Master of Puppets

Ulyshia City Police Station, Narrator A.

The Ulyshia Police Department was a complete mess that night, with dozens of police officers scrambling to gather whatever evidence they could on the recent string of murders throughout the city. While Ulyshia was a city and country prone to violent crime, the police often had room to ignore it as they were mostly met with hookers and hobos being found dead; nobody would care if some nobodies were found dead, and neither did the police. However, this string of murders was different, as high-profile people were being found dead in rapid succession. This was no ordinary serial killer; this was the work of a coordinated individual or individuals attacking the rulers of the city itself. But despite the panic present in almost every officer, there was one man who was calm as could be: Police Chief Derek.

The Chief was a collected individual with a buzz cut and a cigar in his mouth at all times. He was a man who valued order and peace above all else, even at the cost of freedom and lives. Many lower-ranked officers were asking him for advice on approaching the new case, with one officer asking him what their course of action should be. The Chief exhaled smoke out of his mouth and ordered, "I want my best men on this case; this is very serious business. People are showing up dead before we can even finish counting the bodies. Yamamoto was a powerful man who should have been impossible even to touch, and yet he still was found dead. Now, I am expecting some company, don't bother me and do your God damn jobs." With the officers nodding in agreement, the Chief entered his office to be greeted by his first of many guests.

The Chief's office was the very definition of "organized." With everything laid out in very specific places. From the placement of the whiteboard and markers to how the couch and chairs were always kept in tip-top shape, to even the wall of framed pictures and awards that were always kept free from dust, everything was kept in order, except for the disorderly man on the couch. Sitting on that expensive, fancy couch was a man known as Michael Exolvun. He was a sketchy man, to say the least; he had unkempt, spiky red hair and was wearing a gray trench coat that extended past his knees. Under his coat was an ugly fucking sweater and a gay set of blue jeans, and on his face, between his eyes, was a wide scar that extended from his forehead to his chin and made him look like a dumbass. The Chief hated working for Michael and his acquaintances, but he couldn't deny that they always gave him good results. Slouching on the couch and sipping a coffee, Michael greeted the Chief with a wave and sat in his seat. "So, it appears your little Boy Scouts have been met with another case they can't crack." 

"Just tell me what leads you have, if any," said the Chief, already annoyed at the scoundrel before him.

Michael sat up out of his chair and suddenly teleported right in front of him, as if the space between them was cut short, "I literally just fucking got here. have some damn patience, Jackass!" Pointing his hand forward, a black marker on the Chief's desk suddenly moved right in front of Michael's hand, which he grabbed hold of and walked towards the whiteboard in the office.

Writing on the whiteboard, Micheal wrote out the names of all the victims in the past day, listing their jobs and possible reasons why someone might want them dead. "So, it appears that the one thing all these people have in common is their connections to the Arman Empire. Every one of these people was involved in some mercenary work across this continent. Now, the continent of Atlantia is very diverse; they've got Elves, Orcs, Harpies, Ulyshians, Vampires, and any type of monster girl or boy you can name, and there is also the bordering country of Redmoa, which has a prominent nationalist group by the name of the Red Claw. This continent has twelve countries, with hundreds of ethnic groups and races living across the land. For the main ethnic groups, we can rule out the Elves and Harpies because they are far more peaceful than the other groups; the Orcs are also out because they're too stupid even to consider making a planned attack like this. That leaves us with the Vampires, Ulyshians, and Elthirians. And if we consider these three groups in particular, we can start to see the pieces of this puzzle come into place. I've known about the criminals and scum living in this city for some time, and these eight people all have one thing in common: they have all been involved in ethnic cleansings and/or targeted attacks on civilian populations. So it's pretty obvious that whoever is responsible for these killings is some ultra-nationalist who had a grudge against these specific individuals. A grudge strong enough for them to want some... revenge, so to speak." Finishing his sentence, Michael snapped his finger, and the names of the targets he had written out were all cleanly erased in half from the bottom as if some blade had cut the words.

The Chief ultimately agreed with Michael's assessment of the possible nationalist motive. Since the Arman Empire had annexed almost the entire continent of Atlantia, nationalist groups of various sizes, ideologies, and power had started popping up and wreaking havoc on Armani soldiers and outposts to varying success. The Yuzanists and Red Claw were especially formidable, as no matter how many times the Arman Empire tried to destroy them, they just kept popping back up. Michael, meanwhile, already had a suspect in mind. 

"You know, we still don't have any leads as to the whereabouts of Yuzan Hellfire. He's wanted in almost every country on Jupiter with a thirty billion dollar bounty on his head. But there is something particularly dangerous about him. His Phoenix mark, I was told, glows a faint gold. And, you see, it's been a legacy for the Exolvun family to hunt down Phoenixes with a gold glow in their mark." Before he could explain further, the conversation between Michael and the Chief was cut short by the arrival of two more guests.

The two men could not be more different. The first was a short, bearded man with red hair and leather clothing. He was carrying a hammer and was wearing the signature pissed-off look of a Dwarven man; his name was Dwalin Smithbeard, and he was a prominent Dwarven blacksmith who sold his skills and services to whoever asked him first. He was also the only other guest besides Michael that was invited. The other man towered over all three men in the room with his staggering height that almost exceeded seven feet. He was wearing a black wizard cloak that complimented his ghastly look. His skin appeared to be rotting away; wrinkles sprinkled his entire face; his long white hair receded from his head with male-pattern baldness; his teeth almost rotting out of his mouth. He had a breath so nasty it could be used as a chemical weapon, and his yellow eyeballs were receding into his eye sockets, leaving some space between the entrance to his sockets and the eyes themselves. The man bore a striking resemblance to that of the Iron Maiden mascot.

"I AM NOT EDDIE THE HEAD!!!! I LOOK NOTHING LIKE THAT DUDE!!!!!"

Well fuck you too, asshole.

The man's temper tantrum at what appeared to everyone else to be nothing left them confused. Michael looked at him and asked, "Eddie, are you talking to nothing again?" To which the wizard got even more upset.

