“A bull moose huh? Looks like my shot gave you quite a bit of brain damage.” Archer insults as I approach.

I got shot through the head so he may have a point. I feel extremely strange right now. It’s hard to keep my head from swaying and I swear I can taste green right now but none of that matters. What matters is that I can fight. I have to fight because Theodore Roosevelt, Mike Tyson, and Malcolm X told me to. Wow when I lay it out like that I realize just how insane it sounds. Whatever, it’s the truth and there’s no way I’m letting them down.

“Look at you, you can barely stand. You would have been better off if you just stayed down.” Archer remarks.

“And I thought I told you, you fucked up.” I shoot back trying to get into my boxing stance.

“Oh, are you still upset about the skin color thing? Very well, let’s get this over with...you n*gger” he taunts with a smile on his face.

Quincy v. Amon 2: Dawn of Blackness

Archer takes out his revolver and using his electricity starts to rapidly fire off rounds. They zoom towards me but something feels different. I don’t know whether it’s because of my brain injury or what but I feel a bunch of power coarse throughout my body. All of my senses feel more heightened. The bullets come towards me but it’s like they’re in slow motion, I can see each one clearly. I don’t know why but I felt inclined to grab one. I reach my hand out and the bullet slams into my palm but instead of it going through my hand it felt more like I just caught a tennis ball. More bullets come towards me and I do the same thing, I keep catching them as they approach. After catching 6 of them I stop and look at my hands seeing that each hand holds about three bullets. I look up at Archer who for the first time since we started fighting, looks surprised. I have a surprised look on my face as well. Neither of us expected me to do something straight out of a martial arts movie. I start to chuckle.

“Oh boy, you’re so dead” I tell him.

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re a monk, it’s not surprising that you could do that with your aura. If my aura wasn’t so low right now those bullets would have gone through” he replies.

“You may be right. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re about to die and I’m gonna be happy knowing that it was a black man who killed you. You racist piece of shit. Prepare yourself for this ass whooping”

With that I charge at him at incredible speed. I know what to do now, Mike Tyson showed me the way. I have to stay close, just like what Mike Tyson would do. Stay close, don’t give him any room to breathe. Maybe even bite his ear off if I get a chance. Archer continues to fire rounds at me as I run but despite running at the same speed I was going at before getting hit in the gut, I can keep track of everything. I continue to catch bullet after bullet until I’m right in front of him. He tries to move away but I’m quicker. I give him a quick jab to the face which makes his head shoot back. I then grab his right arm to body flip him on the ground so hard that a bunch of dirt is launched into the air. With his back on the ground and still holding his arm I disarm him by quickly going for his revolver. He attempts to stop me with a kick but I just move to the side as I continue to wrest the gun from his hand. I succeed, I yank the revolver away and quickly jump back. Giving me no breathing room he quickly shoots up charging at me trying to get his gun back. I decide to use one of his own moves against him slamming his revolver’s handle down on his head making his head become one with the dirt.

I jump back again so I can do what I originally planned to do. I squeeze the revolver’s handle so hard that the barrel becomes bent making the gun useless. I throw it to the side.

“You don’t have any more guns now bitch!” I insult.

Quincy beats up Amon music

“I wanted to end you with my bare hands anyway” Amon proclaims as he appears to my side, with fire and electricity coursing around his body.

He engulfs his fist in fire and throws a punch straight for my head. But unlike the last time he flanked me, I can react. Either I’m getting faster or he’s getting slower, maybe it’s both. I duck under his fist and twist my body to give him a counter punch to the stomach.

“Ack!” he says in pain.

I follow up with an uppercut to the throat. He falls to the ground so I attempt to give him an overhead punch but he quickly takes out his knife and plunges it into my knee.

“Ah!” I scream as the attack makes me fall back landing on my butt.

Amon gets up shooting a huge stream of fire at me, like the one he used against Nerva. Fire envelops me but I’m prevented from being burnt to a crisp because of my aura. Right now it feels like I’m in an oven. My aura is definitely different now because there’s no way I would’ve been able to withstand this attack before. I pull the knife out of my knee and jump to the source of the fire. I emerge plunging the knife into Amon’s right eye. The attack stops him from shooting any more fire as he uses his right hand to pull the knife out. I try to throw a punch at the knife so that it’ll go in deeper but his other hand catches my fist.

“I get it now. You just unlocked your specialization. No wonder you got this huge increase of aura. Don’t think you have the advantage now” he lectures as he pulls the knife out which causes blood to geiser out of the wound.

“Is that what happened? I don’t really care, all I know is that your ass is done.” I respond.

“The idea of me dying here, because of you, is a joke!” he yells as he pulls my arm forward.

