"I don't... I don't believe it," Miller's vocals were shaky, sweat drawn all over his facial marks from out his pores.
Magician's pupils shrunken in contrast to how they usually are, what reflected in his icy globes were those crazed flames- chaotically moving with the simple flick of his wrist. ~At the end of the hallway... this is what lies beyond?~ Thought Matt to his very eyes, which reflected the snowy tundras he easily cast out his palms. Back when he was assigned to that hall, what he'd expected was something so much simpler, ripped skins of demons crunching on pitiful skulls, belonging to those poor deceased. His orange eyes with blacked-out eyeballs surrounding the fiery optics; ripped clothing dirtied with the blood that'd leaked out his shielded insides, that smile, despite the disturbing nature of his deathful outfit, was the same as it always had been. Childhood, teenagehood, adulthood, the only man he stood beside was that of him. The Smoldering Chariot, he who held the eternal flame of brotherhood, hand raised, that very blaze hovering above his dead-skinned palm.
"What the hell are you doing here...? Y-you died! We buried you! Henry... how are you here?" Inquired Matty to his best friend's lost soul, or rather, what remained of it, in this hollow shell, seemingly full of his partner's life.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Charging his fist up so the flames would encircle around his knuckles, the Smoldering punched at the air.
Matt shrinking his pupils as he widened beholding the fiery element aimed at him continuously swirling around, Miller grunted frustratedly, palm waving around. A wall of ice erected out from the touch of his feet turning his shoes to a frozen shape, the Magician... felt the fabric of his soul start to burn up, sweat dripping out his frozen white skin. BOOM! The back detonating instantly, the shockwave threw Matt right back so the rear of his skull would smash against the wall, figure seen flying out the door.
Rubbing at the side of his bruised face, he opened his mouth, stretching his skin feeling his jaw crack. Shaking his head side to side out of his daze, Matthew stood upright, the Chariot tearing off the sides of the door frames as he reared his handsome head out from inside the chilled chambers of that room,
"You're not him, are you? You're just usin'... h-his body! My best friend, using him for whatever twisted demonic intention you want! Who. THE HELL. ARE YOU?! YOU INSOLENT FUCKING DEMON!" Cried Matt terribly with tears pouring out the corners of his eyeballs, voice fracturing,
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL, I CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE, MATTHEW MILLER!" Responded the Chariot in Henry's body, a psychotic grin painting over his dead lips, his hair lit ablaze, burning with the coloration of the shining sun above the roof of this structure.
The tension ripe in the air, so obvious, you could cut it in the air with a dagger. Their souls were destined to clash against each other, but right before it could crumble to pieces from the tremors of their elemental spat, they fell. Another universe had turned right on its head, spitting them right out, Matt fell onto his bottom. Water splashing out from his rear, he could feel the familiarity of his manipulative power, freezing his wettened leggings of the stray droplets, Matt turned his head. What surrounded the Frosty Magician were cold glaciers, sky-scraping towering cliffs with snow painting the tips, snapping his head to the left, a line across the ground bordering to an apocalyptic scenery. Volcanoes erupting lava out from their summits, magma streams to the sides of the charred area, the Chariot awed at it all, basalt bubbling crazily, two sides of nature colliding in this alternate timeline, whatever caused this was unknown to either of them and who threw them here for this eventual fight was even further down on the scale between the truth.
Yet, though it could never be confirmed, the singular suspicion they had was supported by His meddling. Almighty had likely interfered once more in the flow of time, for what, maybe to ensure His True Happiness orchestration.
~Likely that God asshole brought us here... don't know how this stupid shit plays into His plan, though. All I have to do- is kill this piece of shit, free Henry's soul~
Everyone has a plan, or rather, they think they do, so though these words were running through his head, the question remained if Matt had the will to kill the chimera illusion of a demonic soul controlling his best friend's reanimated body. FWOOSH! Clothes burning away to turn to ash, blending in with the blazing side he was entrapped within, just as his naked body was about to be revealed to Matt's icy pupils, his flesh burnt away- to where his aflame aura surrounded the outline of his skeletal insides, charred. Blacker than black itself, Miller scoffed, breath visible in the chilled air, all it took was a simple shine in his eyes, an icy ax growing out, the double-sided sharpness protruding out the center of his hand, extending further. Then, out the other hand, he now bared two one-handed axes, wielding them at the enemy in front of him.
The memories of the past came flying pack to Matt, back when the duo of friends were only teenagers, as they zoomed ahead to leave trails of their respective elements in their awakes- it mirrored an event that occurred a long time ago. As they passed their charges at one another on each side, their eyes glanced at one another, a blast of fire propelling Henry into the air, a pillar of ice for Matt's aerial ascension, their past selves mirrored their present movements. Inhaling sharply for the Chariot, exhaling carefully for the Magician, fingers moving quickly yet properly,
~Burning Breath: Apollo!~ Henry invoked in his mind, in the middle of the air, aflame wings supporting his levitation, his fingers forming the Tiger,
~Icicle Duplication: Endless Current!~ Matt chanted within his thoughts, descending toward the blazing ground slowly, he held a flat palm close to his mouth.
