Chapter 77

“…How ironic, Apollo!” “…?” “It’s because of you I realized…that dream is brighter now than ever before! I can even see it shining, right behind you!” At Hope’s indomitable smile, Apollo wheeled around to see a golden mushroom towering from the city, brilliant as the sun. Around its base, the buildings had failed to regenerate, and they lay in a glitched, disordered mess. “Th-the Rust-Eater…!” “What happened to your mushroom antidote program, Apollo?” Hope smiled. His eyes shot open, and the mark on his forehead glowed. “That right there is a truer representation of life than you could ever hope to create! That is the power of evolution, capable of surpassing even our wildest dreams! While we’ve been standing still, they’ve been moving forward. And you would stand in their way? Replace them with the ghosts of the past?” “…Hope… You stupid…” “They’re the future of humanity, Apollo, not us! Why can’t you see that?!” Even Bisco and Milo were surprised at Hope’s rare outburst of anger. Apollo, however, quietly gnashed his teeth and stared cold daggers into his heart. “…I was once plagued by emotion, as you are now.” Then, slowly, he raised his arm. “…But I cut out that plague. And now, I shall do the same to you. This time, for good. Then no one will be able to stand in my way.” “Hope! Run!” “Launch:City:Maker…” Thud! Thud! The two Mushroom Keepers stepped in to defend Hope, and their arrows impaled their mark. However, thanks to Apollo’s anti-mushroom program, they didn’t even slow him down. “…Shot.” “Dammit!” As the cube left Apollo’s palm, Bisco fired a King Trumpet into the ground, deflecting it upward. However, the cube warped around on a curved trajectory and flew into Hope’s side. “Gaaah!” “Hope!!” Milo stretched out his hand, but Hope was torn from him and lifted over to where Apollo stood. The blue cube then split into four parts and bound Tirol’s arms and legs, crucifying her in midair. “Milo! We gotta use the Mantra Bow!” “Got it!” Without even looking at the bow forming in Bisco’s hands, which had torn him apart once before, Apollo walked over to Hope. “…My role in this…is over…Apollo. I brought them…all this way. You’d better make sure…you finish me off…because…you’re not going to get…another chance.” “Hope…you were far superior to Joy and Rage in every way.” “…” “So tell me. Why did you betray me…? Why were you unable to stand by my side?” “…Be…cause…” Tears streamed from Hope’s red eyes as Apollo brought his arm close, his whole body wreathed in blue particles. As his glowing hand neared the mark on Tirol’s forehead, a spinning red cube emerged from her skin. “…Because I loved you…Apollo. I loved you…” “…Good-bye, Hope.” “Get the hell away from him!!” Bisco unleashed his solar arrow in a burst of fiery sparks, but Apollo merely raised a single hand. The Rust-Eater crashed against Apollo’s particles, making the very air in the room tremble. “I must admit,” he said, “your power is considerable.” The impact fluttered his hair, but Apollo’s expression was as hard as stone. “Unfortunately, it is only an ant’s power, fleeting and fickle. I fail to see why Hope was so taken by it. Compared to the power of civilization, wielded by actual humans, it is very little. Very little indeed.” With a flick of Apollo’s wrist, Bisco’s mighty arrow was deflected up into the ceiling, where it erupted into a cluster of Rust-Eater mushrooms. “…H-how…?” “That bastard…he took it head-on!” The two boys fell to their knees in despair. Dislodged by the blast, a small red cube tumbled to the ground before them. “Milo…are you there?” “Hope!” Milo scrambled to pick up the cube, glowing with a soft red light, and brought it to his eyes. However, it quickly fell apart, becoming nothing more than scarlet particles dancing in the air. “No… You can’t… Don’t leave us, Hope!” “You mustn’t give up, Milo. Humanity never gives up. Even when they’re brought to the brink of despair, they always climb back out…just like the sun rising over the horizon to banish the night…” “Hope…!” “I have very little power left…but it is yours, Milo. I trust you. I trust your light to show us the way forward!” “Hope! Wait—!” But the last of the red cube shattered like glass into hundreds of tiny