"I am not talking to nothing; this asshole just thought that I was Eddie the Head simply because I look almost identical to him and share his name and mannerisms." The Chief's introduction to this fool was already off to a bad start, as the newest psycho Michael had welcomed into the station was yelling at the air. He kindly asked who this fool in a cheap cloak was. Before Michael could answer, Eddie said, "The name is Eddie, I'm a Dark Wizard. I specialize in three things: Black Magic, summoning demons, and using Black Magic to summon demons."

"Just tell me your business here before I kick you out of my station, Eddie."

"Oh, I'm glad you asked. You see, there have been some sightings of a cloaked man wearing a skeleton mask recently. I have a score to settle with him and would appreciate any help. He looks a little something like this. Just let me draw him out." Suddenly, with a clap of his hands and a saying of the words "ABRACADABRA," a piece of paper appeared in the hands of Eddie the Black Wizard. And with a wave of his finger, a short three-minute chant of Latin hymns, a quick crayon drawing of a giant pentagram across the entire floor of the office, a clap of his hands, a snap of his fingers, a flick of his wrist, a quick break to sip from his cup which contained the blood of seventy-three orphans, a wave of a "wand" which was actually a branch off a tree he ripped off before he entered the station, a reading of three pages from a random driver's manual he memorized, a writing of a check of thirty dollars to the orphanage from which he stole the orphan blood from, a quick detour to feed seventy-three orphans his blood, a ten-minute break so he could get caught up on the latest chapter of One Piece, a flick of his dick, and a saying of the words "SHOOEY KABLOOEY," a pack of crayons appeared before the Dark Wizard. He opened the bag of crayons and realized they were expired, so he took a box from the desk of the now very annoyed and pissed-off Chief.

Eddie spent the next fifteen minutes aggressively scribbling with his crayons, making sure to draw every single detail that would be important. He shaded in the drawing with cross-hatching, hatching, stippling, and blending. He used every technique to include a detailed, three-dimensional background for his target to stand in. He ensured that every possible feature of Thanatos Reinkaos was included before he showed the finished product to the room. "Like this," he said to them. They looked at him in confusion because all he had drawn was a crude drawing of a stick figure standing next to a house with no roof that was only half the size of the figure. Some blue ocean waves were sitting diagonally across from the bottom-right corner of the paper, and there was a boat floating in the air, in the opposite corner from the waves, for absolutely no reason. A sun was also included, with an unnecessarily detailed face on the same level as a professional artist. The Chief had, to the shock of absolutely nobody, had enough of this idiot's bullshit a while ago.

"Somebody get this idiot out of my sight. GUARDS, ESCORT THIS MAN OUT OF HERE." A group of guards stepped into the now-ruined office of the Chief and dragged Eddie out of the room. They brought him to the entrance of the police station before throwing him out, where he landed face-first in the snow. The Chief was pleased to have that idiot out of his office.

The Chief rang for his assistant and asked for her to bring him a coffee so he could relax after dealing with a mentally deficient wizard who had suddenly ruined his meeting. When the secretary handed him the coffee, he suddenly dropped it before he could bring it to his mouth. Looking inside the cup, he could see the face of the Dark Wizard Eddie, who had just been kicked out. "Miss me?" He mockingly said before jumping out of the cup, now at his regular size.

"You need me, Chief. My skills will prove invaluable to you."

The Chief groaned in exhaustion, "And what skills do you have?"

"Black Magic."

"And what can you do with this 'Black Magic.'"

"Black Magic."

"No, I meant, what can your Black Magic do?"

"It can do Black Magic."

"WHAT TYPE OF PHOENIX POWER DO YOU POSSESS?! ARE YOU A SUMMONER? AN ELEMENTAL USER? AN ILLUSIONIST? A SPIRIT USER? A FUCKING NON-COMBAT PHOENIX? ANYTHING YOU CAN TELL ME ABOUT YOUR POWERS?!?!"

"I am a Black Magic-type Phoenix."

"GOD DAMN IT!!!!!" The Chief furiously smashed his hand against his desk, making a metallic "CLANG" noise. To the dismay of the Chief, yet another guest appeared in his office.

The new guest was a younger-looking man with expensive, fancy clothes that could easily cost thousands of dollars. He had a somber look on his face, unlike the fool who had been annoying everyone else in the room. The new guest was the prestigious Saito Kenji, son of the legendary Saito Akira, a legendarily mighty Phoenix who was a commander to the current God. This person held the formal title of strongest Phoenix, currently held by Igson the Blaze, son of Ignis the Inferno. "What's a high-profile Phoenix like yourself doing here?" Asked the Chief.

"I'm not here on any official orders, that's for sure. My father would never want me to step foot in a place as dangerous as Ulyshia. No, I'm here on more... personal reasons." Saito took a seat at the Chief's desk next to Eddie. "I'm here to kill Yuzan Hellfire by any means necessary. It was his actions that left my dear sister dead, and my family name humiliated."

"HAHAHA!!!! As if a kid like you would ever have a chance against a guy like him." Said Eddie, who was quickly met with disdain from Saito, who lunged in to attack him. But before his fist could meet with Eddie, they were both suddenly stopped by a woman in a maid dress pointing a knife at each of their throats.

The woman instantly got between the two of them and gave them a look so cold and deadly that both men sat back in their seats. The woman spoke in a thick Russian accent, devoid of any joy or positivity, "I will not allow any violence to occur so long as I am present here."

"Great, more guests." Said the Chief, who was at this point just sitting back and watching the fireworks go off as uninvited guest after uninvited guest showed up. "And it's the maid of an Arman General, specifically that spoiled brat they gave the position to."

As the Chief said, this woman was not just some ordinary maid. Her name was Tatiana, and she was the personal maid to General Villa the Cruel, a woman infamous throughout the Arman Empire for her immense cruelty. Villa kept Tatiana around, not because she genuinely needed her help or protection, but because she enjoyed her company. And with Tatiana's appearance, Villa followed suit, teleporting inside the office.

