As the people fled Light City in mass, the outside world was finally made aware of the horrors within that hellhole. News crews rushed toward the city as well as the military from the Allied Empire. The tales of survivors terrified those who were willing to hear them and exposed the true depravity of human nature. Yet, there was no blame, no guilty verdicts against those who had to soil their hands to survive. Instead, all attention was driven toward the darkness that cast its shadow upon the victims and manifested the demons that were never supposed to be in the souls of many.
However, as humanity came together to help those in need and the military and police forces from neighbouring cities prepared to breach and arrest KD-554 and her government, a direct order to stop all operations was sent by Jagger himself. As the relief forces impatiently waited for the go-ahead, Jagger suddenly arrived on the scene in a streak of lightning.
Those around him immediately made way for him to get through out of fear. However, when the impatient firefighters and medical workers urged him to let them through, Jagger paused in his steps and turned toward them.
[Jagger] - "You will go in when I say so. Until then, you will remain and wait! "
Said Jagger, his mechanical voice echoing across the crowd.
As the group of first responders saw Jagger's imposing stature and his carbon-black mechanical body, they instinctively backed away. There was something in each person's gut that signalled an aura of danger and evil within the emperor's gaze. As Jagger stepped through the military barrier into the ruined city, pushing violently past some clumsy survivors, he took a deep breath of relief.
[Jagger] - "At last, for all my trouble looking for you, I have finally found you, my beautiful slave. "
Whispered Jagger as he looked at the street ahead.
At the same time, KD-554 sent out her men alongside Astroboy to meet Krystal and Ari at the tower's front entrance. Though Astroboy had no intention of hindering Krystal, preferring to simply let her confront and maybe dispose of KD-554 for him, he still had to act as if he were still loyal to his old master. Followed by a row of armed guards and Romanovsky, Astroboy stepped into the rain outside to meet Krystal and Ari.
[Astroboy] - "Just the two of you? I was expecting more of a challenge. "
Said Astroboy confidently.
Krystal was the first to ascend all the stairs, followed by Ari. Before her, at least a few hundred guards stood ready with their weapons pointed at her and her sister. Suddenly, the screen atop the Central Tower's entrance glowed with KD-554's face. This time, however, KD-554 was visibly pissed off at Krystal as her usual mocking and sadistic attitude was buried under a rarely shown face of rage and frustration.
[KD-554] - "We were having such a great time playing our little game here... Until some inbred fuck did something behind my back! Now that unhinged retard Jagger knows you're here and is coming to get you. But you know me, I won't let him have the last laugh after all. "
Yelled KD-554 as her face morphed into monstrous forms alongside her rage.
The screen suddenly froze as KD-554 stepped out of the main entrance with Kadyn's guandao, which she had lost during her first battle against her evil sister.
[Krystal] - "Finally showing yourself instead of hiding like a coward, sister? "
Said Krystal as she took a step forward.
[KD-554] - "I'm running out of time, and so are you. So as much as it pains me to say it, you filthy stain on the floor, it's time to put an end to this game. "
Said KD-554 as she snapped her finger at Astroboy.
Though Astroboy didn't want to pay her any mind, when she snapped a second time, he finally relented and extended his hand.
[Astroboy] - "Guilt Extension: Entropy of Human Perfection! "
All of a sudden, both Krystal and Ari were frozen in place, their limbs immobilized by a powerful current of kinetic energy. At the same time, walking past Astroboy, KD-554 lifted the blade of the guandao and aimed it at Krystal's face.
[KD-554] - "For all this suffering and pain, it was at least enjoyable how you broke time after time. I look forward to seeing your ugly face bleed in the next life, you worthless, tainted, SHIT-STAINED BITCH! Cogitas, Ergo Non Es; You think, but you are not! "
Just as KD-554 was about to strike at Krystal, her movement was abruptly halted by a different opposing force. With horror across her face, KD-554 saw Jagger's figure slowly walk toward the tower from a distance. With a swing of his hand, Jagger abruptly propelled KD-554 away from Krystal, causing her to drop her guandao and crash hard against the glass windows of the tower.
