Trickster Wukong

"Pour every last drop of power into the barrier! I want no one to leave the Lair!"

Brontes roared from within his lair as his eye never steered from the broken necklace hovering off the ground, a raging storm trapped within as familiar pink disks formed a triangle around it.

Golems of different sizes scurried around the lair as Brontes held his hammer, his eye twitching every now and then.

'I underestimated him. If I knew what he was planning, I wouldn't have spared even a second in killing him.'

'Now…Kronos…'

The mere thought of it made countless emotions rise within Brontes. 

To think he, a Titan entrusted by Olympus, Hades and Atlantis to act as a jailer for Kronos, was bested by a child.

'What could he be trying to achieve by meddling with Kronos? Does the fate of the world mean nothing to…'

Though he asked himself this, he shook his head in the next second.

'No, it doesn't. It's obvious. He's willing to sacrifice anything to reach his goal no matter what.'

To Brontes, that made him dangerous.

In regular cases, Brontes wouldn't think twice about fixing the necklace and trapping them all in there. 

And though he did use the disks, they were only a menial replacement.

That was because, for some reason, Brontes didn't see the reason for reinforcing the necklace.

Because he knew what the boy possessed.

-GRRRR

Brontes widened his eye as he witnessed the necklace, as well as the disk around it, vibrate violently.

The quaking intensified by the second as the very ground started to shake, the Golems around Brontes prepared as they raised their hammers until…

-BOOM!!!

-SHATTER!!!

Brontes and the Golems lost their footing as the ground crumbled, a colossal black pillar suddenly appearing and digging into the ground, the disks and necklace shattering.

Brontes flicked his head upward; however, he froze as his eye widened, a figure falling into his line of sight.

Atop the pillar that hadn't risen too tall, an old man stared at him, his hood dancing in the wind, revealing his ice-cold Golden eyes.

"K-Kronos…"

Bronte's eyes slowly drifted to the old man's side, seeing the boy with the same colour eyes who smiled as if he were taunting the Titan.

"D-Do you know what you are unleashing onto the world?!" Brontes yelled, his voice reaching the departing Illian.

"Kinda! I guess we'll just have to see what happens!" Illian mocked.

Before Brontes could reply, he noticed the green male beside Illian who clutched the edge of the pillar as he cried.

"My lord, save me!" Yelled Grimnar.

But Brontes wasn't interested in his words. Instead, a thought occurred to him.

-CRACK

-SHATTER

Raising his hand, a red ring on Brontes' finger cracked, shattering as a red button materialised in the air.

Grabbing it, he prepared to press it but paused.

He watched Illian's tail wrap around Grimnar's neck, tearing a blinking red light off the green man's rag.

"You fooled me once with the Minotaur, Cyclops!" 

Illian yelled, using his shaking hand to stuff the light into Grimnar's mouth as the latter wore a distressed expression.

"We talked about this. Stop resisting, and it'll go down smoothly; it's easy." Illian mumbled; Grimnar's yells were muffled.

But Grimnar wasn't given even a second to prepare before gulping as a reflex, swallowing the light.

"Y-You…bastard…" Grimnar held his throat as he coughed on his knees.

"Do you know what will happen if he presses that button?"

"You told me. He appears wherever the light is. It's a way to keep his subordinates in his control…"

"So why did you do it?! He'll manifest and claw his way out from inside me if he presses it!" Grimnar yelled, losing his cool.

Illian shook his head as he looked back to Brontes who wore a difficult expression. 

"He won't do it. He needs you alive. You're still of value to him." 

Grimnar looked back, seeing Brontes hesitating, allowing him to feel somewhat relieved.

"'Alive' is a very broad term," Kronos commented, witnessing another one of Brontes' rings shatter.

-BANG

A massive cannon-like item, half the size of the Titan Brontes, appeared beside him.

It looked as though it was made from the purest metal, one that had every ray of light bounce off it despite it being dark.

"That's true. You don't exactly have to be in perfect health." 