Villa's appearance forced everyone to stop dead and look at her in shock. Even Eddie, a man as unserious and idiotic as him, froze in fear at the general. Everyone fell silent except for Dwalin, who was already doing nothing. Villa was wearing expensive designer clothes that exposed her cleavage, long leather boots, a pink skirt matching her shirt, and long, pink hair extending past her waist. She was wearing a thick layer of makeup and looked up from her new smartphone to look at the Chief in disdain, but not before she made sure that the tiny birdcage attached to her necklace stayed perfectly still. Looking closely enough at her necklace, one could see that inside the birdcage was a shrunken man with his hands tied behind his back and wearing nothing but a blindfold and a pair of underwear. Unexpectedly, the sharp look on her face calmed down, and she smiled at the police chief.

"How are you doing, puppy? I hope you're not getting into any trouble." Despite the woman's immense, threatening strength that would allow her to defeat everyone in the room instantly, the Chief stood his ground against her.

"What do you want? I'm certain that a woman of such important status as yourself would only come to a relatively small town such as this with good reason."

"Right, you are, puppy. You see, I'm looking for some lost merchandise. I was supposed to get my hands on an artificial Phoenix, but it suddenly disappeared, and we don't know what happened to it."

"And why exactly would I know or even care about the status of a guinea pig?"

"Because you're supposed to be my eyes and ears in this city. I pay you to fill me in on any interesting things in this city, and I expect you to do your job."

"Let me clarify, Villa, I only take your money because this police station needs the funds. I do a half-assed job intentionally because your vanity projects get in the way of maintaining order, which is my only goal."

Instead of lashing out against the Chief angrily, Villa smiled at him in amusement, "That's why I love you, puppy. You always trick yourself into thinking you're some righteous man doing what's best for the community. But you're my puppet, and you still haven't realized that. I like that. I love the kind of men who keep up their resistance." She then lifted her necklace, showing him the birdcage. "You're just like my boyfriend here. Keeping up your resistance to the very end."

Michael then butted in with his comment. "I'm certain a woman like yourself would have no problem finding this Phoenix. Now, I would kindly suggest you fuck off so we can discuss business in peace." These words made Villa's face light up in excitement, smiling at him. 

"I see you're as rowdy as ever, Michael Mouse! I'd love to see if you keep that same energy with a collar around your neck, a blindfold around your eyes, and a chain leash held by me."

"First, you'd have to catch me to force me down like that. And I think we both know that a man such as myself is not so easily captured."

Laughing, Villa shrugged off his threats like the empty words they were, "But I suppose you're right. I'm more than capable of catching this escaped puppy myself. Besides, I love a good chase. Well, I'll leave you all to finish up your meeting. Tatiana, you may stay in my summer house a few blocks down the street." She then opened a window and jumped into the fog and snow pouring down on Ulyshia over the evening. Looking at the beautiful blood moon in the sky, she picked up on a peculiar energy source she could tell belonged to her stray puppy. "I'm coming, number eight, and I intend to keep you on a short and very tight leash this time."

Back in the Chief's office, the uninvited guests were all dismissed, leaving only Michael and Dwalin, who continued to do and say absolutely nothing. Michael apologized, "Sorry about the disturbances, Chief. I can't help the fact that weirdos follow in my path no matter what. But I hope you can find solace in the fact that Yuzan will be dead the second I meet face-to-face with him. My Phoenix is his natural counter, even more so than fire. I'm almost one hundred percent certain in my victory."

The Chief smiled, "Oh, I know, my friend. You always get the job done and have never failed me." Shaking his hand, the Chief dismissed Michael and the Dwarf, whose name he had already forgotten. Pouring a glass of whiskey for himself, he was occupied by only one thought. "One of my men told me that Viper of the Libra Empire was coming here. I don't know what he's planning, but it can't be anything good."

Sure enough, a single pale man stepped on the peak at the edge of the Ulyshian Capital, on top of the surrounding mountain that looked over the entire city. He gave a broad smile, ear-to-ear, upon seeing the beautiful city covered in a thick fog that made seeing in the streets impossible. He had just gotten some time off of work and decided to use it to have fun in the city. Laughing maniacally, the man said, "I just can't wait to be met with the great Lord Yuzan. I've been such a fan of his works, and the minute I saw that 'no-face' that the police have been looking for about the murders, I just knew it was him. We're going to have so much fun." And so, the man known only as Viper began his march to Ulyshia City. Even a place crawling with dangerous Phoenixes like Ulyshia wouldn't be prepared for him.

Ulyshia City, High District.

The artificial Phoenix, known only as Number Eight, flew over the foggy, dark, cold city, trying to make sense of his new life. He closely observed everything he encountered, trying to understand it all. Ulyshia was a truly strange place that would only be thousands of times more odd to a man who had just been born. Leaping across one rooftop, he observed before him the streets of the city and how unusual the place was.

Ulyshia was unlike any other place on the planet; walking through the streets would be akin to being transported back to 19th-century London. The alleys were dark, tiny, and cold, with rats crawling all over the place and stone roads that were not strong enough to hold any cars because only a select few types of vehicles could navigate through the thick snow. The climate of Ulyshia was almost nonsensical, for even though the place was always snowing, there would eventually be rain, but not just any type of rain. Whenever there was rain in Ulyshia, which occurred roughly once a week, instead of droplets of water falling, droplets of thick, crimson blood would pour over the place. The blood would stain the streets, buildings, windows, snow, and plants a thick shade of red, although the plants would be unable to get any nutrients from the blood. Nobody knows why this happens, but it was certainly par for the course for a land as strange and unorthodox as Ulyshia.

Peering into one alley, Number Eight was suddenly met with a bright light that rapidly approached him. Getting out of the way of the light, he was soon met with a horse-drawn carriage zooming past him at break-neck speeds. He looked at the driver and horse and saw that they were both skeletons. It was common in Ulyshia to see these "skeleton carriages," which the rich would use to transport themselves around the city. Looking into a window, he could see a wealthy family of four, all dressed in expensive clothes. They ate a fancy steak and turkey dinner in their extravagant dining room. What perplexed Eight the most was the look of joy on the faces of everyone in the room; perhaps this was the "family" of which he had heard so much about. However, their happiness was cut short when they looked up at the window and saw the face of a masked man with glowing green eyes and screamed in fear. The father rushed out of the house and fired off sharp icicles from his finger at Eight. One icicle pierced his leg, and he fled fearfully into another dark alley. This alley led him to the local cemetery.

