CORE

There standing tall before the entrance stairway of the 5th floor, the peak of The Castle was a large, decorative door of grey color, and beyond it a long hallway of unimaginable length, leading to many more all filled to the brim with divine lighting beaming from above and lavishing decoration, pillars lined up like a noble army and like the floors below, the ground that supported what it held above was made with a smooth silky marble etched deep into the castle's walls.

But straight at the end of that big but mentally narrow corridor, where any other hall was meaningless, was yet another door, equal to the size of the entryway, the gate that would lead two very special individuals to REDACTED.

For a moment the corridor stayed as quiet as it always had, a sense of peace overriding its harmonious barriers while ultimately, regardless of how so peaceful and quiet, it was, in the end, an empty frame, as vague dust splashed across the floor, unexplainable wind rushing and whispering through the halls in a circular motion, it could have been a despairful notion but it was at heart and in the end, the truth for what was to come, and what could have come.

Their silence would eventually come to a close, as the entryway doors slid open, slowly and thoroughly its irritable barren creaking filled the first hallway that led to the final gate, and stepping out of the entrance gate were two individuals, Justice and Hero, who both bravely trekked forth the door that was far in front of them, knowing of the danger that lied.

As they walked, it was mostly silent halfway, the footsteps crawling around and about the corridor, until that foolish sound was overshadowed by one of their voices.

"We've made it this far... Do you have anything to say, any self-acclamation perhaps?" Justice said, a slight grin appearing on his face, though while it was out of pride, it had a hint of slight nervousness behind it.

"...I suppose, though, early celebrations typically end up with a drastic consequence," Hero responded, in a tone equal to Justice's which was just that, tension.

"Precisely..." Justice spoke, quietly and fluently it was almost that of a whisper albeit a few decibels louder, with him looking over to the side for a moment, viewing the decoration before turning back, the final gate was just many a step closer.

"Hah... You know, I remember when you were once practically an emotionless robot when we first met, it was quite intimidating," Justice remarked as they took a few steps closer, their coats swaying along with the wind with each step that thumped.

"But look at you now, it's still you obviously, but you're at your best... No, what we believe is our best just ends up not being our best, eh? There's always something beyond that, it's cryptic really," Justice slightly bumped his shoulder into Hero's, in response he could notice a slight smirk on the man who he once thought to be emotionless, as the two finally faced the final gate directly.

The two outstretched their hands, hovering over the final door, but before they pushed it open, Justice spoke, for they had what he thought to be their last conversation.

"What do you bet if we fail or win?" Justice questioned, while it was one of curiosity, it was also sentimental as a small smile appeared on Justice's face.

For an instant, silence filled the corridors once again, before Hero abruptly responded.

"Our companionship to last for all eternity and beyond," Hero closed his eyes, both of them satisfied as they pushed open the large door as it burst open, insufferable sounds of creaking filling the halls once more, but once it stopped, there revealed the distorted 'battleground' that lied behind it as they both respectively took one sharp breath as in the center of it, they viewed The King sat on his gigantic throne, overlooking the duo like ants, and as if they had been waiting and expecting patiently for them, not the least bit of doubt was in their grey lifeless eyes.

"Excellent," The King spoke out of the blue, breaking the initial silence in a tone that sounded heavy, yet at the same time mocking as they stood up from their throne, raising their hands with glory, shaking the small island of rock they stood on as both Hero and Justice took a step back in response, but as they did so, the gate behind them closed shut, faster than it had opened, now there was no turning back, they thought.

"You have exceeded my expectations, but that is to be expected..." The King spoke in a monotone voice, despite the statement, there still was no hint of emotion, though, for a moment, Hero began to ease up from his defensive position as he slowly began to notice something.

"...Hero, you have realized your own impurity in the process of wiping out other impurities of this prison of my own making, admittedly, abruptly similar..."

"As for you... Justice, I take it that you still find yourself in a meaningless position, slaving over what you believe to be your ally?" The King questioned, to which Justice stepped forward for a moment, his body tensing up as one of his eyes squinted for a short moment, however, on the contrary, next to him was Hero, completely stood still, and seemingly in a state of shock as his glowing white eyes were wider than before as he took another step back, to which Justice noticed, concerned.

"You have realized it, did you not?" The King's cold gaze shifted over to Hero, who was starting to visibly shake as he stared back at The King, to which a small smile appeared on their face.

"This is undoubtedly similar, yes?" The King took a step forward, their right foot now on a smaller floating rock, which slightly shook it before it elevated right back up, in response, Justice immediately sent a beam of light, to which The King merely raised their hand, flicking it away as if it were a fly, while this did not surprise Justice, it did worry him by an amount.

"...It can't be... I refuse to believe..." Hero muttered as shocks of static electric magic burst out of his body in a teal blue color which The King was pleased by.

