05-17-2014, 03:46 PM
"All the Kings Horses" Two Steps From Hell |
A lot of things have happened since you last saw me here in Bizarro World. Those at the community, along with my son Thaddeus, have decided now was the time to invade King George's castle. They have decided now was the time to overthrow the King. They have decided that now was the time to install my only son, my only child, on the throne of the American Empire. Of course, They have decided all of this, while I was away.
I knew I had stayed away for too long, but I kept remembering what Azrael Erebus had told me before I ventured here in the first place. He warned that each time I'd pass through the worm hole, it would get just a little smaller before it would eventually close up completely and there would be no going back again. I had passed through it more than a hundred times now and while I can't physically see it, I can feel it when I pass through.
It's extremely hard to explain, but I know when I first went through it, everything seemed so loose and so free. Now, I can feel it restricting. I can feel it getting tighter and tighter around me now. It was very plain and simple to see it and quite obvious to me, that time was indeed running out.
That's why I came back this time. I needed to somehow convince Thaddeus that he wanted to come home. As Azrael told me, he would have to want to come home. We had talked about it before and it always ended the same way. Thaddeus would get confused as to what I was telling him. He'd get so confused because it sounds so absurd that he wasn't from this time. Then he'd storm off in anger. Sounds like this guy I know.
Before I left my natural born time, I0 got into an argument with Caitlyn. She was done with me pissing around, as she called it. She wanted me home for good and she wanted Thaddeus there too. I mean, I couldn't really blame her. It was her son too. Not just mine. I can't imagine what it must be like to know your only child, who when you last saw him, was just a four month old baby, is alive and well but somewhere lost in time. Lost in time and you can do absolutely nothing about it.
Of course, as with any argument between a man and a woman. The man always loses. Even if he wins, he still loses. You can take that one to the bank.
When I returned here to 2514 and the American Empire, I had a lot of catching up to do. The place was nearly empty. The only man left in the place was Zachariah, which gave me an eerie feeling. A feeling of dread.
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Zachariah! Where the hell is everybody?”
Zachariah sips on coffee near the fire. He doesn't even look at me.
ZACHARIAH: “Hello to you too, Sebastian.”
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Cut the shit! Where the hell are they?”
ZACHARIAH: “They decided to invade, Sebastian.”
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Does invading under the cover of darkness ring a bell!?”
ZACHARIAH: “They decided that the time was now. I tried to talk them out of it.”
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Obviously you didn't try hard enough!
“How long?”
ZACHARIAH: “Two hours. Maybe three.”
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Fuck!”
The militia had already moved out and headed for the King's castle. I worked quickly to gather my horse and my sword. My bow and some arrows had already been secured to the saddle. Somehow, during my quick travel through the forest on horseback, I feel like the King knew the militia was coming. Every once in awhile, I'd come across a dead member of our militia. The only thing I knew for sure was that Thaddeus was not among those that I saw dead and lying throughout the forest. That revelation gave me some solace during my trip.
When I arrived in Saybrook, I was struck with an even worse feeling of dread. The roads were deserted. The dead bodies of the vast majority of Zachariah's militia were scattered about. What struck me even odder, was that not one of the Saybrook residents were out and about. No one was shopping in the markets. No one carrying buckets of water. That guy that juggles all damn day every day, he was no where to be seen. Then I saw the sign hanging above a table loaded with various fruits and vegetables.
“Closed due to public execution.”
I urged my horse to go faster. As I neared the castle, hundreds of Saybrook residents had gathered in the courtyard outside of Duke Castle. My heart sunk. Standing in a noose upon the gallows was Thaddeus. The residents stand in silence as the King speaks.
KING GEORGE: “It is with deep regret that I'm forced to bestow this punishment upon this young man. His numerous threats of violence against your King have forced my hand and I assure you, this is not something I wish to do.
“In order to continue with law and order in my Kingdom, it is something that must be done and something that I do with a heavy heart, and as unfortunate as it may be, it must be done in a public forum.
“Young Thaddeus, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that you are hereby sentenced to death by hanging for the repeated offense of threatening my life.
“May God be with you.”
I prepare my bow and arrow as King George nods to the two executioners standing high on the gallows. As I pull back the string, I notice Thaddeus has freed his arms. The arrow is expelled from my bow and soars through the air. In one motion, Thaddeus slits the throats of his two would be executioners. At the same moment, my arrow slices through the noose, freeing my son. The arrow passes by the Kings head and bounces off the stone wall.
KING GEORGE: “Hey! That was close!”
Realizing what is happening, King George immediately retreats into the castle. The King's guards surround me, coming closer. I look toward Thaddeus and I'm happy but not yet relieved to see he's making quick work of the guards near him.
In a matter of just a few minutes I've dispatched the guards that were cutting me off from Thaddeus. I look in his direction just in time to see him duck into the castle doors. I fight my way through the crowd of onlookers. A few of those that stand firmly behind their King tried to get in my way. Tried to stop me. Unfortunately for them, they are cut down quickly. Something deep within me is telling me to move quickly. Something within me is telling me to get to Thaddeus. The quicker, the better. So I fight on through the crowd. You'd think a man of six feet eight inches would easily pass through a crowd of hundreds of 5 foot somethings, but that just isn't the case. My ankles get caught up on knees, feet, legs, you name it, as many of those still around stand shoulder to shoulder.
