Operation: MASKED, Part 23

Play the "Showtime (Extended)" theme from Homestuck.

Chapter 23: The Moon Stops

Final boss: ZANIFR MIMCHI

Cheren flew at high speeds through a swarm of asteroids, evading beams of darkness that were launched at Majora from the distance. He swiftly swerved around and avoided as asteroids were sent at him, but one of the large rocks was able to knock him back. Cheren recovered quickly and shot out from behind the rock, keeping after his enemy. Groups of dark portals appeared around his body and started to launch whip strikes, knocking Cheren around a little and causing him to ram into an asteroid.

Cheren shook his head from the impact and kept flying forward, searching around for where his opponent could have gone. Majora immediately attacked him from the left and knocked him into another asteroid. Cheren glared at his opponent as Majora flew above him, and Cheren shot up to deal sword strikes. The demon swiftly swung his whips and blocked the strikes, then wrapped a whip around Cheren's legs and threw him back. Cheren recovered quickly and flew after as Majora soared away, the demon spinning around and launching quick whip strikes. Cheren blocked the whips and shot above the monster, coming down and dealing a round of blows against him.

Majora shot away and zipped behind, dealing a round of rapid-blows to Cheren's backside. He finished by roping Cheren and hurling him upward, then grabbing an asteroid to launch it up to send him flying and smashing against another asteroid. Cheren weakly recovered from the crush, seeing Majora zip by several feet in front of him. He shook his head and kept after the demon, swinging his sword and launching quick sword-rays to chop several incoming asteroids, which Majora was grabbing with his whips, in half. Majora shot to the left and kicked an asteroid at Cheren, but Cheren dodged up and flew at him to throw a round of sword-strikes. Majora blocked from all the strikes with his Whipkind and flew above to launch a series of dark missile spheres from his sharp wings, and Cheren flew all around the place as they homed in on him tight. Each of the spheres came rather fast, and he narrowly zipped around the asteroids to make them crash, but ended up kicked by Majora and sent down to a lower asteroid.

Cheren looked up as the demon was about to impale him with his sharp wings, but Cheren kicked away quickly and got Majora stuck into the asteroid by his wings. Cheren got to his feet and ran at the demon while he was stuck, throwing a powerful kick upside his chin and making purple blood come out his masked face as he was knocked away. Majora held his mask and made sure it was fixed on tight, and dodged quickly when Cheren stabbed his blade at him. Cheren turned around, and was immediately met with a series of kick attacks by Majora's feet, the demon finishing by kicking the left side of his face and making him fly away, with blood shooting out his mouth.

Cheren broke through two asteroids and landed on the third, then dodged quickly as Majora shot down and sliced the third asteroid with his wings. Majora faced Cheren and threw a series of dark daggers with his wings, and Cheren flew backward as he swatted the blades away with his own. Cheren shot down afterward and stabbed his sword into an asteroid and hurled it up, successfully hitting Majora upside the chin. Cheren shot back in front of him and proceeded to deal a round of sword blows against the demon, but Majora recovered and grabbed the blade with his hands (while still holding his whips). He was able to keep the sword back and fly away, flying around Cheren in a circle and launching more daggers from his wings. Cheren shot down, but the blades still followed, but he easily knocked them away with a spin attack.

Majora was flying away again, so Cheren kept after him and launched sword beams, but Majora easily avoided and whipped an asteroid to throw at Cheren, but the Uno child sliced through it easily. Majora stopped and flew into a dark portal, coming behind Cheren and kicking him at another asteroid, then jumping back in as he recovered, coming by the side of the asteroid and kicking it away. Cheren hopped off before it crashed and shot at Majora, pushing him into a portal he was about to enter. They both came out as Cheren shoved him against an asteroid, but Majora recovered quickly and zipped into another portal. Cheren closed his eyes and listened intently, and when he heard the portal spawn behind him, he grabbed the demon's neck, slammed him against the asteroid, and dealt him another round of blows.

