Chapter 92: Interview With Thunder Fist.

The set was nothing sort of majestic.

The lights in the studio blinding me as they focused on the stage. The camera crews shuffling back and forth like ants as they brought equipment to and fro. Coordinated and perfectly in synch with each other, despite the apparent chaos on set.

It was all very impressive, in a way that was hard to describe.

Being here, in the midst of all the attention and the glamour, had been a childhood dream of mine.

One that had been thoroughly crushed after I started learning statistics and got to know the actual, real odds of any one actor or potential TV personality making it to a stage.

'Yet, here I am. Being interviewed on a show next to Thunder Fist himself.'

Young, innocent, pre-Tutorial Henry would have been jumping for joy.

The current me though...

"Stomp gnomes. Bite gnomes. Pull off gnomish ears. Break gnome kneecaps. Break gnome elbows. Break gnome couples apart. Steal gnome identities. Accrue debt on gnomes. Ruin gnome credit scores. Tattoo slurs on gnomes. Burn gnome apartments to the ground. Break into gnome houses. Break into gnome cars. Steal gnome catalytic converters and flog them for copper...."

I turned to look at Vince. Feeling an explosion of pity flowing out from my heart.

Then I looked at Thunder Fist, the hero I had admired throughout my childhood.

The muscles were still there, but that was the only thing that remained more or less unchanged.

Like Vince, he had been trapped on the highest difficulty level in the Tutorial. The one Granny Golden said most participants didn't survive.

Like Vince, he had come back a different man. Changed in a fundamental level.

His eyes had become sunken-in pits. Devoid of the hopeful energy they had once contained. Always open and alert, as if he expected an attack to come from any direction at any moment. Indeed, I had not seen the man blink in all the hours we had spent together now. Not once.

Neither did he allow his mind to drift off or his focus to slip in any way.

His mouth was a firm thin line. His full lips having been reduced in some way that wouldn't heal. Maybe with a knife or some other sharp instrument.

His posture was always in that perfect sweet spot between relaxed and tensed up. From which he could leap in any given direction at the drop of a hat. His ears perked up all the while as he drew in deep, consistent breaths.

Moreover, he bore the same kind of deformities as Vince too.

His overall outline was somehow diminished around the edges. Missing fat and strips of skin around areas that should have been more or less rounded in a healthy adult male, such as around the joints and between his ribs.

It all came together to give him the appearance of someone who had escaped a concentration camp by the skin of their teeth.

Or, at least, that would have been the impression he gave off, if he and Vince didn't also share that same focused, feral hatred for gnomes.

It was a faint thing, but the mere mention of the creatures was enough to make his body tense up for a fraction of a second. The motion twisting his features in ways most people wouldn't catch, but which made my skin crawl with terror.

It felt as though I had been suddenly thrown into a tiger's enclosure, with nothing but bacon-flavored underwear to hide my shame.

I looked at his hands then. Noting a flurry of motion.

Then I gulped when I saw what he was doing.

That is, furiously taking notes.

"Yes yes. You're so smart young man. You're so so smart! I'm so glad there are people like you out there to keep humanity safe! Keep it up!"

His eyes became laser focused on Vince. The lifeless orbs momentarily filling with a hint of genuine affection, until they were again replaced by cold, unfeeling hatred.

"We have to let them know! They'll never be ready otherwise! I was so afraid that no one would believe me! I was so afraid that no one would understand! I wouldn't be able to warn anybody! But I see now that I have true friends and brothers here on earth. I see now that I am not alone in my righteous crusade. We must kill them young man. We must kill them all!"

He turned to the winged intruder sitting next to him. The one dressed in a red, half suit that turned into flowing robes from below the midsection. The one I knew as Toad-Face.

"Isn't that right Serpent-Tongue?"

"That's right brother!" The Intruder answered. "The Tyrant has told us all the truth! A gnome does not, cannot feel love or goodwill. The very idea is as foreign to them as feelings of loyalty and honor. To be a gnome is to be forever locked away from my master's boundless compassion. To live forever in vile darkness and debauchery. The only mercy they can aspire to, is that of a quick death. For every breath they take taints the air we breathe."

"Wow!" Thunder Fist and Vince both echoed. "You are so smart!"

I managed to hold back the sobs.

Though not without a great amount of effort.

"Okay people! We go live in three! Two! One!"

"Good morning world!" The familiar voice called from behind his heavy oaken desk.

"I'm Tim Hunter with the Tim Hunter show! Coming to you live from New York!"