He gives me a sock to the face with his other arm making me fly into the top of a tree. I fall to the ground where Archer is waiting for me, preparing to give me an uppercut. But as I fall everything goes into slow motion again. Right before I get hit, I twist my body so that I dodge it. I land right next to him instead and immediately start to wail on his stomach with consecutive punches. Every time he attempts to lower his arms to block I punch them upwards so that his body remains exposed. I keep hitting his stomach over and over again. This is it, my specialization. I specialize in close quarters boxing, I position myself so that I’m right in front of his chest. So close that my opponent can’t even pull his arms in to block. Armstrong and Marianne once told me that monks with these specializations are called in-fighters. We are extremely good at close quarters combat and because of this our aura is extremely dense giving us the highest defense out of the different monk specializations. Apparently other monks specialize in other things such as fighting from a distance being able to shoot their aura as projectiles. I guess I’m the exact opposite of those guys. Amon summons his electricity in an attempt to use his enhanced speed to get away but everytime he dashes away, I would dash so that I’m right in front of him again. He can run, but he can’t escape. With each blow I feel less and less resistance from his stomach, I must be breaking bones and other organs making his insides softer. I also hear him cough up more and more blood. He keeps moving until he messes up and accidentally moves so that his back is against a tree. He was so desperate to try to escape that he didn’t take notice of his surroundings. He’s on the ropes now, or I guess on the tree. What I’m saying is that his movements are extremely limited. Knowing that the tree will keep him still I force as much aura out of my body as possible launching dozens and dozens of punches into his stomach.

“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!” I scream after each punch.

After two minutes of punching I stop, breathing heavily. I step back, putting my hands on my head to catch my breath. Amon is standing against the tree but slides down so that he’s sitting at the trunk. His head is looking down and his body looks all deformed with a bunch of indentations in his chest.

“YOUR ASS JUST GOT CLAPPED! YOU RACIST PIECE OF SHIT! DIDN’T EXPECT THAT HUH?!”

I don’t get a response. I turn around walking away thinking I just finished it but I start to hear groaning.

“I swear if you’re still alive” I mutter to myself.

“This...is...not….how...it’s….going to end!” Amon says, trying to stand up.

“No stop this shit. Stay down, just die. I ain’t in the mood for this.”

“I’m a demon, you hear me? I’m the living embodiment of evil! I’m Amon! I’m not ending it here, in the middle of nowhere! I’ve gone through too much! The Man of Stone still needs me!”

“Your punk ass boss is next so don’t worry about that. I’m gonna do the same to him as I did to you.”

This angers him as he looks at me with those piercing eyes of his.

“Oh did I strike a nerve?” I joke.

“I’m going to end you! I’m not losing to such a cowardly weakling! HUMANS DON’T DEFEAT DEVILS!” he yells, frantically getting up.

He screams causing all of his remaining aura to shoot out from his body but it’s nowhere near the amount it was before. It’s pathetic in comparison as the aura is only faintly visible. He also summons forth electricity and fire but both effects flicker showing how he’s struggling to keep it up. The electricity and fire are focused in his right hand indicating that he’s putting everything he has left into one final punch. He bolts towards me at a surprisingly quick speed and in response I return the favor bolting back in return. In a flash we’re right in front of each other. He throws his punch but he’s so slow compared to before. I nonchalantly tilt my head to the left as I give him a counter to the head. I hit him specifically on the chin which causes his head to twist so much that I hear his neck snap. His body flies back towards a tree causing a loud crash. I breathe heavily staring at him, expecting some more bs like him untwisting his neck or something. Instead I just start to smell something awful. Oh god it’s coming from Archer, I think I really did hit him so hard he shit himself. I didn’t notice because I was in the heat of the moment but now that it’s over I can definitely tell that’s what it is. Ew that’s nasty. At least that means he’s dead. I try to relax but I start to feel more blood coming out of my head so I quickly summon my aura back. Jesus christ I forgot all about my head injury. Regardless, I won so I feel good, emotionally, not physically, physically I feel awful. I did it Mike Tyson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Malcolm X.

“That was amazing” a deadpan voice congratulates next to me.

I turn to my right to see Akane is next to me. She looks different, she has an afro now. Oh my god is that because of the electricity? That’s amazing.

“Ugh yeah thanks. Anyway Akane, you look good, you should keep that hairstyle.” I comment.

She tilts her head in confusion. She must not know what she looks like right now.

“So how long have you been awake?” I ask her.

“I’ve been awake for the past 15 minutes. I saw everything.”

“Are you telling me you could have helped me out just now?”

