11th-Hour Superpower
Many times, as the hero is facing his darkest hour before The Climax and final battle, he's rewarded one final gift from fate that gives him the strength to see through his quest. Exactly how such a thing manifests varies widely: Perhaps it was triggered by The Power of Love or The Power of Friendship (or at least some good heroic resolve). Note that where video games are concerned, if the superpower is a new gameplay ability or Power-Up for the character acquiring it, it is often purposely Overpowered.
Expert from TVTropes about the "11th-Hour Superpower"
They say that someone's death doesn't hit straight away. They say that makes you feel icy cold and empty, before suddenly plunging you in a river where the current overcomes you and leaves you drowning. They say that the water somehow feels both icy cold and searing hot at the same time. Trist was always smiling, maybe not excitedly, but still warmly and peacefully. But now not a single hint of colour of left in his cheeks. The world around him spun as he tried to accept what just happened. But who the hell can just instantly recover from watching two of his best friends die right in front of him?
And now, Trist, Skye and Neptune can only stare up at the four bodies hanging from the entrance to the tower in shock.
For Neptune, he just stared at the bodies hanging up above wondering to himself how they died. As a merman who spent his entire life under the sea, he never had the ability to smell things above water. He can definitely "smell" the difference between seawater and freshwater, and can tell the general direction of a dying shark, but in this situation, he can only look at Skye and Trist's pale faces as he tried to imagine how bad it must be.
For Skye, she had once come across the decomposing body of a man who got lost deep in the woods. The smell felt like the grim reaper had personally punched her in the face. She remembered that one she and her co-workers came across the body she almost vomited and the image of his face rotten away by death was forever burnt into her mind. This reminded her so heavily of that man that it wasn't even okay as she collapsed and tried not to vomit.
For Trist, it was the worst feeling that he had ever felt in his entire life. Worse than his suicide attempt. Worse than those cold nights with nothing but a blanket that did nothing to keep him warm. Worse than Austin. Hell, it felt even worse than Close to me. He clenched his fists as his whole body shook. This was all too excessive... Too brutal... As if slicing Pi's throat, throwing Quin off a tower, doing.... that to what he assumed was Lumina and slowly killing Tetra before his very eyes wasn't enough, he hung their bodies up outside of his tower as a warning or possibly even a trophy. It was almost as if their bodies radiated a darkness so deep that tendrils of it squeezed at his heart.
Pi's once radiant smile was nowhere to be seen as the artificial, bloody one that had been carved into her neck smiled hauntingly down at the world below. Dried blood oozed down her throat and staining parts of her iconic hoodie. Her luminous aura would never shine again. No matter how badly Trist wanted it back.
Trist remembered the moment he witnessed Quin's body fall to the ground in front of him. The crack that emitted from his spine was sickening. As Trist stared up at the whites of his eyes, the sound of his spine breaking played over and over again in his mind. It wouldn't stop. His entire body looked like it was boneless, like it was made from jelly.
The body that he assumed had belonged to Lumina had it the worst. The corpse that hung in front of his eyes looked like a regurgitated liver that was enlarged hundredfold. When he looked at where her face should be, Trist managed to spot a few golden strands of hair among the tainted red ones. That's Lumina alright...
Trist fondly remembers the beautiful, reflective glimmer in Tetra's eyes whenever he talked to them. Even if someone in their presence told a horrible joke or if those beautiful eyes were filled with tears, Trist always admired the two sapphires embedded in their head. They were like a piece of the sky had melted off and dropped onto Tetra's face.
Trist would've never admitted this, but he always dreamed of a future the two would share. Trist already owned a small apartment from graduating the year before, and although it's not the best thing around, he's content. Maybe the two of them'll adopt a few more cats, to add to the four that Trist already owned. He dreamed that he would wake up every morning feeling safe and peaceful as he admired Tetra's still sleeping face next to his. Safety. Happiness. Love. Those emotions the cyan-haired shape seemed to give off like a perfume whenever he was around them. And now, those pure, fluffy emotions that hugged Trist's heart and gave him a will to live were long gone. No more. No more Tetra.
He was going to kill that pink motherfucker.
"Trist- TRIST WHAT THE- HOLD ON, CALM DOWN TRIST, CALM DOWN!" The voice of a shocked woman broke the tense silence as all of a sudden, without any warning whatsoever, Trist just suddenly started to pace robotically towards the door with clenched fists and a deep ire in his eyes. Skye reached a hand out to try and top him, but Neptune tugged at her forearm before she tried to do anything.
Trist just pounded both shaking fists on the door relentlessly.
That fucking bastard took away the one thing keeping him sane, the one thing bringing a smile to his face. The person he's been admiring since childhood. His Protector. His beloved. He tortured them right before his eyes and fucking TAUNTED him for not being able to save them. That sadistic bastard deserves to BURN IN HELL for even thinking about laying his dirty, corrupted talons on the light of his life.
And he would've beat the living shit out of him if it weren't for the fact that Skye and Neptune had stopped him.
