A Cynical Shadow's Return

Chapter 7

Agnus stared at Chordon and the shadow and was completely confused with what was going on. After staring at the shadow for a moment, he remembered what the "gift" was, but why he was chosen was still a mystery to him. Red backed away into a bush to hide in and would wait until Agnus said it was okay for him to come out.
"What happened to Sitha," Agnus asked the pair.
"Chordon," the shadow said, "the bear would like to see his friends. Show them to him." Chordon smirked and walked over to the lake, behind Agnus, where he retrieved Sitha and Rai from the water, then walked back over to the shadow. Sitha and Rai were gasping for air, and coughing out water. Agnus gasped and quickly rushed to Sitha's aid.
"Sitha! Are you okay?" He asked worriedly and helped her stand, though she did not need the help.
"I'm fine, Agnus," she answered softly. "I'm just really wet, that's all."
"Hey," Rai said amongst his panting, "does anyone here know how to make holy water? You boil the HELL out of it!" Rai started laughing at his own joke, then abruptly began coughing again. The shadow facepalmed himself and shook his head.
"I can't tell what's worse," the shadow said. "The fact that I got it, or the fact that you had the audacity to tell such a terrible joke
"They could have drowned!" Agnus yelled at the shadow. "I'm gonna make you sorry for that!"
"Oh, by all means, come and get me if you can. Chordon, you know what to do."
"Why of courssse." Chordon walked ahead of the shadow with the top half of his body limp. Sitha and Rai moved away from Agnus as to not get in his way, and the shadow leaned back against a tree with a smirk on his face.
"I think I quite underssstand you," Chordon said in his demonic voice. "Your body isss strong, but your mind isss weak."
"There's nothing weak about me at all," Agnus retorted, "and I don't like it when anyone says I'm weak. I'm not weak! I'm Agnus!" The shadow chuckled to himself as he could see Agnus was running low on patience and knew that it would not take much to drive Agnus to the point where he has had it.
"Now, Agnusss," Chordon said, slowly raising his head up while chuckling, "let usss begin our battle, and put both of our livesss on the line!" Chordon now looked Agnus directly into his eyes; his red and vertical eyes now constricted with a twisted grin on his face. Agnus had no time to look away and found himself trapped under Chordon's influence. Everything around Agnus turned red as large and deep cuts appeared all over his body. Agnus felt every last cut as though he'd actually been cut which made him yell out in agony. Then, everything turned back to normal when Agnus felt his stomach cave in. He coughed and wheezed as he looked down to see Chordon had punched Agnus in the stomach hard. Sitha gasped and screamed out Agnus' name, and went she went to try and help him, but Rai held her back since he knew she'd only get herself killed in the process. Red was quivering in the bush, now fearing for his father's life. He did not want to go through the trauma of seeing his beloved father killed in front of his eyes again. Agnus was just as shocked as he was hurt by the attack, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not work up the muscle to move.
"Oh, no, this can't be happening," Rai shouted while pulling at his hair. "Agnus what are you doing!? Come on, I know you can end this in one punch, man." The shadow chuckled at how frantic Rai was being.
"Chordon's best known in hell for his Eyes of Death."
"Eyes of Death," Sitha repeated, but with question in her voice.
"Hmph, once he activates this, and looks into anyone's eyes, their death flashes right before their eyes. Though it's only an illusion, your mind believes that you are feeling all of the pain, and in the end, you're left traumatized and paralyzed with fear. Agnus was no match from the start." Chordon smirked and pushed Agnus into the lake.
"Papa!" Red yelled as he came out of hiding and ran over to the lake, but Chordon stopped him by grabbing the cub by the neck and lifting him up. Red struggled and struggled to get out of the snake demon's grip, but at no amount of struggle availed the cub. Sitha watched with worried eyes. She wanted to help Agnus and Red, but as much as she did want to help, she did not know what she could do to help. Chordon was of course terrifying to her, but the shadow scared her the most with how he sat back and watched everything take place without the slightest bit of repentance. If they had even considered interfering, Rai knew that the shadow would take action, but Sitha had her doubts about it since Red was allowed to attempt to rush towards the lake. Chordon's eyes turned back to normal as Red squirmed and cried out for Agnus. The shadow's smirk disappeared, and he looked like he wanted to say something but held himself back.
"Ahh," Chordon said, licking his lips, "you'd make a tasssty sssnack for me, little one." Just then, Agnus sprung out from the water, in his bear form. As Chordon turned his head to see Agnus, all he could see was a brown paw slapping him across his face which made him drop Red, and sent him flying past the shadow and through many trees. Sitha smiled, and Rai cheered upon seeing Agnus' return.