Majora eventually grabbed the Uno boy's sword and was able to fly and push him quite a distance. Cheren fell backward and let Majora shoot by, and the demon turned to face him as Cheren knocked asteroids at him. Majora easily dodged the asteroids and used his whip to grab and hurl them back, and as Cheren dodged, Majora suddenly flew at him with a round of rapid whip-strikes, which Cheren did his best to block with his blade, but ended up taking a few hits. Majora disappeared in a portal, and when Cheren recovered, the demon appeared behind him and clutched his left hand and feet to his backside, flying around and slamming the boy's face into several asteroids. He flew to a bigger asteroid as Cheren's face was now riddled with bumps and bruises. Before he could slam his face again, Cheren reached back, grabbed his head, and slammed his face first. Cheren flew back, still holding Majora, and slammed his face again, flew back and slammed again, then flew back, and slammed again.

Cheren eventually let go as Majora's face lay planted in the rock. Majora slumped out and sunk a little, but recovered quickly as he glared at Cheren, blood dripping from his mask. Cheren merely flew in place, keeping his serious glare, while the face on Majora's Mask remained unchanged as always, the only movement from either of them being from Majora's flapping wings. The demon calmed down and closed the eyes behind his mask, and everything went bright.

KND Moonbase

The Sector V operatives were watching eagerly as the three kids slept, hoping that Cheren could win his battle quickly. Suddenly, Majora's Mask began to shake on Miyuki's face, and the mask shot off as it was covered in darkness, shooting out the window into the airless space. Before their eyes, the mask flashed, and Majora's God Tier form was known. They looked at Cheren's body as the boy's eyelids shook, and he made little grunts as he tried to wake. The Uno boy flashed as well, and he awakened in his Fierce Deity form, the kids nearly blinded by the golden light. Cheren shot out into the open space and was unfazed by the lack of oxygen. He faced Majora, and the two immediately began zooming around the moon, clashing sword against whips.

The kids peered out the window as Nerehc woke up as well, walking beside them to see the battle. "Is that… Cheren?" Thomas asked.

"You think?" Nerehc remarked.

They flew a little lower as they moved at high speeds, nearly crashing into a jagged moon rock, but they dodged to opposite sides. They flew back at each other and clashed some more before Majora managed to grab Cheren and shove his face to the grey ground. Cheren shook away and flew ahead, launching a series of sword beams at the demon, but Majora dodged and caught up before lashing more whip-strikes his way. Cheren blocked the whips and caught one around his sword, swinging and slamming Majora into the ground. He was about to impale the demon, but Majora got up and jumped away just in time. Cheren shot after, and Majora flew backwards as he glared, grabbing several moon rocks with his whips and launching them at the deity-boy.

Cheren either dodged or swatted them away with his sword, keeping after the demon at high speeds. By this time, they had flown to the very front of the moon, where the colossal, evil face glared hatefully at the planet, a field of flaming red surrounding the front as it loomed closer and closer toward the Earth, with the Giants still trying to hold it off. Compared to them, Cheren and Majora looked so tiny. Regardless, the two deities continued to brawl, ramming back-and-forth into each other and clashing their weapons. They stopped for a minute as Majora tried to catch his breath, his grip on the dual whips firm. The demon looked at the moon and looked down at the Earth, already feeling he's won. "It's hopeless, Boy! In a matter of minutes, the Earth will be destroyed, and BOTH your worlds will be nothing. I can ultimately return home and be with Miyuki there. Together, we shall take revenge on the fools that denied me, and my vision can come into being."

Cheren grinded his teeth, refusing to let Majora take his friend. "EAAAAAAAUUUUUHHHH!" Immediately, Cheren grabbed the demon's neck and slammed him into the surface of the moon's face. He pulled away as Majora shook weakly, but was immediately met with a storm of powerful sword blows, with a force incredible enough to keep Majora pinned against the moon, and even making the face wince with pain itself. Cheren shot far, far away, a mighty blue light sprouting from his form. The Fierce Deity shot forward, sword aimed directly forward, closing closer and closer on Majora's body. His sword penetrated the side of his body with great force, and this force penetrated the moon and seemed to make all consciousness spew from his face, his enormous mouth dropping wide open. Cheren gripped his sword tight, still penetrated through Majora's hip and the moon's surface as he scrapped a line up the face and toward the Moonbase.