Tim's black hair was perfectly combed and perfectly stylized. Adding to the glamour of his fine blue suit as both seemed to sparkle in under the artificial lighting. The smile he gave to the cameras could have cut through the foundations of skyscrapers with ease and the causal way in which he leaned back overflowed with natural charm and charisma. So much so that even ghoulified victims like Vince and Thunder Fist looked halfway human by standing next to him.

Speaking of which, neither so much as twitched during the introductions.

That was par for the course for Vince, but Thunder Fist had always been photogenic in his own interviews and podcasts.

'I guess going through what they went though makes you forget your social graces.' I thought inwardly.

My body cringing as I recalled that both of them had all four Types. Meaning that they were most certainly reading my mind.

Neither seemed to care much though.

"We have some very special guests tonight folks! Survivors from the oh-so infamous Tutorial! People who lived through the same things as our beloved Coffin King! Hero and savior of earth!"

It was a good thing that I remained silent, because the crowd's roar would have definitely drowned out anything I could have possibly said.

The people in the audience standing up and cheering with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for communist marching events. Where secret police might be waiting at any corner to send dissenters to Siberia.

None of these were being coerced though.

Their eyes had the telltale signs of true fanatics. The kind of people who would happily drink the cool-aid given the chance.

"So let me start of by introducing our guests for tonight! Starting off with the one and only Thunder Fist himself!"

A round of applause could be heard around the room, though it was noticeably tamer than the reaction to Sully's alias.

"You all knew him as a half Projector, half Enhancer A-Rank hero up in the great white north of Canada, but he comes to us today a changed man! Now having all four Types and ready to rock in defense of our species against the predations of gnomes!"

I blinked. Noting with some concern that he'd mentioned gnomes instead of, oh, I don't know. Rifts.

Then I squirmed as everyone in the audience seemed to be in agreement.

"Next to him, we have Mrs. Rachel Bluestone from California. Previously a motivational speaker and yoga instructor, she now comes to us as the representative of the Apprentice Difficulty Tutorial Instance. A group consisting of roughly twenty-thousand people from varying earths."

The woman he pointed to was middle-aged. Maybe mid-forties or so. But with a complexion and physique that defied those numbers. She had chosen to show up wearing a formal business dress. Complete with a modest skirt and a black top draped over a buttoned-up shirt.

Her smile was calm, but confident. Exuding a calculated amount of humility and appreciation for the exposure she was receiving.

Yet, for all that, she remained a creature of the old world. Burdened with old world values.

That is to say, she was scared (Cherub)less by all the fanatics and presence addicts surrounding her and it showed everywhere. Her true feelings leaking out in minute, near invisible movements. From her face, to her body language, all of her was tensed to the point of breaking.

I could sympathize.

"Besides her we have Mr. Henry Cornwall! From the Novice difficulty Tutorial! Which apparently hosts as much as fifty-thousand people in total! All of them stretched out over several wide campus areas! Also with him is his friend Vince! Who, like Thunder Fist, came from the highest difficulty level there is!"

Me and Vince got our own round of applause and I waved over at the crowd. Suddenly overcome with emotions other than dread.

Vince kept murmuring to himself, but I ignored him for now.

"Now, we did try to get some folks from the Adept and Expert difficulties here on this show by finding people whose disappearances coincided with the two months of the Tutorial, but sadly, none of them have returned our calls."

There was a wave of saddened noises at that.

"But, we did manage to get another special guest on our show! An Intruder summoned by the Coffin King himself! Please welcome, Serpent-Tongue!"

The toad-faced winged man stared into the crowd. Eyes filled with jubilation and expectation in equal measure. The fullness of his cheeks contrasting heavily with the forceful musculature showing through his tight red suit-robe mixture.

He waved, but not in a human way.

Instead, his arm moved awkwardly from side to side and a bit forwards and backwards at odd intervals. As if he were some thing wearing a human skinsuit, rather than an actual person.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

'Which, in retrospect, he most definitely is.'

"Good evening and good tidings, people of earth. I greet you, as a herald of the master. You who have been so fortunate as to be born human, cannot know the pleasure I feel as I stand before you now. As a changed and forgiven insect. Remade in the master's and your, image."

He smiled. Or, I think he tried to.

His lips spreading outwards in the very definition of uncanny valley.

"Very well, let's get right down to it. Mr. Thunder Fist. You are the most experienced fighter of the group by far. Having had a good two decades of experience fighting monsters. Also, by this point you've no doubt heard of the memories the Coffin King shared with all of us regarding Expert Difficulty. How does the very peak compare to the Instance below it?"

Thunder Fist began heaving.

