End The LightCatcher

  Chapter 19

  Operation Lights Out

  It was not clear if End was paying attention to Snakeskin as he was discussing the mission that they had to carry out. They were on board the Canoe, flying back to the ILC. End’s mind was still inside the revelation that was made to him about him destroying the world. On the Canoe, Snakeskin had assembled a team. They were Billy Gin, the Wa Brothers, Beef, Patrick, Guile Wayne, and Mickey and Ed John. Snakeskin noticed that End was still in a daze. Snakeskin didn’t care if End was ready or not.

  “Hey, Life doesn’t wait for you to figure it out. The ILC is under attack,” said Snakeskin. His voice was raspy, calm but also stern.

  “What happened?” asked Beef.

  Snakeskin projected a three dimensional map that explained the situation. There was a voice of a Japanese scientist that came on.

  “Hi everyone, I am Takoyaki. I’ll explain everything.”

  “Who’s that?” asked Beef.

  “My IT guy.” answered Snakeskin.

  “Auto-Techie? Is that his name?” asked Beef.

  “No. My name is Takoyaki.”

  “What’s Takoyaki?”

  “Fried Octopus Balls.” Answered Akira as he shook his head at the silly name.

  “So Mr Octopus balls is going to brief us on the mission?” said Beef.

  “As of 0900 hours, the threat known as codename “Dark” has been sighted inside the compounds of the ILC and is attacking and recruiting civilians. Any civilian that has been successfully converted into Dark’s army, will remain permanently under his control till death, so there is no point in rescuing them.”

  “Kind of like zombie comic books right? No way back once you’re bitten?” asked Beef.

  “Yes exactly.”

  “So you are sending us kids to go get bitten?”

  “No, not exactly. He can’t affect kids. Only adults who had sufficient darkness in their hearts. You guys are considered pure when placed next to them. Not even Snakeskin stands a chance against him.”

  Snakeskin blew out some fake smoke from his fake cigarette. It made that silly sound.

  “As Dark is filled with mindless rage, he is considered extremely dangerous, and he has no other objective but pure destruction. He has no plan and no agenda. What he will do is first amass as large an army of followers as he can and then proceed to kill everyone else. The rest of the recruits are still outside the compounds of the school and in the jungle, so they are safe. Whenever a threat is perceived inside the ILC, the entire island will be under lockdown by means of a photon curtain projected from the eyes of the Lion Statue. No one can enter or exit the island when the photon curtain is in place.”

  “Where are the Colonels?” asked the Andy Wa.

  “Yeah, wouldn’t they come to our rescue?” asked Larry Wa.

  “A secret conference was scheduled today for the annual meeting of the Colonels and the founder of the City, The Mentor.” said Takoyaki.

  “Wait a minute, the mentor is real?” asked Beef. Everyone looked at Snakeskin. Snakeskin stopped smoking for a moment and had to answer that question.

  “That’s classified. Yes.” He answered.

  “The meeting is being set up in the inner vault of the Royal Palace of Light known as the Istanu.” Said Takoyaki, “When the meeting is in session, there will be no outside interference, so no information can be passed to them, nor them to the outside world.”

  “Dark had planned this attack exactly at this time to isolate the Colonels from himself,” said Snakeskin. He looked at End. He was annoyed that End was still looking lost and appeared not to be listening.

  “End, You will lead the team to rendezvous with Uncle E at 1000 hours to draw out weapons and lights. Within fifteen minutes, you are to assemble your team and your arsenal to launch a diversion attack on Dark, while I get help. Dark is extremely dangerous, so bear in mind, that you are to hinder him. Draw him away from civilians, but don’t engage him with the purpose of a full frontal assault. He is slow, so hit and run. Do not get close to him, or he will murder you. Do you copy?”

  End was silent.

  “Hold him long enough, until I can get help from the people who actually can stop him.” Said Snakeskin.

  “Where are you going?” asked Larry Wa.

  “I am going to the Lion’s statue to deactivate the Photon curtain, and then I am going to get my calvary. Any other questions?”

  End was still visibly shaken.

  “Why us? And why don’t you get more people?” asked Larry Wa.

  “If there were more people. Dark would just slaughter them.”

  “Then why us?” asked Beef.

  “That is confidential.”

  “But I mean, why are we the once to be sacrificed?” asked Beef.

  “So you don’t want to do it?” asked Takoyaki.

  “No, I’d love to do it.” Said Beef. He was foolish enough to be excited.

