Ah, here we are! Here's one of them 3k words chapter. The cold had finally ceased, we even got to see the sun after all that snow, and I got that burst of motivation to go and write 1k words per day. So here we are! ENJOY!
and don't forget to tell me of any mistakes, this chapter might be full of them.
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"Thank you..." Mono said in a low tone. Not wasting any more time, he turned his attention towards the room. He walked one more time through the door and stood there beside the chair in the middle of the room. The giant door behind him closed on its own, "Alright. Here we are again. How do I get out of here?"
"Close your eyes for me, boy." The voice said. And Mono did so willingly, slowly shutting his eyes and allowing the voice in his head to lead the way. He felt a sudden surge of energy coursing through his veins. If there were any way to describe it, he felt as if he were an ancient man that suddenly became a hundred years younger, "Now listen... Can you hear it?"
Mono pressed his eyes harder and furrowed his brows, trying to concentrate harder. But he couldn't hear anything. He didn't even know what he was looking for, "I can't..."
"Reach out further, boy. What you are looking for is beyond this room. Concentrate, try harder." The voice said.
Beyond this room? Alright then. Mono let out a deep breath, calmed his nerve and tried again. Go beyond. Go beyond. This room is just an illusion. This was just like before. He had done it a dozen times before, and this is no different. Then a soft tune began to play, a soothing melody, the same song that had led him to that basement, the one that had led him to her. And now he could hear it! He can definitely hear it now, loud and clear! This will lead him to Six again, he was sure of it, "I can hear it!" Mono cried to the voice.
"Good, now follow it." The voice said.
Mono opened his eyes, looking in the direction the tune was coming from. Surprisingly enough, it was in the same direction as the giant door with the metal eye on top. Mono tilted his head and made for the door, stopping just beneath it, "But... the room will loop again if I open it..." Mono said.
"Just open the door, boy."
Mono stood there for a moment, brooding. Then he hopped and grabbed onto the knob and let his weight twist it downwards. There was a small click again, and as the door began to open, a deep purple light seeped out of the gap. Mono landed on his feet and was taken in complete awe as a new area was revealed to him beyond that door, "Oh my God..." Mono whispered, marvelling at the enormous room, with many, many sets of stairs that spanned endlessly up and down the room. Some spiralled into the walls, some led to doors, and some plunged downwards into the pit below. Were there any walls? Mono couldn't tell. This place defied all logic and reason. Mono looked back and saw that the door he came from had completely vanished, and he was left standing there on a floating stone platform leading to a set of stairs. He went onwards, treading carefully, as the stone he traversed was dangerously narrow, and vertigo struck him like a speeding truck.
He stopped there by the winding set of stairs, which led both upwards and downwards into this inscrutable complex. "Don't get lost, boy. Follow the music."
"The music! The music, right." Mono snapped. But though he found it odd, the music was leading him both up and down, he had no idea which way to go... He took a gamble and went down the stairs. Halfway down and nearing a door, the tune began to slowly fade away, "NO WAIT!" Mono cried, turning on his heels and sprinting back up the stairs, making straight for the upper level. He could hear the music more clearly now. He sighed in relief, knowing he's on the right track again.
And so he went up the stairs, up and up he went following the music until the stairs began to shift and wind into a disorienting spiral. An ominous feeling gripped him, feeling that he was being watched from all sides. He slipped a glance around him for a moment and gasped as he saw another image of himself staring right at him. He stopped for a moment, slowly raising his hand. The image did the same thing, mimicking his movements. Oh, this place is freaky. He said, looking down at his hand, and his image matched his movements. It was just like looking at a mirror.
He thought no more of it. Turning back towards the stairs, he proceeded his climb upwards. As he did, thousands of images of himself appeared, each of them running in opposite directions. Each of them went up the stairs and disappeared in the purple mist far away. He came to halt in front of a giant wooden door with wide gash marks on the bottom, wide enough for him to squeeze through.
He slipped one last glance at his images, all of them looked back at each other, all of them stood there in front of a door with the exact same gash marks. Mono waved his right hand, and all of them did the same. The music was louder than ever now, this was without the doubt the right way. Mono let out a small huff and went to squeeze through the gaps of the door.
But upon a sudden, the music stopped. Replaced by soft mumbles, and muffled words. Mono held his breath, as he made it to the other room. The air felt different, it was damp and thick with steam and everything around him seemed to be... floating. Beyond the giant hole in the wall at the far end of the room, he saw nothing but a purple void, bits of rocks and rooms occasionally floated by his view, and sometimes they were pieces of furniture. He stepped carefully through the room feeling the different force of gravity here, "Look lively, boy. You're almost there." The voice said, "The only place left to go, is up." Mono shifted his gaze upwards, and amidst all the floating debris, there was a closed door up there in the purple void, it stood perfectly still upon a giant piece of rock.
"Wh-Wha? How am I supposed to get up there?"
"Break the illusion." The voice replied.