“Not necessarily. I woke up but couldn’t move my body. Besides, even if I could’ve moved I didn’t want to interrupt your scenes. They were so cool. But I’m also curious. What exactly is a nig-”

“STOP! Don’t finish that sentence. You can’t say that word.”

“Why not?”

Oh great, I need to think of a reason that Akane would accept.

“Ugh you need to go through more training first. If you say it now you will explode.”

“I see. I did not know you had such power. Tell me, does the power stem from friendship?”

“I mean technically. You need to be given a pass in order to say it.”

“Can I have a pass? We are close friends”

“No we are not and no you cannot have a pass. Even Will doesn’t have one.”

“I really should though.” Will says entering the conversation.

“Oh great. Will, how much did you see?”

“I woke up a little bit after Akane did. We both just watched in silence. I would have helped but it was also too painful for me to move. It hurts right now to stand.”

“I think I’m in more pain. I got shot through the head” I inform them pointing at my wound.

Akane and Will’s eyes widen in shock.

“My god Quincy are you ok?” Will asks me.

“Wow, that's cool,” Akane states.

“I mean I think I’m ok? I’m feeling lightheaded andI can taste green.”

“I’m not a doctor but I’m sure that’s bad. I’m gonna go try to wake up Azura. Quincy you should probably sit down or something” Will suggests as he heads off.

“I wish I had a cool battle scar like that” Akane says, sounding envious.

“I think you would change your mind if you were in my shoes” I say sitting down.

Akane doesn’t respond, heading to Archer’s dead body. She stares at it like she’s afraid he’s about to come back to life any minute now. Over the next ten minutes everyone starts to head back to where I am. First was Azura who freaked out once she saw my injury. She gave me a bunch of potions and kept doing tests to gauge how bad my brain damage is. One of the tests was to count how many fingers she was holding up, another was to track her index finger as she moved it left and right, and finally she asked me a bunch of questions like do I know what my name is, where I am, and other personal questions. As she was doing so other people joined. The second person to show up was Ryder who stated that my wound was cool because it was like an explosion happened in my head (he got yelled at by Azura for saying that). Then came Adam holding Nerva who also started to freak out. He became Azura’s medical assistant as she told him which spells to cast on me. As that was happening Nerva woke immediately attacking Adam thinking he was Archer from the back. She must have woken up so quickly she didn’t attempt to take in her surroundings. After Nerva calmed down she noticed my injury and said that it was dope as fuck. I agreed. Remi showed up with Lilith’s arm slung over her in an attempt to help Lilith walk but Remi was clearly struggling to carry the heavy girl. They both saw my wound and got concerned. Plus side is that Remi’s wolf started to lick me but Azura shooed it away.

“Ok we did all we can but you’re going to need surgery for your head. We were able to at least close the wounds for the most part and your internal injuries should be healed soon thanks to those healing potions I gave you.” Azura tells me.

“Quincy, how are you feeling?” Adam asks me.

“I think I’m feeling better. I can only taste red now.” I reveal.

Azura and Adam give concerned looks to each other.

“Oooh what does red taste like?” Nerva questions.

“It’s spicy. Kinda like a hot pepper.”

“Yeah we need to get you into surgery asap. For now I need to help everyone else heal. Adam come with me.” Azura orders.

“Ugh yeah ok.” he says standing up.

I can tell he’s still worried about me, he seems hesitant to leave. The fact that he cares so much hurts me. I stand up when I see a bright light emerge from the trees and land in front of everybody.

“I have come to save the day….again!” Nazuko announces, striking a heroic pose.

Everyone stares at her in silence.

“You’re a bit late you idiot!” Remi insults.

“Wooooo! Fuck yeah!” Nerva cheers, putting her arms in the air.

Nazuko looks around at all of the destruction around her, finally noticing Archer’s body by the tree which is still being watched by Akane.

“We won?” Nazuko asks everyone.

“Fuck yeah!” Nerva answers.

“Wooooo!” Nazuko and Nerva cheer.

“Ok is that everyone?” Will ponders trying to see if everyone is back together.

We all look around and nod our heads. We’re all here, we’re all alive somehow.

“I guess we have to head to the castle now.” Will realizes sounding like he really doesn’t want to go.

“As long as there aren’t any Archer type guys in there I think we’ll be fine.” Remi remarks.

“Don’t worry, Archer was the last Reaper. No one else is nearly as powerful” Akane says, still looking at Archer’s corpse.

“What about the Man of Stone?” Lilith points out.

“I’m sure he left while we were fighting Archer. We’ll deal with him later. Right now we can just destroy any remnants of the rebellion.” Akane informs.

“If you don’t take out the leader can the rebellion really be defeated?” Will asks.