  “Besides, Dark only takes in people with dark hearts. Snakeskin spent a long time observing all of you. Deep inside, actually all of you are goodhearted.” Said Takoyaki.

  The Wa Brothers and Billy Gin looked at Beef and his gang.

  “What?” asked Beef.

  Suddenly, the Wa brothers and Billy Gin all burst out laughing at the thought that Takoyaki could call Beef and his team, “goodhearted.”

  “Hey you guys! Shut up!” said Beef.

  “Then why me? What makes you think I can lead them?” asked End.

  “Exactly. I’ll do it.” Said Beef.

  Snakeskin looked Beef in the eye. He pointed a finger at End.

  “End, Take charge! That’s an order.” Said Snakeskin. He lit a fake electronic cigarette and leapt off the Canoe. With a parachute, he disappeared into the clouds. End could not believe that Snakeskin just left him alone to take charge.

  Without Snakeskin, the Canoe dipped.

  “Woah!”

  “Hold steady!” shouted Beef.

  “You hold steady!” shouted End.

  End instructed his team to use their emotional energy to hold one propeller. Beef and his team did the same for the other propeller. The canoe stabilized. Beef shook his head.

  “How am I supposed work with all of you dimwits?” asked Beef.

  “And how are we going to work with you ‘good-hearted’ people?” said Andy Wa.

  They began to quarrel again and the canoe dipped once more.

  “Guys. If you don’t want to crash, let’s leave some for Dark ok?” said End.

  “Gladly.” Said Beef as he cracked his knuckles for a fist fight.

  The Canoe landed on a building rooftop. It was near the canteen area. They came down the building and sneaked their way towards the Warmart. Suddenly, Billy Gin pulled End to cover. He pointed to the enemy in front.

  It was the Librarian or what was left of him. He was going by a different name now. End had never seen the librarian in this state before. He was dark and glowing with dark aura. His face seemed twisted by an overflow of bad intentions. His eyes were white, and he seemed to be walking with a dazed look about him. Behind him, was a horde of dark soldiers made out of people who were non-military and working in the ILC. They were walking like men possessed.

  Just then, someone ran across the road. It was the chef that had been rude to End. The chef tried to escape from him. Dark caught up with the man and grabbed him.

  “Please.”

  Dark sniffed the man.

  “Inferiority complex. I have no use for you.”

  Like a sheet of paper, Dark tore the chef apart in one move. Everyone in End’s team could not believe the violence they had just witnessed. Dark proceeded with his army until they disappeared around the corner. End heaved a huge sigh of relief. He motioned for his team to continue forward.

  Finally, they came to the spot where the War mart used to be. But it wasn’t there, and in its space was an empty space.

  “It’s like the entire war mart packed up and left.” S
aid Beef.

  End used his gut feeling. His gut told him to pick up a stone. He threw the stone and the stone bounced back as if it hit an invisible wall.

  “The Warmart is camouflaged!” exclaimed Larry Wa.

  A little window opened, and the face of Uncle E was seen. He seemed surprised to see End.

  “Come on in.” he invited them.

  End’s team entered the Warmart, and Uncle E locked the door behind them.

  “End. I want you to know that I was forced to tell on you, and that It was never my intention. I am sorry. To show you the extent of my sincerity, you no longer owe me the twenty four dollars and fifteen cents and I will assist you as best as I can for your preparations for the battle ahead.”

  Uncle E took out a hydrobar, and presented it to End.

  “May your team prosper! All the best!” Uncle E gave End a hearty pat on the back.

  There was a long pause of silence where nobody moved. Uncle E was still maintaining his smile as long as he could, waiting for them to leave. But End did not leave for he had a secret weapon, and this weapon was knowledge.

  “Under Military directive 377A, in the state of national emergency, the Quarter Master, that’s you, and the War Mart must provide any and all military equipment at no cost and for no profit whatsoever.”

  Uncle E froze. He had tried to pretend that he did not know, but he knew it long before.

  “And any person failing to comply to the laws will be charged with war mongering and be dealt with accordingly by military laws when peace time is restored!”

  Uncle E swallowed his saliva, and some pride. His cunning curvy smile now slowly wasting into nothing. He tried to mumble the following words out as his lips trembled at the thought of how much loss he would have to suffer with his compulsory compliance.

  “Look here boy, I am a peace monger. I make money when there is peace. Of course I will cooperate. How did you know all this?”

  “The Library.” Answered End.

  Uncle E was unhappy. Under his breath, he mumbled so that only End could hear.