fragments. Upon coming into contact with Milo, they turned green and sank into his skin. “Hope…” His warmth still lingered on Milo’s palm, and he clenched his fist. His eyes downcast, he muttered to himself: “You got it, Hope.” Suddenly, a blast of wind emanated from his body. The Rust-Eater spores that lay dormant within Milo’s blood surged out of him. His hair, flapping in the wind, regained an emerald hue. And as he opened his eyes, a blazing green mark appeared on his forehead, the same as Hope’s. “…You’ve inherited Hope’s access rights?” muttered Apollo, his steely gaze tinged with the slightest surprise. “But how? You’re just a monkey…” “Bisco, let’s go!” “Right!” The two boys took off like a storm, left and right, firing arrows into Apollo from all angles. However, the mushroom antidote programmed into him was far stronger than the one applied to the city, and it prevented even the Rust-Eaters from taking root. “I already told you, it’s pointless. Do you not understa—? Rhh?!” Gaboom! A King Trumpet at Apollo’s feet launched him high into the air, colliding with the transparent ceiling. “Wh…at…?!” “Milo, now!” shouted Bisco. “Won/shad/gahnahi/snew! (Crush target with large mass!)” Milo spoke his mantra, and the mark on his forehead glowed even brighter, strengthening it. He conjured up an enormous bell above Apollo as he fell, and brought it down, slamming Apollo into the ground. “You fools…!” Apollo’s enraged yell went unheard as the bell struck the ground, letting out a loud gong-like noise and trapping his left arm, cutting it off. Milo leaped back to his partner’s side and watched as cracks appeared all across the bell’s surface. “It’s no good,” he said through gritted teeth. “It’s not damaging him at all! If the Rust-Eaters don’t work, what are we supposed to…?” “Hey. Why’d you make it a bell?” asked Bisco. “It looks kinda dumb.” “Well, that’s just what Kelshinha… Hey! Stop distracting me! I’m trying to think!” Apollo finally punched through the huge bell, and the whole thing vanished into a cloud of green spores. He looked impassively at his severed shoulder and chanted a program. “Launch:City:Maker.” Before he even finished speaking, a cluster of buildings sprouted from the wound, twisting together, forming an arm, a wrist, a hand, even regenerating Apollo’s white lab coat. “Ha!” scoffed Bisco. “These guys’re like lizards! You cut off a limb, and they grow it right back!” “…City Maker…” Milo suddenly looked up, and the mark on his forehead glowed. “…That’s it! I just have to intercept the commands…!” “I think I have let you live long enough. I wasn’t going to kill you…” Apollo raised his arms, clad in blue particles, and his bright-red eyes stared into Bisco’s. “…But the Rust-Eater is too powerful to ignore. Just deflecting that arrow of yours took over half my memory. There’s no telling what kinds of bugs you are capable of introducing into my new world.” “You’re soundin’ pretty respectful all of a sudden, Professor Apollo.” “I told you. It is proper manners to acknowledge your opponent’s strength.” Bisco stepped toward him, accepting Apollo’s challenge. Then he turned back to Milo one last time and whispered: “I’ll buy you forty seconds. That enough?” “You think I need that many? I’ll do it in twenty.” “Ha! That’s the spirit!” Boom! Bisco and Apollo rushed forward at incredible speed, two streaks, one a blazing orange, the other the dark blue of night. Two sweeping kicks cut through the air toward each other, clashing with such force that it sent a shock wave throughout the room. “You’ve got a pretty good kick for an egghead!” mocked Bisco. “I have replicated your combat data. There is no way you can win when I know your every move.” “Oh yeah? Well, you know what they say: Every three seconds, a man… Hmm?” “It’s In three days, a young man is born anew, you utter fool.” “Whatever. The point is, I’m always learnin’ new tricks!” Bisco spun around and flung his cloak over Apollo’s eyes, drawing his blade in one clean motion and slashing at his blinded foe. Apollo, however, showing no lack of situational awareness whatsoever, generated a glowing blue knife in his hand and parried Bisco’s strike deftly. Clang! Clang! Clang! Their bodies were now just two flashes