Looking at the thousands of graves that were scattered over the grounds, Eight could see that quite a lot of these graves had a death date of the same year, and quite a lot of them were young children. Next to almost all of the graves, he could see flowers blooming over the resting spots of the dead. These flowers were known as Dead Lilies and were fed explicitly off of the sorrow and grief of people and were found most frequently in hospitals and cemeteries. Eight left the cemetery, seeing no further business in such a sad place.

Returning to the homes of the High District, he peered into the window of another house and saw a man watching a talk show on an expensive TV, utterly oblivious to the monster at his window. The man was watching a conservative news station hosted by a bearded man known as Shatt Falsh. He appeared very angry as he spoke about a recent war in the Middle East. "And there you have it, folks. Dozens upon dozens of poor, nonwhite children were found dead in a place of worship. Disgraceful." Shedding a tear and throwing his chair in rage, he spoke again. "HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO MOLEST THESE CHILDREN IF THEY'RE GETTING BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS?!?!?! SURELY THERE MUST BE A WAY TO KILL THESE KIDS WITHOUT DESTROYING THEM!!!!" Seeing no reason to observe the man further, Eight walked away, looking up at the beautiful blood moon in the sky. And with the blood moon came a thick fog that had made it almost impossible for Eight to see.

Eight spent a few more hours observing the city. He saw what appeared to be the spirits of the dead flying through the streets, and he saw stone golems made of crystalized blood struggling to stand up over their immense weight; in the Low District, he could see dozens of homeless people lying down dead from the overwhelming cold of Ulyshia, and he could see desperate Native-Ulyshian hookers begging him for money to use for their drug addictions. After exploring most of the city, Eight had understandably concluded that this place was hell on the planet Jupiter. But his observations on Ulyshian culture, climate, and geography were cut short when a sudden chill crawled over his spine, and he heard a chilling voice say, "AHA! I found you, puppy." 

Looking above him, on the roof of a castle in the High District, he could see the face of General Villa the Cruel, but she was not alone. She was sitting on top of a naked man wearing nothing but a blindfold and collar who was bent down on all fours to be a chair for her. She also had a similarly undressed man facing his back directly behind her so she could use him to rest her back, and there was yet another man in front of her, also kneeling so she could use him as a footrest. On Villa's lap, however, sat a somehow even more peculiar sight. On her lap sat a man who, unlike his peers, was dressed in a thick coat to keep him warm. She would occasionally nudge her face against his affectionately, using one hand to pet his hair. She was surrounded by around 20 or so of these men of different races, ethnicities, heights, body types, and personalities. Looking back down, he could see that even more of these men had begun to surround him in a circle, with even more likely hiding beyond the fog. He faced Villa again, asking, "And who might you be?"

"I'm the woman who requested you be made, silly puppy." Her voice was cheery and bright, starkly contrasting with the army of slaves she kept at her beck and call. Villa's answer left Eight in confusion, and he questioned her.

"You're... my maker?"

"Yes, silly. I specifically requested that an artificial Phoenix like you be created for my use. So I guess technically I'm your mom."

"...Created me? But why?"

"Oh, don't you worry, Number Eight. I had you created for a specific and very wonderful purpose." Hearing Villa's answer, Eight felt a surge of happiness upon realizing he had a reason for being born. It was finally a light for him in this ocean of confusion and uncertainty. He gleefully asked what that purpose in question was, and Villa's face was suddenly drained of all joy as she looked down at him with a sadistic, hateful countenance.

"Why, you're my computer. I got so tired of using Google to answer all my dumb questions. So, I went to the good doctors at the underground Ulyshia science facility and requested they create an Artificial Phoenix that knows literally everything. I would have you at my beck and call at all times so I could ask you any question I wanted without having to get off Twitter or Instagram to go on Google. I would have asked you all the lovely questions in life, such as 'How much Adderall is lethal,' 'What can I buy at the grocery store to make the cashier look at me funny,' 'Is it night or day outside,' 'is it raining,' 'how many chickens would it take to kill a lion,' 'is the zombie apocalypse coming,' 'how to build a time machine,' 'how to avoid paying taxes,' and so many more valuable questions." Hearing her answer, the joy Eight had felt in that moment was instantly crushed. 

It was at that moment that Eight realized something. He was put on this cruel, cold Jupiter for almost no reason. The purpose for which he was given life was to be a tool for some spoiled rich girl to use and abuse at her whim. As his whole world came tumbling down before him, Eight felt utterly helpless. "But... but... surely there is something else I can do? Something that would give meaning to this world? Something that could fix this dark, cruel world?"

Hearing his answer, Villa laughed hysterically, kicking her human footrest with her sharp heels, leaving blood trails covering his frostbitten skin. She was so lost in her laughter that the man in her lap almost fell off, which she quickly fixed and grabbed hold of him before he could fall. Continuing her laughter, the naked men in blindfolds joined in on her giggle, laughing as hard as they could while their bodies were almost shutting down from the freezing cold that was quickly causing their organs to shut down. But Villa would not allow this, and she used her Phoenix powers to force their organs into working, effectively keeping them immortal unless their organs were destroyed. Through her laughter, Villa stuttered out a retort, "PURPOSE... HAHAHAHAHA... SILLY PUPPY... THERE'S NO WAY... AHAHAHA... NO...HAHAHA...WAY...YOU ACTUALLY...aha... THOUGHT...aha...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." Suddenly, her hysterical, maniacal laughter came to a screeching halt, along with everyone else's.

"Know your fucking place, WORM!!!!!!" The sheer force of how she said "WORM" sent a shock wave that cleared the entire city of all the fog surrounding it. With the streets now cleared of fog, Eight could see hundreds upon hundreds of Villa's slaves surrounding him. Some of them were so horribly frostbitten that their skin had turned completely blue, and they limped forward like zombies, barely even able to walk with how injured they were; Villa's powers kept them all alive to suffer the pain of their bodies shutting down entirely as their organs failed, only to be brought back to life to suffer again without the sweet release of death. Villa's voice got Eight out of his trance of observing the men before him.

