The Fall of Righteousness

Chapter 9: The Final Stand

Eclipse raised his spear, stabbing the kitarchi. Then he moved on.

The war was being lost. The Lazer Lightzest soldiers were being decimated. The General was too powerful. Suddenly, he was propelled backwards. The General stood there, just standing, amid all that chaos. Soldiers were fighting all around, but he just stood there, looking at Eclipse.

Eclipse spoke. "Why did you do this?"

The General removed his mask, the writhing liquid concealing his face disappearing with it. Eclipse took his first look at General Morzo. He was a proud man, with long, flowing hair and a defining face.

"I did this for no one."

Eclipse frowned.

The General explained. "King Lightningdorn was the user of the Lightningdorn chip before your friend Lazer. He killed my father. He died that night. I didn't kill him."

So?" Eclipse was almost shouting, all the rage boiling up coming out of him at once. "That doesn't explain how you massacre people like they're nothing. The people at that resort were innocent, and you killed them. Lazer Lightzest has nothing to do with your old grudge, but you just want someone to take out your anger on so that you can get your petty revenge." Tears were streaming down his eyes. "You killed my family!"

Letting out a cry of anger, Eclipse leapt at Morzo, but his rage was making him clumsy. Morzo grabbed his arm and kicked at his leg, his other hand hitting Eclipse's stomach. He fell back, wounded.

"I've lived a sad life, Eclipse Power." Morzo snarled. "You lost your family? Well SO DID I! I don't want revenge against Lazer Lightzest. I want revenge against everyone who ever hurt me. And that's a lot of people."

When Eclipse didn't say anything, Morzo continued.

"They took me to a boarding school. I was bullied and pitied because I had no parents. An event of your life doesn't define you."

"Then you shouldn't let it, should you, Morzo?"

Bombstrike Boundrise stood there, injured and holding his arm in pain – but his voice was loud and clear.

"You've done so much to try and hurt Lazer Lightzest. You willed Crawler to persuade Max Deathly to cause a blackout in London. Then, you helped Crawler get a nuclear bomb to wipe out a city. You stayed with Crawler, helping him escape from the spirit world. When that didn't work either, you told him to kill Lazer Lightzest. After that, you took matters into your own hands."

The General's voice was calm. "I didn't want a life of suffering for anyone, not least myself. I let that event define me because, without it, I'd be a normal person who wouldn't gain anything."

Bombstrike kept calm. "You can walk away. Leave, now. Surrender to us and we won't hurt you. You'll be free to go, and you can make a good name for yourself."

"Never." The General put his helmet back on. "I've come all this way, I can't just surrender now."

Bombstrike nodded. "I understand. But you realise that if you walk away, you won't come back."

The General nodded. It was almost tragic. "Goodbye Bombstrike Boundrise. For good, this time."

The General raised his hand, and black energy began bubbling from it. Bombstrike closed his eyes.

***

A scream erupted from the battlefield. Bombstrike opened his eyes. The General had his hand pressed against his chest. Bombstrike saw the black energy overcoming him. The General smiled at him, a sad smile. And then he said his last words.

"Goodbye, Bombstrike Boundrise."

***

The war was over, and everyone knew it. Without the general, Villain Town's forces were defeated. They holed themselves up in their small little fortress and never dared to come out again. The kitarchi however was a different case.

The Kitarchi obeyed whoever had killed their master. But Bombstrike knew that wasn't the case here. The General had used his power on himself, immediately killing himself. So who would they obey now?

Bombstrike stood in front of thousands of kitarchi, his position elevated, almost as if he was on a stage.

"Kitarchi," he shouted, "your master is dead, killed by his own hand. You are free to go. You no longer have a master. You can live your own lives."

One of the kitarchi stepped forward. "We have had a master nearly all of our life," he said, "and it would be wrong to change this now."

Bombstrike frowned. "Then who will be your master now?"

The Kitarchi stepped back, and Bombstrike watched as they all kneeled.

"We would be honoured to serve you, Master Bombstrike."

Bombstrike smiled. For once, things were finally looking up.

***

Bombstrike had let the kitarchi stay in the spirit world, as they had lived a lot of their lives there. Working alongside the Lightzest soldiers, they would enforce the law and ensure that no villainy would take place. After that, he had to address the real problem.

After dealing with the kitarchi, Bombstrike had immediately gone to hook up Lila to the new Sonic Jet. However, he was afraid that it would be too late. Eclipse had taken Lila to the Sonic Jet and hooked her up quickly, but Bombstrike was the one who hooked her up to the main power source, instead of any sub-power sources. Her battery was slowly charging, but Bombstrike was unsure whether she would recover or not.

Bombstrike watched as the needle slowly ticked from 5 to 6. Lila's battery was charging at a snail's pace – but Bombstrike was happy that it was charging at all. Eclipse was lying on a bed next to Lila's, in the middle of the control room. His arm had been injured while he was fighting the General, and a Lazer Lightzest droid was nursing it. He stood up, his arm in a sling.

"Will she recover?" he asked.

Bombstrike shrugged. "Only time will tell."

The two of them walked to the cockpit, preparing to set off for home. Bombstrike took the pilot's seat, while Eclipse took the co-pilot's. They looked back at the spirit world. Bombstrike placed his hand on a scanner, and as it recognised his fingerprints, the jets started, and the Sonic Jet rose off of the ground. They had come through a computer in the Sonic Jet, but in her final moments, Lila had managed to bring the whole Sonic Jet through a giant portal between worlds. Pushing the half-wheel forward, the jet accelerated, and Bombstrike urged the contraption through the portal. They were going home.