At this time, the kids had their faces pressed fully against the bridge's large window, and Merida stood there beside Sector V as well (she couldn't resist coming into the Time Portal). Panini had awakened, and saw everyone in a straight line alongside the window. The Irish-Polish walked over beside Merida, the two exchanging glances before facing out onto the moon's surface. Cheren seemed to be flying back at high speeds, his sword scraping a huge crack across the surface, with a strange figure stuck on it, and leaving a slight trail of purple blood. When Cheren was close enough to Moonbase, he shot back to the air (er, non-air), with Majora still attached, and with a great surge of power, he launched the demon down with a slicing airwave, colliding with the moon and leaving a huge cloud of smoke. (End song.)

Everyone's mouths hung open in anticipation. If what they saw was true… could it be so? (Play "Can't Escape, Fight!" from One Piece!)

The smoke cleared, and everyone had a view of the battered, rugged Deity Cheren hovering with his sword in his hand. Underneath him, in a gaping hole on the moon, Majora's bloody, torn, beaten body lay there, all consciousness having left his face. His sharp wings were bent, the whips had fallen out of his slumped hands, and he didn't move a single inch.

Wide smiles appeared on everyone's faces. Cheren was hovering in space, the aura of light still brimming around his body. Majora was on the moon. Bloody. Beaten. And in a hole. He's lost.

"YYYYYAAAAAHH!" Panini screamed, hopping higher than she's ever hopped. "Cheren WOOOON! YYEEEAAAHH!"

"Ah-halright! Majora just BIT the dust!" Thomas exclaimed.

"No better way to go out than moon dust." Celeste commented.

"He really knows how to put on a show." Harry said, feeling very excited inside.

"Hm." Nerehc smirked. "Not bad, Uno. Not bad."

Melissa smiled at her friend, feeling very glad to have traveled with him. Truman Kirman smiled as well, Cheren's light reflecting off his glasses. Merida, although she barely knew anything about what was happening here, was happy that her new friend completed his task. From another window, Don Gero smiled, a prideful look in his ancient eyes with his bubble pipe clutched in his lips. The many fallen demons that had invaded the base remained unconscious, feeling absolutely no strength left in them, while the kids that they held hostage jumped and cheered in victory. The two Fathers remain unconscious inside the Decommissioning Chamber, feeling absolutely dizzy, and in need of some rocky road.

The remaining demons who were still standing gaped in absolute shock. This was a sure sign that they had lost. "M…Master?" a Moblin said.

"Majora?" a Bokoblin gaped.

Immediately, the Kids Next Door turned to glare at them, and the demons flinched with fear. "You wanna finish this?" Harry asked, glaring as he readied his Slingshot. Celeste tugged her, um, burned rope, Thomas lifted his hammer over his shoulder, Melissa held up her shrink ray, Kellie did a ballet twirl, Merida readied an arrow, and Nerehc charged some lightning while Panini held green flames.

"Nnnn-no-no, that's okay!" the Moblin said as they all grinned innocently. "We'll just be off now." Immediately, the demons screamed and cowered away, hurrying as fast as they could to the hangar where they boarded their ships and shot toward the Earth. Cheren kept his serious look and merely watched them, not desiring to waste energy. He looked at the Moonbase, seeing the vibrant smiles on all the kids' faces. Cheren smiled back, having not felt more victorious in his life. (End song.)

From a safe distance across the moon's field, Vriska had finished watching their climactic fight. An impressed look was on her face. "These people sure surprise me... So, this is what the Will of Sixes is a8out. I h8 to imagine what others might 8e like."

The terrifying face disappeared from the moon, but the red flame still surrounded it. "Raaawwwwrrrr-rrrr-rrrrrrAAARRRrr!" The Giants had nearly exhausted their strength at this point, and were struggling to push the moon back.

"Hey, Cheren, put a brake on the party wagon for a minute!" Thomas yelled. "The moon's still gonna crash!"

Cheren gasped, turning back to face the Giants. He still felt powerful in his deity form, but he didn't have enough strength to shove the moon back to its place. …If only he could use his Giant's Mask.

"Hmhmhmhm." Cheren heard the familiar laugh of the Mask Man and looked up at the Moonbase window. There the Mask Man stood, a green Rumble Ball clutched in his fingers. The boy immediately shot up and inside the Moonbase, staring at the man's grinning face. "Here…" With a tearful look, Sanula touched Cheren's face, and pulled the Giant's Mask from the Deity's. He lightly placed the ball into the mask, and gave it to Cheren.

