Chapter Text
In a false god’s cathedral
Drowned in world-ending light
Stands the unholy self-proclaimed
King of the night.
And so proud does he gloat
Against self, brother, friend,
About how their heroic fight
Must reach its end.
He now calls down destruction
In his dark pantomime,
But this “ending” is truly a
“Once upon a time…”
✧ — - - - ∾ - — - < ◯ > - — - ∾ - - - — ✧
It should have been a beautiful scene.
Nexus stood proudly, the Dark Star Power dancing through his systems as sharp as glass and colder than frostbite, burrowing under his casing and chipping away at his shiny new body, though he couldn’t bring himself to care. All around him stood the intricate stonework of a castle untethered by dimensional law. Towering arches spanned high above, echoing the immense power harnessed within the dark palace’s walls. And for all its grandeur, it still doesn’t hold a candle to the godlike power flowing through him now.
Indeed, people always said pride would come before the fall, but they never acknowledged just how pretty the view was while you were up there.
Like, for example, looking down upon the two wretched idiots whom he’d been so very eager to see. They were so confident that they could slip in, get their prize, and sneak back out with Nexus none the wiser, weren’t they?
And yet he made them kneel before him.
Solar tried to start a fight, of course. He switched from boneless demands to moral debates to cursing, all with the same growl under his breath. If he thought he had the slightest chance of intimidating Nexus, he was even more brainless than he looked. Which wasn’t too surprising, given how absolutely pathetic he’d acted ever since he’d been “brought back”. The others could pretend all they wanted, but Nexus saw him for what he truly was: merely a corpse dragged around on marionette strings; a debased mockery that putrefied any sentimentality Nexus might’ve once had.
And Sun…barely able to stutter out a full sentence half the time, screaming his head off the other half. Pulling and straining against Nexus’s power, as if he’d have the guts to intervene even if he broke free.
Yes, it was a volley of unpleasant noises all around, but it was worth it to see the panicked and pained looks on their faces.
Until one other sound joined the discordant orchestra.
A voice that sounded too much like his own, shouting a single drawn-out tone like the world’s worst impression of a fire truck.
“What is that?”
The sound repeats, louder this time, and Nexus barely has time to recognize it as a bizarre battle cry before his copy clonks him in the head.
Nexus yelps in pain. The Dark Star Power running through his systems spikes under his casing. He doesn’t notice his grasp on Sun and Solar slipping until it’s gone.
A familiar fury, aged over the course of his short life like a fine gall, burns in his chest, clashing painfully with the chill of his power. It rises in his throat, twists his face into a mirthless grin, and before he knows it, he finds himself laughing.
“Okay,” he mutters, “alright.”
The other three are going on about how their portal isn’t working, their frantic back-and-forth like the pattering of rodents’ feet on Nexus’s pounding head.
“Alright,” he says to himself, “You know what?”
Toying with them has been fun, but now it’s getting stale.
Their time is up.
Moon gets between Nexus and Sun, a pointless show of heroism. The two get into a shouting match over who’s going to be the oh-so-brave one this time, their voices cracking with emotion and ringing out far too loudly.
Honestly, if Nexus had ears, they’d be bleeding.
“SUN, HE WILL KILL YOU!”
Sun returns to his mumbling, but Nexus can pick up the last words. “He won't. He needs me.”
“You're right. I won't kill him,” Nexus says. “But I'll kill the people you love right in front of your eyes.” He turns to Moon, not bothering to hide his disdain. “STARTING with YOU! You knock-off freak!”
“St—” stutters Sun.
Moon is belligerent. “I'm the knock-off?”
Sun cries out “STOP!”
“I'M THE KNOCK-OFF?!”
“Yeah, you are.” Nexus gathers DSP into his arm, the rush of energy frigid and excruciating and euphoric. “GOODBYE, MOON!”
“No, stop, STOP!” Sun shrieks. “S-STOP IT!”
There it is again. That rage that twists his mouth into a grin. Nexus’s laughter rings out through the towering hall, sharp and decisive.
“Your PATHETIC SCREAMING! GOD, how did I EVER put up with you? How does ANYBODY put up with you? You INDECISIVE, UN-CHOICE-MAKING FOOL! You have never made a SINGLE, SOLID decision in your ENTIRE! LIFE! And THAT is why these problems keep happening. Because YOU. DON'T. CHOOSE!
“And I’M choosing to KILL your brother RIGHT NOW!”
“NO YOU’RE NOT! SHUT UP!”
It all happens so fast.
A flash of light so brilliant that it’s blinding.
A warmth that borders on burning.
Something intangible wrapping itself around his body, curling tighter and tighter until it wrenches a pained shout from his mouth and he’s certain his endo will be crushed under the pressure.
A cool rush of air. The uncanny sensation of being both lighter and more crammed together at the same time.
The intrinsic knowledge that something in his very essence isn’t working the way it should.
When his vision returns, he’s right where he was before, but the angles are all wrong. As the disorientation clears, he reasons that he must have fallen. Sun, Moon, and Solar are all staring down at him, bewilderment plain as day on their faces. How pathetic.
He tries to push himself up, only to find that his arms aren’t on the ground.
In fact, his legs are straight as well. He’s completely upright.
He growls, “What did you—”
—but stops.
Because what just came out of his mouth wasn’t a threatening demand for answers. It wasn’t even a weakly-voiced gut reaction.
It was more reminiscent of a foghorn with a dying battery.
“HONK?!”
Solar is a marble statue, processors evidently racing to comprehend the image before him. Sun stutters so badly that whatever he’s trying to say is hopelessly indecipherable, if he himself ever even knew.
Moon just bursts out laughing.