  “You still owe me $24.15”

  For the following few minutes, you could almost hear an orchestra playing a sad and majestic tune, as the recruits took any and every weapon they needed, and Uncle E’s face crumpled at the piling debts he may incur due to this necessary but unkind military directive. Beef took charge of assembling the Dodo lights and Kinderflows. He salivated as he looked at Mr K.

  “No. Not Mr K.” Uncle E wanted to hug Mr K as if it were a final goodbye. Beef looked at him with no sympathy. In fact, he always seemed happier when others are enduring their plight.

  “What was it again? The power of the sun in your hands?” laughed Beef. He himself began ransacking the drawers of the War mart for Light sticks.

  “We need guns too.” Said End.

  Uncle E brought out his secret stash of photon rifles.

  “Be careful with these. They are relics, that I planned to sell to museums.”

  End motioned his team to check the workability of the rifles.

  “Good condition,” said Larry Wa.

  “Good.” Said End.

  The Wa Brothers being the curious duo that they are, searched the Warmart further. Much to their surprise, they clicked a button, which led to a secret basement.

  “Hey! That’s private!” said Uncle E.

  Something in that basement made the Wa brothers produce one of the longest “Wah”s they have ever sounded. They saw a Little Lightfoot, combat robot old model. Dusty as it looked, it was still an awesome sight. The brothers smiled at each other.

  “It has got a few screws loose. GUI enabled. Seems like we got ourselves a new toy, bro!”

  “Delicious new toy!”

  “No!”

  Beef walked by Uncle E once more. Uncle E did not like the sight of Beef walking anywhere near him now.

  “Since we are little kids going into a rather serious battle. I want some SBOs.”

  Uncle once again made the face like he didn’t know what Beef was talking about. But by now, that trick was so old. Uncle E let out yet another sigh as he went to a cupboard and took out some spray cans for them.

  “What are SBOs?” asked End.

  “Standard Body Odor. New but undisclosed technology from All Star Research Labs.”

  Beef took off his shirt. He took out a can and began spraying it on to his own body. He then proceeded to spray on all of his equipment. He then took his rifle and stuck it to his back. The rifle seemed to just stick on his back without making contact. It was just floating inches from his skin. No matter how violent Beef twisted and turned, the rifle stayed there, until he took it down.

  “You can hang all your weapons and equipment on to yourself this way. No matter how you fall, or how many times someone pushes you, the weapons and equipment stays with you, and you don’t need any pockets or hooks. They recognize you by body odor.”

  “And it also provides some form of armor as well,” said Patrick who knew a little.

  After stocking up enough hydrobars and lights, the team got ready to move off. Uncle E looked like someone who was attending a funeral. Though End’s heart was still weighing heavy with all the new revelations he just had, he still took time to walk up to Uncle E to say thank you. As he did, Uncle E ignored him more. It was then that End saw something else. Uncle E was sad, and that sadness was not derived from selfish ideals. End touched Uncle E’s VF, curiosity made him try to look into Uncle E’s heart. End charged up his ability and took a peek into the emotional memories of Uncle E.

  The vivid pictures came into focus. The word Tiger Oil Princess came into his mind. End saw a younger version of Uncle E attempting to win the love of a “Tiger Oil Princess”, probably the heir to the company that produced Tiger Oil. Their love was hindered however by the fact that Uncle E was a nobody. Her father rejected their union citing that he had to first be a millionaire. Uncle had been saving every dollar ever since to become that person, asking his beloved to wait for him. She did wait for him, until both were old. End felt a slight sympathy for Uncle E when he realized that he was so close to making a million after years of savings. He was already at nine hundred thousand, and with just a hundred thousand more, he could marry his beloved. But with the arrival of them and this invasion from Dark, Uncle E would lose almost all of the money he had saved. And if Mr K is fired up once, he would lose almost five hundred thousand dollars by switching it on once.

  End nodded in understanding.

  “I see your agony Uncle.”

  Uncle E seemed to understand that End had just read his mind.

  “If you do, then please refrain from using Mr K.”

  End nodded.

  “And you still owe me $24.15”. said Uncle E.

  “Is everyone ready?” asked End.

  As End was addressing everyone, he felt that they were a man short. Akira had disappeared. It was just his style. End sensed from the emotions of Billy, that Billy had seen Akira sneak out through the window.

  “We will have to let Akira go.”

  “Then we might as well all go our separate ways for this mission.”

  “No. Akira works better alone. I need your team to stay with me on this one.”

  Beef looked End up and down.

