Chapter 135: "Ike the Plague"
Meanwhile...
"Blast!" Ike wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "How many forms does this guy have?!"
"All of them! Now hurry and finish him off!"
MetaMechaJesus laughed, tentacles thrashing about wildly. "You must think I'm quite the boring guy!"
"Not quite how I would put it, but frankly I'm no longer amused," Ike admitted.
"In that case... how about a plot twist?!"
Thump thump thump thump thump thump.
"Not interested!" Ike lunged yet again, striking twice and again using his persona. It seemed he had struck the monster a thousand times and his attacks never really seemed to make a difference, even with Soren destroying the barrier each time it reformed and Pikachu occasionally shooting lightning from his face.
"Gyahahahaha! You must have thought I would just die and let your world persist! Well playtime is over!!"
Pikachu reared back. "Whoa! You really just used that line?"
"..."
"That is such a hackneyed thing for a villain to say."
"...well from my perspective, you guys are the villains."
"...He has a point," Soren observed.
MetaMechaJesus began to laugh yet again. "It's sad really. I will die. But you will not be the ones to defeat me. And even after I am gone, my will shall live on."
"Stop spouting nonsense!" Ike said, clearly fatigued, hacking away at tentacles because it was all he had left to hack at.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump.
"Hee hee hee... and here he comes now..."
MetaMechaJesus closed his eyes. He was mad, but at peace when he died.
"FALCON..."
"...CUT!"
The voice echoed from out of nowhere. MetaMechaJesus burnt up into a million flaming shreds. Ike fell to his knees, both in awe and from pure exhaustion.
Shiki Tohno walked through the ashes, an aura of bright flame surrounding his body.
Pikachu growled. "It's him...!"
Shiki removed his glasses and slid them neatly into his shirt pocket. "He was a fool for writing something into a story that he couldn't control. You understand, right? You were with him at one time."
Ike squinted his eyes as if it would help him remember. Somehow, it may have. "Captain... ...Falcon...?"
"Heh heh heh... That was his name," Shiki replied dryly. "Or perhaps, that was my name. At a time."
Soren walked forward slowly. "Oh yeah... you were the one who split the sea and helped us get into Atlantis, weren't you? What happened to you?"
Shiki took a reverse grip on his knife and smirked. "I died. But don't worry. I was reborn. I can never die. Never die. I am eternal."
Ike planted his sword and rose to his feet. "I don't believe it. If you can die and still continue to exist, then there is no reason why Marth or even MechaJesus should have died. It doesn't make any sense! Unless..."
Shiki's smile widened. "Now do you get it?! These eyes that can see the death of all things. This speed, this power, this undying spirit. I exist beyond the pages of this tale. I am a god. Do you understand? And that makes me..."
The three shared a collective gulp. "The true Final Boss."
"Blast!" Ike wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "How many forms does this guy have?!"
"All of them! Now hurry and finish him off!"
MetaMechaJesus laughed, tentacles thrashing about wildly. "You must think I'm quite the boring guy!"
"Not quite how I would put it, but frankly I'm no longer amused," Ike admitted.
"In that case... how about a plot twist?!"
Thump thump thump thump thump thump.
"Not interested!" Ike lunged yet again, striking twice and again using his persona. It seemed he had struck the monster a thousand times and his attacks never really seemed to make a difference, even with Soren destroying the barrier each time it reformed and Pikachu occasionally shooting lightning from his face.
"Gyahahahaha! You must have thought I would just die and let your world persist! Well playtime is over!!"
Pikachu reared back. "Whoa! You really just used that line?"
"..."
"That is such a hackneyed thing for a villain to say."
"...well from my perspective, you guys are the villains."
"...He has a point," Soren observed.
MetaMechaJesus began to laugh yet again. "It's sad really. I will die. But you will not be the ones to defeat me. And even after I am gone, my will shall live on."
"Stop spouting nonsense!" Ike said, clearly fatigued, hacking away at tentacles because it was all he had left to hack at.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump.
"Hee hee hee... and here he comes now..."
MetaMechaJesus closed his eyes. He was mad, but at peace when he died.
"FALCON..."
"...CUT!"
The voice echoed from out of nowhere. MetaMechaJesus burnt up into a million flaming shreds. Ike fell to his knees, both in awe and from pure exhaustion.
Shiki Tohno walked through the ashes, an aura of bright flame surrounding his body.
Pikachu growled. "It's him...!"
Shiki removed his glasses and slid them neatly into his shirt pocket. "He was a fool for writing something into a story that he couldn't control. You understand, right? You were with him at one time."
Ike squinted his eyes as if it would help him remember. Somehow, it may have. "Captain... ...Falcon...?"
"Heh heh heh... That was his name," Shiki replied dryly. "Or perhaps, that was my name. At a time."
Soren walked forward slowly. "Oh yeah... you were the one who split the sea and helped us get into Atlantis, weren't you? What happened to you?"
Shiki took a reverse grip on his knife and smirked. "I died. But don't worry. I was reborn. I can never die. Never die. I am eternal."
Ike planted his sword and rose to his feet. "I don't believe it. If you can die and still continue to exist, then there is no reason why Marth or even MechaJesus should have died. It doesn't make any sense! Unless..."
Shiki's smile widened. "Now do you get it?! These eyes that can see the death of all things. This speed, this power, this undying spirit. I exist beyond the pages of this tale. I am a god. Do you understand? And that makes me..."
The three shared a collective gulp. "The true Final Boss."