I reach the gallows and scale it quickly. On the other side of the gallows lies the doors to the castle. Smooth sailing from here on. I burst out into a sprint. If you've ever seen a 6 feet 8 inch 280 pound man run, you'd know it was probably an awkward sight to see.
Forty feet away.
Thirty feet.
Twenty feet.
The doors are shut.
Fifteen feet.
Five feet.
I jam my shoulder trying to bust through the door and make a dramatic entrance. Instead, I bounce off and hit the cobble stone surface beneath my feet. It's locked from the inside. As I lay on the cobble stone, I look at the facade of the castle and then remember that it's my fucking Compound. There are a hundred ways in if you know where to look.
I jump to my feet and remember the window along the side. It's adjacent to where my garage is, except in the year 2514, there is no garage. I run to the side of the castle and plunge my fist through the glass and heave myself up onto the window sill. I fall through the window on the inside of the castle. I make my way through the eerily empty royal palace and find myself it was used to be my chapel, and is now King George's decorative throne room.
Lying on the floor at the foot of the throne is King George. Thaddeus stands above him, at the ready to plunge his sword into the King's chest. That's when I see it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see King George brandishing something I thought didn't exist in this time.
It feels like its all in slow motion.
King George pulls out the antique American Revolution era pistol. He's pointing it directly at Thaddeus head. I run and yell, but no one even looks up.
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “THADDEUS! DOWN!”
As I near him, the gun is fired. I was close enough to get blood and brain matter splattered on my face. I stop dead in my tracks. I'm shocked, terrified, horrified at what I've just witnessed. Thaddeus eyes glaze over. His sword falls and rattles off the stone floor. He drops to his knees and falls on top of the King.
Thaddeus has been cut down in front of me.
The King struggles beneath my son's body, before finally pushing him off.
KING GEORGE: “Stupid boy!”
I feel nothing at first.
KING GEORGE: “Wait a minute. It's an old gun, I'll have to reload.”
I stare at the dead or dying body of my son. I'm not sure if he's dead yet, but he will be soon enough. I don't shed a tear. Instead, I am engulfed in a type of rage that I've never felt before. I step toward the King who sits on the stone steps beside Thaddeus' body. He fiddles around with that pistol of his. I grab with a palm full of face. I can see the fear in his eyes. I drive the back of his head back into a stone pillar and he drops the pistol. With a fitting rage coursing through my body, repeatedly, I smash his skull against the stone pillar.
Blood covers the pillar. I let go of him and he falls to the floor clutching his head. He's barely conscious. I slap him a few times to bring out some alertness in him. After all, I don't want him to be unaware of his own death. He looks at me, with fear growing in him.
KING GEORGE: “Your son...
“He proved himself...
“A worthy adversary...
“It was the first time...
“I ever...
“Got that thing to fire...”
He speaks through bated breath.
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Don't worry. You will still die by his sword.”
As promised, I pick up Thaddeus' sword. The King stares at it, but doesn't speak. Doesn't resist. He looks at me with a slight grin through a bloody mouth.
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “I will savor your final breath. When I leave, King George, your head is coming with me.”
KING GEORGE: “I'd expect...
“Nothing less.”
George's eyes grow wide as I plunge Thaddeus' sword toward him. Through his mouth and out the back side. Effectively severing his spinal cord.
THADDEUS: “Dad...”
He's alive! I rush over to him. I kneel down and turn him over. I cradle his head in my arms and stare into his eyes.
THADDEUS: “I...
“I don't want...
“To die here.
“I want to...
“Go home.”
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “We're going home, son.”
I lay his head down gently. More enraged than ever. I eject my right dagger and kneel down beside the dead King George. I drive the dagger into his wound and I saw and I saw and I saw away until his head detaches from his body.
Carrying the King's head by his hair, I kneel down beside my fallen son. His eyes are so glazed now that he probably can not see anything at all. He tries to speak again, but can't. Finally, his chest stops raising. He's taken his final breath.
I sit there trembling. I pull out my modified cell phone. As I kneel there, with my dead son in my arms, and holding the King's head, I beam us home.
It takes what seems like an eternity by the time I materialize into my bed room at the Compound. Caitlyn is unfortunately standing there. She looks at me and notices Thaddeus, then lets out a blood curdling scream. Moments later, Jacob barges into the bedroom.
JACOB, THE MESSENGER: “God no!”
Jacob gently takes Thaddeus from my arms. With tears in his eyes, Jacob asks the obvious question.
JACOB, THE MESSENGER: “Who's head is that!?”
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “The head of his murderer.”
JACOB, THE MESSENGER: “What the hell happened?”
I look down at the King's head.
SEBASTIAN DUKE: “I was too late.”
Without uttering another word, I exit my private quarters still carrying the King's head by its hair. I descend the stone spiral staircase. I slowly make my way through the main corridor. Numerous Brothers stop what they're doing and stare. I reach the end of the hall way and hang a left. That's when I descend to the dungeon.
Fade to Darkness.