Cheren nodded and shot back outside, going all the way down to the Earth as the moon loomed closer and closer to Sector V's treehouse. Cheren slipped the mask on, his limbs began to swell with blood, and his deity body grew and grew to several hundred feet tall, crushing several houses under his feet. In his deity form, he stood even taller than the Giants, and the kids were amazed at his true godlike form. He held his mighty arms open, and gripped the moon tight as it came down, and kept a firm stance as he struggled to keep the moon up. Cheren pushed as strong as he could, the preceding battle having nearly consumed all of his strength. However, he refused to let this world, or HIS world, be destroyed, and he would hold it up as long as it took. …Except that his Giant's Mask had a limit.

However, a sense of relief flowed through his arms all of a sudden. The Six Giants had gathered beside him, inspired by his determination, and used the last of their strength to shove the moon back into space. Cheren was touched by their assistance, and this gave him the strength to keep pushing. The moon was slowly inching back toward the heavens, and the kids smiled in excitement and relief. With a forceful shove from all seven Giants, the moon went flying back into space, and began its slow, calming rotation as if nothing ever happened.

"YAAAAAAYYYY!!!"

"AAAAAHHHH!!!" Melissa screamed from the heavens. "MY HOOOOOOUUUUUUSSSEE!!!!"

Cheren looked under his left foot and grinned sheepishly.

On the moon

Cheren returned to the moon after having shrunk back to normal, still in his deity form. Majora lay in his hole, still unconscious, as Cheren stared with slight pity. Cheren pulled out his Spirit Flute and did what he always did: played the Song of Healing. Doo-doo-dooo, doo-doo-dooo, doo-doo, do-do-dooooo.

Dim, purple light began to shine around the demon. He felt every ounce of incredible pain leave his body. He held himself up with one arm, his body still drenched in blood. "Mmmmm…" Majora released a calm, relaxed sigh. "I haven't heard that song... for soooo many years… It always… calmed me down."

Cheren stood and stared, listening patiently.

"Heh… it seems Link's bloodline HAS reached far. It's even gotten… much stronger. Or… is that the Shadow Family's doing? Heheh." He looked up with a joking look.

Cheren remained silent. He would wait for Majora to finish.

Majora slumped down again and continued. "I cannot say… I'm not proud of the things I've done. My mask… has always been marked for evil. The darkness that lay in me… was always waiting to sprout out. One would look at me… and expect not much. This mask… was a symbol of my spiritual form. It showed what I was on the inside… on the outside…"

"Right…" Cheren spoke in his deeper, deity voice. "The mask doesn't define a character. It's what's inside of them."

"Hn hn hn. …I guess you're right." Majora looked back up. "But look at yourself. Look at me. Are we really that different from our outsides… as to our insides?"

"…I'm not sure. It depends on what else is inside… doesn't it?"

"Hnn…" Majora looked down, a smirk behind his mask. "You're right again." A silence followed. Majora still glowed as no sound was heard in this vastness of space. "Ahhh… what a marvelous life I've had. These past few days… and the days I've had back then. They all seem like so much…"

"It's too bad you couldn't live longer. You could be different." Cheren stated.

"Hnn hnn hnn… no… Even if I was meant to die here… I wouldn't change. Ahh… but how exciting was all of this. After all my years… of suspended life. I'm glad… to have met people like you."

"Hmm…"

"How your friendships… stick together. It's… intriguing.. to me. And Miyuki… aaahh, Miyuki. So unappreciated… so alike. It would've been nice to be able to take her. No one's ever… felt so close."

"Quit reminiscing." Cheren eye-rolled. "We're not finished here yet. Who are you? Where are you from?"

"Hmm…" Majora looked up, keeping his smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

And Majora disappeared, leaving only his mask. Cheren approached the mask quietly, and was filled with slight disappointment.

You've got Majora's Mask! Congratulations! You've just freed the semi-innocent being that was kept imprisoned within the body of evil Majora! Now give this to the Mask Man!

"…I'll see you… again…"