  “Just this once perhaps, I want to see how you fail.” Said Beef, “Boys, let’s play along!”

  End brought Billy Gin with him to scout the region first. From a high ground, they both saw Dark advancing from a distance. . He dragged his feet as he walked, and seemed to be walking like a Zombie, though he still seemed pretty intelligent and aware of his surroundings. Billy Gin noted that Dark seemed to have a pattern as he walked the streets of the ILC in circles, enlisting whatever people he could find into his dark army by roaming about in School 2.

  “I wonder why he isn’t destroying the buildings or killing more people?”

  Billy Gin did some hand signals to End. Though End could not read hand si
gnals, he interpreted Billy’s message using his emotions.

  “You say he is looking for someone?”

  Billy Gin nodded.

  “Who could it be?”

  Billy Gin had a thought. He pointed his finger at End. End sensed from Billy that Billy actually knew about End.

  “You know that I am Dark.”

  Billy nodded.

  “How did you know?”

  Billy signaled that he could see into End’s soul.

  “Aren’t you afraid?” asked End.

  Billy shook his head.

  “Why not?” asked End.

  Billy tapped End’s heart, and then made a thumbs-up sign at End. He meant to say that it was because End had a good heart.

  “I certainly hope that I will always stay that way.” Said End.

  Back at the Warmart, End set the plan of action with his team. He planned to place Billy Gin on a rooftop with the Wa Brothers.

  “Wa Brothers, your duties would be to set up the light, and provide constant re-energizing for us below. Billy, setup up your communication, give me a flawless communication throughout. The three of you will look out for one another. Brothers, in the worst case scenario, unleash the Lightfoot.”

  The Wa Brothers did a thumbs-up sign at End. Billy said “Ow!”

  “This will be where you setup the lights and communications. We are going to lure Dark into the battle here.”

  End pointed to a particular position on the roof.

  “Beef and Co, you will assist me in creating a diversion, to buy some time for Snakeskin.”

  “If I see the opportunity, me and my boys are going to go in and take him down.” Said Beef.

  “Don’t do that, Snakeskin has warned us how dangerous he is.”

  “Really? We’ll see.”

  End picked a nice battleground to conduct the battle.

  “Remember. This will be the kill zone. We will lure him here and keep him here. The high buildings will be to our advantage. We will shoot him and re-energize to keep the battle alive. If he comes too close, remember to pull back. Don’t take unnecessary risks because we cannot hope to completely annihilate him on our own.”

  “And Akira?” said Beef

  “Akira left. He did his ninja thing again.” Said Andy Wa.

  “Let him be. Everyone understand the plan? Now, move!” said End.

  On the roof, Billy Gin set up his turntables and switched on the communications. The Wa brothers readied the lights in position, and kept Lightfoot under wraps.

  “Can everyone hear me?” asked End as he sent his first bit of transmission.

  “Yes.” Was the reply from everyone.

  “Is everyone in position?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Let’s begin!”

  Dark was roaming the streets still dragging his feet with his legion of zombie like warriors. Out of nowhere, Beef began firing at Dark. His legion moved forward, and Beef and company was enjoying themselves shooting down their enemies one by one. With deadly accuracy, he was hurling light grenades at them. Beef could be so accurate with light grenades at times, but his shooting was just all over the place. Beef was firing with auto-focus, while End was firing with his prime lens knowledge, sniping the enemy one by one. They managed to wipe out almost half of Dark’s army. Beef smacked some more hydrobars on to himself, rewarding himself with his success.

  “Doing well, keep the shape, and lure him into the kill zone.” Said End.

  With great success, Dark’s forces were being reduced and Dark himself was walking towards the enemy fire. He was not as fast as End’s team but he seemed to be immune to the photon bullets. All they did was slow him down ever so slightly.

  “Steady, guys, steady, almost in the kill zone.” Said End, as he saw that Dark was almost fully in his trap.

  Jus then, Beef gave a signal to his team. All at once, they smacked on at least three hydrobars on to themselves each and charged forward.

  “Team, with me! Melee! Charge!” commanded Beef as he called out to his team.

  “No! Beef! Pull back!”

  But Beef’s team was enjoying the carnage of beating up the enemy’s soldiers a little too much. Patrick, Mickey and Guile Wayne all took down their opponents with ease and wrath.

  “They are easier to kill than zombies in a video game!” said Ed John.

  “Ed John don’t get too close!” shouted End.

