Flip the Coin [BL]

Chapter 501; —Cast A Villain (by Cjbeards)

Henry’s POV

Finally.

The ’present’ had arrived.

I turned my head to the figure on the hospital bed.

But the skinny body that still had scars all over him, even after so much healing, thoroughly bald with red eyes, had turned into a black-haired, black-eyed young, unblemished man.

From his past, from his memories, this had now transformed into his space, and he was altering his appearance.

Pressure surrounded me; my knees buckled, and my eyes wandered to the floor, as if just looking at him was forbidden.

Feeling that for someone other than my Kenny was a sin worthy of death—but I didn’t fight against it, preserving my strength for the right moment.

"You watched someone’s memories without their permission...?" The voice had changed; it was not as distorted anymore—not coming from a throat that had been parched for who knows how long.

The bed creaked as he stood up, walking to me, then grabbing my head, his long fingernails digging into my scalp with the hood in between.

Luckily he didn’t damage the ears.

"UNACCEPTABLE." He slammed my head to the ground.

The moment my head came into contact with the floor, the scene changed.

Under me was now smooth white stone.

"Run." The voice above me disappeared, and so did the pressure.

I looked up and found thick white chipped columns surrounding me, so high that they reached the sky.

A gigantic white throne was to my left, the stars were shining down on me, and there were exotic plants around this apparently half-destroyed temple.

I jumped up, now in the middle of the big temple, and hurried behind one of the columns, so thick that it would take a few people to hug it.

I looked around; more white, destroyed gigantic buildings were behind the exotic garden, which was overseen by this temple.

I stepped around the column and faced a white mask standing right before me.

A hand sped forward, stabbing me in the stomach.

The person’s head tilted while I looked down—not that surprised by the stabbing but rather because there was no pain at all.

I punched the white mask before twisting the knife out of their hands.

Looking at the knife, there was no blood on it.

I was still wearing the undamaged hoodie Kenny gave me...oh?

I stepped forward and stabbed the white mask into his stomach in return, and the moment I did, his mask shattered.

It wasn’t the maestro, but someone looking excessively similar to Kenny, but not my Kenny.

So he will use his counterparts to come after me?

And he will use me to get rid of them, giving him energy, even if he would suffer from the side effect of not killing them himself?

Or did this space count as killing them himself either way?

Instead of twisting the knife, I just pulled it out of the white mask’s body and saw the guy fall.

I was still holding the bow that had meanwhile changed hands, and I continued to hold onto it while moving forward with the knife.

If Kenny or a part of him were here, then I couldn’t kill random White Masks.

Because if it was the maestro’s space, there was a chance that Kenny was being controlled.

Was that the purpose of the masks, or was it just to resemble the maestro’s own?

I continued to move; the atmosphere was eerie, and the only light was from the stars.

Because of the shape and thickness of each column, it was difficult to see behind or between them.

Another two columns later, another knife and another White Mask awaited me.

Just like the one from before, except that this time I sidestepped the attack.

I tried to pull the mask from this Kenny, but it wouldn’t come loose; he was, just like the other, clothed in long, high-collared white robes, covering any eventual tattoos.

No... maybe the maestro is able to change Kenny’s appearance.

Fuck.

I pushed this Kenny in front of me away and ran across the big empty temple toward the throne.

I needed a place easy to defend and difficult to attack, but most of all I needed to get an overview.

And if I am lucky, I will even find the man falsely proclaiming himself a god.

It was the least destroyed thing here, but there was still a bunch of damage on the white stone, giving me the ability to climb up.

The knife in my hoodie pocket, the bow in my mouth, I started to climb the about four-story-tall distance to the seat.

I moved fast yet stopped here and there to look back.

And when I had nearly reached the seat and turned back, I saw that the temple was not at all empty anymore.

About a hundred White Masks were under me, and about a thousand White Masks were coming from the other buildings, scattered but with one uniform destination.

The easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack idea didn’t count such a big number in.

I bit down on the bow and concentrated.

Let them come.

Let them all gather so I can find the one and only god amongst them.

You really can’t underestimate the power of a true believer.

I continued to climb, finally reaching the edge, and finally, I lifted myself onto the seat.

Only to see that the seat wasn’t empty, as I had hoped.

A White Mask, just that this one had black hair.

"No running?" he asked, his long black fingernails peeking out impatiently from the white blouse and black vest he was wearing.

I was already on my feet, the bow in my right hand, the hoodie on me—ready to test a theory.

"Why bother with them if there is only one Kenny I need?" I asked with a laugh.

He pulled the mask away and chuckled, his black eyes looking past me as if he were eying his own kingdom.

"I was never called like that." The maestro said absentmindedly, his words filled with venom and disgust at the name I had mentioned.

My heart skipped a beat—he thought I was talking about him.

So, was my Kenny really here?

If not, it would make this operation so much easier; on the other hand, WHERE THE HELL WAS HE THEN??

"What did they call you?" I asked, moving away from the edge so that I wouldn’t immediately fall when the fight would start.