of orange and blue, and every clash of blades or legs threw off multicolored sparks. With each passing second, Bisco’s attacks grew faster and faster, and the spores flooded from his body with ever greater intensity. “It’s no use! I’ve downloaded all your moves! I don’t even have to think!” “Well, how ’bout that?! Ain’t nobody been able to keep up with me this far, Apollo!” “H-he’s still going! He’s still getting faster!” The faster Bisco got, the more resources Apollo had to allocate to defending against his blazing-fast moves, without any chance to counterattack. But then… …Gaboom! “…Rhhh!” A red-hot mushroom burst from Bisco’s neck, and his attacks slowed. It was only for an instant, but that small amount of time was all Apollo needed to feel confident in his victory. “You’re overheating, Bisco! You’re a tough little ape, I’ll give you that, but even you can’t handle that amount of spores! You’re only going to kill yourself without me having to lift a finger!” “You think that’s gonna stop me?!” Boom! Boom! Rust-Eaters sprang from Bisco’s flesh one after the other, and his entire body glowed until it looked all but certain that an explosion was imminent. That fool…! He’s going to blow himself up, securing my victory! “…Now!” “…?!” At last, Bisco drew his bow and landed upside down on the ceiling before firing a shot at his feet. Gaboom! The Rust-Eater’s explosive growth was far superior to even Bisco’s King Trumpets. It launched him down like a lightning bolt, planting his foot in Apollo’s chest. “I-impossible… I couldn’t block!” “Of course you couldn’t,” sneered Bisco, “’cause I just made that move up!” Ker-rash! Bisco’s meteoric landing cracked the ground and blew a hole in Apollo’s torso. I…must regenerate… As he began a chant, Apollo suddenly coughed up white particles, and in that moment of hesitation, Milo spoke. “Won/viviki/nagira/city/maker/snew!” The green cube flew from Milo’s hand and over to his partner, where it re-formed into an emerald arrow, glinting in Bisco’s radiant light. “Haven’t you learned your lesson, fools?!” said Apollo. “Your arrows don’t work on me!” “Mine and Milo’s arrows can do anything!” Bisco leaped back as he unleashed his shot, and Milo’s emerald arrow landed deep in Apollo’s chest, shattering the barrier he projected as though it were made of nothing more than tracing paper. “Khhh…!” Apollo braced himself for the explosion, but still no mushroom came. Slowly, the grin returned to his face. “A disappointing bluff. If that is all, then I shall end this. Launch:City:Maker!” At Apollo’s command, the blue particles coalesced in his arm once more. “Hey, Milo!” shouted Bisco. “What’s with that arrow you gave me? It didn’t do shit!” “Keep watching!” “…What…? I can’t focus the particles…?!” Apollo looked down at his arm, but the blue particles refused to bend to his will, instead dispersing into thin air. “What is happening? Launch:City:Repair… Launch:City:Maker!” Suddenly, there was a Vwm! and a small rectangular window appeared, hovering in midair before his eyes. It read, in bright flashing text: “Due to a system modification, access to the City:Maker program has been restricted. Error Code: a20280409.” “My access has been restricted?! Impossible! I am the greatest authority in the system!” “Vwm!” “That’s true. According to your code, at least.” “Vwm! Vwm!” “What are you…?” “Vwm! Vwm! Vwm! Vwm!” One by one, the error windows piled up, spinning around Apollo, before all at once, they stabbed into him. “Gblaaah!” “That Anti-City arrow was made by mantra. Mantra is a new code that Hope granted us. A code created to be greater than your own!” The rectangular windows that impaled Apollo like a pincushion started sucking the blue particles from his body, neutralizing the mushroom antidote program, before shattering into pieces. It was then that Apollo felt the mycelium of the Rust-Eater spreading across the open hole in his body. “Hope…created a new code? Disguised it as religion? Kept it hidden from me all this time… For this? All for a single arrow?!” “Hey, what are you guys talkin’ about anyway?” interrupted Bisco. “Explain it in a way I’ll understand.” “Basically, our mantra is stronger than Apollo’s worn-out magic.” “Huh.” Apollo