Then, with another swing, Astroboy was pushed onto the ground and forced to kneel as Jagger's face appeared over the steps. The sheer power wielded by the evil emperor, though a far cry from Mike's potential, was still enough to subjugate lesser knights such as Astroboy. Any resistance will surely be met with death, so in his desperation, Astroboy realized his unique position to perhaps join Jagger instead.
[KD-554] - "Astroboy! Do something! "
Screamed KD-554 in a panic.
However, Astroboy simply turned slowly toward KD-554, his cheeks grinning with the sweet sensation of revenge. Upon seeing her subordinate's expression, KD-554 immediately understood what Astroboy was thinking.
[KD-554] - "Don't you dare! You are nothing without me! You hear me? You are but a brute whose pathetic egghead wouldn't survive a day in this world! "
Yelled KD-554 while her eyes burned bright red with rage.
[Astroboy] - "Perhaps I won't have much success, but I will at least live, unlike you. "
Said Astroboy before turning back to bow his head toward Jagger.
Stopping before Astroboy, Jagger didn't even bother looking down at him as he simply signalled with his hand for him to get up.
[Jagger] - "Prove your loyalty. "
[Astroboy] - "With pleasure, my lord! "
Said Astroboy in an eager tone.
Grabbing the guandao from the ground, Astroboy raised it up like a spear before taking aim at KD-554, who was desperately trying to escape by liquifying parts of her body.
[KD-554] - "You can't do this! I GAVE YOU THIS POSITION! I WAS THE REASON YOU EVEN GOT THIS FAR! "
Yelled KD-554 in bursts of pure rage.
[Astroboy] - "I'm no animal like you, you feral beast. I'm a cyberknight, a being far surpassing constructs like you. You do not get to lecture me; only I get to judge you! "
Said Astroboy in a mocking tone.
Even until her last moments, KD-554 wasn't trying to argue for her survival, but was trying to buy herself an opportunity, no matter how improbable, to kill Kadyn with her own hands. Even as Astroboy aimed to execute her, KD-554's fiery gaze was squarely focused on Krystal with the intent to kill burning behind its ambers. At that moment, KD-554 didn't care if the world turned against her; she didn't care if her ideology or empire fell; she only cared about the annihilation of her arch-rival.
[Krystal] - "You want it so badly, then come get it. All this pain and hatred you show toward me, all the people I've lost because of you... It's time I show you how much I HATE YOU! "
Said Krystal as she defiantly stared into the pit of infinite hatred that were KD-554's eyes.
As Krystal's crystal shone with the same light that pierced the universe, the world came to a total halt as if time itself no longer existed.
[Krystal] - "Trial Access: Zenith of A Thousand Horizons! "
In an instant, every single person in the universe, aside from Krystal, Ari and KD-554, disappeared without a trace. The world and reality as of this eternal instant considered only the actions of these specific individuals. Only they were allowed to shape their future in the domain of the Untangible Concept of Freedom, untouchable by the influence of Fate.
One moment, Astroboy was about to throw the guandao at KD-554, the next, the guandao landed within the hand of its rightful owner, Krystal. At the same time, KD-554 was released from the wall as the influence of Jagger's ability no longer existed and fell onto the ground below. On the other side, Krystal and Ari encircled KD-554 from both sides, their wrist blades drawn and ready for a battle.
[KD-554] - "So this is why you're so confident, huh? Your ability to cage us in some sort of pocket dimension... Well, it won't change a damn thing! You just gave me a chance to flay you alive and wear your skin as I get cremated by that traitor Astroboy! "
Said KD-554 as the same confident smile from before returned to her face.
[Krystal] - "I'll break you. "
Said Krystal, her face filled with a cold expression like that of a killer.
KD-554 felt a strange shock through her body at the way Krystal spoke. Unlike Kadyn, Krystal lacked the same restraint, the same human side that characterized Kadyn. This is not the girl who fought because she was denied a choice; this is the girl who fights because she chose to embrace the monster that was part of her.
[Krystal] - "I'll break you until your ideas lie shattered like the broken body you were born with. I'll break you until the sight of my face becomes your eternal nightmare! I'll break you across dimensions, universes, and realities until every version of you feels the pain I'm about to inflict on you! I'll break you until you cry and beg like the pathetic, slimy creature you were originally born as. "
Muttered Krystal while approaching KD-554.
