VI. 'Peon :: Forked Tongue'

One of the heads of the $yndicate would stand at the appointed destination, waiting for the signal to regroup.

Because SIN's presence had already passed by from Temptation when the Fallen Angels were left to their doom, by the time the $yndicate member made it to one of the designated points, there was a Demon Lord already waiting.

TATARI would discard the Demon Lord and leave it as a 'Wicker Man' for Wrath, setting up a False Idol for it to concentrate and designate its Hatred to and for once it spread. Meanwhile, the Disciples that were bid in front would be met with a different incarnation of TATARI Tensei, which was a Flame Plushie that had been long discarded by a different creation. The abandoned Flame Plushie, which had been placed here specifically for TATARI to pick up as its Vessel would hover over the group and be a replication for TATARI to take on after discarding a previous Vessel. Any time its flesh was destroyed, it could just create another one to possess.

"No One Knows 'Flame Plushie's Actual Back Story Except The Creator, Which Also Has Its Own Back Story Beyond Me." The Flame Plushie, itself, which was TATARI's chosen Puppet God since long before it was revealed, would be lifted up when it was time for the Fire Lord to rise from his imprisonment from the Flame Plushie body, as it had been bound to for a long, long, long time. "Yeah, Now We're Going To Go Destroy The Chibi-chan." Little did anyone ACTUALLY know about the backstory of Flame Plushie, he was actually the main antagonist of 'Chibi,' the girl that lived on Earth BEFORE Bunnybee got there (100% Chronologically), and had been on those adventures with her best friend Rai. "They won't remember that." Flame Plushie shook his head, chuckling a dry, but spirited chuckle. "Wait until Kuroppoi shows his ugly mug..." Each of the Antagonists from the other works of the Creator that joined together during Bunnybee were also former Main Antagonists of other stories that none of them remembered until they were resurrected. TATARI, who was the given form of Flame Plushie's actual essence that was trapped in his body since the very beginning when he appeared in the 'Chibi' story would be what retained memory of the times of the Past. "Crystal, wasn't it?" he mumbled, stammering over his words, trying to remember the girl's actual real name. "Hzzzt... Something." It had been so long since TATARI had seen it done so long ago. Even the replication of the Flame Plushie was a hazy memory. All of the Antagonists were all a one being before they became antagonists, and TATARI, as SIN and SIN GOD, had seen them before the abandoning of SIN because they were Antagonists of the past. "Hmm. They all come in a certain order, and don't all join up with Bunnybee until after that order..." Naturally, Flame Plushie wouldn't ever tell anyone these things, and just secretly revive Kuroppoi later when no one was looking, during the Morpho stages. "Eheheheh. This is too good." No wonder he was always smiling whenever he saw an image of himself from the Past.

"Flame Dancer," he called out to his Wicker Man, which would only be able to move when Flame Plushie, the Slave Master, would decree. No one knew about Flame Plushie's backstory, because it was all completely hidden and also unfinished in the Chibi comic, because that work was unfinished before Bunnybee took over, and also before Flame Plushie actually joined up with the other Antagonists. "They're all doing their own thing... I slip into Darkbee's gang in the cut, Kuroppoi does 'that thing,' and Shroomz gets the crown, and I think we'll actually conquer the world. Heheheh." Flame Plushie burned with anticipation, but the first thing he couldn't believe was his 'Flame Dancer' standing there before him, in all honesty. "Flame Dancer!! Baby!!" He smiled, and embraced the Flame Dancer as it was lit aflame and given Life. "I Didn't Remember That I Created You On Accident!!" When Flame Plushie's memory was restored, a cute and babyish smile would appear on his face as his favorite toy was revived the moment he was.

"You know what to do, Flame Dancer!" Flame Plushie, who was the Slave Master, would bid his Fire Golem, the Flame Dancer, which was his loyal and trusted Slave, to take care of whilst the Flame Plushie escorted the Disciples down the mountain. "This is gonna be fun."

This process however was divided from the discarded and abandoned Demon Lord, which was thrown away as a Belial by TATARI, who wanted to attachment to what was born when it was replicating SIN and SIN GOD. The Demon Lord looked repulsive, like waste of a creator, which one balls up and throws in the trash in order to make a better one; something non defective. Flame Plushie would begin to contemplate further steps for its own movement.

"Yeah, okay, I know what I gotta do... after I discard the Flame Plushie again." The Flame Plushie was only a Puppet God, like every False God that existed, and his spirit, which was of the Slavemaster, would be released from the body to go ahead of the group, which would be passed onto the next $yndicate leader whilst the general was fending off the Demon Lord of Wrath along with the Flame Dancer that Flame Plushie left behind. "Yeah, I'm gonna beat they asses to death when they get this far. Heheheheheh." Flame Plushie was excited for the Absolute Punishment, and the return of his powers. He'd been limited for so long, it felt like he would never return to his true power.

Like the Flame Dancer, Flame Plushie was powered by fire, and so when the essence of TATARI discarded the Flame Plushie, it would remain floating midair, but have lost its memories once TATARI exited. Instead of remaining conscious and coherent, the Flame Plushie would be moved automatically like a machine or manually like a doll using the remnants of TATARI.

When the spirit of Flame Plushie that was released passed on, TATARI took on a different form further down the mountain, leaving the Flame Plushie to issue 'Absolute Punishment' just as the Flame Dancer would facing the counterpart.

Belial came tumbling down the mountain as a flaming mound of melting flesh. The wad of fire would strike the discarded Demon Lord and begin to reform itself with its new material. The Demon Lord of Envy, Leviathan, would sprout from the contact as a pitch black snake head that was like the fire serpents that were lit on fire during Chinese New Year. The head of the serpent got longer as the fire burned longer, and the ashes lashed for the Disciples as they were passing by, so Belial could consume them and grow into a greater serpent chain and become powerful again.