"It was bad. There were gnomes." He said. His eyes widening and his pupils dilating as his attention seemed to drift away elsewhere.

Then he began to shake. Whether from recalled trauma or murderous fury.

"I... they hurt me. They hurt people in front and behind me. They caught us by inviting us for dinner and... they ate some of us. Children in front of their mothers. Mothers in front of their children. They killed so many of us.... so many... and when the doors opened and we had to go on Excursions, they were always waiting outside for us. They kept ambushing us when we came back."

He stared at our host.

"My level, my powers, were reset. So I couldn't... I couldn't save them all. I... I am ashamed. I fought so hard, but so many people kept dying. We scattered then. So they wouldn't kill all of us. I stayed behind while the others got away. I... I don't remember their faces. But I kept my eyes open. Always open."

Thunder Fist leaned closer to him.

"I haven't blinked in days."

"He's right!" Vince offered. "Vince ran and ran and ran. Vince hid in a closet in a house, but the closet was too big for Vince. Vince remembers Thunder Fist staying behind, but Vince didn't see him after that. They took Vince to the bad place."

Vince also did not blink the whole time he spoke.

"Vince escaped weeks later. Missing bits of Vince. But Vince did not give up. Vince hunted them in the shadows. Dropping from the ceiling and ambushing them when they were in the washrooms. Then Vince found a cheat. Vince did. Yes yes. Gnomes are good at Projector powers and they're so-so with Telepath powers, but they suck at the other two. They are weak and squishy and they cannot tell when Shifters are transformed. So, Vince killed gnomes and made gnome suits out of their skins. Vince wore costumes and pretended to be a gnome. Using combined Shifter abilities to mimic them. Then Vince kept killing them. One by one by one. Pretending that other humans killed the gnomes and ran away. Sometimes Vince would pretend that there had been accidents, other times, he would make it seem like gnomes killed each other. Vince is tricksy like that. You have to be tricksy to kill tricksy little gnomes."

"You are so smart young man!" Thunder Fist bellowed. Showing some genuine human emotion for once.

He looked like a father seeing the face of his newborn child for the first time. All love and pride and admiration.

"I wish I was as smart as you. I just kept setting their houses on fire."

Vince shook his head.

"Vince tried that. Vince found it ineffective. Too many tricksy little gnomes get away each time and then they start moving in groups so it's less easy to pick them off. Gnomes are tricksy like that. They get suspicious."

Toad-Face or Serpent-Tongue, as he was apparently called, also looked all too pleased with himself and with Vince at the same time.

"Truly! We are all blessed to be in your company! For such paragons of virtue to exist among us! How great these tidings are! Why, it almost reminds me of the gospel of our King. Of the things he himself has been doing to gnomes in order to experiment with Shifter powers. You see, apparently gnomes can still use their abilities so long as their head and hands remain..."

"Okay then!" Mrs. Bluestone clapped her hands. "That is so interesting Mr. Serpent-Tongue! I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories to tell us!"

The 'Some other time' was left unsaid, but it was still so loud that deaf people across the world heard it.

"For now, I'd like to focus on sharing information between myself and my fellow Tutorial attendees. So that we are as prepared as possible for our return in a couple of days. After all, it is our lives on the line."

She turned to me with a practiced smile.

"Mr. Cornwall, was it? How would you describe the Novice Difficulty Instance and do you know what we will be facing on the second cycle?"

My eyes flicked to Mr. Hunter. Expecting to see some reaction to the question.

But he didn't say anything at all. Merely waiting to see how I answered with bated breath.

'I guess he doesn't mind her rudeness.' I thought. 'Either that, or he's also dying to know.'

"Um, well. I guess I would describe the Novice Instance as one big school. Like, a massive one, with several sub-instances. I myself haven't seen all of it, as there are a few interconnected housing areas."

"I see." Mrs. Bluestone said. Nodding along as if she were a bobblehead doll.

"We had a similar situation in my own Instance. There were several different cities and we were being taught how to fight by certain trainers. Though we weren't taught much else about the goings on in the wider Labyrinth. The doors were opened at certain intervals and we were expected to go beyond them and either compete with different cities, or hunt monster roaming all over the place."

She paused to catch her breath.

"Did you ever fight monsters, Mr. Cornwall?"

'No, but one of my friends got possessed.'

"No." I confirmed. "There was very little, if any fighting in our Tutorial Instance. The few fights we did have were more akin to exhibition matches than anything else."

She nodded enthusiastically. Apparently elated by these news.

"How very nice!" She clapped her hands together. "And, how strong would you say the average person was?"