“We can if we discredit it by proving what the rebellion is really fighting for.”

“Oooh that reminds me, I have a bunch of juicy papers that do just that!” Nazuko discloses taking a bunch of papers out of her pocket.

“What are these?” Azura inquires, taking the papers from Nazuko.

“When I was sneaking I found them inside a desk that I’m pretty sure no one was supposed to get to. I opened it, the security was awful, there were only five locks on the drawer. I read them and it reveals everything” Nazuko states.

“D-does that mean we can leave? It’s not like we have any reason to go to the castle now do we?” Adam points out.

“There might still be rebels to defeat.” I comment.

“B-but shouldn’t that be the military’s job?”

We look around at the dead knights strewn about everywhere.

“Yeah I don’t think that’s happening” I say.

“Don’t forget about Warren!” Nazuko reminds us.

Oh shoot she’s right, I completely forgot about Warren. I hope he’s ok, he might have run into the Man of Stone. Then again, he was only trying to save his friends so maybe he never had to see him.

“What happened to Warren anyway?” I ask Nazuko.

“We went into the castle together but then this weird guy showed up and Warren told me to leave to go turn off the shield. I tried to stay with him but he was adamant on me leaving.” Nazuko tells me.

“Well if there’s anything we gotta do it’s go make sure Warren’s ok. Alright let’s get this over with” I tell everyone.

“Wait. There’s something I must do.” Akane says, unsheathing her sword in front of Archer’s corpse.

“Ugh what are you doing Akane?” Adam questions sounding quite concerned.

“Oooh I know what you’re doing. I want in! Let me go first” Nerva says, rushing towards Akane.

“Go ahead my friend” Akane allows.

Nerva starts to kick Amon’s dead body.

“Fuck you you gun wielding piece of shit! You asshole! You dare use fire against me!” Nerva angrily yells at the corpse.

I have pent up anger as well. That’s it, I'm joining Nerva. I rush over and start to join in the kicking.

“Yeah fuck you,, you racist piece of shit!” I yell taking turns with Nerva kicking the body.

“Fuck you!” Nerva and I yell after each one of us does a kick.

Nerva stops and turns around to Akane.

“Akane join in!” she begs as I continue to kick Amon.

Akane takes her sword away and with her aura kicks so hard that the leaves on the tree start to fall down.

“Wooo!” Nerva and I cheer.

“Guys what are you doing?” Adam questions confused by what he’s witnessing.

“What do you think we’re doing Adam? We’re making sure this asshole is really dead.” I tell him as I continue to kick with the girls.

“Adam, you should assist. Unleash your anger” Akane suggests.

“Ugh I can’t do something like that. I’m sure he’s already dead. His neck is broken.” Adam contends.

“That can be a ruse. I read a comic once in which the villain had his neck broken but as soon as everyone left he twisted his neck back becoming the antagonist for the next 15 arcs”

“Come on Adam. I know you’re pissed at this asshole too! Join in!” Nerva yells.

“Yeah Adam. He kicked all our asses. He hurt everyone.” I add.

“I mean yeah but….”

“Adam Adam Adam Adam” Nerva and I start to chant. Akane joins in as well with her monotone voice making the chant sound weird.

Adam eventually gives in and gives Amon’s body a super light kick. We stare at Adam for a moment.

“YEAHHHHHH!” We all cheer.

For the first time ever, I gave Adam a pat on the back (I don’t know why, it just came over me). In the back I hear Nazuko ask Will if they should join and I hear him respond that it looks like we got things covered.

“Ok now let’s really make sure this asshole is dead. Nerva do your thing” I order her.

“Hell yeah” she says.

Nerva snaps her finger which causes a fire on Amon’s body. The fire starts to intensify and it starts to spread to the tree the body is leaning against.

“Ugh the fire is going to stop right?” Adam warily asks.

“Nerva you can stop it right?” I question.

“Why the hell would I do that?” she questions back.

“Ugh I’m on it.” Remi says conjuring up a water spell to douse the flame on the tree but not the fire on Amon’s body.

Akane unsheathes her sword.

“One final precaution” she says.

She starts to slice Amon’s flaming body dozens and dozens of times until there’s nothing left but small chunks of flaming meat. Everyone stares at the chunks that are basically strewn about all over the place.

“Ok guys, I think we did it” I state.

“Well that was...something. Can we go now?” Remi asks everyone.

“I’m ready to go if you guys are.” Will states.

“Yeah I think we’re good, let's go.” I concur.

With that we all start to head towards the castle past the destroyed landscape. The past few hours have been the worst I’ve ever experienced. I don’t know what Warren’s been through but there’s no way it’s worse than what we all just went through.