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The sun was already blazing in the early hours of the morning, as always on this god-forsaken island, and here Ash sat on his Throne (couch) drinking. In his defence he's been having a really shit couple of weeks and more specifically a really shit day. After the resurrection of his daughter Ghosty and the book that told a too harsh truth it was only natural that he was going to have a shit day. If it wasn't for Ewron yesterday he doesn't think he would still be alive. His arms still hurt from last time. Even if the healing pots have long since made the damage disappear, the phantom pain seems to ebb at him. A remainder of how weak he was. How weak he still is. Not that it matters. He will get her back, the real Ghosty back. He will get Haiper and Fariis back. Even if it costs him his own sanity, he need's his famil- he needs the regime back to their full strength. There's a Fed staring at him, the barrel of the camara stares right between his eyes. He kind of wishes that it was a gun, a quick and easy death to put him out of his misery. The fed wont leave. he even tried throwing some of Tubbo's create slime at him, and believe me when that touches anything remotely white you will NEVER be able to get that stain off. He just stares. When Ash woke up he was there. Already filming as he struggled to get out of bed, cold sweat still clinging to his skin. Another nightmare of white rooms and cold stares. Ash continues drinking.
God, maybe they were right. maybe he is weak. He's gotten soft. He even allowed Katie to hug him! He's never allowed anyone get that close to him...He finishes the flask, a gift given to him from the Dutch from his last visit, wincing at the burning drink. Ew. He's always preferred smoking instead. Alcohol make's you slopy, make's you more prone to an attack and less likely to be able to defend yourself. But it also make's you numb. But then again he could get the same affect from smoking, if only Jeremy was still here. He would have had his fix already. The Dutch seem so dead set on looking for Shappo and he cant bring himself to intrude. The pantheon looks so empty without Haiper's chair. Its for the better, he'll get him back soon. The factory has gone silent too, the constant, rhythmic thump of the boilers dulled now that there's no engineer to fix it. He promised Tubbo that he will ensure everything wont be broken...he cant even get that right. He's such a loser. Useless. Pathetic. Unwanted. Wrong. He is a FAILURE-
'TheRealKatieB was slain by Aldo_geo'
What.
You whisper to TheRealKatieB: WHERE??!??!?
There's no response but he's already pulled out his Warpstone. He KNEW Aldo hasn't been acting right since he came back. But noooo SenpaiSpider wanted to wait before jumping to conclusions. He should have killed Aldo when he had a chance, he should have killed him when he hurt his family- No not family. family makes you weak. he needs to stop. He shouldn't care. he needs to- the flask is empty and the world warps around him as the North comes into view. He tries to ignore the glitching that seems to make his vision fuzzy. Its just the drinks. He's just paranoid, maybe it was just a misunderstanding and Aldo was having a panic attack or something? What was it called? PTSD? Oh who was he kidding.. that pig worked for the Federation.
He's already sprinting before the nausea of teleportation can get the chance to wear off, he can taste vomit in his mouth. That's when the noise hits him.
Foolish is screaming for everyone to calm down while simultaneously being the most panicked and loudest, Veggeta is yelling in spanish maybe trying to cool off an argument? Jaun is ducked under a table trying to save as many barbequed goods as he can from the crossfire, Tina is trying to stop Don from attacking Aldo but from the angle he's at he cant really see much. It doesn't help that his vision feels a bit blurry. If only Don would move so he could- Don is standing over Katie. Katie has somehow been downed a SECOUND time and is trying but failing to crawl away as Don becomes a human meat shield. Her leg is bent in a awkward angle, broken, and her face is twisted with pain. Feriis is there for some reason; a few apple juices have been smashed and left abandoned on the floor as he looks mournfully at his wasted work.
He's moving towards Katie in a instant, after a quick sweep reveals there's no danger, no one that will jump out at him when his back is turned....he cant focus. Everything feels like its underwater, fuzzy- no staticky. He's still running. he cant seem to get his legs to stop even if some logical part of him screams for him analyse the situation. He should try to get information before jumping straight at Aldo. If he continues forward he will fall of the roof, but if he stops Don will NOT win this fight. He can tell already. No fault of Don, he's an impressive fighter (no that he would ever tell him), but he cant fight Aldo when there's also Senpai trying to stop both attacks while also engaging in combat with the both of them. He should take out his weapons and eat a Gapple before he fights. but his hands ITCH, his vision feels blurred and he cant tell if the world is tilting of if he's just stumbled.
