, where is he?" The other pointed with his scythe. "He's at the top of the spruce trees."
Rat dashed to get closer, yelling out, "hey Arathain! What are you doing here?" Without a response, the Mason only sent him a momentary look and used a grappling hook to spring into the skies. "Oh my god. He's bouncing."
Small appeared beside him, giving him a confused quirk of a brow at the Mason breezing off to somewhere. Rat had an idea for Mason’s actions, though — retreating like this only meant the Mason was injured, so he opted for another approach, if he couldn't fight them off. "I think he's going to the middle of Bonesburrow. Oh... I think he's going to try to use his bargaining chip." When the Mason confirmed his theory and dropped down into Bonesburrow, Rat joyfully uttered, "oh yes, yes he is."
Suddenly, Diansu reappeared for the umpteenth time today right next to them and threw an amethyst bomb at them. Rat stepped away from the blast, clean annoyance rushing through his veins. "Oh my god Diansu, I will actually smite you."
It only took a couple of arrows, actually, for Diansu to leave them alone. "All right, Diansu's fleeing, okay— well, I'm gonna finish it with Arathain. I'm going to go... back, to him."
Clown appeared next to him, giving him a worried look. "Watch out... watch out, Rat, he... deals a weird amount of damage."
Rat chuckled, stepping close to the cliff's edge. "Yeah, he's weird, but I'm sure there's something I can do about it." He looked around on Small, Clown, and smiled.
"Alright, let's finish this."
~•~•~•~
The Mason took hiding in the pits of Bonesburrow. He was almost out of rockets, his Soul Moulds (as well as Diansu's) were getting killed one by one and his allies were dying like flies. His glaive's blade dulled, his armour had lost a half of its durability and he was out of potions. The... deity's help was slowly wearing off, making him weaker by every second passing.
There seemed no way out of this... thing. He couldn't fight back with enemies too many and too skilled to be defeated. He couldn't run because they would always track him down. He couldn't hide because they would always find him. He couldn't reason Rat for his stubbornness. They were just too skilled, too many of them, too stubborn to not keep on going. (Especially with Clown.)
There just wasn't a way out.
Somewhere from above him, a voice bounced off the lair's stone walls, a voice familiar to his core. "Alright, let's finish this."
He sighed, looking up to see descending Doctor4t with his armour stained in blood and gore, a bow in hand and particles of potions and effects following behind. A war-stricken face greeted him, when Rat finally stepped on the bottom of Bonesburrow, eyes carefully following his every move. "Arathain. Arathain, Arathain, Arathain... we had a little fun, we had all fun... But now, it's actually time to, uh, do the real stuff, right?"
He didn't want anything. The Mason didn't want this.
"We had a little fun..." Rat angrily stared at him, remembering something, "I died two times to one of your shitty soul moulds, actually."
"Rat, I—" he looked at his hands, then back up, "please, you don't- you don't want to do this, please."
"I actually want to do this, my guy." So firm, so certain. How could the Mason change this man's mind? "Look at this... you saw what I can do, but let me show you a little bit more... look, any part of your little town, I can blow up how I want," Rat turned to the left and pressed a little red button. A rumble came, and then— an explosion came. Rocks, coated in red paint, were falling — an awful, scraping sound. When the dust settled, the Mason, in horror, found the side of the cliff was totally destroyed, along with a part of Bonesburrow.
Actual fear settled deep within his chest. (He at least had his bargaining chip, right? The TNT planted under his feet. That was something he could use when the time came.)
Rat laughed, "if I want, right? How about a little more..." Another blast, making the ball of fear spike, "like here! Oh yeah, that's much better now." Rat danced around the Mason as he watched, frozen, limbs heavy, before he went behind his back. "Look, let's see here— let's see what we have here, let's see what we have here... yeah, the—" the Mason turned just in time to witness Rat's pickaxe bite deep in the ground, letting him drop to the level the...
...TNT was on.
Oh no. He knew.
The Mason went rigid.
"—oh my god, YES!" Rat laughed, zealously looking around all the redstone. He seemed satisfied about the finding. "That's exactly what I thought! You rigged that shit up! That's exactly what I thought, you rigged it!"