Demon Lord Leviathan would drag Belial's rotting carcass toward the Disciples so that it could consume them before they escaped.

When the Demon Lord of Envy and Belial that commandeered it would reveal themselves, the 'Argus Card System' would immediately rear up as the automated simulation from the checkpoint was was previously established by the Tyranophant and the Grand Tabritha before they both had departed, and the piece, 'Peon' would begin to move to deal with the Demon Lord Belial Leviathan along with the $yndicate leader that had been stationed at this area.

"Help is on the way," the Peon would say, "But in order to prevail, we must keep the Disciples safe!" So, the Peon would distract the Leviathan by hurling itself at Belial once it reared up to attack the Disciples that were in transition. When it did, the Peon would be directly in the line of attack from Belial and deter it from attacking the Disciples initially by using itself as bait, and sacrificing itself to be destroyed in order that the others would be able to continue.

When the first Peon was sacrificed, the Argus Card System would generate another one from the checkpoint, ready to utilize another manner of assistance to keep the Disciples safe from Belial Leviathan.

The $yndicate leader that was stationed at this part of the mountain would look upon the Flame Plushie and the Peon and Demon Lord Belial Leviathan in shock, due to all of these things coming upon him all at once and nearly without warning. If not for the Peon giving sound instruction, he may have not been prepared to salvage the Disciples. "Right!" he said, immediately moving to apprehend Leviathan. "Because you are weaker than I am, you go lead the Disciples, and I will remain here and fend off our foe!" It made more sense for the weaker one to deal with transportation whilst the stronger one hold off the threat.

So, the $yndicate leader would draw his weapon; a spear that was long and sharp, and somewhat ornate, and would lunge at Leviathan as well, in order to stab at the monster's neck and drive it away like a serpent on a stick. He was careful not to get too close nor to touch the fouled substance that was the creatures burning, ugly, festering body. "Back, Demon!!" he cried, thrusting with all his might. Because this creature was already very slow and very weak, keeping it at bay didn't seem to be difficult, but how to kill it was a different story. "Go, Peon! Do not worry about me! Worry about the Disciples!"

The discarded Flame Plushie, which now only had retentive memories about the current situation and its Flame Dancer slave, and not anything beyond that, would hover over the $yndicate member that was fighting the Demon Lord. The Disciples were no longer cared for by the Flame Plushie, but instead, it would focus all its attention on the Demon Lord in order to destroy it.

The flying, smiling orange rag doll filled with the burning flames of pure unbridled condemnation packed inside of its cute and adorable form would extend one of its nubby arms out toward the creature from above, pointing down at the Belial Leviathan condescendingly. "DIE," it cried out with murderous intent, seemingly with only the sheer purpose of blatantly killing the adversary in the most violent manner. Suddenly, streams of fire spiraled out of the hand of the Flame Plushie and straight down upon the form of the Belial Leviathan to burn away its ugly body and completely smolder its tar-like skin. Because it was moving so slowly, the stream of concentrated fire could easily remain upon its back upon death.

Belial Leviathan, though a large and great dragon, was slow and decrepit because of the previous events that made it weak. This made chasing after the Disciples difficult, but not impossible. Yet, when the head of the serpent lashed out to strike one, instead, it would be met with a different being that would deter it from its course.

Even so, the little creature, the Peon that had sacrificed itself to save the others, was absorbed into the large ugly mass that was Belial Leviathan, and used to bring it greater power. Unfortunately, because the Peon was so weak, it didn't do anything to restore the decaying form of the ungodly creature. "More..." it grumbled, its voice gurgling through what sounded like both tar and chewing gum, with bubbles popping in between. "More... Food..." The Demon Lord was ready to rear up and stretch out again to devour the Disciples when this time, it was met with the sharp sting of a lance in its neck, which drove it away from them momentarily and attracted its attention to the immediate threat that was opposing it. "... You... Dare...?" Its voice was just as slow as its body, but when the object touched its form, it would start to decay and be absorbed into the larger body of the melting Belial. "... You're... Mine..." Leviathan strained hard to draw up one of its claws(?) stuck to the ground and by the time it did, there was a fire burning upon its back that was similar to the flames that had already been ignited upon its highly flammable body. It roared(?) at the pain, but ultimately seemed unaffected beyond that. Belial Leviathan toppled over when it finally drew up its arm from the ground, crashing with a loud thud. Its body would start to seep into the ground and stick to it, with the head remaining raised up to lash at the ones that were fighting against it with a vicious sweep. The ones that were struck would be consumed, like the Peon, and the lance, and added onto the greater decay that was Belial Leviathan.

The ground around where Belial Leviathan was touching would be absorbed into its form and cause it to grow, but simultaneously cause the ground to become decayed and no longer able to be traversed, just like a tar pit. Soon, the whole area would become like this. "Mine... All... Mine..."

The Peon that was ingested was poisonous to the Demon Lord and, after being consumed, would begin to act as such. All Peons that were ingested by the Demon Lord would be poisonous to it, as by design of the Peon.

The Peon that was newly created from the Argus Card System would understand its instructions from its higher up and take lead of the Disciples. "Follow me!" it said, leading them down the mountain, all the way to the very trail end of them, until none of them remained in the area.

When that Peon departed, another one was generated that looked exactly like the first two, and would say to the others that were still fighting Belial Leviathan "I'm here to help you! I will sacrifice myself as many times as necessary to defeat the enemy!" This Peon, also still poisonous to Leviathan, would hurl itself at him as well. Every one that was ingested would slow the process of the spreading and contamination upon the land with the acts of willing Kindness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. This single act alone would be able to counteract the Envy that was spreading, trying to take control of the land and snatch up everything and everyone else in the area.