Chapter 14:
T.A./H.A. Paranoia Hero
“In there!”
The wails of the troubled woman grew louder as Agon sprinted closer to an old shack. He swore that he could feel the weight of the woman’s distress on his shoulders. He wrapped his hands around the knob, only to find the door was locked. Agon began to jiggle and twist the knob in every which way. Seventeen minutes were left on his clock, yet despite the pain of each passing minute, he kept trying to pry the door open. He started to bang his body against it. After a couple of tries, he knocked the entire door to the ground, falling into a dark and damp room. He looked around to see the hides of animals of various sizes all along the floor and walls.
“Empty…? But I heard it coming from…wait…”
The wailing of the mysterious woman had stopped completely. In its place was a deeper voice shouting angrily outside the shack.
“THAT’S IT, YOU’RE DEAD, LADY!!!”
“That must be who’s attacking that woman!” Agon jumped to his feet and ran outside. “Hey, leave her-!...Ah?”
He paused as he saw two peculiar figures. One was the malnourished body of a woman who was coated in a dark aura. She wore what seemed to be an animal’s hide fashioned into a shawl, and a dress that was ripped at the very bottom. In her left hand was a weapon with an ominous energy: a rod with a spiked ball attached to the top; a morning star. All around it were contorted faces of creatures folding and blending into one another; they yelped and howled in her hand. Just several feet from her was a boy dressed in long, pristine white robes, accompanied by a hood; however, the robes could only be seen on the right side of his body. The other side, namely his foot and arm, were wrapped in a strange purple casing with chains and small gravestones that acted as weights. They were also much larger than his right foot and arm, almost like he was wearing a giant’s boot and glove. Agon watched the aggravated boy struggle to drag his left side closer to the armed woman, all while cursing at her at the top of his lungs.
“What…is happening right now…?” Agon was aghast until he heard the boy shout again.
“HEY YOU!!! GET OUTTA HERE!!! DON’T YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THE MOURNING STAR IS?!?”
“Wait…that thing-khh!-i-is the Mourning Star…?” His realization was cut short by another minute passing by, yet he was still frozen in shock.
“You seriously don’t…?! Look, just get out of here before you get-ACK!” The Mourning Star darted towards the boy with lightning speed, and with both hands swung her weapon at his right side, sending a rupture through his rib cage. He was knocked back quite a distance. She first watched as his body rolled across the ground, then snapped her head to look at Agon, who couldn’t move a muscle. He finally got a good look at her face from under the hood of her shawl; it was mangled and swollen. The Mourning Star began to cry and hold her head in her hand while she used the other to wave her weapon in the air.
“That’s the woman’s cry I heard earlier…! So it was coming from her all this time!”
The Mourning Star stopped its cry and slowly stepped towards Agon; each step she took prompted him to step back farther. The contrast in distance urged her to move faster. One step forward, two steps back. The Mourning Star drew closer to Agon, speed increasing with each step. Soon enough, she couldn’t hold back any longer and lunged at him full force. He tried to take the best defensive stance that he could. But just before she could attack, the boy from earlier called out.
“NOELLE’S GUARD!!!”
He held out his right palm towards Agon, and a golden light outlined his body instantaneously. He briefly studied the warm glow that surrounded him before he saw the Mourning Star just several inches from his face. She swung her howling weapon at his head, making him wince as he braced for impact, but the weapon bounced right off him.
“W-what…?” Agon looked past to see the boy standing firm with his right arm extended towards him. His open palm glowed with the same energy that encased Agon’s body.
“H-how did you…?”
“Hey, you’re not invincible! Get outta the way, now!” The boy warned. Agon was too puzzled to process his words and ended up taking the Mourning Star’s follow-up attack right to the top of his head. The shield of energy dissolved as Agon’s face was spiked to the ground; he went from standing perfectly upright to flat on the soil in the blink of an eye.
“Argh! Are you even listening to me?!?”
Surprisingly, Agon wasn’t unconscious. It seemed that the shield was able to take a good amount of the impact before it broke. He pulled himself from the earth, catching his breath. His chest ached along with the rest of his body. Fourteen minutes remained.
“O-Ouch…”
Just as the Mourning Star prepared for a secondary attack, the strange boy shouted at her, holding his side.
“Hey…If you’re gonna hit me like that…you’d better make sure I can’t get back up!” The Mourning Star screeched and dashed towards him once again.