"That's right, Agnus," Rai yelled again. "Send that creepy guy back to where he came from!" The shadow could see the anger in Agnus' eyes, but something was off. My gift should have been activated already, the shadow thought to himself, so what is stopping Agnus from unlocking it? I could have sworn that pain on his own body would make him angry, but it isn't enough. Chordon better think of something or else he's as good as dead. Agnus reverted back to his human self and pick up Red, checking to see if he was hurt in any type of way or fashion. The shadow watched this happen, now forming a new idea inside of his head. Just on time, Elias and Kinsa had finally arrived in the area. Rai gasped when he saw Kinsa and ran over to him.
"Bro!" Rai yelled as he was running, and stopped when he got to them. "What the heck happened to you!?"
"D-Don't worry about me, Rai. I'm fine...Wait, when did Captain Reko get here?"
"I don't know who that guy is, but he is definitely not Captain Reko. He sounds scary." Agnus looked at where he had knocked Chordon and growled when he saw the snake demon walking towards them without a scratch on his body, then put Red down. Chordon chuckled.
"You caught me by surprissse, bear, but weren't you told to come at me with everything you've got? Either you're holding back, or you're jussst weak and pathetic. Now that you have made your move, it isss time for me to make mine."
"Stop calling me that!" Agnus yelled at Chordon before charging at him and throwing a powerful punch at him, but Chordon vanished just at the right moment to make Agnus punch the ground. When Agnus' fist met with the ground, the entire area began shaking violently and slightly cracked from the punch. Everyone besides Agnus held tightly onto something sturdy to keep from losing balance. Agnus growled and pulled his fist up from the hole in the ground that he had made. At that moment, Chordon had appeared with multiple copies of himself that surrounded Agnus on all sides.
"Things aren't looking good for Agnus," Elias said as Chordon and his copies began attacking Agnus. No matter how much Agnus attempted to fight back, there was always another Chordon clone that would land an attack from the opposite direction.
"Oh, man," Rai said, looking worried, "Agnus is our only hope in surviving. Geez, I wish Captain Reko or Igneous were here."
"They're hitting Agnus in all of his blind spots," Kinsa added. "Agnus is crazy strong, but he's not fast enough to keep up with this guy, and now with the clones, his mind can't process so many things at one time."
"Agnus," Sitha said softly as tears began to form in her eyes. She looked away, not wanting to see what Agnus was going through. Chordon and his clones all came together to make one final blow to Agnus' stomach, which made the helpless Tasoolian Kodiak Bear cough out blood and fall down to the ground. Red cried out for Agnus as the menacing clones disappeared. Chordon put his foot on Agnus' head, pushing his head down to the ground.
"You talk of how you're the ssstrongessst," Chordon said, kicking Agnus in the side, "but your puny mortal ssstrength isss nothing compared to that of a demon. I underessstimated you lassst time, Agnusss, but after I broke what little of a mind you have, defeating you wasss nothing but child'sss play. Now, sssince you want to be difficult and not bring out the boy'sss gift, I will move on to killing your friendsss." Chordon walked away from Agnus, and began walking towards Sitha and the rest. They all watched with fear but did not back down from the threat that approached them. Agnus struggled to push himself up from the ground due to the pain he was in. The shadow watched the man struggle to keep his friends safe, and then chuckled to himself.
"It seems that he's not one to roll over and die so easily," the shadow said. "Chordon! It would behoove you if you were to turn around right now unless you have a deathwish!" Chordon stopped in his advance and turned to face Agnus, now growling. Agnus was on his hands and knees now and was panting heavily with blood leaking from his forehead. He was not about to let Chordon or anyone get the better of him, nor will he allow himself to continuously get mocked by Chordon.
"What are you attempting to prove," Chordon asked irritatedly. "You're going to die if you continue trying to face a demon." Agnus had caught his breath and chuckled as he was now standing on his feet.
"Funny you should say," Agnus answered, "because my brother told me to keep everyone safe even if it kills me. Reko risked his own life to save mine more times than I can count, and I can only count to five. I'm not ever gonna let him down." The shadow noticed the look in Agnus' eyes, and it made him slightly unsure if the Gift was taking effect or not. Then, he noticed that Reko's eyes were the very same when the two them had their battle, and knew from there that it wasn't a good sign. Agnus began walking towards Chordon, and was cracking his knuckles in the process as his footsteps were heavier and made the ground shake with each step he took.