Illian chuckled, his laughs growing more uneasy the closer Brontes came to shooting.

They were moving fast, already being a good distance away from the lair, but Illian felt this still wouldn't be enough.

-CRACK!!!

Brontes raised his hammer, cracking it into the back of the cannon.

With this, a spark lit, prompting a light as bright as the sun to manifest from within, lighting up almost all of Tartarus as wisps of light darted in all directions like fireworks until…

-BOOM!!!!

What Illian could only explain as a star shot toward them, like a comet in the night sky, slicing through the air as it travelled at terrifying speeds.

"How is that not supposed to kill me?!"

Grimnar screamed, taking cover as Kronos watched leisurely.

Despite it being fast, Illian could see it. 

It was because of this he took the time to raise his hand, his middle finger sticking upward.

"Fuck you!" Illian mouthed, knowing Brontes was watching, flipping him off as he grinned widely.

"EXPAND!!!"

-VUAM

And with that, Brontes watched Ruyi expand in an instant, so much that it had stretched over countless miles in a second, the small group completely disappearing over the horizon.

Seeing this, Brontes froze, his expressions slowly changing as his face darkened, soon gritting his teeth so hard they almost cracked.

"Bastard!!!"

***

"Huff…huff…huff"

Illian, Kronos and Grimnar stood atop Ruyi which was expanded vertically over the River of Styx.

'Performing the "Giant Ruyi Travel" is a lot harder with three people.'

Illian scratched his head, referring to his radical form of transportation that resulted in Ruyi catapulting him through the sky.

It wasn't like he had a choice, seeing as how they were launched off the poorly angled Ruyi once it expanded so far.

"Let's never do that again. I thought I was going to die for sure."

In the next second, Illian walked over to Grimnar and pulled out a familiar dark purple finger with claws that made it seem like a dagger. 

With his sickly hand, he held the claw, which dripped a see-through pink liquid to Grimnar's throat.

"I better not catch you contacting Brontes again. Trust me, I'll know."

"You were right, I do need you alive. But I think you understand by now that "Alive" doesn't exactly mean "Healthy"."

The events of the last hour flashed before Grimnar's eyes as the usual arrogant expression faded from his face, causing him to nod.

Turning back, Illian stared at the old man sitting quietly and staring into the distance.

Placing the weapon back behind his cape, Illian looked around for a second.

'Though not far, I'm finally outside Tartarus.' 

Despite this fact, Illian didn't feel any different.

Though he could feel the air had become far less thicker and the eerie darkness had withered away, nothing much had changed. 

Not to him, at least.

He thought he'd at least celebrate a little. 

Perhaps it was for the fact he knew things would only get harder from now, but despite this, he still let out a small smile.

'Good riddance.'

Locking his eyes in the opposite directions, Illian walked to the edge of Ruyi.

-QUAKE

With Illian waving his hand, Ruyi began to tilt, the River under them falling into a slight frenzy as the quaking earth underneath rumbled through the air, Ruyi tearing through it.

The vibrations travelled through the staff, making it hard to stand.

Despite this, it didn't bother Illian as he continued.

Grimnar scurried to the opposite side, making sure he did not slip off.

It wasn't until Ruyi had reached an angle close to 45 degrees, pointing into the horizon, so far tilted, that one would need to sit on the highest point of the side to stay on.

To which the small group did.

"Expand."

-VUAM

Illian commanded, Grimnar bracing himself. 

But contrary to their expectations, Ruyi extended at a far slower pace.

It was fast enough to make Grimnar squint at the wind assaulting his eyes, yet slow enough they didn't need to worry about falling off.

"I'm surprised you know the direction to the Palace."

"It's almost as if this isn't your first time in the Underworld." 

Kronos broke the silence as Illian turned back to look at him.

"I bathed in the River of Styx. Since then I've had a deeper connection with the Underworld." 

Illian revealed. He didn't see the reason for hiding something like that. 

Besides, he was pretty sure Kronos could tell already.

"I see. So you're not only leading us to the Palace but Hades himself."