“There ya go…take the bait...” The boy said darkly. She approached him with vigor, weapon firmly grasped, ready to honor the boy’s demand. She was nearly right in front of him now.
“There…!” He took his left arm, clad in dark energy, and hauled it above his head. His hood flew off to reveal a bundle of maroon hair fashioned into a wolf’s cut that rolled down to his shoulders. His eyes were a completely different sight. He had no pupils, just a black outline in place of his irises. His left arm quickly dropped towards the ground in a powerful swing.
“SIX FEET UNDER HAND!!!” His large hand opened up and plunged into the earth. A trail of dark energy sprang towards her. A hand sprouted from the ground and snagged the woman’s ankle just as she stepped closer. “Gotcha!” he exclaimed, pulling her underneath. She disappeared beneath the soil in the blink of an eye. The trail then found its way back to the boy. He pulled his arm from the ground and held the Mourning Star up as high as his heavy arm would allow. She squirmed and shrieked in his ear like a scared gopher that got yanked from its burrow.
“Argh…you need to relax…!” The boy used his left hand to crush the Mourning Star’s ankle. With an echoing crackle, the woman cried out, beating her weapon against his hand, trying to get him to loosen his grip so she could escape. Though with her ankle broken, she wouldn’t be able to make it too far.
“Now, it’s just me and you…”
Agon got up from the ground and saw the Mourning Star flailing in the boy’s grasp. She swung her spiked weapon around wildly, barely missing his face time and time again. Agon felt another minute slip away; his chest flared with the deity’s spite. Thirteen minutes left. As the heat subsided, the gears in his head began to turn. He got back on his feet and ran towards the boy and the Mourning Star.
“I gotta be the one to beat this thing...! I gotta take it down before this guy does! How does my power work again…?” Agon looks at his right hand and balls it into a fist. “I just need to apply pressure to my left chest, but not too much, or I'll cook a hole right through my body…Easy. Wait...How much IS too much?!?” He drew closer to the fight, and the boy spotted him coming near.
“Wha-?!? What are you DOING?!? I gave you an out! You’re gonna die!” He barked. Agon was too lost in his own thoughts to pay attention. He took his balled fist, tapped his chest, and proceeded to try and blow out a mighty flame; not a single puff of smoke left his lips.
“Ay! Listen to me right now, and turn around! You’re not beating this thing!” The Mourning Star managed to land a hit on the boy’s side, the same side she struck earlier. He dropped to one knee, still holding her firm in his left hand. She had an advantage now. Her weapon rose high into the air, ready to club him right atop his skull. The boy raised his right palm to the woman, emitting a golden glow. He strained as his side began to bleed. Agon beat on his chest several more times, huffing and puffing with all the air his lungs could store, but not a single flame found its way to his throat. The Mourning Star bashed the boy’s skull, knocking him to the ground. His grip finally loosened on her ankle, allowing her to wriggle out. She stood above him with her broken foot dangling several inches in the air. The final strike was only seconds away, and the boy wasn’t showing any signs of getting up.
“NO!” Agon shouted. He punched himself hard in the chest, and just as he did, he yelled in his head.
“HEARTBURN…!” His chest was set ablaze, and the stir in his body stopped him in his tracks. The Mourning Star stopped to look at Agon as his throat glowed and his cheeks puffed out with the same light. A hearty blaze was summoned forth, brewing in Agon’s mouth; it was intense, but he wasn’t in pain. This felt nothing like Olagna’s searing brand; this was his own scorching will. Agon began to mold the fire between his teeth, chewing upon the strands of the flame like gum. He smacked loudly. With each time his mouth opened, the Mourning Star got a glimpse of the inferno. When he got it down to a concentrated shape in his mouth, he inhaled as deeply as he could and pushed out a radiant breath of pure fire. His eyes didn’t show it, but Agon was astonished. The flames swept across the grass and engulfed the Mourning Star. She screamed in agony, her voice rising and falling between octaves. She twirled amongst the flames until her silhouette disappeared behind the hearth. As the flames subsided, all that was left was a pile of ash. The shack that Agon had stumbled into had also crumbled to dust. He watched the last ember dissipate and coughed up several puffs of smoke.
DEFEAT THE MOURNING STAR: MISSION COMPLETE. 3:00:00 BT ADDED.
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