Mono still didn't follow, "What illusion?" he said, incredulously.
"He's just around the corner, boy." The voice said and went quiet again.
Mono eyed the corner to the far right warily. He could hear the mumbling coming from the other side, it didn't take him long to realize that the forlorn voice belong to The Thin Man, or rather, his future self... Mono tipped toed to the edge of the corner and peek his head around it. The man sat in front of a desk, looking at his reflection in a round half-broken mirror. "What happened to us, Six?" The man said, rubbing his eyes with his hand, "How did it come to this? Everything I ever did, I did for you... In the end, was it really all my fault? Is this what you really wanted all along?" He let out a shaky sigh, "Goddamn it, Six. I hate you... I just hate you for leaving me! I hate you... but-" He grabbed his hat and placed it over his head, "I hope you are watching this, Zero. Every last second of it."
"Oi!"
The Thin Man flinched at the voice and kicked back his seat in shock. It fell back to the floor with a loud thud, and the desk disintegrated moments after that. The man fell back and hugged the wall behind him, panting heavily, "That's not possible!" The man said, his body and arms glitching wildly, "How did you get out?! Who released you?!"
Mono stood there by the corner for a moment, staring up at The Thin Man, "It's not too late to stop this. Just let her go." He said, raising his hands, not wanting to fight.
"You- Did you not understand a single thing I said? After everything I've shown you, after everything she's done? You still don't get it!? Nothing but harm comes from being close to a monster like her!"
"I understand completely..." Mono said, calmly, "But I just can't let you kill her."
A spasm of anger flashed across the man's face, "No... I don't think you do, you're making a serious mistake. There are no second chances after this one anymore, Zero knew that perfectly well. I won't let you throw away centuries of suffering. Especially for her." The man now loomed over Mono, his long slender arm extending towards him, "Now stay out of this-"
Suddenly a bright flash of white filled the entire room, and before The Thin Man could process what had happened, he saw his arm floating just before his eyes. Glancing quickly to his right, he found that his arm was no longer there. Eyes wide with shock, the man let out a scream, "WHAT THE-!?" His entire form glitched and disappeared, and the entire walls of the room collapsed, leaving nothing behind but a wide platform which Mono stood upon, everything else was just a wide purple void and a bunch of boulders flying by.
Mono lowered his hand and backed away to the middle of the platform. Lightning flashed and thunder roared overhead. Cars and cement trucks went whooshing past him, stones fell everywhere and the wind was strong enough to send an elephant flying into the horizon. Mono gritted his teeth and held his arms above him, forming an electric shield around him. Boulders bounced off it as well as street lamps and post boxes, the shield cracked but still held until the chaos had subsided.
As the mist cleared, Mono saw that purple void again, and there, standing on a floating rock, was The Thin Man, howling in pain, "That hurt! That hurt you idiot!" He said, clutching his shoulder, where his arm was missing, "Fine then. I see how it's going to be. You won't listen? Then I'll just have to beat it into you! Though I still can't kill you, I'll just have to leave you half-dead!" Moments later, his arm grew back without the sleeve of his jacket. He flexed it and clenched his fist, a ball of blue-energy forming in his palm, "You're strong, boy. I'll give you that. Our powers are the same! But the only difference between you and me, is that I've had forty years to practice."
"And I have, TV man on my side." Mono spat back, stiffening his body to deflect the blow.
The Man's eyes widened at the name mentioned. He growled and let out a deafening warcry as he hurled the ball of energy straight at Mono. He clenched his fist and held up his arm at the incoming attack. A surge of electric current rose from within him and shot out of his arm, colliding with the ball. The sound it made when it blew was louder than the thunders overhead, it exploded into an array of blue and purple as the sheer force knocked both of them back on the ground.
Mono was the first to shuffle back to his feet, and found the opportunity to go on the offensive, as The Thin Man still struggled to regain his composure, "NOW! Hit him with everything you got!" He heard the voice yell. Mono called forth a massive surge of energy. Blue and purple lightning danced up and down his arms and slithered between his fingers, begging to be released. Mono thrust his arm forth, hurling the waves of electric current at the man. The very core of the complex shook as the projectile soared through the purple void. The Thin Man's eyes widened once he saw his doom approaching at half the speed of sound. He held up both hands, desperately trying to block it. But his power wasn't enough. It punctured right through his shield and impaled his lower waist. Ripping a chunk out, leaving nothing but smoke coming out a hole where the current had struck him.
The Thin Man spat out blood and fell back to his knees, coughing uncontrollably.
Mono lowered his arm, panting, "Did that get him?" He asked the voice.
"No..." The voice replied.
To their surprise, The Man was once again struggling on his feet. It seems that there's still some fight in him. Mono channelled more energy from within him, readying another attack. He drew his arm backwards, but just as he was about to hurl another wave of electric current at The Man, the voice cried out, "WAIT!"