"There's no way something as pathetic and useless as you could ever dream of making this world better. The only thing that can cause change is force, and I specifically requested that you be incapable of harming me or anyone else. You can't fight, even if you wanted to more than anything in the world, because I placed an inhibitor chip in your brain that made you incapable of causing violence. And even if it were removed, I also had dozens of mental blocks placed on you to make you further incapable of causing me harm. Now, I highly suggest you kneel before me so I can place this here handy collar back on you and take you home with me. You have dozens of useless questions to answer for me."

Villa's mocking and clear hatred in her voice left Eight feeling a new emotion that he had been blissfully ignorant of until now but was now forced to feel the sharp pain of. The emotion he was feeling was despair. Even with their laughter gone, it echoed in his mind like a cancer in his brain. He clutched his head in pain and misery, smacking his head and slapping himself in the face in a vain attempt to stop the laughter echoing in his mind. He stumbled backward and his back crashed into one of the slaves, whose skin had turned a dark shade of blue by now. Even though Eight had just slightly grazed the man in his arm, it was more than enough force for the slave's arm to fall clean off and shatter into a million pieces when it fell on the icy, snowy ground. Screaming in pain and agony, Villa quickly took the chain attached to his collar, twisted it around his neck, and threw him high up in the air, where the noose around his neck snapped his neck just inches before he could reach the ground. His lifeless body hung limply over the side of the building Villa sat on. "That should shut him the fuck up," she said before ordering Eight to follow her orders.

Eight, however, could not hear her, as the laughter was still ringing in his ears, drowning out every sound, thought, voice, and feeling of cold, icy snow on his skin. "MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!" He cried out in agony before he felt something in his brain. Eight could suddenly tell precisely where the inhibitor chip in his brain was. At this moment, Eight realized that this was the thing causing him so much agony, forcing him to hear the laughter of Villa to incapacitate him and make him unable to attack her. He knew now that he had to remove the chip no matter what. He suffered through the roaring laughter, slowly inching his way toward a window covered in sharp icicles.

"What are you doing, Eight? Stop that, that is an order." Hearing her order, sharp pain was etched into Eight's very being. His whole body was covered in pain equivalent to that of having your arm sawed off while giving birth to a 500-pound fat man. It was a pain so dreadful that it almost destroyed his very soul. And yet, he still trudged on and grabbed hold of the sharpest and longest icicle on the window.

"I think I've had a change of heart, Villa. I think I'd rather kill you instead of work for you." He then suddenly pierced the icicle through the side of his head, cutting through his soul and exposing part of his brain. He then used the icicle to cut a bigger hole in his skull, big enough for him to stick his whole fist through. As soon as the whole was large enough for him, he placed the icicle into his other hand and used his now free arm to dig into his brain and pull out the inhibitor chip, which was in the middle of his frontal lobe. Looking at the sharp, annoying piece of technology, he crushed it in his fingers and threw the icicle directly at Villa. She didn't even attempt to dodge or block it. She let it hit her in the eye and break the moment it touched her skin, leaving no cut or mark on her.

Eight was expecting her to lash out in complete anger, formulating a plan to counter her attack. But instead of seeing her in blinding rage, she smiled in joy. She looked like a child who had been given a new toy for her birthday, grinning ear-to-ear. "This turned out more exciting than I thought it would. I just so love it when people try to resist me." And with a snap of her fingers, all of her slaves rushed forward directly at Eight. Some of the men's frostbitten legs were quickly coming apart, but they still crawled toward him, uncaring at their now completely detached limbs. Eight's instincts took hold, and he suddenly was using powers he didn't even know he could do.

From his fingertips, he shot bursts of green energy that turned the slaves before him into mush, their bits and pieces splattering over the walls. To Eight's horror, he could see the bits of the once hundreds of slaves begin to reattach themselves, but very crudely. Soon, a wave of detached arms, legs, eyes, and floppy penises came crashing down towards him. All of the slaves had been absorbed into this disgusting soup of gore and blood that looked like something out of a horror movie. Using the hundreds of arms and legs that this suffering blob of pain and misery now possessed, it attempted to grab hold of Eight, but he flew to one of the rooftops, coming face-to-face with Villa and the eight slaves that accompanied her on the roof.

The joy in Villa's face quickly faded, and she stared at him in contempt. "Who gave you permission to be on the same level as me? KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!!" She swung a chain in his direction; it was so fast that not even Eight could see it. To Eight, he was looking at Villa one moment, and then in the next attosecond, there was suddenly a chain wrapped around his neck, which spun him around in a circle at multiple times the speed of light. The force through which she spun him was so great that he would have been disintegrated from the heat had his cloak and mask not shielded him. After spinning him around her head, she suddenly smashed him across a wall, shattering his bones and almost breaking his neck in the process. The chain would have suffocated him had he not used his newfound powers to detach his chain from her and wield it in his hands. Suddenly, Eight could see portals erupting from the ground before him, each displaying a different weapon for him to use.

"What is this?" Asked Eight.

"Oh, that? Well, you see, I also requested to the doctors that you be able to create anything out of completely nothing. I was going to use your power to make pretty dresses for me without me having to go out shopping. It's a really annoying process, you know? I have to be driven in my limousine for five minutes to get to the nearest clothing store. FIVE FUCKING MINUTES!!!!! It's such a pain in my ass, so I wanted you to make dresses for me." 

"Well, in that case, here's your pretty fucking dress, bitch." From his portals, chains erupted and were sent rocketing towards Villa, but she used her pinky finger to tap on the chains and instantly shatter them like glass.