"Chordon," the shadow yelled, "keep away from him! I can't quite explain what, but something's changed about him!" Sitha noticed the look in Agnus' eyes, and she too could tell that she was not looking into the wide and oblivious eyes of Agnus. When Agnus went forward to punch Chordon, his fist went through Chordon's body that soon turned into a frightening amount of large snakes that wrapped around Agnus' body. Agnus gasped in shock and struggled to get the snakes off of him as the wrapped around his entire body, and bit at his arms and his legs as well. The others were just as shocked as Agnus were, even the shadow.
"H-How the heck did he do that," Rai asked.
"If that one was a fake," Elias said, now looking around for Chordon, "then where could the real one be?" Red ran away from safety and ran to help Agnus, believing that he could actually be of use.
"Leave my Papa alone," the cub bravely yelled. Agnus grunted in pain as the snakes bit down harder on his body.
"Red, stay back!" Agnus demanded. "Don't worry about me. Papa's gonna take care of this." Right before Red could reach his father, Chordon intercepted the cub's advance by appearing in front of him. Red skidded to a stop and begun backing away from Chordon, now terribly afraid of the demon.
"Hello little one," Chordon said as his Eyes of Death returned and he licked his lips sadistically. "You will have to get passst me if you want your father." Red was trembling with fear as he whimpered loudly and called for Agnus. Agnus growled angrily and started using all of his might to pull the snakes off of him, but he made little to no progress at doing so.
"Leave my son alone," Agnus shouted. "Get away from him!" Elias thought of this as the perfect time to be the hero he dreams of himself to be, so he charged forward, ready to attack Chordon with everything he had within himself to save Red, but that was short-lived when the shadow came from nowhere and landed a hard punch to his ribs. Elias had the wind knocked out of him as he fell backward onto the ground, coughing and wheezing. The shadow looked at Kinsa, Rai, and Sitha with a simple glare, daring either one of them to move another muscle, and with how much he intimidated them, all three of them reluctantly kept their distance.
"Don't be so impatient," the shadow said after chuckling. "You'll all die in due time. Just wait until my precious gift is brought out of Agnus."
"Why are you doing this?" Sitha asked angrily. "What did we do to deserve this!?"
"Sweet and innocent, Sitha. I would have thought with as much brains you have, you would have figured it out by now. Telling you now would be such a waste of breath." Red was too afraid to even budge as Chordon grabbed him by the scarf he wore and lifted him up from the ground. Red squirmed and cried out for help as loud as he could, which made Agnus very angry.
"Put him down!" Agnus yelled as he struggled more to get the snakes off of him, but Chordon did not listen.
"You are what keepsss him from unlocking the Gift," Chordon said to Red, then held the terrified cub in front of Agnus. "Take a good look at him, Agnusss for thisss will be the lassst time you will ever sssee your ssson alive. I want you to remember thisss moment down to the very lassst detail."
"PAPA HELP!!!" Red screamed, which brought tears to Agnus' eyes since he could do nothing to save his son no matter how hard he would try.
"Please, I'll do whatever you want," Agnus pleaded, "just don't hurt him!"
"What I want isss to bring the Gift out of you, and thisss isss the only way that can happen." Chordon hungrily licked his lips again with a sickening chuckle. Agnus continued pleading for Red's life with even more tears.
"Whatever you're going to do, just do it to me! Please, don't hurt him!"
"PAPA!!!"
"DON'T HURT HIM!!!!" Chordon bit into Red's stomach, making the cub scream in agonizing pain as blood gushed out of his stomach. The shadow chuckled as he knew what was to come next while everyone else watched in horror and shock. Agnus was at a loss of words. Never has he ever met anyone that could be more cruel and heartless than Zubelon. Chordon snatched Red's intestines out of his stomach and ate them all as the cub's body went limp and his pained screaming came to end. Chordon did not stop there, for he went on to eating Red's heart out, then on to other organs as the blood, that dripped onto the ground, began to pool. When Chordon was satisfied, he snatched off Red's head and threw his body to a tree. He had gotten blood all over the front of his body and when he grinned, there were pieces of flesh stuck to his teeth and they were painted with blood. Agnus reluctantly looked over at his cub's mutilated body, and immediately broke into tears as his mind brought up all of the great times he's had with his son and how much he loved him: the times they went out fishing; the walks in the forest; their playful moments; watching Red grow up; watching out for Red's safety, and wanting to do nothing else but spend the day with him day in and day out. All of this could no longer continue for Red's life had been taken away by a ruthless, heartless monster. Agnus sadness turned into a burning rage as he looked back to Chordon, who had dropped Red's head to the ground, and smashed it into the ground with his foot. The snakes vanished from Agnus' body, but he did not move a muscle. No longer did he want to drive Chordon away, but now he had an undying desire to murder the cruel snake demon and avenge his fallen son. There were no more tears in Agnus' eyes, but there was a burning flame in his eyes as the ground trembled as though there was an earthquake.