  Ed John was getting too obsessed with beating up so many enemies that he did not realize that Dark was standing right behind him. He was still smiling at his own fighting ability when he sensed the chilling feeling of someone dangerous towering behind him. He turned around slowly to face the true horror that was called Dark. All Dark did was look him in the eye for the longest time and a layer of fear paralyzed him. His eyes were so piercing that they saw through the soul of Ed John. Ed John could feel Dark deciphering his inner fears and joys, as he just stood there frozen.

  “Help me.” Whispered Ed john like a wimp to Beef. Beef and the rest of his gang were also rooted to the ground. They were still kids after all, and they could feel the true fear that Ed john was experiencing.

  Dark took some time but finally identified Ed John’s love for violent video games.

  “Moron Combat,” whispered a smiling Dark without moving his lips.

  What followed was too violent to mention in writing, as Dark allowed Ed John to feel exactly how his video game characters in Moron Combat felt on a day-to- day basis.

  Beef and his remaining gang members saw what happened to Ed john and went weak in their knees. Beef vomited. In one move, they lost all will of fighting from the sheer fear of what Dark did. Dark felt their fear and began walking towards them. The closer he was to them, the more fear they had and the weaker their knees got. None of them could move. End saw no other alternative. He took out five hydrobars and smacked them on to himself.

  He got out of cover and shouted at Dark.

  “I am over here!”

  Dark turned his head to see End.

  “End?” said Dark. He smiled. His eyes were looking like he had rolled them back one too many times. He began walking towards End. His steps were slow and menacing, like a cobra slowly slithering forward hiding all the danger that it possessed. Dark did not have to walk too fast to capture his enemies, as the nearer he got, the more fear his victims would feel. End felt himself running away slower as he felt a kind of gravitational pull from Dark. He shot photon bullets at Dark but they were all deflected. Dark tried to use his shadows to try and pull End over with an extended arm, but End kept dodging the long arms with his shuttle speed dashes. Dark was getting stronger as he neared End, as he was getting more excited. Dark came very close to End. Finally, End was cornered. Ultimately it was very difficult to run away from Dark once he spots you.

  Dark stood over End.

  “Now!” shouted End.

  The Wa Brother unleashed Little Lightfoot, and Lightfoot floored Dark with one punch. The brothers were controlling him via the “Lightning Bolt” connection they invented, conveying their commands through light. Billy Gin helped to enhance the connection with lighting controls from his DJ decks. It looked like a disco party the way he did it but it was working. The Wa brother’s lighting setup was not so good, but Billy gave their robot the edge with a two hundred percent power level whichever angle he stood to the DJ console.

  “Ow!” said Billy.

  With the music from the spinning decks, and the light show that was put on, Lightfoot was going toe to toe with Dark, flooring him round after round. Dark collapsed once more on the ground for the fifth time. He was motionless. Beef and his team cheered. End was more skeptical. Just as he expected, Dark recovered himself.

  As the Wa brothers were celebrating, Dark managed to get behind the robot. Thankfully this Lightfoot was fitted with the Geta camera. The robot could see Dark and gave him another punch.

  “Geta power!” shouted Larry.

  Dark caught tha
t punch.

  “Oh dear.” Said Andy Wa.

  Dark summoned his shadow clouds and they hovered to the roof to destroy any lights that were giving the robot power. The brave Billy continued spinning his music as lights were being shattered behind him. Lightfoot began to experience lower levels of power.

  “Oh no! Larry, power up Mr K. I’ll keep control of the robot.” Said Andy.

  “You got it bro!”

  The robot pushed forward to exchange blows with Dark. But with each punch from the Lightfoot, Dark seemed to laugh louder and grow more confident. Lightfoot was getting weaker by the second. Larry was still rushing to get Mr K working but he couldn’t seem to do it.

  “Hurry!” shouted Andy.

  “I am trying. The switch won’t work!”

  Finally Dark grabbed the robot by the throat.

  “Bro!”

  “What?”

  “Mr K has no power cable! That stupid Uncle E cheated us!” said Andy.

  End sensed something wrong. He could decipher that Dark was trying to get into the hearts of the Wa Brothers through robot. The Wa brothers began to feel a terrible migraine in their heads.

  “Brothers, he is trying to get inside your hearts. Pull out now!”

  But End was too far away to help them. Dark began getting inside the Wa Brothers’ heads through the lightning bolt transmission. The Wa brothers could do nothing as they stood there and appear to be electrocuted. Dark began figuring out their fears and interests. End was too far away to save them.

  Just then, Akira appeared out of nowhere and sliced the signal pack behind the robot to end the transmission of signals. The Wa Brothers fell back, unconscious, but still alive.

