Atenos swung relentlessly at Thel’s head, desperately trying to land a hit. Thel dodged all of her strikes, occasionally taking a step backwards for breathing room.
Zaratos snuck up from behind and clasped his hands together, making one of Thel’s feet sink down into a tiny hole. Finding himself unable to properly move in time, Thel found himself staring down Atenos’ rapidly-approaching fist.
The instant before Atenos made contact with his face, Thel burst into a puff of dust and reformed behind Atenos. Before she could turn around and react, Thel summoned a sword and buried it up to the hilt into Atenos’ back.
As Atenos collapsed to the ground, Thel stepped over her body and locked eyes with Zaratos. The cut Zaratos had given him on his face had already closed, leaving behind nothing but a faint scar. “Nice move, pal. But it looks to me like you’re all alone. Isn’t that such a shame?”
Before Zaratos could open a hole under his own feet, Thel teleported forward, grabbed Zaratos by the throat and shoved him to the ground. Before Zaratos could recover, Thel placed a sandal-clad foot on top of his chest.
“You put up a decent fight, I have to say. I’ve got a few notes, but I won’t waste your time.” He pressed down onto Zaratos’ chest.
Zaratos could feel his ribs slowly crack under the pressure. Thel’s robes began to take on a dark orange hue as Zaratos’ entire field of vision turned yellow. “No, I’d… I’d be happy to hear a few pointers…”
Thel snorted. “Aw, cute banter!” He threw his arm into the air and the snow around him flew upwards, completely obscuring the outside world. “But stalling won’t help you. Nobody is coming to bail you out here. You never stood a chance, not really. And now, you’re going to die alone. But hey, look on the bright side. You got the chance to trade blows with Thel, world-famous threat to global stability. So, y’know. Count your blessings.”
Zaratos moaned in pain. He could feel his blood pooling at the back of his mouth. “Oh, shut up. If there’s… really nobody coming, then just… get it over with… finish me off.”
Thel scowled. “With pleasure.” He pushed his foot down, crushing Zaratos’ chest to a pulp.
Thel stepped away from the body and twirled his hand, burying Zaratos in the snow. Thel began wiping his bloodstained foot in the snow when he heard someone clear their throat behind him.
Thel smirked, but didn’t turn around. He knew who was behind him. “So, my good-for-nothing nephew decides to finally grow a spine and face me himself. Good job.”
Horan folded his arms. “Yup. Sounds to me like you’ve been busy. Have you gotten all that murder out of your system yet?”
“Nah...” Thel turned around, red eyes ablaze with light. “I think I can go for round two.” He summoned another sword. “Besides, I’d never pass up the chance for a fight like this. Deposed nephew and his rival uncle, ready for the final confrontation. The final clash between good and evil! It’s a little one-sided for my liking, but this is going to make my day. I can feel it.”
Thel raised his sword and pointed it at Horan. Massive pillars of searing chaotic energy erupted from the earth, turning the entire landscape blood-red with piercing light. Thel laughed maliciously. “Horan, we’re finishing this! Right here, right now!”
Horan nonchalantly inspected his nails. “Nah, I’m not really feeling up to it today. Mind if I reschedule?”
Thel instantly deflated. The pillars of energy sputtered out of existence, leaving patches of barren dirt where snow should have been. “…Excuse me?!”
Horan looked back at Thel. “You’re excused. Anyway, I’m not really in the mood to deal with you right now, so I was hoping we could make an appointment for some other time?”
Thel dropped his sword slightly. “Wh…” He brought his sword back up. “Oh, no. No-no-no-no! I know what you’re doing here, and it won’t work!”
“What won’t work? I’ve got places to be, is all.”
Thel growled. “You cut that out, right now. I have not been having a good day. First I hear you snooping around my city, then I don’t get to kill anyone with my giant storm mode, then I have to deal with a bunch of nobodies with no emotional attachment to me, and now my nemesis is acting like I don’t matter?! You will fight me, here, and you’re going to act respectful while you do it!”
Horan chortled. “And how would I do that? There’s not much for me to respect.”
Thel’s eyes blazed with light. “Not much?! I am the greatest villain to ever threaten the balance of the world!”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Horan turned up his nose. “If I needed to announce that I was a villain in order to get people to notice that I was, in fact, a villain, I would have given up out of shame a long time ago.”
Thel took a single step forward. The snow melted where his foot landed, and the ground itself cracked under the pressure. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with, kid. I could squash you like a bug in less than a second, and you have the nerve to mock me? I slaughtered the entire rest of our Domain because they annoyed me! All you’re doing here is digging your own grave!”