The black eyes found me; the pressure around me increased, but it was not strong enough to bring me to my knees again.

"Do you really want to know?" He shook the mask in his hand, a thin white violin bow appearing in its stead, but the bow’s tip, edges, and string seemed to be razor-sharp.

Sharp enough to cut everything but the hand that was used to hold it.

"There is nobody left to call me." He looked at me emotionlessly.

He took a step forward, placed an arm behind his back, and raised the bow in his hand, ready for a duel.

"True," I agreed.

I raised my bow as well and took the same position, but with my other hand in my hoodie pocket instead of behind my back.

"Why not just stop tormenting your counterparts then?"

He teleported instead of answering, appearing right in front of me, swinging the bow.

My hand holding the knife sped out of my pocket to parry the blow, but after a short friction, the knife broke.

Still, it was enough time to evade, kick him in the chest, and slide back a few meters—he clearly had no real experience fighting himself.

"Don’t cheat, or give me my powers back." I felt my heart beating wildly at the thought of taking out such a big threat to what was mine.

"The world is an unfair place." He smiled and attacked again; I countered with my bow, stepped back, then turned around to attack him.

It was just a clinking of bows, though he had learned to evade my kicks with teleporting, and each time I parried, the strength and speed he used increased.

While trying not to fall behind, searching for an opening, I saw that the White Masks had arrived at the edge of the seat, apparently having climbed up.

More and more came, and while I considered diverting our positions so I could kick them down, a short flicker of doubt, of my Kenny being under them, stopped me from doing so.

However, this wasn’t going anywhere, and the next time both of our bows crossed, I was continuously pushed back.

When I showed as much as an inclination to raise my leg to kick him, he would teleport behind me, forcing me to jump forward and turn around.

So this time, I made that inclination on purpose, watching him disappear as the white masks ran toward me, reminding me of a horde of zombies, except these counterparts here dared to use Kenny’s face and voice.

I was betting on the keepsakes from my god.

Not turning around immediately, I felt a stab in my back and groaned.

The White Masks were only a few meters away.

Hot liquid ran down my back this time, and I felt the bow burrowing deep inside my insides.

The horde of White Masks slowed down; the maestro laughed.

When I opened my mouth, I coughed up blood.

I turned around slowly, as if to see my attacker for one last time.

And when I did, the maestro looked up at me, but his condescending expression was still apparent.

I let the raised bow slide down my fingers, as if losing the strength in my hold.

I heard the White Masks behind me eventually continuing to run to me, and then I felt their hands and knives against my bleeding back.

That was the moment I took a fast and precise swing with the bow I was holding by its middle to shorten the range and speed, ramming the tip into the maestro’s neck.

His eyes widened as the White Masks attacked me and started to pull me back from the maestro.

While I sank back to the countless bodies, I saw with a grin as he touched the bow embedded in his artery.

He didn’t pull it out, just surprised, shocked, and confused as to why something inside his space could really hurt him.

Hahaha!

I was buried under the White Masks, felt hands, and had countless blades stabbing inside me but causing me not a twinge of pain.

Though they all soon just...

...disappeared.

When they were gone, and I was feeling the fabric of the hoodie against my torn flesh, stopping the bleeding so I wouldn’t die for real, I forced myself up again, forced myself back on my legs to reach the maestro.

There was a slight earthquake in the huge temple.

"Don’t die..." I said.

I walked unsteadily to him and grabbed the white bow that was still in his hand.

"My Kenny isn’t here, is he?"

Seeing him slightly squint his eyes and furrow his brow, I had my answer.

He wasn’t here, not under his control.

Seeing him still breathing, just staring at me paralyzed, I twirled the bow in my hand to then stab it into his solar plexus.

"You skewered my Kenny." I used my whole weight until I heard and felt bone break and until I felt the bow’s tip touch the stone on the other side.

"Don’t die just yet..." I laughed, looking into the black eyes that flickered red.

The earthquake continued to worsen, and the body under me grew paler and colder.

But fortunately, still alive.

I pulled the white bow out of him with difficulty and rammed it back into his solar plexus.

"You motherfucker really skewered my Kenny~" I continued in a singsong, feeling the earthquake shake everything into shambles.

The second time, it was far easier to pull the bow back out, and ramming it back through the body also met less resistance.

So I continued and increased my speed with each stab, while this place broke apart.

The throne fell, and the false temple that had paid homage to the wrong god was obliterated.

The scene changed, and I was back in the room with the view on the cliff, except that it was much older and dirtier than I had seen last time.

I was where I had stood before, at the window.

When I turned around, I saw the skinny, scarred figure with red eyes in the midst of bleeding out and taking his last breath.

I watched his burnt lips move, not thinking that he’d wanted to be heard or would still want to answer my question.

"T̸̬͆o̸͚̾ ̸̨̀s̷͈̀u̷̹̅r̷̟̂v̵̫̀ị̵̽v̷̛̗ĕ̶̜."