Chapter CCXII: Death of One, Birth of Another ~Multehx

Multehx drew a ragged breath as he forced his hand to grasp the stalagmite tighter. He felt the blood draining from his body. Slowly and shakily he looked up. Nictem stood over him, arms folded, a stern frown on his face. The two just looked at each other. Then, slowly, a twisted grin spread over the antagonistic demon’s face. To Multehx’s surprise, instead of trying to dislodge his hand, Nictem bent over, took firm grasp of his wrist and began to pull him up. But as he was pulled onto the protrusion Nictem continued to lift him until the agent was staring him in the eyes. Chuckling demonically Nictem’s eyes danced with untold depths of flame.

Lifting the agent a bit more Nictem spoke to him in a calm, quiet tone, “You know, I could have killed you then, but you are the great Multehx; more than extremely enduring to such torment. I think I shall give you some to remember on the way out.”

Without warning, the red-skinned demon savagely kicked his helpless victim with a knee to the waist. Multehx’s eyes clenched shut tightly and his eyes watered in pain as the metallic bones in that area practically crumpled in upon themselves. As Nictem released Multehx’s wrist he threw his right hand out, palm open, at the agent. Red energy danced around the evil being’s fingers as fireball after fireball shot from it and smashed into their target, propelling him rapidly to the other side of the chamber and flipping him end over end as his body travelled.

The cave shook as 707 crashed into the wall with tremendous force, knocking some rocks loose. But Nictem only sneered as he vanished in a burst of yellow flames, appearing in a similar manner in front of where Multehx had impacted in the wall. He waved his hands in a series of rhythmic and strange patterns, as well as flexing his fingers in a strange manner as he did this. Lines of fire appeared on and wrapped around the agent, constricting his body to the wall as with burning wires. Ceasing the hand and finger movement, Nictem began to deliver decimating blows to Multehx’s face and upper body with his fists.

The spectral form of Pseudo Havering winced with each punch. He shook his head, commenting aloud to Grimmy, “I’ve known the agent to take a real beating, but I doubt he can go for this degr–“

Havering was cut off by a tremendous sensation of being ill-centered in his head and brain. The death was about to comment to the less than living demon when something began to change. Something appeared to be happening with the Time Bender’s head, his helmet in particular. It seemed to flicker in and out of existence. Then, abruptly, it vanished. At the same moment, Multehx looked up. His eyes were open and the pupils were ablaze with alternating colors. His body began to tense as his strength began to return.

He began to mutter under his breath, “...Offence upon offence the body does take, stand it no more doth I spake. Control over time, power absolute is mine...”

With a sudden flash of black energy the fire bands vanished instantly and Multehx held his hands in clenched fists, elbows bent at his waist. A strange, dark and evil looking helmet appeared on his head. Its purple metal shone in the lava’s light. A twisted looking purple kama appeared in his hands. The agent threw out his right hand, letting the bladed end float in the air.

“Face the fury of the Time Bender REBORN!!”

The flash of sheer darkness energy that was expelled as Multehx’s energies took on his new position had violent effects everywhere. The lava that filled the bottom of the chamber erupted in numerous spots, bathing the walls and the ceiling in its fiery warmth. Lava shot from the volcano and filled the sky. Lightning flared across the horizon briefly. Caelum trembled. As lava dripped down from the ceiling and smoke wafted off the rock comprising the chamber, Multehx just glared at Nictem; his very gaze seeming to pierce the soul, christen it utterly worthless, and discard it without a care to his magnificence. Nictem’s eyes were wide and he shivered from fear.

“How...how can this BE?!”

Pseudo, being held up to watch by Grimmy, marveled at this spectacle too. “Incredible...” he wearily remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.

The shrouded skeleton turned his skull to look at Havering. “How can he be doing this? He’s wearing your helmet, holding your weapon, emitting powers beyond his abilities.”

Havering frowned. “There’s only one way...”

“That is?”

“When he was present for my death, as he was in the Corrupted Rip – but that is only a distance of a few inches actually from anywhere – as following Twilighter nature my powers flowed into him – the being nearest me at my moment of demise. He is truly a Time Bender as he’s become one using my powers as one; he’s me reborn with his own abilities in short.”

“But...what’s that make him then?”

“...The most powerful force of darkness in existence at the present moment.”