The Mason finally woke up from his freeze, stuttering with mouth gaping, "who told you?! Who— what?" Who could've told Rat? Who had known? Had anyone searched here? Or was one of his allies a traitor? Was it Diansu? It wasn't even supposed to... blow up, what? "I didn't— I didn't— I didn't want to—"
Rat waltzed around him, taunting with a smug smile on his face, "a little bird told me, a little bird told me..." He stopped suddenly, gesturing with the remote. "Well, I mean, you're gonna die, so I can tell you right now..." No. He was not going to die today. He simply couldn't.
There was too much at stake for that.
Rat's gaze abruptly snapped at something above Mason’s head, which he already knew was a nether portal. So, that was out of the game too. "Hold on, lemme— look, let me make sure nobody joins us..." An explosion rumbled deeply, sending waves of vibrations through the ground and up his body. The Mason closed his eyes, quietly speaking up, "what were you saying again about not having a lust for power and needing to show off how powerful you are...?"
Another blast, another boom, another bang. Bonesburrow was slowly falling apart right before his eyes, and he couldn't do anything about it. Another feeling joined the fear's rank — a small, still quiet, feeling of hopelessness. "Alright, maybe you're right! Maybe you're right, maybe you're just a little- bit- right! Maybe you're just a little bit right... Look at this, look!" Rat detonated another part of the cliff and laughed. "I don't have a lust for power, I already got it! I don't care, I don't actually care!" Rocks falling. Dust slowly settled on Mason’s face. "Look, uh... Here as well!" Boom. Earth shaking. "Look, I can destroy cliffs... by the snap of my fingers! What do you think—" Rat stared deeply into his eyes. "I was gonna do— when I learned— you made the netherite changes behind my back?! Look, it's not about the changes! It's not about the changes! It's about the fact you hid it!"
Rat threw out his arms. "You don't get it, it's not— it's- it's- it's not about the destination... it's about the journey and it's about the people you backstab!" It was a change for everyone. Everyone benefited from it. He didn't backstab anyone. It was Rat's fault he didn't pay enough attention to notice it sooner.
The remote was turned exactly at him. "You like your soulfire, don't you... oh, you sure do..."
A simple press of a button.
All it took was a simple. Press. Of a button.
And the world exploded.
The ground under him got its way and the Mason felt himself falling, before, suddenly, a blast seared right before his face and painfully pierced his ears, knocking him back into another TNT, which instantly made the world go white and so— hot, and then his back suddenly erupted in agony when he hit something hard — rocks were falling around him and his head felt so heavy and his back and face and everything throbbed and the ringing in his ears couldn't just stop—
Ring, ring, ring. Bang. Bang. Grate. Scrape. Thud. Ring, ring, ring.
It took a while before he got to his senses. The last residue TNT was blowing up when the Mason, with the help of his glaive, got up and used it as support, so he could rummage through his inventory and take a bite out one of the remaining gapples he had. Mild scrapes, raw abrasions and pulsing bruises were healed and the continual throbbing of his face was at least muted down to a level of acceptable discomfort. His back didn't seem to be in some worse state, also.
It took him a while to notice Rat yelling at him over the gaping holes. (He spent the time just looking around his home, now in complete shambles, seeing the TNT destroyed absolutely anything and everything that had stood in its way.)"—dn't think that one was this close. Well, see what you did? You rigged it for nothing. That had no use. I didn't die, I'm still at full health—"
A wave of desperation suddenly rose up in Mason’s chest, words of honest truth finding their way on his tongue. "Rat, I- I didn't want— I didn't want to— It was supposed to be an empty threat, Rat!" He clenched his jaw and leaned on the rock wall next to him, despair flowing through him at full force. "I don't want to hurt you! I don't wish this to happen to anyone else!"
Rat didn't listen, only boasted further. "Well, I made it full! I made it full, my guy."
"Rat, please, you don't understand what you're putting at stake. I have—" He needed to say it. He needed to explain it, all of it, and maybe, maybe, Rat would listen. Words were his only way out of this now. "I- I- I— The netherite changes are one thing I do not regret; however, I have done things, which will have an effect." Flashes of an effigy in his hands. A voice talking to him. A deal made. A price to pay. "Please, please, do not, do not try to do this, do not try to kill me... not because I don't want to die, but because of the suffering it will cause to everyone else... please."
The Mason, with a corner of his eye, noticed Lux standing behind him on an overhang. He at least had her.
Rat studied him with a puzzled expression on his front. "Well, I mean, I don't see everyone else's, uh, perspective, but from my perspective... I had a lot of suffering, I had a lot of— you know, asking if my friends were the right... people, you know."