Both his fists struck the heavy door, rattling and groaning with each strike. You could hear the hinges squeak with submission under the heavy, desperate strikes of the heartbroken beast. Both of the little white peaks on Trist's head had dropped down to where his proper ears were. A few drops of salty nectar dropped down to the grass below as the shaking boy released all the built-up tension and unbearable emotion inside him. Like a balloon filled with too much air, Trist just burst.
But... even if Skye and Neptune hadn't stopped him... What would he have been able to do?
The size of Blixer's talons was the size of Trist's pinkie finger, and akin to that of an apex predator. They ripped through flesh with ease and he even managed to break Tetra's arm with as much ease as snapping a thin twig. From the sheer size and strength the monster demonstrated during those moments, Trist realised that Blixer would easily break both their necks at the same time without even looking at either of them.
Trist was surprisingly strong, but not to the point where he can break someone's arm with a single flick of a wrist
He would be useless
Useless.
The devastated man sank to his knees as his relentless strikes had been watered down to weak, rhythmic thuds.
Even if he managed to break down the door, the monster would snap his neck within a second.
He felt a warm, tender hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Skye looking at him apologetically with a face paler than ivory. "Um... Do you want me to get them all down...? We can give them a proper burial..."
Trist nodded weakly, almost as if the sadness in his heart had spilled out into the rest of his body stiffening his movements as it coursed through his veins.
Holding her breath and trying not to gag at the smell that had worsened tenfold since (Y/N) was last there, Skye flew up and started undoing the ropes that held the four up by their necks. Everything in her stomach felt like it was about to just come spewing out her mouth alongside all her emotions. She felt acidic claws maul at the inside of her throat and actually had to stop and cover her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting.
One by one all the bodies dropped down to the floor. Neptune actually fainted when Quin's body dropped down and his spine bent the wrong direction. Trist just took the bodies and laid them down side by side, shoulder to shoulder. He could not take his eyes off the tainted red on Tetra's soft face. One by one, he closed their eyelids. They're just sleeping, he told himself. They're just sleeping...
"Um... Should we find somewhere to... well... Y'know...?" Skye asked quietly. "Or do you want me to give you some time alone?"
Trist, on his haunches looking at the dead bodies of his best friends, didn't answer. Skye knew enough to just stay silent and instead try and resurrect the unconscious Neptune.
Eventually, after a few moments of silence, Trist's entire body shook as he bowed his head, tears dripping down and falling onto the grass. Trist buried his face in his hands as his lips were contorted, ugly and quivering as he silently bid farewell.
But eventually, among the oceans of pain that had laid their beds upon his heart, Trist heard a voice.
Trist... It was faint. It sounded it belonged to a woman in her late 20's. He turned around and looked at Skye, but she was too busy trying to wake Neptune up to call out to him. He eventually stirred and sat up clutching his head. That's not her voice... Skye's voice was slightly deeper than that. The voice that resonated within his head sounded like a disney princess. A beautiful, singing goddess. As the waves of sadness crashed against the walls of his chest cavity, what remained of the shattered pieces of his heart that were lost in the waves started to glow. Hope. He felt hope. Trist...
Trist looked around. The voice of a goddess... Could it be the pieces of the Tree of Life on his head? His fingers instantly went to the little peaks on his head and he realised that they were warm. Even Skye and Neptune were staring at him like he grew an extra head. Trist tired pulling the little peaks away from his head, and they came off easily. Which was strange considering every previous time he tried to do so, they resisted and kept sticking to his head. They were glowing like a brilliant moon the size of his hands.
Suddenly, the three of them started hearing a weird chanting. It wasn't in english, it sounded like an old language. Like latin. It sounded like a choir of angels had surrounded them and started to sing. They just said one phrase over and over again.
Donec finita est, non finita est
The voices kept growing louder, and Trist's eyes widened when he started to feel the little pyramids on his head start to attract themselves to the dead bodies of his four best friends on the ground. Like a magnet. Like it was telling him that there was still hope.
It was telling him that it wasn't over.
Certain pieces started to join together in Trist's mind as he realised what he was being told to do. Going with his instinct, he rubbed the two triangles together just like he would a defibrillator. A bubbling cauldron of chemicals started to bubble in his stomach. Anxiety. Ecstasy. Anticipation. Fear. He looked at Pi. He was just about to try and send a shock into her body when he found that all of a sudden, they stopped mid-air. As he pushed, a mysterious force pushed back. It was like there was an invisible dome covering the four of them, and an electrical current ran through the air, making Trist's hair stand on end. Suddenly the two peaks shot away from the four bodies. Trist could swear that from the gap between their eyelids, a strange glowing light was coming out. Again. Trist did so yet again, and a mysterious force stopped him from properly touching their bodies. Skye and Neptune cheered him on as they both scrambled over to him, eyes wide with anticipation. The chorus of invisible angels chanted louder.
Donec finita est, non finita est.
One final time. Their bodies seemed to twitch with the mysterious power that was gifted to them. Trist didn't know what was happening but they were happy. Tears leaked out of his eyes as finally, a bright white light flooded his vision. And when it all cleared, he was looking right at a pair of eyes that were warm and familiar to him. He let out a cry of triumph.