FWOOSH! As the fireball was made incarnate from the ablaze air in front his lips burst out from that small targeted area, the Demon Chariot smirked. Countering that was a sparkle in freezing air, flown out driving along the forward land strip of the Magician's hand. Through the back of the fireball now stood a multitude of frosty weapons. Knives, swords, tridents, axes, all aimed right ahead at 'Henry's chest, he couldn't help but laugh aloud, Matt's feet gliding against the ground below... that familiar chuckle sent him back to the past.
Closing his fist, he expanded the temperature exponentially for the arms heading toward him, for them to explode into plentiful shards, Henry's feet slammed against the grass field behind Matt's house. Blown downward from the shockwave he'd induced, feet skidding to create a dirt pattern to the back of his ankles, all it took was a simple shake, returning to the spar. Stray fire stream following his feet as he sped ahead, icy spikes pointing upward as the Magician slid onward, the latter of which jumping right overhead just as they were about to collide.
Back to the present, Matt landed right behind his friend's corpse, swiping at his feet just as he did all those years back then, and just as Henry did to dodge in the past, he jumped right over it. Aiming for a kick to the shin from the tips of his burnt toes, Miller's eyes shone brighter, the star in the center of those icy pupils illuminating to create a disconnected ice shield hovering above the ground, the Chariot's foot was snapped. The edge of the cover as sharp as a natural metallic blade, Matt took this rare advantage over this damned demon inhabiting his partner's soul, charging for the choke as he burst out the frosty protection.
Slapping his fingers right out the way so the ashes from the blazing swipe would enter the atmosphere, Matt held that signature hated glare in his eyes, the same flare that Ben had when Henry Colon was sacrificed. No matter if he died right here, right now, nothing mattered, dying to win and risking death to win, both were drastically different things to do amid a life-threatening battle. What with his right hand slapped out the trajectory of the Chariot's throat, he dug the tips of his nails into his hand, throwing a left hook to his skull. Opening his mouth, jaw agape, a stretched-out extended arm burst out from his throat, grabbing at the wrist of Miller, barely stopping his attack.
Skin implanted with a burn mark to reveal that singed lower fleshy layer, Miller inhaled the air around them both through his rowed teeth gritted against one another. The Chariot was locked into this position with Matt, the same hand he'd used to wipe away Matthew's grabbing fingers targeted at his throat encased in the ice leading right up to his wrist. All that remained was the Demon's left hand and the Magician's slapped-away right hand, both aiming for the same thing, the former protected by a fire gauntlet, the latter encased with an icy armor piece.
From then on, their bluffs were recognized, and they jumped back, Matt onto his ice side of frost, the Chariot's feet sinking into the volcanic floor below. Drawing up their fists, they aimed their knuckles toward their enemies, each cursed with differentiated elements, Miller couldn't help but steady his breaths, while the Fire-Harnessing Demon just smirked with the remnants of his charred bony teeth. Snapping their neckbone to the side so an unnatural CRACK would reverberate outward from the impact, Matt punched his fist into his hand, knuckles cracking.
Running ahead toward one another, Magician's shoes pitter-pattering against the sliding ice, the crack of the Chariot's angular toes pressuring the ashy platform below. BOOM! Unleashing a tiny shockwave as their fists touched, anatomies barely thrown back, the Demon went for the throat chop. Slapping down his pointed-out fingers, Matt kicked at Henry's chest in the past, then clapping his hands together, all extremities interlocked, he unleashed a limitless ice beam from his throat. Attempting to freeze him right in his place, Henry had not only jumped into the air but forward as well, angling his feet downward, right while Miller was distracted- he couldn't even see the soaring attacker. Stomping the bottom of his burning toes against Matt's bare face, the Magician grunted feeling the bits of steam fly off from the kick, Colon grunted irritatedly.
Two more kicks went to aim at his face, one angled to the side of his head, then the arms of Miller went up to block them; but right then, the Chariot landed onto his bony feet. Sinking downward into a crouching posture, Matt felt a spike emerge outward from his foot, countering the descending elbow intended to break his toes. Portions of bone scraping away from this piercing thrust,
"Tch!" Shouted the Demonic Chariot in frustration at this discovery.