"You might wanna focus on the beast before you, darling." And sure enough, Eight turned around and saw the blob of gore once more. Getting another look at it, he could see that it had hundreds of faces, each crying out in pain and agony. Holding a detached leg in one of its many arms, the thing swung at Eight, who tanked the hit. Eight used his new power to hold the thing down in dozens upon dozens of chains, but it broke through it. Now, using the chains as whips, he smacked at the thing, but it was all for naught as the thing had hundreds of hearts and brains that each had to be destroyed to kill it.

"This thing just won't die." Needing a new attack plan, Eight came up with a new idea. Using his portal, he unleashed a mortar shot at the thing, firing off hit after hit of deadly fire. But it still was not enough to dent the thing. Eight then tried using his chains to imbue his energy into the chains. He now wondered for what purpose he was given that power.

"If you're wondering why you have energy manipulation. Well, that's because I wanted you to be able to charge my phone instantly. So I requested you be able to imbue things with energy."

"Well, thanks, I guess," said Eight before he whipped at the thing with his enhanced chains, this time leaving marks in the thing. Not letting his chance go to waste, he began thinking up new ways to use his power to defeat this undying foe. Suddenly, he got a bright idea.

Eight unleashed two portals, one on each side of the beast, and out from the portals came two skeletal hands. The hands smashed and punched at the beast, and finally, it was unable to move after the hands had torn it to shreds. Villa started clapping and congratulated Eight, "Well done. But let's see how you handle this." Before she snapped her fingers, and Eight's whole world went dark again. 

Suddenly, a bunch of lights illuminated a stage in front of Eight. And on that stage was Villa, with her boyfriend knelt at her feet. "I'm so happy you've come to my concert. You really are a special little puppy, aren't you?"

"Enough games, Villa. I'm here to settle this score and kill you."

"Such a sad little puppy, so blissfully ignorant of his true purpose. But worry not; I'll show you what it means to be mine." Suddenly, a whole crowd of slaves appeared, all of whom were violently cheering in rough, labored voices to show their love to Villa in hopes she wouldn't kill them. They were all waving two glow sticks in their hands, but Eight could tell something was off. He took a closer look at the sticks in their hands, and he gasped in shock once he realized what they were. He tried to look away but was only met with other slaves sharing the same fate as all the other men.

The slaves surrounding Eight that were waving around glow sticks and cheering on Villa were, in fact, not carrying glow sticks. These "glow sticks" were their detached penises, cut in two pieces and covered in glowing paint so they could be used as glow sticks to cheer on their goddess. As the men violently waved around their detached dicks, Eight looked back up at Villa. He looked at her in pure rage, hating her for her boundless cruelty towards these men.

"Now you see, these men before me are so hopelessly loyal to me that they will do anything for me. Anything, even cutting off their dicks and waving them around like a pack of beasts. I can make them do anything I want, no matter how cruel, humiliating, or horrible. If I want my slaves to die, they'll die. If I want them to fight, they'll fight. And if I want them to chop off their limbs and penises, they'll chop off their limbs and penises. This is the absolute power of my Phoenix ability: ABSOLUTE CONTROL. Any person who I see as beneath me and whose spirit is weak enough can be placed under my complete and absolute control, no matter what. They can even agree to be under my control in exchange for whatever power I allow them to have. But that's not all I can do. Let me demonstrate." With another snap of her fingers, the concert disappeared, and the three of them were suddenly placed into the middle of outer space, somehow able to breathe and survive. Everywhere around him, Eight could see stars and galaxies before him in all their glory.

"This is what is known as a 'pocket dimension.' This is an ability that quite a lot of people have. You see, there are Phoenixes out there with such immense power that it threatens to destroy the universe, or at least a good chunk of it. So, these Phoenixes are all given their pocket dimension, in which they can let loose as much as they want without destroying everything. Here, let me show you something cool, puppy."

With yet another snap of her fingers, Eight could see all of the galaxies before him begin to move, connecting before him until they formed a body with four limbs and a head. The new galaxy person rushed forward and grabbed Eight and Villa in its immeasurably massive hands. "My control doesn't just stop at people. I can also freely control whatever inanimate object I want."

Eight was left utterly dumbfounded at this display of power. Although he had been given some idea of how powerful Phoenixes can be, this was far beyond his wildest imagination. Villa's power was beyond any understanding; she was simply unbeatable, untouchable, and unbelievable. "So this is the power of the strongest Phoenix? Somehow, anyhow, I must overcome this." Hearing his words, Villa seemed dumbfounded.

"What was that? What did you say?"

"You must be the strongest Phoenix ever to have such power."

Villa didn't answer; she sat there, still dumbfounded, before bursting into laughter again.

"Oh honey, I'm nowhere near the most powerful Phoenix. I'm not even the strongest general in the Armani Empire."

Eight was now the one dumbfounded, "What? You're not the strongest?"

"Of course not, puppy. Here, let me tell you a story. Do you happen to know about the man known as Ignis the Inferno?"

"Kind of, I have some idea. But there's so much contrasting information that it's hard to tell. I've heard that he was considered a strong Phoenix." Hearing his answer, Villa burst into laughter again, but this was her most brutal laughter yet.

"AHAHAHA. He wasn't just a strong Phoenix; he was THE STRONGEST PHOENIX!!!! I've been told the stories since I was a little girl. That he was so powerful it sent cracks through the very fabric of reality. His flames burned so hot that they surpassed even that of infinity. He was so powerful that even his subordinates, who were thousands of times weaker than him, were powerful enough to fight the Queen of Humanity, King of Humanity, and the current God all at once and still win. His power exceeded that of everyone in existence. But of course, being a naive little girl, I didn't believe any of it. I thought, ' How could some filthy man ever even dream of surpassing me?' So I decided on a plan: I was going to head on over to the spot where he was dead and buried and turn his rotting corpse into my puppet. However, there was a little issue with this plan that became apparent the moment I stepped near his grave.

When I first arrived at the grave of Ignis the Inferno, I wondered why he was buried out in the middle of nowhere, on some random hill that nobody would even consider stepping in. It seemed strange that a man of his caliber would be buried in such a boring place. But when I was met with the spot where he was buried and looked up at the statue of him that was above his resting spot, I realized something; I was genuinely scared out of my mind. I swear, the statue of him that stood there, a statue of him holding his infant son in his arms, defending him, felt like it was staring down at me. As if, even in death, he was looking down at me in disgust. I didn't even take another step forward before I realized the mistake I had made. Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine, and I was frozen in fear. At this moment, I realized something: his energy was still present in that spot, even sixty years after his death.