  “End. Power up Mr K.” shouted Akira, as he unsheathed his katana of light and went one on one with Dark. Akira brought the fight to Dark, slicing, shooting and dodging his attacks with ease. End ran up to the roof of the building and helped to setup the Mr K.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Billy pointed to the missing power cable. There was no way to switch it on.

  “That old miser!” said End.

  Before they had time to respond, Dark was standing behind Billy Gin. Billy Gin had not noticed. End turned around a little too late.

  “No!” shouted End.

  As Dark tried to grab him by the throat, Billy Gin dodged him with some fancy dance moves and moonwalked his way to safety. When he was safe, he even did a spin and let out his trademark “Ow!” However, both End and Billy Gin were now cornered on the top of the roof. End looked down. Akira was unconscious on the ground floor, and so were Beef and his gang. Billy Gin had no more bullets and no weapons. He took off his white glove and threw it at Dark’s face. Needless to say it didn’t do much, as Dark slapped him unconscious with one stroke. Billy fell to the side of the building but the hit pushed End off as well.

  End went plummeting down from the roof, but he was caught at the bottom by Dark’s shadows. They cushioned his fall for him. End was a little unconscious as he struggled to get up. From his fainting spells he saw Dark walk up to him.

  “I just want to talk.” Said Dark. Great fear struck End in his heart as he could feel the breath of Dark in his face.

  “About what?”

  “You blame your parents for everything don’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You don’t take an inch of blame for what you have done. I know, because I am you.” Said Dark, “This world doesn’t care for us, does it?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “What if I told you a secret that nobody told you all this while? A secret about what they have done to your parents?”

  End heard the words. The chill of fear came quick and fast. He did not want to hear what was to come.

  “They subjected your parents to the Sphere of Influence.”

  “You are lying.”

  “Why do you think they have not called you all this while.”

  End began to accept it as a possible truth.

  “They made a trade with Amon, with the Garment. They took your place, in exchange for your acceptance into the ILC.”

  End fell to the ground.

  “No.”

  His eyes were leaking tears, but he felt like his entire body was crying. He could hear the echo of his crying inside his lungs. He almost couldn’t breathe in this state. He was so disappointed with himself.

  “I am old, but you are young. You are still full of dark energy. Why bother with this world anymore? Let’s walk to the Destiny Rewriting Chamber together. Listen to me, End, we can end the world together.”

  Dark reached a hand out to End.

  “Trust yourself for once.”

  End felt that everything was hopeless. That old feeling was creeping back in. It was difficult, always all so difficult to fight back emotions. With such news, his heart was close to giving way to Dark’s demands. End looked up at Dark. Dark’s hand was still extended. Finally, after too long a deliberation, End held Dark’s hand. Dark pulled him up.

  “Finally you understand.”

  “It took me a long while.” Said End.

  “Take as long as you like.”

  “But before we go, can I show you something?” asked End.

  “Of course.”

  “Can you see that light over there?” asked End.

  Dark looked up and saw Mr K.

  “Yes, that big burly looking thing.”

  “You want to know what I think.”

  Dark sensed something amiss. End grabbed Dark with both arms.

  “I think it is time you see the light.”

  A strong blast of light was fired from Mr K, as it scorched Dark. It sapped him dry of energy. Dark fell to the side unable to move.

  “That’s the way to use Mr K.” said Uncle E, as he gave a thumbs up sign to Billy Gin. Billy smiled back, and passed out. He had used VF hopping to send a last message with the remainder of his energy to End. He had told End that Uncle E had got Mr K up and running and was on standby for a blast at Dark.

  “You forgot the cables. And your lighting setup is horrible!” Said Uncle E. End did not know what to feel about Uncle E, but he was glad that he decided to be a hero for once. End picked himself up.

  All of sudden, Dark grabbed End. With the other hand, he made a sword out of pure Dark energy. End could not react in time, as Dark attempted to pierce the sword through his stomach.

  Beef pushed End out of the way in the last minute, as the sword went through him.

  “No!” shouted End.

  Beef fell to the ground. The dark energy sword pierced through his jacket. End ran over to Beef.

  “I just wanted to know if time travel existed.” Said Beef.

  “It does.”

  “Then go back in time to save me.” Said Beef as he fainted. Dark picked End up once more. This time he won’t miss. Out of nowhere, Amadeus came charging in and knocked Dark off his feet. Dark fell down angry. As he got up again, he saw who had arrived. Snakeskin had managed to bring all his friends.