Immediately, every single memory that Hero had forgotten of that voice rushed back into his head like a raging river that simply would not end, in this trance, Hero suddenly fell on one knee as he gritted his teeth, with Justice grabbing him by the arm before he was about to fall on his other knee as well, pulling him up.

"What's the matter?" Justice questioned, though, he made quite a doubtful face, for he had already guessed what it might have been.

Hero began to breathe faster, practically hyperventilating as his electric magic began to be more condensed, turning into ice the more control he had over himself in that instance, he was dreadful yes but... There was something else;

Something else, a feeling that vastly outclassed that dread he felt which he received simply by looking at the individual before him, by simply hearing their wicked voice... But it no longer mattered whether or not he felt that dread, for he had a perfect substitute for such an emotion.

"It is precisely what you think Hero..." The King raised both of his arms as three rings, constantly changing in color were summoned behind him in a flash as Hero stood up, no longer filled with dread but rather, simply and purely anger.

"I am your maker. born as a fragment directly from my CORE."

Before The King could get out another word, in a fit of frustration, Hero suddenly spiked up towards The King, reaching their head level as he attempted to blast them to bits with a Hailstorm, to which The King merely blocked and absorbed as Hero flew back, Justice speeding over behind The King as they were planning something.

"I initially made you for the sole purpose of being a Guardian with the intent of experimenting with how fast you could develop as well... But perhaps you are worthy of being my heir, to take up this throne and rule this world for yourself, but with my command in the shadows," The King confessed.

"Stay quiet and shut your mouth..." Hero abruptly spoke in a strained tone, clenching his fist hard enough to the point a streak of white blood dropped from his hand to the void below.

"Don't expect me to follow you when you caused every bit of suffering in these lands," Hero raised their hand, firing multiple bird-shaped shards at The King, who sighed out loud, frowning as one of the rings behind them came up front, a strange blast of opaque magic releasing out of its hole, causing the shards to strangely reverse themselves back at Hero, who kicked them away immediately with a spinning kick.

Nanoseconds after this, Justice followed up with a few slashes of light coming from his palm, hurling at The King's nape, ankles, and back all in one fell swoop. Still, then one of the rings came forth once more, it spinning around almost violently as a strong, concentrated gust of wind and magic came by seemingly naturally as all the slashes of light were swayed away back at Justice, who was puzzled at that instant, but regardless, they stood there, taking their attack as they absorbed it right back into their body.

"My dear creation... What I speak is an absolute imperative, there is no interrogative," The King uttered as the duo collectively charged at him, but as they tried to strike front and back, The King only took up both of his hands and blocked the attacks with ease.

"Hm, fighting in this unadvantageous form is certainly quite a chore, is it not? Perhaps I should take on something different... I wish to enjoy myself after all," The King said, as suddenly, one of the rings at his disposal began to spin violently, Hero and Justice were suddenly knocked full speed into the wall, actually causing them to bleed due to the kinetic energy and nature of the attack.

"Alpha," The King spoke out in an echoing voice as one of the rings flickered into the color blue, before growing in size as it hovered over The King, facing down on them as a shower of light emitted from its hole, covering The King in that strange magical energy while Hero and Justice got up, sensing reality as they know it shape and bend, spatial proximity growing larger amidst the room as that divine white light faded away with the ring returning to normal size.

Hero and Justice looked down on the throne, surprised as they saw The King, who was now in a far younger and smaller form, around equal height as both of them, they had smooth grey hair, still retaining their robes albeit in a more decorative light as they now had white shoulder pads, and finally, there those three rings hovered behind him as he cracked his knuckles.

"Do entertain me, not many get to battle much less view this form of me," The King commanded, their voice now far softer yet at the same time daunting as he jumped up to the peak of his large throne, staring down both Justice and Hero who slowly and cautiously began to circle The King, strangely, they were now walking mid-air without the use of any magic, perhaps an environmental change, they thought.

"...If everything, and thus everyone is in the palm of my hand... Why need I care for it?" The King questioned, a small smirk appearing on their face as Hero and Justice slowly caved in.

"Because you will end up losing your hand if you refuse to," Hero muttered aggressively to which Justice grinned back in response.

"We all exhaust eventually, Your Majesty. even the so-called 'low-lives' in Area 1 can be weary... And simply wish to commit the vilest of acts, yet they hold it back. Control you can never wield," Justice followed up as the two hastily charged towards The King, who proudly outstretched their hands.

"Then let us see who shall lose theirs first!" The King shouted out as a surge of divine magic rippled not only through his body but through the near-endless space around him.

All the walls and barriers around them, not only restricted to the 5th floor, but to the entire Castle itself, all shook violently before being ripped apart from each other and began to float into random directions amidst a desolate void disguised as a galaxy with many a shimmering star.

And yet in the center the throne still remained, and as if frozen in time The King stood there while Justice and Hero had noticed the reality around them strangely warp, flying back into one of the nearby platforms from the dismembered castle to take coverage.

"Prepare... For the purest of absolution." The King said.