As Krystal struck at KD-554, she was, for the first time, acquainted with the pure savage strength of Kadyn's alter ego. With a single strike, Krystal knocked KD-554's arm away from her chest, before the guandao followed into her chest, stabbing through before she could even react. With a swing, Krystal extracted her guandao by slashing KD-554's chest in half.
[Krystal] - "I always was stronger, more savage and more deadly than you before Mike. Have you already forgotten who we used to be, sister? "
Yelled Krystal as she swung her guandao at KD-554, severing her head from her neck.
Finally having recovered from the shock of seeing Krystal's unusual and raw determination, KD-554 acted fast and grabbed her head, which quickly reattached itself to her body. Yet, before she could fully turn around to strike back at Krystal, KD-554 was sliced through the back by Ari, whose blade opened up nearly the full length of her backside.
[Ari] - "Oy! Pay some attention here as well! "
Said Ari with a smirk.
Yet, the initial victory enjoyed by the two sisters wouldn't last long. With KD-554 fully in her elements once again, the eyes that shot back at Krystal and Ari were not those of a humiliated prey, but those of a savage predator. The deep red glow of KD-554's eyes burned bright with unbridled hatred as she struck back with the fury of a rabid monster. In a single strike, KD-554 drew blood as well, as her extended talon left a deep, bloody gash across Ari's face. In a blur of silver wind, KD-554 extended her finger toward Krystal, barely missing her eyes, but still coating itself in a thin layer of blood as it scraped through her eyelid.
[KD-554] - "It doesn't matter how much resolve you think you have, you filthy, disgusting, discarded piece of shitstain! "
Muttered KD-554 before suddenly dashing forward and grabbing Krystal's cheeks.
Though Krystal tried to pull away, surprised by KD-554's immense speed, the sharp talons had already sunk their edges into the soft flesh before the bone-chilling sound of flesh being torn echoed across the air. In one clean rip, KD-554 exposed Krystal's teeth in their entirety while blood dripped down Krystal's chin.
[KD-554] - "I'LL STILL TEAR YOU APART, YOU DIRTY EXCREMENT OF A WHORE! "
Yelled KD-554, her pupil dilated in excitement and thrill.
Krystal quickly ignored the pain and struck forward, her guandao striking KD-554 square in the chest. However, this time, KD-554 simply allowed the weapon through her body before morphing her body to wrap around the handle of the guandao. Immediately, KD-554 took control of the weapon while Krystal struggled to pull it free from her enemy's grasp. Then, in a demonstration of her combat ingenuity, KD-554 allowed Ari to get close as she tried to attack her before suddenly driving the guandao forward, stabbing her through the chest.
In a swift play, KD-554 has turned Krystal's weapon into the tool she used to execute Ari. In a show of pure unhinged savagery, tendrils shot out of KD-554's body, impaling Ari across the body, before she savagely ripped the girl apart into several pieces of gory body parts. Even as Krystal used her wrist blades to severely damage KD-554, the violent monster didn't even flinch as she revelled in the splashes of blood that covered her face. Though panicked, Krystal wasn't shocked by the sight as she extended her arm forward.
[Krystal] - "Trial Access: Newfound Horizon! "
Time reverted for one single individual, giving her a second chance, a path to a different outcome from the fate that had already befallen her. This is the enemy Fate feared, the enemy it had defeated and kept suppressed for so long. In the duality of the law of universal machination, the Untangible Concept of Fate guaranteed the outcome, while the Untangible Concept of Freedom determined the road to said outcome. Ari will die, but the road to that outcome can simply be reshaped infinitely.
In front of KD-554, like the worst of her nightmares being materialized, Ari suddenly returned to her form from a few seconds ago, before any of the injuries occurred to her. Using KD-554's shock, Ari bypassed her defences before stabbing her through the chest, hitting one of her true organs and drawing a splash of shiny dark blood. As Krystal followed up with a strike through KD-554's head, the monster didn't even react as the blade exited through the other end of her head.
The denial of outcome, the denial of the victory she was promised, the denial of her ideas, her whole reason for living... It invalidated KD-554's identity and existence. Cogitas, Ergo Non Es; An ideology based on the fact that there is no choice in one's life, that one cannot deny what they are deep within, became a shattered mirror in front of KD-554's eyes. Her whole life, she accepted that she had no say in her destiny because she was simply meant to be this way. Yet, at this very moment, Krystal showed her the possibility of a choice.