"I dunno. Level 10 or 12, maybe? I got as high as 18, but not everybody made it that far."

Thunder Fist broke though his glassy-eyed indifference to give me a look full of pity. So did Vince for that matter.

"Don't worry Henry. Vince won't let the gnomes get you. Vince promises."

He took my hand in his.

"Vince will not let the gnomes hurt anyone else, ever again. Vince swears it will be okay."

I forced myself to smile. Wondering how he'd react if he knew what Sully was up to.

"I will also help." Thunder Fist added solemnly. "It is the duty of the strong to die in place of the weak."

"No one is dying here!" I blurted out. "And I'm not that weak!"

Mrs. Bluestone gave me the most condescending titter I had ever heard in my life. Covering her mouth with her hand as her eyes turned derisive. Then, predatory.

"How good to know that you have had such a... relaxed time of things. I for one could not dream of such an outcome. I and all my fellows have been fighting tooth and nail to improve ourselves. In preparation of what comes afterwards."

She paused for a second.

"You do know what comes afterwards, don't you?"

"Yes. After the Tutorial ends, we will find ourselves gathered at Human City. A safe instance of the Labyrinth for Humans and only Humans. From there, we'll have a settlement period of another six months where we will have to build ourselves up as a faction and try our best to handle the Excursions the System throws at us. From my understanding, there will be worlds that constantly need our help, as well as other instances of the Labyrinth built specifically for training purposes. We'll have to begin safeguarding what we have, that is, all the human worlds, while also getting people to higher and higher Tiers to keep hungry factions from swallowing us up the first chance they get."

"It is the gnomes." Thunder Fist cut in. His teeth clenched so tightly that I feared his jaw might snap in two.

On closer inspection, they had all been filed into sharp points. Enhancing the ghoulish look even further.

"They are the ones that are coming. I have seen them do it. I have suffered under them." He stood up and showed off his scars.

"They took me. They.... they...."

He choked on empty air. Tears moistening his cheeks.

"They hurt me. They killed my friends. They starved me and so many, many others."

His eyes fell over the crowd then.

"You have all known me before. I have fought Hydras and Dragons. Kaiju of all shapes and sizes and hordes of vermin. I have fought tides of living darkness and beings made up of living crystal. I have been shocked and burned and frozen over. I have been beaten and slashed and stunned and almost killed on more occasions than I can count. And of all the scars I took, none came from retreating. I challenge anyone here to look at my old photos and point out a single scar I got from fleeing. There was none. I bled and fought so others could live and I did so not because of money, but because it weas the right thing to do. The only thing a good person could possibly do in that situation."

The audience remained silent. Taking it all in.

"And I tell you now. With no hyperbole or exaggeration, that the gnomes are the greatest threat I have ever faced. They are all experienced, talented Projectors of awesome power and they can coordinate effectively over large distances and vast numbers. All based on fear. Where the gnome that elicits more fear gets to be the bigger one. They throw themselves into the meatgrinder because they fear their superiors more than they fear us and they believe themselves to be superior to all other kinds of sentient life. They are slavers and killer and torturers to a fault and they delight on causing suffering wherever they tread."

"And they are cowards!" Vince hissed from the side.

"Tricky cowards that will pretend to be your friend and backstab you when you aren't looking! They will take you and hurt you and hurt you and hurt you and hurt the ones you love in front of you! Until you are the only ones left! And then they keep hurting and hurting and hurting and hurting....!"

"Yes!" Thunder Fist bellowed. "All of that! But don't worry! I have a cunning plan! An eleven step process I think will be the final solution to the..."

"WHOA!!!" I leapt from my seat. "Let's not run into conclusions now! Why don't we move things along for a moment and visit this later!?"

Vince started softly yanking at my sleeve.

"Vince would like to hear more about this final solution."

"No!" I snapped at him. "No! Vince does not want to hear more about the final solution! Vince will sit the (Cherub) down and stay quiet!"

"But the gnomes!" Vince protested. "The gnomes are always out there! There are always more of them! No matter how many Vince kills! Vince thinks humans should help each other! Vince would like to hear other opinions! Sharing is caring! Vince's mom says so!"

Thunder Fist chimed in again.

"He's right. We all have to work together to..."

"Of course." The lady confirmed. Snapping into the conversation once more and forcefully talking over the others.

"Which is why I personally believe that we should not waste any time in building ourselves up as a faction."

She paused for effect.

"In fact, I have already begun shaping our future form of government. Making alliances with other people in my Instance and setting up training regiments that allocate resources based on who has the most talent and the best work ethic. Why, I myself have reached level 26 recently and I aim to go even higher."

