Ticci Toby x Clockwork (Braiden's Tale) pt.3

~Chapter 11~

~Braiden~

How could one of my parents make a deal with an otherworldly being. No, not how but why would they do that? "Braiden, I can tell by the look on your face that you are just a little hurt/shocked, and pretty distraught too. Nonetheless, if you want to get out of here, you need to do one of the other things I've suggested." Alex spoke to me. He's really not kidding around here. This guy...Alex is dead serious about these options. But what about me? I have so much more to live for. I have mom, dad, the other proxies, my mentor...and Nina. Above all else, I was truly about to do this. I was truly about to challenge an other worldly being because option one was definately out of the question.

"Ok..." I took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from my brows. "I'll...challenge Zalgo." Alex's eyes brightened up but in a way of shock. "Braiden, you can't honestly be serious right now. I just gave you the only two options, and obviously option one was the smartest route for you to take. Why on Earth would you risk option two instead?!?! How would you then make it back to Nina?! If you lose then she will be alone again. I can't bear to think of that happening to her again...not after me." Alex looked away for a second. I sighed and put my hands on each of his shoulders. "Listen, I know you were the first of us to care for Nina, and you probably do know what's best for her out of us two. I also know that I haven't known you long at all. But here is what I do know...My mom was a badass who literally didn't care about most anything or anyone except for my dad. My dad was a blundering weirdo with amazing abilities beyond what they should have actually been. And both of them really never gave up what was close to them. So...neither will I. And anyway, let's say that I do choose option one, and I decide to have a kid one day. I don't want him to have to suffer this again. Zalgo is a demon...and actual monster. It's time to break this cycle before it even fully begins." I smirked and let go of him. He looked like he wanted to object again, but he shut his mouth and nodded. " Great, then let's do this!" I started marching past Alex with determination burning deep within.

...

"Uhhhh, Braiden? So do you know how to get to Zalgo? Because it's definately not by marching off into the distance like a cliche action movie." Alex shouted at my back. I halted dead in my tracks and scurried back to where he was. "So how do I get to him then?" I chuckled sheepishly. Alex sighed and shook his head. You just have to want to approach him. He'll come to you then." Alex explained. My face fell flat and I glared. "That sounds very impossible. Are you just making stuff up?" I asked him in speculation. Alex squinted his eyes in return. "Uh no, I'm not. Look man, I've been trappped here for years in exile. Are you seriously questioning me right now? You mean to tell me that you don't believe me? Thats like a rookie asking a champion if they really are a champion. Just shut up and do as I say." Alex flicked my nose. I grunted and crossed my arms. "Fine, butthole." I tried and concentrated but it just didn't seem to sit right with me. I groaned and rolled my eyes. "HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?!" I crushed my fists together. "Braiden, just focus!"

"Yes Braiden, just focus. It's really not that hard."

A deep voices distracted us from the task at hand, and we both immediately turned our attention to it. There he was. So tall and menacing. A multitude of mouths, and a type of shapness that really made your skin crawl...even if you were a proxy of Slenderman. "What's wrong young man? Have you really not met your own godfather just yet? Well, that's what I am technically. Your very own mother did give you away to me in exchange for her own life and all." He spoke to me nonchalantly. It was as if we were best friends, the way he spoke to me. I knew better. He was nothing but pure evil, and he was trying to get to me in the worst way possible so that I would lose the fight we were about to get into.

"SHUT UP!!! You're nothing but a liar! My mom loves me!" I growled at him. "Oh please, you are well aware that you're here with me because your parent made a deal in exchange for something else, and you were what they traded. How can you accept it halfway when it's been explained to you so clearly." He furrowed his brows in annoyance. I could feel him begin to get to me in this instance. It was true...that's why I was here. But, did my mom really do that to me? Did she really trade me so easily so that she could live for herself? "Shu-shut up!" I wiped away the stray tear from my cheek. "My mom loves me more than anything in the world." I refused to give into his hype. "Braiden...look around you right now. Before I destroy you, can you think a little harder? I really hate stupid people." Zalgo seemed to be teasing me, but I could obviosly hear the bloodlust beyond his tone. He wanted to kill me. He wanted to have me here forever like Alex and countless other souls. I wasn't having it.

I quickly lunged at him, but it didn't seem to phase him. In fact, he remained unmoved while I was knocked back onto the ground where I previously stood. "C'mon kid, wrap it up fast. I have a two o'clock appointment with some clown in a box or whatever." He spoke to me, completely unphased! I stood up and wiped the dirt from my face. I reached down for a sharp rock and lunged at him once more only to have him unphased again as I hit the ground. I yawned as if he weren't interested in me. He was playing with me much like how a cat plays with it's food before killing and eating it. Well if he wasn't going down so easily, then neither am I. This time I lunged at him and in the process, stabbed him where one of his mouths was located on his chest. He winced and growled angrily. Now I was getting a reaction out of him...

which was a mistake on my part.

This time he was more inclined to fight back. He gripped me by my ankles, his claws cutting into my soft skin, and swung me around multiple times before slamming me into a tree. It was such a hard hit, that I coughed up a little blood. My back was aching and my vision was a little blurry from being spun around so rapidly. Before I could completely stand up, he had snatched the stone from his chest/mouth and tossed it in my direction. It seemed to go a million miles an hour and I was barely able to dodge it before it impaled itself within the very tree I was leaned against. I looked back at Zalgo and he was no longer in the distnace. Instead, he was standing right over me with a menacing look on his face. He leaned down while I tried to block my face. He landed punch after punch onto my stomach until it seemed I would choke on my own blood that came from my stomach. After the punches stopped coming and I was gasping for air, there was a sharp pain in my right leg. I ungaurded my face to see he has shoved his clawed hand directly into my leg, creating a huge gash on my leg. When he snatched it back out, blood came spattering as well. The pain was unbearable and I could feel myself becoming lightheaded. It seemed like the fight was over before it began.

"Braiden, I like you. You're a nice kid and much more tenacious than that Alex boy over there. I think I'll let you bleed out instead of ending it so quickly. You'll feel the pain sure, but I think you deserve your last few minutes as a living human." Zalgo seemed to taunt me as the pain rose along with the dizziness that I was feeling. As my life ended, I thought about all of the people and all of the moments that molded me into who I was today. I thought of close family friends who attended my birthday. Unlce Jeff who never asked out his crush, but they always came to every event together. I thought of how my dad tried to teach me to ride a bike and in the process, ended up getting hurt instead of me! And I thought about how my mom would hold me close on days that I felt there was no one else in the world who understood me. As my breath slowed, the pain seemed to subside just a little bit, and I felt like I was finaly at peace. However, that didn't last long because of the loud and shrill female voice that destroyed the peace at hand.