  It was the Eye Arts.

  Dark was desperate. He resurrected all his fallen soldiers to attack the Eye Arts. The Eye Arts responded.

  Kurosawa was the guy who looked like an old samurai. Although he had a Katana, he did not unsheathe his sword. As the Dark soldiers attacked him, he merely called out the name “Gyoza”, and a samurai made of pure light energy was summoned. The samurai was so fast that he did not seem to move at all, perhaps only vibrating slightly, before all the enemies were slain, as he began to sheath his sword. Gyoza kept his sword, even when it seemed that he had just unsheathed it, and bowed before Kurosawa before disappearing.

  Next to Kurosawa on the battlefield was Leone, an Italian cowboy, who shot bulls-eye headshots with his Magnum of Light. Beside him was Hitchcock, a rather large sized man who was wearing a suit, looked rather vulnerable as many dark soldiers grabbed him. Hitchcock looked at their impolite hands on his suit and sh
ook his head.

  “Do you know fear?” he whispered into their ears. In the next moment, the dark soldiers all knelt down to the ground in a desperate state of fear, crying and sobbing like little babies before perishing into dust.

  “Apparently not,” said Hitchcock as he continued walking forward. Behind him was Charlie Charlie, a mime with a bow hat, funny moustache and a black umbrella. He was standing next to Billy Gin, and showing him how to do true communications. Charlie drew a switchboard out of thin air. The switchboard was basically a box where all the invisible frequencies appeared like cables attached to a single box, and then connected to each and every ally on the battlefield. Charlie Charlie smiled at Billy, and Billy knew who his dream mentor was.

  Some enemies came from behind Charlie Charlie, and Billy tried to warn him. But Charlie Charlie did not fret. He turned around and used his mime skills to pretend like there was a wall between him and his enemies. The enemies ran towards him nonetheless and crashed into an invisible brick wall. Billy was stunned. How did he do that? Charlie Charlie shrugged his shoulders, as he covered his mouth to laugh and skip away.

  The leader of the Eye Arts was Kubric. He was a fierce looking guy who stood towering over Beef. He had a white beard, a half bald-head, and was rather scruffy. He had the most extraordinary eyes you have ever seen on a person. They were fierce, and had thick eyebrows of immense concentration above them. His round-rimmed glasses did little to dilute his ferocity. When he spoke, he spoke with a tinge of British tempered by an American trained accent.

  “You seek truth, but you don’t practice it. Get up and stop embarrassing yourself.” Said Kubric to Beef. Beef got up. He had been playing dead all along. Kubric looked at Dark. Dark knew in one look that he could not defeat Kubric. Dark reached out a hand to try and control Kubric since he seemed to have an abundance of dark energy and negativity about him. But it was no use. Kubric raised a finger to him, and indicated that there would be no such thing happening.

  “I don’t share my emotions.” Said Kubric.

  Dark was a little fearful. But he tried bravado over fear. He remained calm as he spoke as if he was winning.

  “I wanted to kill all of you, but I think I will settle for just killing you Kubric.” Said Dark.

  “Never compromise on your vision,” said Kubric, before Dark lunged forward to attack. For every strike that Dark sent, he would miss, and Kubric would reward him with a slap on the back of his head. Each time it happened, Kubric would rub salt into his wounds by taunting him with “Sloppy” or “Is that the best you got?” or “Truly an embarrassment.” Dark got more emotional. He managed to put it to good use as he finally managed to land a blow on the arrogant Kubric’s face. Kubric fell to the ground for the first time in his career as an Eye Art. The rest of the Eye Arts turned to watch him, wondering how on earth their leader could fall. Kubric was knelt down facing End, and back facing Dark. Dark stood behind him, having the advantage, as he raised his Dark energy sword to finish him off.

  “I am sorry you have to see this,” said Kubric to End. As Dark descended with his weapon, Kubric took out a piece of bone out of thin air and used it to stab Dark in the heart. Dark coughed out blood as he struggled for life. Kubric threw his bone back into the air and it disappeared.

  Dark fell to the ground. He felt his mortality. He turned back into an old man, the Librarian. But even when he had transformed back into the Librarian, and after his memories returned, he wasn’t the same kind fellow that End knew. The real Librarian having been through the end of the world, and isolation, was dark and bitter. Dark was jus a shell, the real Darkness was the person inside. The negativity was the poison.

  Dark laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” asked End.