A button pressed, a boom resonating behind his back, and Lux yelping when rocks made impact with her back. Rat just cackled, "god, this is great, this is absolutely amazing..." He looked around him, admiring his work, then back at the Mason, who was peering at him the whole time with sad eyes, and spoke up again. "What was this about... uh... letting you live, just so you can lie to me again, after that...?"
Rat still didn't know, didn't understand the weight of his... everything he was doing. He let his face fall into his hands. How could the Mason make him realize? "You don't understand, I—" How could he show him what would it do? He just— this wasn't a game anymore. There were consequences. "I... do not speak this out of selfish interest because I don't want to die— it's—" Out with it. He was quickly burning through all of his aces, and if Rat didn't realize what was happening, the Mason would be stripped bare of all of his reasons. Yet, he couldn't explain it all, he just couldn't, he wasn't able to because of that stupid deal. "I have... made deals, I have made mistakes, mostly— and..." His words fell silent, stopped mid-way by something. It was the curse, the side of the contract preventing him from telling the horrible truth. The Mason almost sobbed. His hands were tied, his voice was silent, and he couldn't do anything to prevent the future. He felt hopeless. "Please, please, do not—"
"What if, what if... I don't kill you, what happens then?" The absolute ignoration of his pleads from Rat's side made the Mason look up at him. "What's gonna happen if I kill you? Suffering?! I am the one who suffered, I can— you know, people can have a little bit of suffering... as a treat."
Please, let Rat just misunderstand his words. Please. "You know, I don't mean this as 'other people will suffer'... I mean everyone as in everyone. I mean, apart from one, but... I wouldn't even classify them as human..." Them. The deity. With whom he had made the stupid decision to form a pact for something so worthless as netherite. He hadn't understood the payment he would need to pay the deity at the time. Regret. "What? No..." And now, his soul was forever bound to them.
Rat leaped over the Bonesburrow's remnants to land right before him, eyes piercing right through him. His voice was suddenly strangely silent. "I'm sorry Arathain, but... I'm purely emotional. I'm always really emotional, my arguments are weak, but I don't care." The words hit him like a train. He didn't care. He didn't care. Rat didn't care. Rat. Didn't. Care. "I do the things I do because— I actually want to do them."
Mason’s world collapsed. If the one person able to change this... didn't care, then... this was the end. There was no way out. He lost. Rat didn't care and never had cared. It didn't matter to him. He just wanted to see the Mason dead. The aftermath wasn't interesting. All he cared about was now.
"So now... this is the part where I kill you, so, uh, yeah."
The Mason felt no hope, yet there was still a piece of him, one little, quiet voice telling him he could change Rat's mind about this. No. No, he couldn't. He simply couldn't. Rat was too far gone. Against his will, unbelieving, unwitting begs left his tongue. "Plea— don't, please."
A similar, stocked voice yelled over. Lux was still there. "No, you don't— you don't get to kill him, I swear to god— Wait—" Lux was on his side. Lux understood.
Naively understood only a bit of his whole story.
"Lux, you want another one?" Rat tiredly said to her, watching her struggle under their rock where she had landed, and held up a god apple. "Lux, it's always about... keeping on fighting. Lux, just— get out of here, just get out of here! And everything will be just easier for everyone."
"I would have done this if it was anyone else except for Arathain."
My god. His daughter really understood. It— she wasn't leaving him here. She was staying, for him. She would fight by his side. Although it was obvious there was only defeat waiting, she would defend him.
He was so proud of her.
Rat turned back at him. "Anyway, Arathain..."
"Please... Stop..."
"I think... where— where in this— where in this bonehole you want it to be your grave?
'Cause I'll be at least this nice."
Reasoning with a set man was like speaking to a rock-solid wall. It did nothing. "Rat, you don't get what—" The realization of the doom and destruction that was about to happen dawned back at him and he stepped back, eyes wide. "Oh no... dude, you don't get what you're about to do... Please, listen to me, there is— you will—" He shakily inhaled, trying to explain it one more time, even though he already knew the result of it. "By... killing- me... you will directly help the one- single- entity." His soul chained, joining, and merging with the deity, making them grow even stronger. "I- This is the— thing I do not wish to do. Please."
Rat only laughed straight before his face, taking out his sword. "Well, I can take them— I- I could take literally anybody here, so I can take them on, don't worry, I'll take care of them for you. I'll be just that nice."