Whenever a Phoenix dies, the flames from their mark entirely leave them and fade to nothingness. But when it came to Ignis, his power was so great that there was too much to fade away. There was so much of his power there that it dwarfed that of Helena and the Queen of Humanity combined. I realized that the only reason I was still conscious was that enough energy had faded away for even someone as strong as me to stand before his rotting corpse without collapsing. One thing was clear: if I had absorbed even one billionth of one billionth of one billionth of his power, I would have died. My Phoenix would have been unable to handle the influx of power and imploded in on itself. Even to this day, almost an entire century after the man died, his energy is still present in his burial spot and where he died. If an ordinary person steps near either place, they will instantly fall unconscious, and it is estimated that the universe will fade to nothingness before Ignis' energy leaves those places. THAT... is what true power is."

Eight was left dumbfounded at her speech. How could someone so strong even exist? How could a rotting corpse produce so much energy that it can bring people to their knees even in death?

"I know it sounds unbelievable to you, but that is simply who Ignis was. He was a man so powerful that it defied all logic. But I think I've rambled on enough. Why don't I give you a present to make this game more fun?" Instantly, Villa launched a chain at Eight that pierced his heart. But instead of killing Eight, it instead poured energy into him. "I've been stockpiling energy from other people and other things my whole life. So I think I'll give my darling son a birthday present here." Instantly, Eight's Phoenix mark burned with an influx of energy. He felt his power was so great it could split the galaxies before him. And just as he thought, he let out a burst of energy at the moving galaxies in front of him, and it pierced right through it, nuking an entire galaxy like it was paper. Looking down, he could see that Villa's boyfriend was gone, transported to a safer place, and she had now used her Phoenix release.

Contrasting with the usual normally dressed Villa that Eight was now used to, she was now oozing blue energy, which surrounded her in dozens of circles throughout her body. She was wearing a leather bikini, leaving almost nothing to the imagination, and in her hands were two brass knuckles. Putting them on, she spoke to Eight again, "Now, that speech of mine might have made me sound like some pushover, but I assure you, I am a strong Phoenix. Here, let me demonstrate." Before Eight could even take in her words, he suddenly felt a punch in his gut, even though she appeared to him as if she hadn't moved. She was so fast that he couldn't even process it, even with his new reaction speed that could sense things trillions of times the speed of light. The sheer force of the punch sent him flying through the pocket dimension, which wasn't so pocket-sized after all. Crashing through galaxies, stars, planets, and black holes, leaving them wholly obliterated in his wake, he was suddenly stopped by the edge of the universe; her punch was so strong it sent him from one side of the universe to the other.

Getting back up from the hit, he rushed towards Villa, flying billions of times faster than light, passing through entire galaxies in milliseconds. But Villa caught up with him before he could and threw a flurry of punches straight at his gut, which sent him flying again. Firing off a now immeasurably powerful burst of energy, Eight watched as Villa was forced to flee away from the beams honing in on her. Following her path, the rays chased Villa through fifteen galaxies, with her effortlessly dodging the attacks and absorbing them for herself. She then pointed a finger gun at him from across the universe and fired it off with a "BANG," sending a laser beam so fast and powerful that it made contact with him in milliseconds. Before he knew it, Dozens of his green energy beams hit eight, and he fell to the ground, landing on an uninhabited planet that was so tiny it was like a watermelon floating in space.

Eight tried to get up from the attack, but he found himself completely unable to move an inch. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get up. He was so horribly injured that his body was almost completely shutting down at this point. Suddenly, he was met with the disappointed look of Villa, who was now standing before him. "Damn, I knew I should have given you more power, this is just disappointing. Well, I guess playtime is over then." And with another snap of her fingers, Eight, Villa, and her boyfriend were back on the street of Ulyshia City, with the blob of slaves regaining its composure and springing back to life. 

"You see that? That is what being useful looks like. These slaves can have anything done to them, and they'll still do my bidding, even if it costs them their lives. Isn't it just amazing? Why don't I take a picture with just the three of us to commemorate the occasion." Pulling out her phone, Villa switched to the camera app and pointed it in the air, throwing out a peace sign to record the moment of Eight's humiliating defeat. "Now, I'm just gonna position my camera so my boyfriend and my new puppy are in the frame." Looking at her phone, the life instantly drained from her face.

"HUH?!?! Where's my hubby? WHERE'S MY SWEETIE PIE!!!?????" Looking down at her feet, Villa was met with her worst nightmare: her boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. Panicking, she began hyperventilating, not knowing what to do without him. "WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" She was clutching her head in her hands at this rate, screaming and crying as she looked around for her beloved. Suddenly, she heard a cheerful, laid-back voice that broke her out of her panic.

"Hey, Villa, what's up? How are you doing on this fine eternal evening? I'm doing great, but I'm not sure about your buddy here." Turning around, Villa was met with SIN, first commander under Lord Yuzan, looking down at her from the building she was standing on top of not too long ago. In his hands was Villa's boyfriend. Instantly, Villa's sorrow turned into anger as she lunged at SIN in rage.

"DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON HIM, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, FUCKING KILL YOU!!!! AND THEN I'M GONNA CUT YOU UP INTO TINY LITTLE FUCKING PIECES AND FEED YOU TO THE DOGS!!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!? I WILL FUCK YOU UP IF YOU TOUCH HIM!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" But before she could take another step, SIN pulled out a knife and pointed it at the throat of Villa's boyfriend.