"I'm sorry, what?" Grimnar's mind lagged to comprehend what he'd just heard.

"You're nothing like what I've heard. You're quite composed for the ruthless tyrant I expected you to be." Illian slightly looked back as he spoke.

"I was trapped in that prison for longer than I know. I've had a lot to think about in that time."

Illian fell silent as he heard this, turning his head as he added, "I see."

'What's going on? First the prophecy and now this?' 

Something about all this made Illian feel uneasy.

He was prepared for an emotional individual who had a superiority complex but was met with someone nothing like that.

"A being willing to do anything to achieve his goal of the throne." 

That was how Demeter described him.

And though he didn't want to admit it at first, it sounded like him. 

Which made Kronos a natural-born enemy.

Despite that, current circumstances had forced them to be allies.

'Insolent bastards.'

Grimnar hissed inwardly, both individuals not sparing him a word as he ground his teeth.

In the next second, Grimnar stared at Kronos, grinning.

"My King, I don't suppose you'd have any subordinates you'd like to contact in this coup." 

Grimnar rubbed his hands together as he smiled obediently, bending over beside Kronos.

"You see, my ability allows me to control and create "connections" between two parties and…" 

"Anyone who was once willing to stand beside me is only praying for death now." 

Grimnar froze with a smile on his face, no words coming out as he stared at Kronos who still hadn't moved.

"I see…give me one second." Grimnar nervously chuckled, slowly stepping away and facing Illian.

"Send me back." He hissed, Illian shrugging right after.

"I don't wanna. Besides, life couldn't have been any better under Brontes." 

"You're wrong! Brontes was extremely understanding as long as I did what I was told."

"And Brontes wasn't travelling with someone who's feared by the whole world." 

He lowered his voice at the end, slightly looking back at the quiet old man.

"Seriously? Do you hear yourself? 'Doing as you're told,' Weren't you a king to a whole civilization a few hours ago?" Illian rolled his eyes as he clicked his teeth.

"What? Let me tell you something, idiot. There are two types of people in this world."

"Those who are destined to stand at the top and those who are born to suffer under them." 

Grimnar raised his third finger right after.

"But there's a third type. Those who can break away from destined suffering and live off of the luxury promised to the first type." 

Illian scoffed.

"Yup, that sounds like you. The leeches." 

"Wrong, the survivors." A vein popped on Grimnar's neck as he corrected Illian.

"Doesn't sound much different to the desperate second type to me." Illian voiced his thoughts, causing Grimnar to snap.

"Wrong again! I am nothing like the second type." 

Illian stared, realising he might have hit a sensitive spot.

"So what would that make me?" 

Based on Grimnar's logic, Illian didn't fall into any of the three types.

"You'd be the fourth type. The greedy who don't know when to draw the line and haven't learned their place. Usually, this type dies a miserable death."

Illian listened to this as he stared straight ahead, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed interesting.

Grimnar took this silence as a sign that he'd won the argument, causing him to puff out his chest and smile, preparing to turn back.

"But haven't you ever wondered?"

Grimnar paused as he looked back to a smiling Illian.

"Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to break away from all expectations and simply…do whatever the hell you wanted, huh?"

"The world is far more complicated than just a few types of people."

"It doesn't account for those with ambitions far greater than anything on this earth."

"Because even if those people die, they'd have died challenging all those above him. Someone who threatened the gods' power. A Fallen King known to all."

Illian turned as his grin grew wider.

"And if he succeeds? All those who stood in his way will bow at his feet. At the feet of the best."

Grimnar stared as Illian's tail flapped behind him like an excited dog.

What he said simply sounded like fantasy to the green man. 

But after everything he'd seen Illian do, he couldn't help but repeat these words to himself.

He had no doubt Illian would die soon, but when he did, he had no doubt this boy had already etched his name in history.

'A Fallen King, huh?'

"Boy…"

The silence was broken as all eyes turned to Kronos. 

The old man stared straight ahead at the luminescent river, his gaze never faltering.

"Something is coming."