A blow came, which the Mason only sloppily held off, after which the impact of the two blades made him trip back and fall down from the rock wall. It didn't matter. Rat still hadn't grasped the deity's power. The Mason bitterly chuckled. "Take them? Take them? Rat, you're already their puppet, you don't—"
Rat shot an eye at Lux, who stood further away with a crossbow ready. "Lux, just get away from here, just get away from here."
Everyone was their puppet now.
"Just get away."
Lux firmly stood her ground. "No."
Everyone would become even a bigger puppet after his death.
Rat expertly circled with his sword and got thinking with a smirk, before looking back up with a new, before unseen flame sparking behind his eyes.
He had seen this flame once before.
In his own eyes.
Mason’s heart dropped.
"Well, sorry Lux, this will be a two people gravestone then."
And Rat suddenly swung. Hard.
The first slash rammed into Mason’s side and made his hip absolutely bloom in pain, while the other blow got somewhat knocked away by the haft of his glaive. "Don't, NO! Don't!" He hissed at the sparking ache and jumped away just in time for Lux's fireworks to explode where he had stood, warding off Rat for at least a little while. He jumped away, Lux now just under him with a crossbow already loaded.
"GET AWAY FROM MY DAD!" She roared. Rat, though, didn't even listen and leaped across the hole straight at the Mason. One swing came, he hit the blade away, mumbling out, "don- Don't—" Second swat came, into which he almost stepped, and the last went through a gap between his armour plates on his thigh and sharply lodged into his flesh. "Don't! Don't—" The Mason kept in a groan and just kept on reflecting the incoming blade's tries. Only once had Rat jumped away to gapple, but then immediately came back to lash out at his side again.
Weak, weak without my help.
A help in the form of fireworks came along with Lux's yell directed at Rat, "I told you not to do this!" Meanwhile, the Mason used the time to look over the wound on his side and his thigh, evaluating the damage. They didn't hurt that much, so he hoped they weren't deep. But, before he even had a chance to heal up at least a little, Rat's sword stroke back at him with much more vigour now.
One hit came much quicker than anticipated and the glaive just flew out of Mason’s palm, leaving him to press against a wall and mutter out, "don't— please—" His chest was heaving, eyes glued on the blade aiming at his neck and Rat's dark expression behind the sword. The Mason was frozen like a cornered animal, panic overtaking every single fibre of his body.
It was over.
It had to be over.
It must be over.
All of it was pointless. He never even could explain the curse to Rat in the first place, vengeance too blinding for him to see through the red haze and onto the other side of his actions, where only more bloodshed and suffering sat.
His younger self.
All of his cards were placed before him, aces all used up, and all he could hope for was Rat's mercy. He was in chains, hopeless to save anyone and everyone from the deity's reign while Rat was his executioner, towering above him with ears unhearing and eyes unseeing.
They were the same, yet the opposite.
Hands tied, voice silent.
Ears unhearing, eyes unseeing.
The Mason looked into the other's eyes. See him. Hear him. Understand. Realize.
Please.
Rat's dark eyes softened. A sigh left his lips.
And he turned away. He stepped back and left the Mason be.
What?
The sword was gone, Rat was too.
What was this? What?
Had Rat understood? Had Mason’s silent voice reach Rat's unhearing ears? Had Rat realized? Had Rat finally gotten the importance of Mason’s life?
Was the war over?
He only hoped it was.
But it wasn't.
Screaming. Sword stained with the dark blood of those who he had killed. Empty islands. End of the End. A child left behind.
Only when the Mason watched Rat pounce at Lux, rational thought flooded his mind once again and he scrambled for his glaive, c'mon, where was it, where had it flown?! Eyes ran all over the place in panic. He needed to be quick. He needed to be quick. He searched around the (burning, burning his skin like acid) water and nothing came up, he searched more, stepped upstream, and, suddenly, he felt wet wood under his fingertips, so he rapidly jerked the shaft up but it didn't budge, so he tried again even with more vigour—
All he sensed about the battle somewhere further away was through the sounds of metal clanks and curses, so when he heard Lux yelp out, "I swear to god," he at least knew the girl was still alive. That fuelled his will, a new flame sparking somewhere deep within him, and he pulled at the lodged shaft even harder, c'mON, get it OUT—
"No! Please-!"
The glaive flew out and the Mason rapidly turned, only to hear and see—
"Don't kill him!"