Mono stopped dead in his tracks, the bubble of energy in his hand bursting into nothing, "What? Why?!" Mono could've finished it right there, he was sure of it.
But no answer came, and The Thin Man was back on his feet. The wound on his waist was healed already. He let out a few hoarse coughs, "This is the work of a hundred years. A thousand cycles, and too many failures." He held his face with his hand, panting heavily, "I cannot die here. Not while she still lives." He looked at Mono through his fingers with eyes glowing as brightly as headlights, "No one else can bring an end to this horror... Not you... Not Zero..." The Thin Man lowered his arms. The thunders became more chaotic. Without warning, lightning struck inches away from Mono, making him yelp in fear, "Which is why I must stop you." The Thin Man said. And with that, countless rocks whirled around the platform on which he stood, engulfing him and forming a shield of whirling stones.
The Man raised his hand slowly, and lighting fell all about Mono, "Look out!" The voice cried as Mono shifted this way and that, throwing his body out of harm's way. For each time lightning struck the platform, it left behind a giant patch of black, smoke and fire. Mono fell to the ground panting heavily, "He's becoming desperate, boy. Keep at it until he has nothing left. After he exhausts himself, press the attack!" Mono was quickly back to his feet. The lightning rained down upon him relentlessly, and before long the platform began to give out under the ceaseless pummeling. The stones fell apart and sank into the endless purple void below him. The attacks continued until Mono was standing on a stone no wider than an arm's length.
Mono froze in place, sensing his doom impending. He had nowhere left to run, this time he was sure he was done for... But no lightning came. Mono looked up to The Thin Man, behind those whirling rocks, he could already see his features twisted in fatigue, and he was panting softly. Mono thought he saw his opportunity to attack, but The Thin Man didn't let up. He raise both his arms, and boulders began to float on each side, "Hey TV man? Now what?!" Mono said in a frenzied panic. The Thin Man let out a harrowing cry as he hurled the boulders at Mono. They fell down on him like meteorites on fire, one hit from them and he'd surely be squashed like a bug.
"Defend now!" The voice cried, and Mono held up his arm and form a shield around him. But one strike from those boulders shattered it into a million pieces, leaving him naked and bare for the next attack. Once he came to, he saw the second boulder soaring right at him. Without thinking he leapt off the platform, and the boulder smashed right through it and kept sinking into the endless pit below them. Mono was falling. Buildings, cars and fire hydrants flew past his vision as he plummeted into the purple void. Suddenly an old house floated underneath him, making Mono gasp in terror. With no way to break the fall, he held his hands beneath him vainly trying to form another shield. He smashed through the window and fell into what looked like a living room, then he crashed through the wall and found himself in the kitchen, one more crash and his vision became blurry. All he could think about now was this searing pain that came from his lower chest and the terrifying numbness from his right arm. Now his vision flashed purple as he crashed through another window. With one last desperate attempt to stop the fall from killing him, he formed a shield just around his vitals. He slammed against a stone platform, finally ending his fall.
He gagged and choked on the blood in his throat, he rolled to his stomach and spat them out on the stone floor, "I can't feel anything..." Mono said, shakily, "I can't do this- OH! The pain! The pain! my arm! my arm..." He looked to his right, his eyes widening in horror once he saw his arm bent in an abnormal shape.
"STOP WHINING! IT WILL HEAL!" The voice said, angrily, "Don't stop now, here he comes." The Thin Man came hovering down to Mono's level. The stones that whirled around him stopped, then floated about and neatly adjusted themselves beneath The Thin Man, serving him as stepping stones towards the platform where Mono was struggling back to his feet.
As The Man descended, Mono found that his arm was already healed, and whatever had stung in his lower chest had faded. But he kept up the act of being seriously injured, he fell to the floor faking a cough and screamed his lungs out, "What are you doing?! Get back in the fight! He's getting closer!" The voice said.
"Wait... Nobody knows me, better than me..." Mono said under his breath, then resumed faking his cries of agony.
The Thin Man approached him slowly, revelling in his victory. "Boy... let us stop this already. This is not a fight you can win. The tower is not a place you can bend to your will. Stop this now, and you will never have to suffer again." The Man said, moving closer and closer until he was mere inches away from Mono, "Go back to that room, and once that creature has been dealt with, I'll set you free. We don't have to keep doing this the hard way." Mono only answered him by desperately gasping for air, "Just give it up, boy. You'd be saving us both a whole lot of trouble."
Mono opened one eye, to see that The Thin Man was completely off guard, but still, he wasn't in range of his blow, so Mono started muttering incoherent words, making The Thin Man narrow his eyes, "You're... right..." Mono whispered.
"What?" The Man said, moving closer to hear the words.
"You're right..." Mono said, more clearly now. And now The Thin Man was in range, "I knew you were still softy. Just like me." Mono said, revealing the ball of energy he had been concealing beneath his body. The Man gasped in shock and his eyes went wide as the last thing he saw was the ball of energy hitting him at point-blank range.