FWOOSH-WAH! Stupidly expecting Matt to be gazing at the after-effects of this simple stabbing reversal against his partner's reanimated corpse, a lighted uppercut aimed to burn the Icy Magician's face clean off. Nowhere to be seen, there went a KRAK as Matt chopped at the Demon's neck from behind, feeling his hand suddenly sink into the deeper nothingness of their skeleton, just as the Chariot punched behind himself, twirling around- Matt switched places to the front where he previously stood. Making this out as he saw this from the corner of his eye once finishing his spin, the Demon's eyes lit up with none other than that hated sight for all dominators or overtakers. Nothing before, and though it was just a bare skull scorched to blackness, you could make out that expression on anything, that which Matt thoroughly enjoyed from that sadistic grin over his pinkish lips.
Slashing at the air with an index and middle finger outward, a slab of ice slid right across the tundra to clash with the Chariot's side, sending him flying to the far right side of this snowy landscape. As it sank back right into the Earth, he was given a chance to stabilize himself, shaking their skull from side to side.
In the past, as they stood up from the cheap move thrown at them, Henry formed another hand seal with his extremities, the inner veins and bones now alight at the same temperature as the Sun itself. What sign his fingers formed... it was that of the Snake himself, to which the Serpent came unraveling out from the encircling wave of fire surrounding his exterior body, the Flaming Animal wrapped around Colon's back snarled terribly at their ice-cold enemy. In the past, Matt couldn't help but be excited for the coming interaction between their two animalistic spirits taken a somewhat physical form,
"Heh!" Past Miller chortled, then forming his hands together, his fingers made out the Dog hand seal...
And in the present, as an icy Wolf splashed out, piecing together from frozen shards of the ground below, the Chariot, damaged and nearly beaten, couldn't help but chuckle, the Serpent behind him. Matt, on the other hand, petting the hardened frosty fur of his spirit beast, didn't even have words at this point, not that he ever did to begin with. All he could do was close his eyes, speed ahead with the Ice Wolf at his side, arms flailing behind, the Chariot switched places so he could be facing the Canine, the Serpent roaring as it slid around, seconds away from pouncing, then to sink their blazing teeth into his frozen blood. This... was the same way it was back then. Henry was in control of the situation then, but right now, at this point, at this time, he could never let that happen again,
~I could never tell you this, not while you're alive, maybe because it's gross, to me, or cringy. But I've always admired someone like you, the whole time, always. I remember when I killed that other self, the Warrior, who represented another version of you in the future. The lies I told myself in the past when I was distraught over the murder were that I thought I killed someone innocent, that I was killing a killer, and that made me just as bad as him. The truth is; I was scared that in the future, it would be the same way, and I would have to be the person to end the life of my best friend. You lived a proper life and you had a proper death, I could never tell you much I loved you... and with this treasure, I'll keep the promise in my heart-~
Matt had slammed into the Chariot's skeletal exterior, tumbling into the volcanic side of the arena, ash touching against his exposed skin momentarily while he had the latter slammed down against this rocky below, they both had the same idea. Flipping back then running ahead, rapidly trading blows to their outsides, breaching innards out from their outer shells, meant to serve protectively. A punch to the gut wasn't blocked willingly, Matthew spitting out blood, he swiftly aimed his fist to throw the Chariot's charred jaw into a nearby lava stream. Without a painted grunt at all, a specific feature he could make out, squishing out the end of those dark sockets where orbs anciently stood, once upon a time. Painfully twisting their emaciated neck so they could stare ahead at Miller, a kick to the side of their skull sent their summit into the flaming dirt. More crumbling fractures collapsing... Matt's icy orbs sparkled in the darkness of this apocalyptic field, as his palm stood over the crown of his friend's 'restored' burnt skull.
"A technique I was never able to master, so I never used it. I remember trying it once on Jason... and it backfired on me. I only did it to knock him out, and it did the same to me. I know I can't kill you any other way. But, at least, this way, I can rest- and so can you," Matt said absolutely, there was no sense of happiness in his voice, only a tired vocalization as he gripped at the boniness surface hiding their intact brain.
~Goodbye, Henry Colon~
In the past, Matt pushed himself up from a kneeling position, aiming an icicle to Henry's throat, inches away from stabbing him there. And what laid there was nothing but happiness for his victory, Miller smiling at the same.
But in the present, their future, the Chariot had their ablaze aura disappear, propelling himself upward, the skeleton started to rebuild itself rapidly to its former glory... Henry was there, and though his eyes sparkled with life momentarily, they were dead within seconds. But he was frozen in time, the same with Matt, but as the life faded out from their eyes, there was a singular thought that entered his frozen brain,
~We are not the main characters in this world, there are side characters that outshine the protagonist, but we will never be that. We were never special... we were mere bystanders. With this treasure, I'll keep the promise in my heart even in death-
We'll be free~
At the end of the dawn, there was a light that shined on their faces brightening up their souls to this new world, golden strands moving with the wind, Ella couldn't help but grin brightly at them,
"You really kept me waiting, didn't you..?"
To Be Continued.