stood hunched, panting. He glowered up at Milo. “I cannot lose… Not to a false program… Not to a false humanity…” “He says we’re not real, Bisco. What do you think about that?” “Does it matter?” Bisco seemed unfazed, plucking a Rust-Eater from his shoulder. “Either way, he’s the one who’s gonna die, and we’re the ones who’re gonna live.” “You…monkeys!” With the last of his strength, Apollo wrenched the arrow free from his chest. His steely gaze turned to one of pure rage, and the particles flooded from his arms. “Heh. Now, maybe if you’d shown that side of you from the beginning…” “…Who knows?!” Back-to-back, the two fired their mushroom arrows, piercing Apollo’s heart and brain. Soon, a bright orange glow burst from his eyes, mouth, and ears. Gaboom! Gaboom! Gaboom! The Rust-Eater explosion tore the man to pieces, fluttering Bisco’s and Milo’s cloaks. They stared for a while at the aftermath. “…Is that it? Doesn’t really feel like we won…” “We still have to stop the server. I need to use Hope’s clearance to get in there and—” Suddenly, the huge green cube in the tank stirred to life, emitting a rumble that shook the entire room. The glass surrounding it cracked before shattering completely. “Euuuh. Euh. Euuuuhh.” The surface of the cube roiled and churned, and a horde of screaming human faces appeared on the exterior, crying out with vengeful wails. In an instant, it had gone from an orderly, geometric shape to something more resembling a restless ghost. Several clusters of particles rose from its body like will-o’-the-wisps and floated over to the fallen Apollo. “It’s trying to bring back Apollo!” shouted Milo. “There’s not enough of Hope’s power left to defeat him again!” “Then you go on ahead. I’ll hold him off.” “Bisco, no!” “You’re the only one who can go inside that thing anyway.” Bisco cracked his neck and watched as the Rust-Eaters covering Apollo’s corpse slowly turned into buildings and got retracted inside Apollo’s body. “It’s just tryin’ to distract us. You get in there and shut that thing down.” “Bisco, you won’t let him beat you, right?” “Not a chance. And you’re plannin’ on coming back, right?” “Of course!” “Ha!” Bisco laughed, and the fiery spores appeared all over his body once again. “Get going already.” He didn’t have to say it for his partner to understand. Milo turned and dashed off toward the server, now a host of the damned. But before he got there, he turned around. “…Bisco!” He looked back at his partner, his eyes trembling with tears. Together, the two had shrugged off the threat of death so many times, but for once, Milo felt he might actually have to say good-bye. It had been a long time since Milo had looked so hopeless. Bisco put away his bow, walked over to his partner, and grabbed the back of his emerald hair, bringing him in for a hug. “…” “…” “…” “…” “Is that enough?” “…Just…four more seconds.” “…” “…All right, I’m ready.” “Good luck!” Bisco let Milo go and shot him his usual roguish grin. Then he swept Milo up in his arms, leaped into the air, and tossed him over toward the glowing green server. “Off you go, Milo! Go save humanity!” “This isn’t good-bye, Bisco! I’ll be back!” The mark on Milo’s forehead glowed, and he placed his hand up to the server. He watched as blue particles coalesced on its undulating surface, and he frowned. “Hope… Lend me your strength!” he said, his azure eyes gleaming. He closed them and muttered a mantra under his breath. As he did, the swarm of particles receded, and a hole opened up in the server. Milo was sucked inside it and disappeared. “…All right, then,” said Bisco with a smile, and squared up with Apollo’s corpse, still picking itself up off the floor. The cluster of Rust-Eaters that marked his end had already vanished, and the hole in his chest had healed over, as the malicious energy continued to flow from the server and into him. “Euuuh. Euuh. Bisco. Euuuuh.” The particles surrounding him were now such a deep, dark blue, like the bottom of the ocean, that they were almost completely black. He shuffled unsteadily, and it was only his crimson hair and eyes that still resembled the old Apollo at all. “…You’re not Apollo,” said Bisco. “What have you done with him?” “Bisco. Bisco. Euuh. Scary. Must