The last firework.
"Please!"
And Rat's sword deeply plunged in Lux's gut.
The world shook around him for the millionth time this day.
All of emotions just flooded through and it broke him. Shock, regret, despair, hopelessness, anger, denial, rue, and an incredible pit of everything imaginable joined together to make a tidal wave and break every one of his walls he had built. All of he worked towards was gone. His home was gone. His allies were gone. His daughter was gone.
And his life would come closely behind.
The feeling of those who he had towered above, a feeling of lost hope and pure terror.
"Alright, now we can resume."
He needed to move. He needed to fight. He needed to defend. He needed to continue.
So his body moved. His arms fought. His blade defended.
He continued.
His chains tore apart, his tongue untangled. "No, no,"
A hit sent him back into the burning water and he counterattacked, striking against Rat's shoulder plating. This costed him another spiking wound on his forearm. "Don't, don't!" He stumbled and tried to jump out, far from the water, but his injured leg gave out from under him and he landed on the hard rock with his glaive bouncing off to nowhere. His arms burned and he yelped from the complete and utter agony shooting through him, only after a couple of shallow breaths recognizing a sword aiming at his neck. "Do not. No!"
The Mason scrambled back in panic from the acid burning through his skin, back abruptly pressed against cold stone. "Oh, you take damage in water, that's funny."
The Mason shakily breathed in, hands shaking, "don't-"
The sword inched closer. The Mason closed his eyes.
"Don't-"
He did regret leaving Lux behind like this.
Without an explanation.
Without the true story of his life.
Without an apology.
The sword pressed against his neck.
"DO NOT!"
~•~•~•~
Rat only as touched the other's neck with the tip of his sword, but as soon as he did, it seemed he had unleashed something... bad.
First, it was the sudden dark purple glow coming from under the Mason. Then, two golden, thick chains shot up from the ground and roughly wrapped around the other's body, violently slamming him on the rocks below to kneel. Another pair of chains and cuffs appeared on his wrists and around his neck and all the Mason could do was to just sob, raw throat giving way to a desperate scream.
"RUN, run!"
Rat stepped back and shook his head, scoffing, "no, I'm not running until I'm sure you're all dead."
The Mason seemed to not hear him — instead, all he did was to sob into his hands, muttering quiet, shakily said words. "I am so—" he gulped and peered through the gaps between his fingers, eyes widening and breath hitching in silent horror before he fully broke down.
"I am so sorry; I am so, so sorry."
It was unnerving, yet still, Rat quickly licked a frog he had prepared for this occasion and held out his totem of undying, feeling the effect of numbness coarse through his veins. "I'm ready for anything that comes."
Suddenly, the chains pulled the Mason into the purple glow below him.
And then the portal closed.
His chest shattered from the shockwave. He breathed in fire. His mouth opened in a silent screech and his back collided with a solid wall, knocking out air out of his lungs. His legs mangled and arms crushed. His face scorched and eyes burned. Rocks were falling and everything violently shook. Blasts popped his ears and hot explosions crashed left and right.
Even with the numbness, Rat still felt his body light up in fire. The effect protected him for the most part — but the discomfort still got under his skin, ache still set in his bones and instincts ordered to squint his eyes and duck.
And that was what he did. Squinted his eyes and watched. And what he witnessed... was haunting.
The portal had closed, yes, but... something... stayed behind. And it wasn't just soulfire whisps — instead, it had a deep purple colour and was much longer than any whisp. Something closely resembling hands carefully spun around a golden beam (which sent blasts all around) in the centre where the Mason had died, those same, golden chains wrapped around their wrists and freely clicking.
'By... killing- me... you will directly help the one- single- entity.'
Rat hadn't and didn't care.
But.
Interest sparked within him.
Who were they?
The numbness vanished.
Rat gasped, feeling all the agony flow into him at once.
The totem cracked.
And a blast exploded right before his eyes.
Everything went white.
~•~•~•~
Clown chuckled at Rat grumbling about not tanking the explosion about how he had wanted, marking, "you, at least, have your stuff back."
Suddenly, someone yelled from across the gap with all their might. "YOU KILLED MY FUCKING FATHER!"
Rat turned at... Lux, of course, stripped bare of any armour of weapons, staring at them with tears and rage in her eyes and fists clenched.
Clown smirked. "Hey. Catch."
He sent a firework straight at her.