Horan slightly raised his foot as if to take a step back, but stayed put where he stood. “Good for you. Say, if you’re going to talk about nothing like this, I’m gonna have to split pretty soon.”
Thel roared. “SHUT UP!” He waved his arm and a patch of snow next to Horan burst into the air and rained back down, dusting Horan’s hair with white powder.
Horan shook his head, throwing the snow out of his hair. “Ooh, neat trick. Hey, if you’re a real villain like you say you are, would you mind doing a monologue? It’d be cool to hear you do something a little scary for once!”
Thel screamed and hurled a ball of energy at Horan, who quickly sidestepped the attack.
Horan tutted condescendingly as he watched the bolt of light fly off into the distance. “Just mindlessly attacking? That’s a shame, I was hoping you would pull off something with a little more class.”
Thel’s entire body began to visibly glow. “Be quiet! I’m trying to finally get some enjoyment out of this, and you’re sucking the fun out of everything! You always ruin everything, you little brat! Stop trying to mess with the moment and admit you’re afraid! Admit it! Tell me!”
Horan shrugged. “Not my fault I’m not scared, you’ve got awful presentation. Say, how about we get back to the basics? Can you say, ‘You’ll rue the day you crossed Lord Thel’?”
“SHUT UP!” Thel’s hands began to crackle with energy.
Horan walked backwards between a boulder and an uprooted tree. “No, you already used that one. Looks like we have to go back to the basic basics. How about you instead say, ‘The cow goes moo’?”
Thel burst into a cloud of snow and reformed within arm’s reach of Horan. As he grabbed Horan by the front of his tunic and lifted him up with one hand, Thel’s entire body burst into hazy red flame. Horan could feel his skin near Thel’s hand begin to peel off from the heat.
Thel pulled his other hand back as if to punch Horan in the face and began to scream. The scream was one of pure rage and malice, and echoed through Horan’s bones.
Right when Thel was about to completely annihilate Horan, Mark leapt out from behind the uprooted tree, gun raised at Thel’s face. “Now!”
Omet jumped out from behind the boulder at Mark’s command and grabbed Thel’s outstretched arm. Gritting their teeth from the pain, Omet pulled away from Thel’s arm and yanked half of his Roi out of his body.
Thel screamed in agony and dropped Horan to the floor. The instant Horan was let go, Mark shot Thel in the chest and sent him toppling to the ground.
While Omet had taken Thel’s Roi, the Egyptian power rejected their Aztec soul. Three strings of glowing, incomprehensible symbols swirled around their arm, scorching any flesh they passed over. They really didn’t like being stuck with Omet.
Clutching their arm, Omet staggered over to Mark for support. Once they got close enough, the multicoloured symbols shot off of Omet’s arm and flew through Mark’s chest.
Omet collapsed to the ground, leaving Mark as the only one still standing. Horan slowly got to his feet. “W-what? What happened?”
Mark inspected his chest. There was no sign of the Roi anywhere. “…The plan worked. Omet stole half of Thel’s Roi. Honestly, wasn’t sure their powers would work on him. That-that’s good to know.”
Thel stood up, nursing his head. “You what?” He quickly examined Mark. “Say, weren’t you the human who shot me in the face back in Cairo?” He lost his footing for a split-second before regaining his posture. “No, wait, I don’t even care! Where are they?! What did you do to my power?!”
Omet groggily pulled themself to their feet, cradling their burnt arm. Thel looked at them furiously. “It was you, wasn’t it? Where are my Roi?”
Omet chuckled weakly. “Wouldn’t you like to know, old man?”
Mark raised his gun and pointed it at Thel’s chest again. “You’ve lost your powers, Thel. We’re giving you one chance to back off and leave Horan alone.”
Thel grimaced. “Didn’t you hear me the first time? I’m not doing this because I’ve got some big plan that needs fulfilling. I’m doing this because you people completely ruined my plans that I did have! I don’t have anything else to be doing. I’m just here so I can kill you all. And if I give up now, five thousand years of waiting will have been for nothing.”
He walked over to the boulder Omet had hidden behind and nonchalantly placed one arm on the side. “Besides. You think that just because you hobbled me like that, I’m completely powerless? Please. I can still take on all three of you, and I’m not going to rest until everyone who’s given me a miserable time has been wiped off the face of the earth. Maybe then I’ll finally be happy.”
He dug his fingers into the boulder, lifted it over his head and prepared to crush Mark with it. Right when he was about to bring the boulder down, Omet jumped up and split the boulder in two.
Mark stared briefly at the two halves of the boulder, which slipped out of Thel’s grip and tumbled to the ground. He quickly regained his composure and pointed his gun at Thel’s head. “Phase two! Attack!” He opened fire.