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Chapter 15
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The book was nowhere to be found. Perhaps that was why Renner found himself being referred to as such and not You.
“I don’t mean to be a bother,” Monopoly began, but Renner hardly allowed him to finish. With a flick of his wrist, he buried the brutish brawler in a mountain of snow, which slammed into him from all sides, towering over the skyline as a colossal pile. A door opened in the base of it, and Monopoly walked out.
“I don’t mean to be a bother, b-” He tried again to relay his sentence, but was once again interrupted, this time by Renner rocketing forward and, gripping him by the coat, hurled him towards the side of a mountain, which splintered under the immense pressure of the impact. The sun shone once more in the sky, and once more it turned blue, now representing the miles-high Monopoly.
“I really don’t mean to bother you with this.” Monopoly finally said, his voice making the ground tremble and the air vibrate with every syllable. “But why didn’t you do something more with this incredible power here? I can reshape the world to my whim, I can… I can resurrect all life in the universe and kill them off again with the slightest thought. You had all this potential here.”
“A long while ago I was reminded it’s not the power you have, it’s what you do with it.” Renner growled. “And you’ve proven why such power unchecked can lead only to villainy.” He gripped a small stone on the ground and threw it, the action pulling up a massive stone blade which flew towards the sun to skewer it.
“I’m no villain.” Monopoly responded, the blue sun growing impossibly large as Renner found himself lifted off the ground by Monopoly’s open palm, rapidly outpacing the rocky sword which still flew through the air. “I’m just bored.”
“You aided the greatest threat to the world, killed dozens of people, set off a nuclear bomb, and are now trying to kill me all because you’re bored?!” Renner growled, the stone blade finally arriving and piercing the blue sun, spewing light in all directions.
The massive grip of Monopoly closed around its target, plunging Renner into impenetrable darkness. “It was that or do the dishes, and I had a lot of dishes.”
Renner tried to push back against the darkness, if only to mention that Monopoly’s house had contained zero dirty dishes when he had arrived, but it seemed impossible. He was slowly coming to grips with how this duality of power was operating, but the unrelenting pressure of the dark and the assurance that all hope was lost closed in around his mind. There seemed to be no escaping that fate, of utter failure and of ceasing to be.
No. Renner bared his teeth, which was a concept becoming less and less tangible each moment. This is what Ghid tried to do to sway my thoughts before. I won’t be having it. I won’t!
The pressure on his very existence was growing unbearable. He’s trying to crush me out of existence… I can’t fight back against nothing. But I have to exist! He’s trying to make it so I’ve never been… I have to be! I have to!!
“You want to be?” A voice replied. “Well, I’ve been before, and friend, you’re not the Hero I’m acquainted with, but I have a feeling you’ll do…”
“Why are you?” Renner inquired.
“No one in p- Oh come on, I’m not making that joke.” The voice groaned, Renner not quite sure what the issue was. “Just give me the room to operate, mister, and I’ll show you what I can do.”
Wrenching back out of the darkness, Renner immediately sent a downwards hook to Monopoly’s round noggin, which sent the brawler reeling. Monopoly immediately made space after the blow, which Renner utilized by getting clocked upside the head by a piece of falling metal.
“Ow! Where’d you- oh.” Renner looked at the axle which had clobbered him. “How’d you get in here? Did you die in the real world?”
“No. I just have less wind resistance than they do.” The axle replied, the gravity in his voice making it clear Renner should look up. In the sky above them, slowly falling through the clouds, came a large plethora of Dreamers, somewhere in the hundreds, all with mouths aglow with the yellow flames of Zippy’s command. Looking back down at the axle, Renner suddenly formed a devious grin on his face.
“My day has gone from bad to worse, I was eaten alive by a psychopath, please tell me you’re not going to do something horrible.” The axle protested, but largely in vain, as any reaction he may have had to the process was smothered by him folding in on himself.
“I don’t have Diero, so you’ll have to make do.” Renner grinned, gripping the now-liquid metal in his hands and raising it up as it took a more refined shape. “I’m no good with an axle, but I’m not too shabby with a gun.”
“More specifically,” Renner pulled the metal apart as it coalesced into two pointed weapons in his hands. “Guns that can shoot forever.” The barrels blazed with blue flame, and there was an eery silence.
“Okay honestly, this is less bad than I thought it would be.” The axle commented. “I didn’t think being two separate… things wouldn’t stop me from being one me, and wait why am I complementing you after you TURNED ME INTO A PAIR OF GUNS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU-”
“It seems Ghid tries to kill us, even in here.” Monopoly implied a frown as he looked up. There was an ominous stillness that settled across the snow for a moment, and the numerous bodies of Dreamers smashed into the ground around the pair, all rising to their feet and roaring in fury. “When I get out of here I’ll cook that fiend for good.”
“Then let’s sure we get there.” Renner braced himself, brandishing his pistols at the Dreamers surrounding them. Monopoly cracked his knuckles, then reached for his own head and took it off the metal supports which held it in place, rolling it around in his hand for a moment.
“You take the left ones.”
“Did you just-” Renner did a double take at the sight of Monopoly with his head off, and again as Monopoly rushed forwards, his head traveling through the air like an evil glowing bowling ball, carving through every Dreamer it made contact with. His motions seemed to control its trajectory, following his limbs very closely as he punched, kicked, and elbowed every Dreamer around him. Renner, however, stuck to the rock-bottom reality that was reality-defying revolvers that could shoot an infinite amount of ammo coated in blue flame, the axle coming to the conclusion that if he tried hard enough, maybe he could wake up and end the nightmare.
“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. Uh, you wouldn’t mind clicking the barrels together or something?” The axle asked, trying to be heard over the noise of each shot sounding off. “I’m not sure which part of the gun corresponds to a shoe, but-”
“Little busy!” Renner barked back, ducking one Dreamer before giving another Dreamer’s head some ventilation. “There’s a lot of these things here at the moment. I’ll just…” His eyes closed for a moment, and all the Dreamers were gone when he opened them. “Good. I forget just how much I can do here.”
“And you.” Renner slowly turned around, looking at Monopoly, whose head suddenly snapped back into place. “We’re in a very unique circumstance where I actually have the option to detain you and ensure you go to trial.”
Monopoly didn’t respond, only closing the gap dangerously fast and throwing a vicious hook at Renner. But he suddenly found himself infinitely far away, staring at Renner’s vague silhouette, which now rested atop a lonesome peak. “Those Dreamers were exactly the distraction I needed to keep you from noticing this reforming.”
“Hello!” The book spoke, writing itself in feverish fashion. “The last time I was I served a major purpose, but this role is truly critical to the order of things! I promise not to let you down, mister Renner!”
“Now you two keep each other company, all right?” Renner grinned as the tear in reality appeared once more. “I’ve got to go ensure Ghid gets put under for good this time, and I’m not stopping until I do. Au revior, Monopoly; it’ll take you a month to reach this book, and I’ll be back by then.”
So saying, Renner turned, and facing the tear, he stepped through.
“You ought not to do that.” Monopoly deadpanned as he watched the tear close, pulling out a small assortment of silvery shards. “I might get bored in here.”
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