delete. If we don’t delete, we die. Bisco. Delete it. Delete it. Delete Bisco.” It’s like a whole buncha evil spirits in one body…, thought Bisco. While Apollo’s form was human enough, his voice was not his own but those of men, women, and children all steeped in fear and hostility toward Bisco. “Apollo. Fight. Delete him. You must kill him…” “Urgh… Argh… Aaaargh!” “Apollo!” “They’re scared of you…! The year 2028…is scared of you!” For a fleeting moment, Apollo’s own voice returned, as if through strenuous effort. “I’ll kill you…Bisco…and bring back 2028! Even if it means I must die to do so!” “You ghosts of the past got some real nerve, showin’ up here three hundred years later like you own the place!” Bisco leered at Apollo with his same invincible smile. Then Fwoom! Like a flame igniting, a shroud of orange spores enveloped him. “The present belongs to me. The past should stay buried!” “I’ll see you removed from this world, Biscooo!” The two men, one of light and one of darkness, flew toward each other and clashed in front of the rapidly shifting server, into which Milo had disappeared. “I’m scared.” “It’s horrible.” “It hurts.” “I’m scared.” “I’m scared.” “It’s not faaaair!” Milo was falling down a bottomless chasm, filled with an unimaginable amount of trapped souls. It was a torrent of thoughts violent enough to crack the mind of any normal person, but Milo had to bear it. “No! I will return! For everyone…for Bisco!” “Milo! You mustn’t close your eyes! This is the protection layer! Find the key!” “…Hope?!” Suddenly, at Milo’s side appeared the form of the jellyfish girl, Tirol. But her red eyes and serious expression told him it was Hope inside. “I’ll protect you from their pain,” he said. “You must find the pass! The key!” “A key…? Somewhere in this big hole?” “We are within the program, Milo. Don’t trust your eyes. Remember, Apollo is a slave to his etiquette, above all things! He must have left you a way to find it!” “…Okay, Hope, I’ll try!” “And hurry! I can’t hold them off for long!” With the mental assault lifted, Milo could think clearly once more. He sharpened his Mushroom Keeper senses and peered into the inky blackness. All around him were vertical walls that seemed to go up forever, devoid of any sign of life. Even if he could spot the key, at the speed he was going, it was very unlikely he’d be able to get to it before it disappeared out of sight forever. “…Bother!” said Hope. “It could be anywhere! We might even have fallen past it!” “No,” replied Milo. “Apollo wouldn’t pull such tricks. He’d much sooner not leave us a key at all.” “Milo, do you know something?!” “I have a hunch. Sorry if it doesn’t work out, okay?” Milo drew the lizard-claw knife at his waist. This hole is a hint. I can’t find the key because I already have it. And if I already have it, that means… Without hesitation, he turned the knife on himself and plunged it deep into his chest. With surgical precision, he sliced open his rib cage. “Milo! Wh-what on earth are you doing?!” “It’s okay—it doesn’t hurt. We really are in a program, just like you said.” “E-even so…!” Hope was staggered by Milo’s exceptional force of will. The doctor boy scrounged around inside his own chest cavity, eventually pulling out a small glowing object. “Found it.” “Wow!” “What is it…? A ring?” There, in Milo’s hand, was a brilliant platinum ring, inset with an emerald gem. Simple, yet beautiful. “This can’t be the key. Maybe it’s in my stomach.” “No! That’s it! That’s…the key,” said Hope, looking over Milo’s shoulder. He picked it up and held it to his chest, breathing a sigh of relief. Then, as the two of them still continued to fall, he opened his eyes and turned to Milo. “Even I don’t know what you’ll find beyond here. Are you ready?” “Aren’t you coming with me, Hope?” “You’re strong enough to face this trial alone, Milo. I’ll get you to her… You take care of the rest!” Hope placed the ring on Milo’s finger, and the pair were engulfed in blinding light. Once again, Milo was thrown from his world and into another. Clang! Clang! Clang! The battle between the sun and the night continued. Where their blades clashed, a shower of sparks lit up the room. Bisco’s burning incandescence was matched only by the