KD-554's face slowly morphed into a grimace that bore a hatred so deep, it might as well be the culmination of all humanity's hate since its inception. There was a fire so intense, inside a silent stare filled with the loudest screams of all the anger and rage of those who walked this earth, as KD-554 turned to face Krystal. The crimson that glowed within KD-554's grew into an abyss of pain that shed tears of dark blood. KD-554 had a choice; she always did, but she couldn't accept this. This is a reality she will reject and deny, no matter what.
In a burst of savage violence followed by a scream so loud and angry that it vindicated all the hate that had ever existed, KD-554 morphed her body beyond its limits, extending her entire structure into an indefensible splash of liquid metal all over Krystal. KD-554 didn't care if her organs and her brain were exposed to Ari; she only cared about ending Krystal where she stood. Overwhelmed, Krystal could watch as a multi-directional attack shadowed over her before a thousand spikes stabbed through her. In one swift pull, KD-554 disintegrated Krystal by reducing her body to a messy puddle of gore and blood that exploded in all directions.
[KD-554] - "DIE! DIE! FUCKING DIE, YOU FUCKING HERETICAL FILTH! VANISH FROM MY WORLD, YOU CURSED COSMIC MISTAKE! "
Shouted KD-554 as stabbed at the chunks and bloody droplets in an unhinged frenzy.
[Ari] - "Krystal! "
Yelled Ari as she extended her hand in a panic.
Yet, despite KD-554's madness and wishes, the world had already rejected her. As she stabbed forward toward another chunk of flesh, her talon only landed against nothing on the floor. Krystal's blood had vanished, and descending from the sky was the tip of her guandao upon KD-554's neck. In one swift strike, Krystal pinned KD-554's head to the floor before Ari stepped hard down onto her enemy's exposed heart.
[Ari] - "Forgot about me, mother fucker? "
In a single instant, a massive mouthful of dark blood spilled out of KD-554's lips. As Ari raised her boot, what used to be the engine of the hateful monster became nothing more than a broken mess of shattered metal and synthetic meat. KD-554's blind rage had finally spelled her end as she forgot Ari completely in the fight. The organ pulsed and tried to keep its host alive, but its vain effort was abruptly ended as Ari crushed it into a slime. Thus came the end for the monster that lived on hatred, but she was not about to accept this reality quietly.
[KD-554] - "I'LL GUT YOU! YOU ARE NOT REAL! YOU ARE NOT REALITY! YOU ARE BUT AN ILLUSION, A TEST FOR ME TO OVERCOME! "
Yelled KD-554 in a fit of rage as she clawed at Krystal.
Despite lacking a heart, she still managed to morph her body back into a stable form before charging at Krystal. Ari quickly reacted by stabbing KD-554 through the back repeatedly, but the enraged monster didn't care at all as she savagely attacked Krystal. One blur of silver after another, Krystal struggled to defend herself against the onslaught of slashes and strikes, suffering many injuries as the spikes broke through her defence.
KD-554 abruptly split in half, one end jumping up while the other puddled under Krystal's feet. As she reunited into one, she inflicted another lethal slash through Krystal's middle. However, in the blink of an eye, Krystal was standing at full health in front of KD-554 before she stabbed her guandao through her enemy's chin and flung her away in one swift swing. Yet, KD-554 didn't give up as she immediately dashed back at Krystal like a rabid animal, screaming and clawing against the certainty that awaited her.
Either burying Krystal under a collapsed structure or by invading and destroying her body from the inside, nothing worked toward KD-554's desired outcome. All she achieved was draining the final spark of strength left inside her body while Krystal still stood unharmed. By now, KD-554 was simply a sorry shadow of the beast she used to be, reduced to a misshapen humanoid creature that could barely leave scratches on Krystal's boot.
Meanwhile, Krystal looked down at KD-554, her expression a silent indifference as the monster that tormented her garggled in broken words while its crimson eyes slowly lost their glow. To imagine such a level of hatred existed, where even in her dying breaths, KD-554 still struggled in a desperate attempt to harm Krystal. However, as Ari attempted to end the monster with a final strike, Krystal abruptly extended her guandao and halted her sister's hand.
