by I'm Not Mister Mxypltk and T5
Floating in the empty darkness, M'xy covered his head with two giant baseball gloves. Still, that wasn't enough to make K'tl's voice stop talking inside his head.
"It's not a lie... it's the truth... and you know it..." K'tl repeated in M'xy's imagination. There was no sign of him, but M'xy knew it had to be K'tl.
"I see you've regrown your arm," K'tl's voice said, this time from outside M'xy's mind. M'xy opened his eyes and saw his enemy floating in front of him. "It doesn't matter. When I'm done with you, that arm will be the only thing left."
"It's a lie," M'xy said quietly.
"I'm sorry?"
"What you showed me before... IT'S A LIE!" M'xy yelled.
"I'm afraid it's not," K'tl said, almost beginning to smile but not doing it. "How do you plan to tell your friend... Mick, is it?"
M'xy remained silent.
"Or maybe I should tell him?"
M'xy seemed to explode in anger. The light coming from his eyes covered his entire body as he threw himself at K'tl. K'tl, looking satisfied, extended his darkness as well and clashed with M'xy.
When the two beings clashed, a silent explosion was formed, and all that could be seen was a vortex of energy, a ball of light and darkness. The light was strong but small, as the darkness only seemed to grow.
It was only a matter of time before the brave little light was devoured by the darkness.
The being called Naecken took the trident in his right hand and melted it in the middle. His eyes were aflame with hellfire. The dark skin he used to have was slowly turning into a more fiery scarlet.
He smiled as he landed on his feat; the wound in his chest healed in an instant. The hellfire within him gave him a sense of euphoria he only remembered ever having sensed when he killed that guardian angel at the city gates of Ekron, a long time ago.
The eyes were aglow with an emerald-like energy. He knew subconsciously that he had been transformed or reincarnated into a new level of being, and the demon mind within him rejoiced; it was now the dominant psyche.
He looked around him and saw Mr. Smith siphoning the energies of the battle and even attempting to use his energies. What a laugh. He shut down the link between them and walked toward Kalunga; something about her reminded him of someone else he knew -- the trantranceulantuan goddess of the pugilistic ways, Zveidi, the one that had tricked him... and killed him?
His memory was vague; he remembered a glowing doorway on a mountain. What was it he had been doing at the time? Eating something? Yes -- the soul of a virgin. Ooh, yes, what a feast it had been, but that was the trap, wasn't it? The soul bomb that sent him to this living hell was within a composite being.
Oh well, for now he was in charge, and everyone would rue the day they crossed his path. The red Naecken smiled.
Aboard the flight to La Perdita, the female in the group of four people who had been tracking Naecken suddenly cried out in agony.
A stewardess came over and gave her some water. "You have a fever; let me give you something that will ease it a bit." She took a pill out of the medication kit and put it in the glass. The woman nodded her thanks.
The man sitting next to her asked, "What's wrong?"
"I feel something terrible has happened," she said, grimacing in pain. "The red personification of our matrix has awakened, and it's a demon who's in control. We have to get there fast, or I fear something terrible will happen." Her pleading eyes caught the man's own.
"Don't worry, love. We are here to help you. If we can only awaken the next incarnation, things will be a bit easier to handle."
He looked out the window. The clouds floated serenely below them as if nothing was wrong in the world.