all-consuming darkness of those from the year 2028. Apollo’s jet-black blade parried Bisco’s at lightning speed, and with a counter-slice, he tore a gash across Bisco’s chest. “Rrrghh?!” Bisco frowned as the hot blood rushed from him like a volcanic eruption. “Greuuuuh!” Apollo was now the embodiment of night, a vessel for the hate of those lost souls. He launched a spinning kick, Bisco’s very own signature move, at a far greater speed than even its creator was capable of. It landed deep in Bisco’s stomach before he could recover from the previous slash and propelled him backward into the far wall. “Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete him. Delete Bisco.” “BISCOOO!” Apollo let out a bestial roar and flew toward Bisco, when… …Pchoo! Bisco’s arrow ripped through the air and sank into Apollo’s shoulder. The arrow’s sheer momentum sent him spinning, collapsing to the ground and writhing in pain. “You fool… Bisco… You still haven’t learned…” Bisco watched, blood streaming from his mouth, as Apollo gripped the arrow, and he slowly transformed it into his own midnight-blue. That was the strongest arrow I had. If that doesn’t work, then… Bisco could already tell from their fight so far that the Apollo before him, possessed by darkness, held a power far beyond any human’s. Still, he laughed as the blood left him, and his jade eyes flickered even brighter. “You sure like lettin’ your pawn do all the hard work. How many people were there in 2028? You all just sittin’ back to watch?” “Bisco, cease your blasphemy! You mock the dead!” “If you can’t take the heat, then go back to your graves. No wonder you guys died off.” “Euuuuh. Euuuuuh! EUUUUHHH!” The spirits raged, and the darkness surrounding Apollo grew darker than ever before. Just at that moment… “Aaaah! Aaaaah! Aaaaah!” …the server suddenly started emitting a high-pitched shriek. Apollo turned his eyes for just a second, shocked. “Impossible! The protection layer!” From seeing the astonishment on Apollo’s face, Bisco guessed that his partner was wreaking havoc inside the server, even if he didn’t exactly know what that meant. “Waaah. Something’s inside. Get it out. Get it out.” “Get it out, Apollo. There’s something inside. I can feel it wriggling around.” “I’ll kill you!” Apollo leaped toward the server, but Bisco shot him out of the air, sending him flying back down to the ground. “Looks like you didn’t just get way stronger; you got way stupider, too, huh?” Bisco grinned and nocked another arrow to his red-hot bow. “I ain’t lettin’ you go anywhere. If you wanna go after Milo, you’re gonna have to go through me.” “Bis…cooo…” Apollo looked like the night sky itself, Bisco’s arrows having left dozens of blazing pinpricks in his jet-black skin. Wrenching the last one free, he let the vengeful spirits wash over him once more, and in his hands appeared an ebony bow modeled after Bisco’s ultimate move. “I have replicated…all your techniques. There is…no escape…for you now.” “You’d better hurry. While you’re flapping your gums, Milo’s in there fucking shit up.” “Time to die, Bisco!” The sound of Apollo’s bow was like a tank cannon. Bisco’s solar arrow split the air, and the two collided in the center. A shock wave swept across the room, and Bisco was just able to leap out of its path as Apollo’s midnight arrow split his own in two and embedded itself in the wall. Gaboom! The spot where the arrow struck exploded just like Bisco’s mushrooms, but into a cluster of buildings, traffic lights, and telegraph poles. The force launched Bisco upward, and he collided with the ceiling, coughing up blood. Then a second arrow came, just narrowly missing him but setting off a second explosion of urbanization that sent Bisco crashing down into the ground with a sickening crunch. A sharp pain rushed through Bisco as he felt every bone in his body snap at once. That bastard…! How come his work and mine don’t…? Eh? “We win. We win. We win. We win.” “Kill him. Delete him. Kill him.” Apollo’s spectral bow grew more and more twisted by the second, and he nocked a final jet-black arrow. Bisco slowly dragged himself to his feet, battered and bloodied, and just stared down his fate, his gaze filled with the burning power of life.