Havering grew quiet as Multehx pointed a finger at Nictem and growled in a now echoing rendition of his own voice, “It ends NOW, member of an utterly worthless coalition!”

With that declaration, he snapped the chain of the Noch Thalt taught between its parts, one in either hand, blurred through the air and appeared alongside the other demon, sneering cruelly. He half spun, backhanding Nictem viciously in the side. There was near a small explosion of black energy and Nictem careened into the wall to his far right, leaving a tremendous impact crater. Wasting no time, Multehx drew back the hand holding the handle rod of the chained weapon and swung forward with all his might. The bladed top end of the kama flew through the air, circled around Nictem’s waist and latched onto its chain through one of the loops. With a jerk of the wrist, Nictem flew back toward Multehx.

However, moments before colliding with 707’s hand, Multehx threw up his free left hand, releasing a tremendous blast of shadow energy that engulfed Nictem and sent him spinning violently free of the kama’s grasp and crashing into the wall even harder. The green Twilighter laughed evilly as he made a sweeping inwards gesture with his extended hand. The wall behind Nictem shook before a pointed shadow projection erupted from it, impaled the demon through the stomach and protruded out from his front a distance of about three feet. Nictem rasped in a whispered tone as his body was wracked with pain. His green blood trickled from the wound. As the shadow projection vanished into the air he began to fall slowly, but almost instantly Multehx was there and caught him by the collar.

Pseudo reached out a gloved hand, looking genuinely frightened for once in his career. “Agent, that’s quite enough...the boy’s badly beaten, you’ve beyond proven your superiority.”

Multehx glared at the figure he was holding, studying it for a moment before grinning sinisterly. “Very well, then I shall enact my verdict upon him...” Raising the body up he refastened the Noch Thalt’s bladed end with it’s handle and drew the weapon back in his hand. “GUILTY AS CHARGED SAYS WE, THE JURY!!” he bellowed, half laughing as the words came out.

Closing his eyes, Pseudo tensed. There was only one alternative that could preserve Nictem’s life at all from the cruel fate that was confronting him that, even Havering had to admit, was a bit too harsh. Ever so slowly, the same black glow as the agent had emitted surrounded both Havering and the Noch Thalt.

The agent swung the weapon forward, its cruel blade aimed for Nictem’s heart.
In a split second, the Noch Thalt vanished from Multehx’s hand and reappeared in the ghostly Pseudo’s.

Instead of blade piercing flesh, Multehx’s fist slammed down upon Nictem’s left breast, propelling him down at a rapid descent into the sea of molten rock below. The lava splashed aside as Nictem broke its surface and sank out of sight. Almost instantly one of his hands broke the surface, reaching for some unseen handhold to save him, but there was none to be gotten. With that, the hand sunk slowly back into the fiery depths and the lava was still again.

Multehx folded his arms, threw his head back and issued a series of maniacal laughs that echoed throughout the chamber and probably to a distance outside.

Havering frowned and tightened his gloves. “Grimmy, you get out of here; there’s only one course of action now!”

The death nodded, muttering something about not needing to be told twice and vanishing in a cold blast of wind.

Havering rubbed his gloves together and grinned evilly, chuckling to himself merrily. “Excellent...”

Multehx was too busy laughing to notice Havering appear right behind him. By the time he did, it was too late. The demon sunk his spectral claws into the flesh of the base of Multehx’s neck. He glared darkly as the normal ritual for the reaving of souls proceeded a bit differently, instead drawing all the essence of Havering out of the agent. Multehx howled in pain and tried to release the offending claws’ grip, but to no avail. Pseudo began to chuckle as he slowly felt a new rush of familiar strength entering his long weakened limbs. The process rapidly picked up, the helmet of the Time Bender slowly vanishing from Multehx’s head and reappearing in a solid form on Pseudo’s.

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In an explosion of brilliant black and purple light, the entire volcano seemed to simply disintegrate. A smoking crater filled with hardened and blackened lava remained. Upon it lay the unconscious but still breathing form of Multehx707. Over him stood a helmeted figure, shoulders covered with fearsome claw-design shoulder pads. In his gloved hands was the twisted and evil kama. His impressive form cast a shadow on the body of the agent. The figure began to chuckle deeply, then louder, then it rose to all out laughter of both frightening and disturbing qualities.

“I LIVE again!!!”