"H-How could y-you," Agnus said while angrily growling. "Th-That was my only son, and you took him from me! Th-That was the LAST thing he deserved! I-I'm gonna make you suffer!" Agnus felt a sudden maliciousness creep inside of him, and instantly caught a sickening migraine. His angered growls turned into pained grunts as black markings began forming on his body, and the shadow watched with a wide grin on his face, for he has achieved his first goal. Sitha and the others could not understand what was happening to Agnus since they have never seen him this way before. Elias figured that it could be the scary side of Agnus that he has always heard rumors about. Agnus fell down to his knees, grabbing at his head and pulling at his hair. Again, Agnus began growling, but this time, it was a much more demonic growl, and he put his hands over his eyes while yelling in pain.
"Agnus!" Sitha shouted out as tears welled up in her eyes.
"What's happening to him," Kinsa asked, and the shadow chuckled when he heard the question.
"Something magnificent," the shadow answered, looking at every last one of them. "I've taken your own defense and used it against you all. Agnus is no longer the Agnus you all know and love, but instead, he's my puppet to control. Now watch as my gift transforms Agnus into a monstrous killing machine!" Agnus' heart began pounding furiously and his skin started to turn purple. After spewing out some blood, all of Agnus' pain went away, and all of his movements stopped altogether. His body collapsed to the ground, and when Sitha started to run out to him, the shadow knocked her down on her butt. A purple flame appeared on Agnus' body as he stood up with one of his eyes closed, and the other concealed with a hand over it. The shadow laughed maniacally as he walked over to Agnus.
"Yes! I finally have you in my clutches! Now, my slave, go on and kill all of your master's enemies!" Agnus removed his hand from his eye, then opened both of his eyes, revealing nothing but red, glowing pupils. The rest of his eyes were like a pitch-black void filled with darkness and despair. Elias got up to his feet with his mouth hung open, and shaking in fear and anticipation for the terror that would await them. Kinsa and Rai were just as afraid but were ready to defend themselves in the best way possible.
"H-Hey, Kinsa," Rai said, trying to calm his fear down, "this is beary beary bad."
"Rai, now isn't the time," Kinsa responded seriously as he was trying to think of a way out of their current situation. Each time he thought of a strategy, their deaths would be the only outcome of each one. The only way anyone would survive would have to be if someone like Reko were present. Someone who could actually hold their own against multiple enemies, but even then, Kinsa had his doubts of a feat like that being possible to pull off. Kinsa looked at Elias, who was falling apart upon seeing Agnus' frightening image. The shadow then noticed that Agnus hadn't moved an inch yet, and looked up at him.
"Well?" The shadow asked impatiently, "What are you waiting for? Go forth and kill them!" Agnus slowly looked down at the shadow, and still did not bother to move which made the shadow growled frustratedly.
"Listen here, you mindless slave, I am your master and you will follow my--" Before the shadow could finish his sentence, Agnus had swiftly smacked the shadow away from him with a hard backhand that sent the shadow smacking against a tree, and falling down to the ground after impact. Everyone was in shock. Chordon chuckled, which caught Agnus' attention. He looked over at Chordon, and started growling angrily.
"I sssee," Chordon, said. "You're angry at me, but you will do well to remember your place. The boy may have made you, but I will be the one who breaksss you." Agnus clenched his fist, bared his teeth, then started walking towards Chordon. With each step he took, the ground beneath him cracked and trembled, but this did not make Chordon back down from the enraged Tasoolian. The shadow got up from the ground, trying to control his own trembling. Everything did not go according to plan, now he has created something deadly. Agnus stared down at Chordon, letting out demonic, angered growls with sorrow in his eyes. This misery is what fueled Agnus' rage more and more.
"I-I don't understand," the shadow said amongst his shaking body, "the Gift worked perfectly when I first gave it to him. What makes this time any different?"
"Kinsa," Rai whispered to his brother, "can you explain what's going on? I thought we were about to die."
"Well, uhh, the answer is really simple, Rai," Kinsa answered. "Agnus was already mad from being made fun of, but after being forced to sit and watch Red die, like how we all did, it pushed him over the boundaries of being angry. I think the way Red was killed was what made Agnus snap. I can't quite say what went on through Agnus' mind, but I do know that his desire to avenge Red was more powerful than that 'gift' itself."
"Whoa, nothing beats a father's love for his son."
"And now that Agnus has been pushed this far, he's gonna kill that freak at any cost."