[Ari] - "What are you doing? Just put this rabid bitch down already. "
[Krystal] - "No! All this time, she pursued something more than a simple victory over me. All these games, the engineered suffering, were her attempt to bring me down in a symbolic way that cemented her victory over me both ideologically and physically. "
Krystal leaned down and grabbed KD-554's neck, forcing her enemy to stare her in the eyes. As KD-554 yelled in rage at Krystal, she responded by screaming back at her with equal fury.
[Krystal] - "You love symbolism this much? Then let's see. Let's go to where it all began! Let us go back to that very moment when you embraced this form, let's see if you have anything to prove! Face me and defeat me, and I will not come back to life and let you win! "
Said Krystal, her face pressed against KD-554.
[Ari] - "Wait, Krystal, what do you mean by that? "
Said Ari, concerned.
[Krystal] - "I won't let her get away this easily for all she had done. She will answer for her crimes! I promised she'll die broken, so until she shows me fear, I will not stop. "
With a wave of her hand, Krystal expelled Ari out of her ability, leaving only her and KD-554 in this infinity of lonely worlds.
[Krystal] - "Show me your worth in your true form, face me where it all started! Do you accept? "
Yelled Krystal, her eye burning with the same crimson as KD-554's.
The world shifted under Krystal's command, the current reality shattering before a void took over the horizon. Then, like puzzles, piece by piece, a different reality began to take shape. At first, the place seemed random, but soon, KD-554 remembered the decorations and cozy look of Amelia's home. Krystal was holding her at the spot where Julia died under her blade that fateful day. It was clear now that Krystal was offering her a second chance, somehow, to fight her again. And just as Krystal had predicted, KD-554 whispered her consent to be reformed using the last of her breath.
Despite KD-554's struggle, her eyes finally closed for the final time as her body gave up at last. Yet, this will not be the end for her, as she abruptly woke up in her old body, at the very moment that fateful day she struck down to end Julia's life. Yet, instead of striking a helpless Julia, another blade intercepted hers. Snapped from that moment, KD-554 turned around to see Krystal's blade locked against hers, sparks flying across the floor as it did.
[KD-554] - "What the fuck? Where did you come from!? "
Shouted KD-554 in confusion.
As KD-554 snapped away from the blade lock, she looked around in confusion as Julia seemingly disappeared from her sight despite being on the floor a moment earlier. At that moment, only Krystal remembered what had happened across the years, while KD-554 was back to her old self. Yet, even then, Krystal found the same savage beast within KD-554's eyes as now.
[Krystal] - "Prove me your point, sister! You had always called me weak for my humanity. If so, then strike me down where I stand. PROVE ME WRONG, BASTARD! "
Yelled Krystal as she pointed her wrist blade at KD-554 while throwing away her guandao.
Despite the confusion, KD-554's hatred for Krystal seemingly carried over from the present as she immediately prepared to fight Krystal.
[KD-554] - "I had enough of your bullshit, you filthy whore! Cogitas, ergo non es; You think, but you are not! Your end is today, alongside your fucking pack of rats! "
Said KD-554, her eyes burning with hate as she circled Krystal.
The moment was both nostalgic and haunting for Krystal as she remembered the aftermath, where she saw the mangled body of her older sister, where she was standing. The body showed the silent gaze of a woman who had moments earlier, before her death, rejected the darkness that had marked her and embraced the humanity within her heart. Julia might not be here, beside Krystal, nor could Krystal change the past through her action here. However, she knows Julia is watching, and she's waiting for the retribution that has finally arrived nine years too late.
Yet, Krystal was not here to mourn or cry; she was here to deliver justice. A vengeance for a crime KD-554 thought she escaped from, a chance to destroy her arch-enemy in the most poetic way possible, at the place where she was born. For KD-554, who had no memory of the events leading up to the present, it was as if she were confronted by Kadyn at that very moment, where she thought there were no witnesses or a judge to sentence her. With a satisfied grin, Krystal readied herself for the upcoming fight.
[Krystal] - "Cogito, ergo sum; I think therefore I am. Let us debate, sister! "
To be continued...