Tomorrow he will say he took a calculated risk. Tomorrow he will say that he knew what would happen, that Katie is Regime and that is the only reason he lunges at Aldo. He will say it went all according to plan.
There was no plan.
It felt like some part of him was snaping. Maybe it was the Cameraman's incessant filming, maybe it was because of the horrific fiasco with Ewron and his daughter yesterday, maybe it was because the veins of the Regime is still missing or that two of his closest members are probably going to die from radiation or whatever the hell Multi has done to them. Maybe its a mixture of all these thing. Or it simply could be that he was destined to fall. A failed experiment like him doesn't deserve to soar. They don't deserve the liberty of freedom, a failure at the only thing they were created- made-to be. He wasn't supposed to feel, he was only made to destroy.
But for a second there, for just a second, it felt like he was flying. it felt that he was doing something right. Even when his claws dug deep into the fabric of Aldo's shirt and slipped through his skin for to easily. Even when he can hear a gasp behind him and the silence that was quickly followed by loud noise. Noise that was muffled. noise that felt distant. Maybe he never woke up and he's still dreaming? It sure feels like it when gravity pulls both Aldo and Ash off the Mansions roof. He feels oddly nothing when the earth connects harshly to his right shoulder and a crack can be heard. He doesn't feel the lightening pain shoot up his arm over the static that feels his head. Aldo wasn't as lucky. Ash hits the ground before Aldo but he is quickly thrown off as they continue to roll down. Aldo's grip loosens on his sword as he tries to catch himself on a branch before that too is taken from him.
There's a noise akin to a Enderman screech before claws are dug into his back, tearing his once ironed uniform to shreds. Aldo manages to twist around and kick Ash in his stomach but its as if Ash doesn't FEEL it. Like he's indestructible but that's- Ashe's shoulder is clearly dislocated. Its hanging limply and swings as he lunges again. Almost animalistic in his desperation. There's a high pitch ringing that pierces Aldo's ears. He doesn't have time to block his ears before the ringing changes pitch. He tries strangling the thing, to cut off his airways but Ash's face- his whole body- seems to be overrun by glitches. Its hard to see where his face ends and neck begins over the box like glitches. The sensation is unlike anything he's felt before. It feels like he jumped into lava while also experiencing frostbite, it feels like the glitches are trying to crawl into Aldo's skin. This was not Ashswag. This was not the man he fought on the first week on this hell of an island.
Aldo knew he was dead before the respawn even flashed. A deep, Instinctual fear whispered it to him. Even when he scrambled for his sword or tried to open his inventory, when he tried to fight off this Thing that seemed so dead set of killing him. The growl (because that must be what the horrendous noise is, if not a growl then a screech) seemed to emanate from the creatures being. The remnants of Ash was overtaken by the purple code so that only his one eye could be seen. An eye that held so much hatred for this world.
This man had no face, no mouth and no eyes, yet it seemed to predict his moves. Aldo knew when he was doomed, its what made him such a good general.
Then Ash blinks.
He's shacking, in some part of his brain it also registered that he was covered in blood, he dumbly wonders why. Not that he cares, He's used to blood but the incessant ringing in his ears was something familiar yet disconcerning, even when the ringing stopped the noises didn't. A gurgling, wheezing sound took its place. What was making that noise? It almost sounds like whistling- oh god. He feels sick. Ash is no stranger to violence. He has done horrible things but this might just take the top.
Aldo is laid lifeless on the floor. Or he should be. His eyes stare at him unseeing but with the look of someone very much alive. Blood gushes from his upper jaw, his lower hanging almost detached. Cheeks completely torn open in harsh but precise rips. As if someone was trying to pry the mouth open. Aldo's stomach has a large gash running from his collarbone to just past his belly button, Ash swears he can see his rib cage. the jagged outline visible in every wheezing inhale Aldo takes. Also is trying to scream, it's a horrible realisation as bubbling blood continues to flow out of his open mouth. His tongue is hanging out and moving with no noise...Ash's hand is clamped around his throat. He's to scared to move it, to see the damage under it. Blood continues to seep through his fingers as he ratches.
The Warpstone is cold under his touch, he almost drops it a few times and has to wipe his slick hands on the grass before teleporting back to the Regime.
The next day there was posters up about a new entity, one that was seen in the North. With glitches that resembled the Code monster. No one knew it was him. He doesn't want to think about that too hard.