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Tyler flexed his hand, feeling his knuckles crack and his skin stretch. He glanced down to see eight red-clad bodies at his feet, the fabric pooling as their bodies slowly turned to dust.
The antler lodged between Nico’s ribs would have once brought bile to his throat, but it never came. Instead, a weird wave of satisfaction washed over him. Calm.
Tyler turned to the window where he entered. The battlefield below had turned silent, bodies of the unburied littering the grass. Their green and yellow counterparts stilled, glancing up to him. It was almost as if they could see him, but the distance was too far.
The only movement throughout the entirety of Dema drew his attention. It sprinted toward the tower's entrance, green and yellow contrasting against the cobblestone.
Tyler stood there, waiting. Anticipating.
The door swung open like it had just minutes ago, but instead of the cold sting of inky hands around his neck, warm ones wrapped around his shoulders from behind. A breath tickled the back of his neck, the sound of heaving accompanying it.
He should have hugged Josh back. He should have turned around and kissed him senseless like he always wanted to. They did it! Nico was finally dead and the city was free!
But the embrace was never returned, and Tyler stood rigid, staring out on the city as the sun finished it decent.
Josh pulled back, finally noticing the cold demeanor.
“Clancy?”
Tyler inhaled sharply
The Bandito leader knew something was wrong. He traced his finger tips down the back of the youngers arm, reaching his stained palm and lacing his finger with his.
“Clancy, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t call me that. Not anymore.”
Josh’s face fell. Tyler didn’t see it but he could feel it. He could hear it in the way his breathing catched. He finally turned to face him.
“Clancy is dead.”
A hand settled on his cheek.
“Don’t do this.” Josh begged, voice barely above a whisper.
“We both know how this has to end.” Tyler shook his head.
“It doesn’t. You’re still Clancy, you’re a leader, you’re… you’re my everything.”
Josh was pleading. He knew where this was going, but he wouldn’t accept it. He couldn’t.
“We both know I was never really Clancy, he was an idea. To show them that the chain could be broken. This city needs hope, and I alone can give it to them. But this city needs to feel powerful again, and swap out of the lifeless obedience they've been trapped in. I can give it to them. I can give them hope.“ Tyler smiled. He could do this! He could save the city! Josh just needed to see. “They don’t need Clancy anymore… they need me.”
Josh’s hand dropped. He took a few steps back, retreating.
“I guess I don’t know who that is anymore.”
Tyler frowned.
“What?”
“Clancy is who gave the city hope! Clancy changed the tide and started the retaliation against vialism! You did that, Tyler.”
“Clancy just drove an antler through the heart of their leader. He’s weak, imperfect, reckless and impulsive. He was vengeful. What they need is stability. They need someone with power. They need-“
“You swore. You swore you would never do this.” Josh shook his head.
“I’m doing it for you! For us!”
Silence engulfed the room faster than a flame took to gas. The two stared at each other, Tyler unnaturally calm and a look of horror settling into Josh’s face.
Josh chuckled dryly. He kept laughing, letting it grow into a cackle, echoing off the bricks and red curtains.
He then sighed, staring Tyler dead in the eye.
“You know you’ll never shake him. They’ll always see you for what you are. Vulnerable. Isn’t that what Clancy did? Showed them another way?”
“This is another way.”
“No,” Josh lulled, “it’s not. It’s still the same cycle you’ve always been chasing. A snake eating its own tail.”
“Someone has to wear the crown.”
“There doesn’t have to be a crown!” Josh yelled.
Silence.
“We never wanted the same thing, did we?”
Josh’s realization hung in the air, floating in between them.
“I guess we didn’t.” Tyler agreed.
Josh nodded. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes, but he couldn’t be bothered to hold them back.
“I won’t follow you. This wasn’t the plan.”
Tyler nodded, tears now falling down his cheeks and racing to meet the ink that smeared his neck.
“I’ll take care of them. I’ll transition them into freedom.”
“And what happens when you get lost in the transition? When you end up just like them? Then i’m left all alone, again. ”
Tyler scoffed. He couldn’t believe what had just left Josh’s mouth.
“You left me, Josh. I think you’ll be okay on your own.”
“I left you?” Josh cried, face twisting. “Everyday I was exhausting myself—trying to harness a power I barely understood— so I could be with you, so I could help you!”
“Yet you never even tried to come save me!” Tyler screamed. All of those years locked up in this hellscape. Being forced to create art and propaganda for a tyrannical force. Josh really didn’t have the time to come save him like he had so many times before? Why was this time any different? He felt abandoned. Lost to fend for himself. Stuck talking to a ghost of the man he could always rely on.
“You never spoke to me when you were guiding me. You never even tried. You just stood there, torch in hand, leaving me to guess why I couldn’t get the real thing. Why didn’t you speak to me, Josh?”
Josh looked down ashamed. “It hurt too much.”
Tyler laughed. Of course. Josh was selfish. While Tyler was being tortured and exploited, beaten and bruised, Josh got to be free in Trench. He needed Josh, and Josh couldn’t talk to him because it would hurt.
“This is why I should lead them. All those years trapped here while I waited for you- I know what it’s like to lose hope. Hope that anyone’s coming to save you. I can finally be the citizens savior; I can be who came for them.”
Josh narrowed his eyes, examining Tyler. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The rebel leader bent down and snagged up one of the bishops robes. He shook off the ash from where their body had disintegrated, making sure it shone as bright of red as the adrenaline and anger pumping through him.
Next, he made his way over to Nico. He wrapped his scarred hands around the bass of the antler and yanked it out from the old man’s ribcage. Blood soaked its way into every groove of the bone, and dripped off its carved edges to stain the stone floor.
He strode over to Tyler, anger etched into every line on his face. He tried not to flinch, scared of what Josh was about to do.
Instead of hitting him, or lashing out, he whipped the robe around Tyler’s shoulders. For all the fighting and surviving Josh did, his hands were gentle clipping the ornate clasp, smoothing it down against his chest and leaving his hand to linger. Tyler expected him to pull away, but instead, he surged forward.
The feeling of Josh’s lips against his sent a shock through Tyler, almost making him forget the grave they had just dug themselves. It was softer than he could have ever dreamed. Josh was warm and steady, and everything Tyler ever wanted. He started to lean into the kiss, daring to move his lips, but as soon as he did, Josh pulled away.
Tyler slowly opened his eyes, lingering in the taste of their kiss. By the time he readjusted to reality, Josh was bent down, grabbing the other antler from where it clattered against the ground. The pair was gripped in one hand, and with the other he reached up to his right shoulder to grab the edge of the tape. With one swift move, he ripped it off. Tyler tried to hold back a gasp, but he failed miserably. He watched, confused, as Josh’s hands repositioned the antlers, one under his arm and the other in his hand. He connected their bases, and started to wrap the tape around them. The other piece of tape was ripped off his chest and wrapped around for extra support, and when he pulled it out from under his arms, it revealed what he had made.
The Bandito leader reached up to place the horns on top of Tyler’s head, hands trailing down to cup the other’s cheeks.
“I hope you’re happy.” The rebel leader leaned in, whispering the words into the newly crowned Bishops mouth.
Josh let go of him, and retreated out of the room. He was going tired, worn, and betrayed.
The air was heavy as the door slammed shut. Tylers breath shook as he tried to inhale, but the air was slightly too stale and tears couldn’t stop running down his face.
What had he done?