Because Donec finita est, non finita est.
Non finita est.
"Okay..." Eventually, I stopped in my tracks as I ran through the forest. The trees were all shedding their leaves, pink jewels dangling from the twigs and branches and treasures littering the forest floor. If those pink leaves were really priceless jewels, I'd be rich. "Maybe... Maybe I was a little bit too harsh on him..."
Just like an adrenaline shot, a sensation of what felt like disgust started to squeeze at my heart. The emotion was hard to describe. It's like when you're playing Ace Attorney and that OBJECTION! window comes up. It's like that. It was like my entire body felt repulsed at the thought of feeling what I dare call sympathy for Fresh.
No, A voice in my head reverberated through my skull. You've seen what he's done to Tetra and the others! The amount of brutal pain each of them faced isn't even human! He doesn't have a shred of humanity left in his heart, if he did he wouldn't have done those horrible things. All of it was an act.
But... Another voice rose in my heard, just like it had a counterargument against the first voice. The scars on his arms... he did that to himself, all because he felt guilty. If he was trying to get you back, he wouldn't go that far, right? Nobody would go that far. The Fresh you saw on the roof isn't the same Fresh you just saw. Give him a chance.
Yeah, well MAYBE he would go that far. He beat up Austin and Ryleigh and Sugar for you, so maybe it's not that much of a shocker that he would purposely hurt himself just to trick you. He's a different person. He's not the Fresh you know and love. That is a heartless demon.
He was genuinely hungover. You know the relationship that guy has with alcohol, he drinks to forget. He drinks to calm his nerves. He misses you, (Y/N), he's done so much for you, he was just temporarily a bit unstable, he's a kind guy at heart, and you can tell he genuinely loves and cares about you.
It could all be an act. He just straight up and snatched you away when you said No. He was planning to skewer you and you'll end up like those bodies that were hanging from the tower. Dead. Covered in blood. Painful death.
Yeah, but he cut off his talons
He still has his teeth. You've seen how razor sharp they are.
The voices in my heard really are annoying. I felt like I was in the middle of a pair of parents who hated each other's guts screaming at each other, demanding me to take a side. If I had a hoodie, I would've pulled the hood up and tried to block out what they were saying, but those were the voices in my head. I can't get rid of them, as edgy as it sounds.
Go back and apologise. He's a good person, and if he genuinely loved you, he wouldn't be too mad about it
He's a monster through and through. You don't know how many people's he's killed. How can you just trust a killer like that?
"You really are annoying" I sighed as I sat down against the base of a tree, staring up at the dark sky above. What do you think, Trinity? O Great and powerful Tree of Life? Who murdered this man with a cold heart?
Now that I think about it, all this time I was a little too focused on Fresh. What about me? I overreacted to him just trying to help me and I ended up hurting him. Pulling his horns was a big no-no for him, and not to mention that I punched him in his nuts. I shouldn't have done that.
He deserved it
He didn't.
I am SO CLOSE to ramming my head on a tree trunk and making the two conflicting sides of my conscience finally shut up. The only say I could get them to just be quiet. It felt like a flock of angry birds screaming at me from all directions - not pleasant.
He hates you.
Following that statement I just heard a loud SLAP
Finally, a few seconds of peace and quiet.
I remember the last time I felt like this - it was when I had just woken up after smashing a mug against Fresh's head for taking Mordecai away. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised how kind of a heart Fresh had.
My first impression of him then was a bloodthirsty, power-hungry demon king. And he ended up giving my best friend back.
My first impression of him now was a bloodthirsty, power-hungry demon. And he ended up coming back for me.
He just wanted me to have a nice place to sleep during the night. And I responded to his kind gesture with violence.
Maybe I was the one at fault.
He just wanted me back and I ended up attacking him.
I should go apologise.
And at this point, both of the voices in my mind had a ceasefire. They had stopped screaming at me. Almost as if they were intimidated from the fact that I just made a decision. Even if I don't want to go back and spend the night in that warm, fluffy bed, I should at least go and apologise.
I'm sure he'll understand
I turned around and was just about to walk back the direction I had came, when I noticed something weird.
About a hundred meters from where I was standing in the sky, the pink sky had lost its dark colouration. And instead - it was turning blue. Like a patch of freshwater started to form in an otherwise polluted river. I raised an eyebrow as I wondered what it could be, but then I heard a loud boom, and a gigantic beacon of rainbow started to project itself onto the sky, followed by the loud BOOM of what sounded like thunder. The entire forest shook.
What is happening.
I was just about to run in the direction of where the noise came from, when suddenly I heard the ruling of dancing leaves, and a gale force wind punched my face. I felt several leaves land on my face. What is happening?
I eventually found myself for the ground, staring up at the strangely unfamiliar piece of blue sky. I dunno why, but I had a really bad, dreading feeling inside me. Like a mosquito had sucked all the blood out of my face.
It's over, isn't it?