She paused. Visibly swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Not only that, I am also free of the... severe traumas that the strongest among us clearly suffer from. We wouldn't want someone who is, damaged, to be leading us, would we? After all, a leader needs to be perfectly sane and rational at all times in order to make the right decisions for the group as a whole."

It was clear from her tone and side glances that she meant to disqualify Thunder Fist and Vince with those statements, but neither of them seemed to catch it.

"With that in mind, I suggest we, of several different Instances, come together to present a unified front for when the time comes. So that we can avoid any petty squabbles after all the Instances are merged and hit the ground running, as it were. We should begin to organize ourselves after a fashion that works and choose a leader that is both qualified and capable in order to not waste time and avoid being misled by any power-hungry warlords that might arise."

She paused once more. No doubt expecting the crowd to cheer.

No one did.

I could see a hint of nervousness on her face then, but I couldn't vocalize anything at that time.

'(Cherub), you serious?'

It was incredible. Absolutely incredible.

This (Cherub) had come back to a world where all but a few of the world's governments had either fallen or restructured themselves to the point of being unrecognizable. Where the average janitor was B-Rank in three Types thanks to Sully and her first instinct had been to try and weasel her way into power? Really? Now?

"I see." Mr. Hunter commented.

His voice containing a trace of comedy even now. Wearing a smile in the same manner as lesser men would wear shields.

However, that mirth did not reach his eyes.

He, and by extension, the audience, did not look pleased. They remained alert. Awake. Incensed and insulted.

I was about to explain what had happened in this world to Mrs. Bluestone in more detail, when Serpent-Tongue spoke up.

"Indeed! You are right my dear!" He intoned. To the evident surprise of the crowd.

"The one to lead humanity should be a person of great power and great wisdom! Someone who places themselves at risk for the sake of others no matter the cost! Someone who loves and cares for all peoples equally and without prejudice! Someone who is incorruptible! Who will never abuse their own power, but instead use their power to make the lives of everyone else better and better without expecting anything in return! My dear! There is no other choice! You all must swear your allegiance to the great Tyrant! The Coffin King!"

The crowd erupted into cheers at that.

"Don't you all remember!?" He continued. "Don't you recall feeling his love enveloping you!? Don't you recall knowing that he was doing his best for your sake!? Can you not see the fruits of his labor!?"

He stood up and waved his hands theatrically.

"Don't you see how cheap your food is? How cheap your houses are? Don't you see that all criminals have been exposed to his healing presence and have been made to see the error of their ways? To see and feel the harm they were doing to their fellows? Don't you see the empty prisons and the empty homeless shelters? Don't you see the lack of addiction in the streets and the joy ordinary people carry within their hearts?"

'Only because Sully's presence is apparently more addicting than (Cherub).' I thought bitterly.

"Not only that, but he has done this without asking for anything in return!"

Serpent-Tongue whirled about. Violently shaking.

"Who among you can say that they have done more for their fellows than the Coffin King? Who among you can say that they have saved as many lives? Slain as many monsters? Tortured as many gnomes?"

"Wait, what?" Mrs. Bluestone asked. Her mask of propriety breaking suddenly.

But she was the only one.

Even Mr. Hunter, our host, was standing up now. Clapping violently along with the audience and the camera crews.

Roaring in appreciation.

"None but the Coffin King! None but my lord and master! Rejoice! For he is the perfect ruler! The most selfless, compassionate Tyrant you could have asked for!"

"His name!" Someone from the crowd chanted. "Tell us his name! Tell us who he is! I want to find him again! I need to be with him! I need to be near him!"

And then the rest of the crowd picked it up. Including our oh-so gallant host.

"Say his name!"

"Say his name!"

"Say his name!"

"Say his name!"

"Say his name!"

Serpent-Tongue waved them off with sorrow.

"Alas, our king prefers to remain anonymous for now. So that his family can adjust in peace. But rest assured, he is coming!"

'Well, he's right about that.' I thought to myself. 'Sully is definitely coming back.'

Vince's head snapped towards me. Eyes wide with shock.

"Sully you said!?"

The crowd paused to listen.

So did I.

'Oh (Cherub). The mind-reading.'

"Vince." I started. "Just be quiet, okay? We'll talk about his late...."

"Is the Tyrant Solomon Carter!!??"

I froze in place. Glancing sideways at the cameras.

'Oh no.'

"Vince has his parent's phone number! Vince will call them right now!"

"NOOOOOO!!!!"