"No, no, no. I wouldn't do that if I were you. You wouldn't want my hand to slip now, would you?" As SIN made his threats, Eight could now get a clear look at him. The man known as SIN was standing on top of the roof, wearing the usual cloak that the other Yuzan commanders held. The only difference was that his cloak was, for some reason, a bright shade of pink with hints of purple. The cloak covered his entire body, with his popped collar covering his neck, preventing any skin from being exposed. SIN's face was also covered, as he wore a Japanese Oni mask that concealed his identity, and he was wearing an oversized blue beanie that covered his hair and extended to his shoulders. The beanie he was wearing was, for some reason, in the design of the Colorado state flag. "I hope you like my outfit. I purchased the mask when I was visiting Japan. It was on sale for three dollars, so I just had to grab it. And I got this beanie from a gift shop in Denver. You know, you should visit Colorado sometime. The mountains are to die for. Have you ever been there? You're missing out if you haven't."

Villa took no mind to SIN's words; she kneeled before him on her hands and knees and started begging him, tears in her eyes. "Please, please, don't kill him. I'll do anything you ask. Just don't hurt him."

"Hmmmmm." Said SIN mockingly, "I don't know. You don't sound so enthusiastic about this. It almost seems to me like you don't really care about him." He then nudged the knife a little bit closer to the boyfriend's neck.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! NO, PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM! I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU ASK. I HAVE MONEY. YOU WANT MONEY, RIGHT?"

"Nahhhh, I already have a job that pays well enough. I'm not really struggling much." Hearing his response, Villa cried even harder, her tears piling on the snow before her.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM. Kill me instead. He doesn't deserve any of this. He's too pure for this world. That's why I take care of him so much. Just please, don't hurt him. Just tell me what you want."

"Now we're talking. So, here's the deal: you're going to leave here with your man slaves, and I'm going to take that artificial Phoenix you have there. Do that, and I won't splatter this fuckboy's guts over the snow here. You got that."

Villa didn't even pay attention to SIN insulting her boyfriend, merely nodding in agreement. "Yes, I'll do that. You can have him, take him for all I care. Please give me back my darling."

"And how do I know you won't just go back on your word when I let him go?"

"Name a location. I'll have Eight teleported there, I won't go there, and you can pick him up."

"Nah, I'm just fucking with you, Vil. I had already transported Eight to my hideout when you started begging me. I've already got what I want. I just wanted to see you beg." Looking to her side, she could see that Eight had been transported away from there. A shadow lay where Eight stood; X had already taken him to the castle. "Think fast," said SIN before pushing the boyfriend off the building. Villa instantly jumped, grabbing him and shielding his body from the fall. Looking back up, she could see that SIN had already vanished before her. But she was not worried about SIN. She was more focused on her boyfriend.

"It's okay, hubby, the bad man is gone. It's just you and me now." She was violently sobbing as she held her boyfriend in her embrace. The boyfriend, however, stood there, saying nothing. He merely groaned in fright as she had him. "You are just so beautiful, sweetie. I always get lost in your eyes." She gave him a long kiss on the lips before carrying him in the bridal position and bringing him back to her summer home, where Tatiana waited for her.

Eight was suddenly awoken from his slumber and was greeted by all seven of Yuzan's commanders, as well as Yuzan himself. Mallory smiled at the poor thing; she had been holding his hand since he arrived. Eight looked up and saw the face of Yuzan Hellfire, the man who had ordered he be saved.

"Glad to see you're fine. You took quite a beating there."

"I told you we should have transported him here before Villa arrived." Said Mallory, concerned about the artificial Phoenix.

X responded to her, "That wouldn't have worked. He would have been sitting here confused and trying to escape. And if we just took him out of the blue, Villa would have sensed us and tracked the energy to our location. It was a gamble, but we had to wait for Villa to be distracted."

"And you have little ole' me to thank for that," the cheerful voice of SIN responded.

"I don't know why we're wasting time with this failed science experiment. He's hardly worth even considering for the position of commander under Lord Yuzan."

"Now, now, Sir Dracula," the dreadful voice of Thanatos was weaker than usual, "He could certainly be of use to us. Artificial Phoenixes are known for being powerful beings."

"As if. This heathen is merely a reject. He'd be better off mopping the floors of my room than disappointing Lord Yuzan, the Master of Night."

"You're acting as if you know anything about Phoenixes. As if you don't need to borrow Phoenix power to use your abilities."

"HUH!!! I'll have you know, Thanatos, that even without a Phoenix mark and using only a vampire's natural abilities, I could still mop the floor with you, especially after you shot yourself in the foot and crippled yourself. So much for the Soulreaper."

"Oh yeah, you wanna bet? Even with a fraction of my power, I can still kick your ass. I was fighting in wars before you were even born, kid."

"THAT IS ENOUGH, COMMANDER DRACULA AND COMMANDER THANATOS!!! IS THIS HOW YOU WELCOME A GUEST?!" Yuzan turned back to face Eight, saying, "I apologize for their behavior. They get caught up in their pride sometimes."

Eight was thankful to Yuzan for saving him and expressed his gratitude dearly. "Thank you so much, Lord Yuzan. Is there any way I can repay you?"

"Well, there is one way you can," said Yuzan, now faintly smiling, the most emotion he could fake. "You could become one of my commanders and work under me."

"Work under you? But that's a horrible idea. There's no way I could do that."

"Oh, I'm nothing like that vermin Villa, if you were wondering. I don't use people like she does."

"Really? Is that true?"

"Yes. I was thinking of making this world a better place." Hearing this, Eight's eyes lit up.

"You mean it? Well, what vision did you have in mind?"

"Well, it's nothing too difficult. I was only thinking of putting Helena's head on a spike and turning the Arman Empire into dust. And that includes putting Villa six feet under."

By this point, Eight was utterly ecstatic, bouncing in joy. "Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea."

"So, will you help me murder my mother and kill countless people?"

Eight didn't even need to consider the question. He already knew the answer, "Yes, I will."

"Then, in that case," Yuzan turned his hand into a sword. He placed it on Eight's shoulders to knight him, "It is with my supreme authority as Lord Yuzan, Master of Night, that I hereby decree you as my eighth commander. But I do have one problem: I never really got your name. And Eight isn't a name now, is it?" 

"I don't have a name, sir."

"Then I guess I'll just have to give you one. How does... Lily sound?"

"That would be great," said Eight, now named Lily.