  “You couldn’t defeat yourself.” He said pointing to himself when he said the word ‘yourself.’ “You needed their help. You couldn’t kill me. And as long as another day goes by this way, the world will eventually die in your hands. Unless…”

  Dark smiled, as he clicked his fingers.

  “…unless you learn to take a life…” were the finals words of Dark as he died. His fingers were pointing into a dark alley in a corner. End looked into the dark alley. Someone was coming out. It was a familiar voice. It was someone huge, and someone with a strange accent.

  Suddenly, out of that alley, Arnold came charging out. He pushed some of the Eye Arts away before locking a hold on to End from behind. From Arnold’s eyes, you could see that he was possessed by Dark’s powers. End tried to break free but couldn’t as Arnold tightened his grip to suffocate End to death. The Eye Arts wanted to move forward to intervene, but End shouted for them to stop.

  “No! Is there any way to save him?” asked End. There were tears in his eyes.

  Kubric looked on as End was being squashed nearly to death. But it wasn’t his bones that were breaking but his heart, and Kubric knew. He motioned for his Eye Arts to stand down. Arnold was End’s hero. End was not afraid of death, but more afraid of losing the ones he loved. He shouted once more at Kubric.

  “There is a way to save him right?” shouted End. He looked straight into the eyes of Kubric. Somehow End knew that Kubric was the sort of leader who was fearless, but above all honest, direct and blunt. He never lied, and in this case he didn’t. Kubric shook his head, but End would have none of it.

  “Meditate. There has got to be a way.” End told himself. In his heart, he felt the tremendous sadness of losing a mentor and a friend in Arnold. His emotions overwhelmed him and some of it was transferred to Arnold. The Eye Arts witnessed something special as they saw that Arnold was beginning to come to his senses.

  “There’ got to be a way,” whispered End, as he fought back tears, “There has to be, there just has to be!”

  “End, I…What am I?” Arnold was struggling with himself. He still did not let go.

  “Arnold?” said End.

  Arnold looked at everyone. He then looked at what he was doing. Try as he might, he could not let go of his grip of End, and the grip was tightening.

  “Ahhhh,” Said End finally, as he felt the pain.

  Arnold was shocked beyond belief. He felt like he had no control over himself. Arnold looked at Kubric. Kubric looked back and nodded. Both men understood what needed to be done.

  “Strength…” began Arnold, saying his favorite phrase. It was in that instance that End felt the emotions of Arnold, and knew what he was planning to do.

  “No, Arnold! No!” shouted End.

  “…has nothing to do with muscles”

  Arnold twisted his own neck just by turning it very fast in one direction. He killed himself before he could crush End. End fell to the floor and wept before his one true mentor. Arnold was the invisible guardian, the friend that wanted the best for him but never showed that emotion up front. Arnold was his first real teacher in the ILC.

  “Thank you Arnold,” said End. But like Quentin warned, sometimes the “Thank you”s came too late.

  “The learning curve is pretty steep in the boy’s life,” said Kubric. He turned to look at his team, the Eye Arts. The rest of his team was already crying. As tough as the Eye Arts were, being masters of their emotions and all, they were also very human and sentimental creatures. Kubric took off Arnold’s VF.

  “He had the soul of a good warrior. When a warrior dies, some of his emotional memories still remain inside his VF. We will ensure a proper burial for him.”

  Kubric motioned his team to move off.

  “We came for Amadeus. End, your job is not yet done.” Said Kubric as he began walking away, not even looking at End, “You have to figure out who the real culprit is.”

  End really did not want to do anything anymore. He was pushed to the brink. But for the honor of knowing someone like Arnold, he had to, and so he got up. End calmed his heart and managed to focus his mind. For a long while there was nothing.

  “You have to focus harder. Drop all the emotional baggage you have experienc
ed. Master your emotions like Arnold would have wanted,” said Kubric with his back turned, and as he was walking away.

  Just then, a symphony came back into End’s mind. It was the “Dies Irae” once more. But this time it was more complete. It was as if the symphony was trying to tell him something. End began to see the grand battle of Dark Monday unfold before him once more. The visuals were projected out of his hand and on to a large wall. It was the same visual form before.

  Suddenly, something clicked in his head. It was always there, why couldn’t he decipher it from before? In the grand battle of Dark Monday, only one character was inconsistent.

  In that very moment, when End had finally figured things out, he heard a voice in his head.

  “You are absolutely right.”

  There was a flash of white light blinding eye completely, stunning him for a minute.

  Then there was nothing, a complete darkness.

  And suddenly, End found himself in a white room.