Chapter 24: King's Revenge

This was the perfect setup. The hospital would never suspect that King would have done it. He was here in Marduk's room for one purpose and one purpose only: he was going to kill him. Tossing the flowers to the floor, King grabbed Marduk's unconscious face and held it still.

'Be glad that you were allowed to live as long as you did.' King thought as he raised his clenched fist high up into the air. Suddenly, he looked over and caught sight of a picture. It was a picture of Marduk and his elderly parents. He looked like a man in that picture, not like the beast that he always portrayed himself to be.

Letting go of Marduk's face, King reached over and picked up the picture. A sigh of frustration and relief came forth from his mouth. He now knew what he would have to do about this whole Marduk situation. He was going to have to let him live. King let go of the picture, watching carefully as it floated down to land softly on Marduk's built chest.

He knew what it was like, experiencing loss as much as he unfortunately did. He knew that Marduk's parents were innocent people, not deserving to have their one and only son pulled away from their grasp, all because of some feud. He knew if he took away Marduk's life, he would prove to be no better than he was. He would become what he feared the most, he would become a vengeful monster.

Slowly, he turned around and made his exit. Walking as masculine as he could, King felt a sense of pride flow throughout his body. He knew that he had made Armor King proud. Somewhere up in the heavens, he was smiling down at him. 'This was my ultimate test…' King thought as he left the hospital and hopped into his car. Of course, he was still sporting his mask. He thought about Peter and the time that he had to explain to him why he always wore his mask.

"This mask has powers. When I put it on, it becomes my actual head." The words echoed through his brain, the sound of his own voice humoring him a bit. Starting the car, King took off towards the hotel. Peter was still in the infirmary wing and no doubt, Jaime and his friends were there to support him.

As he drove, he thought about his decision. He felt certain regret for not killing Marduk but at the same time, there was that sense of pride again. He had the sense that he had done something right for a change. He knew deep down inside that he had made the right decision.

Suddenly, he saw something. He could have sworn he saw Armor King standing next to a tree in the darkness. Immediately, he slammed on the brakes and pulled the car over. Jumping out of the car, King yelled out Armor King's name over and over again, hoping to hear a response. To his lament, there was no response at all. Looking down, his eyes became teary. It would seem that he wouldn't get over his stepfather's death so easily.

Elsewhere, Peter laughed to himself. Mina was a pretty good entertainer and so was her boyfriend Jaime Parker. The two were playing charades with him, trying desperately to get Peter to cheer up. It seemed to be working. They had no idea why, but for some reason, Peter was pretty upset before. While they didn't know the answer, Peter himself knew.

Deep down inside, he felt as if King had done it. He could almost hear Marduk's blood yelling out, telling its own story of revenge.

'He did it, I know he did.' Peter thought to himself. Sadness rushed through his mental frame, and right now, he had never felt more delicate and fragile. The thought of his only friend and father killing someone for revenge depressed him. As Jaime and Mina reenacted the famous Kill Bill: Bride vs. Go Go Yubari fight scene, Peter thought back to King's last visit.

"King, I don't want you to kill Marduk. Sure, he assaulted me and he killed Armor, but he did it because he had nothing better to do. He's an idiot and if you were to kill him, then you'd be no better." Peter said as King looked down at the floor.

"I'm going to the hospital now to see him. I don't know what I'm going to do yet…" King replied, his intent nearly leaking off of his tongue.

"Please don't do this…you'll go to jail! Who will I have to depend on?"

King looked up to his stepson, knowing full what he was going to do to Marduk. "As you told me when we first met, you can take care of yourself. Goodbye Pete, I'll see you soon."

Peter felt as if King's words were all a lie. He knew what King was thinking, he knew that he was going to go through with killing Marduk. He just couldn't accept it, he couldn't believe that King wouldn't even listen to him. Putting his head on his knees and wrapping his arms around his shins, he tried his hardest not to cry. Maybe, just maybe…he wouldn't do it.

But then he saw it. A vision of Marduk yelling a death cry flooded his mind and it terrified him right to his very bones. He imagined King coming back to him in the night, sneaking through his window, looking like a savage beast with blood drenched hands.

"What did you do!" Peter yelled out, not realizing that he was now thinking aloud. Jaime and Mina stopped everything and looked towards their friend.

"What did who do?" Mina said, tossing her short black hair with red streaks over her shoulder. Peter looked up and snapped out of it. He realized that he had made a mistake. He let his fears get the better of him and now he was about to involve his two friends.

'I can't let them find out what King is doing…they'd tell…' Peter thought. Paranoia was getting the better of him, but still he tried to calm himself.

"Oh it's nothing…just thinking about something my parents told me back when they were still alive." He said, deflecting all suspicion of King to another area. Then, there was a knock at the door. In came Julia, Xiaoyu, and Miharu with smiles on their beautiful faces.

"You have another visitor Peter!" Julia said as she motioned for Jaime and Mina to leave the room. With a smile, Peter said goodbye to all of his guests and wondered who was here to see him. After everybody left, King entered the room. Peter's face brightened with joy, but then went to a look of fear as he thought back to what King had said before.

King sat down in the chair next to the bed and slowly looked to Peter.

"Did…did you do it?" Peter asked, not bothering to look up from his spot on the bed.

King sighed heavily, making Peter's eyes get teary. 'I knew this was going to happen…' he thought to himself.

"I…I didn't kill him…" King said. Peter closed his eyes, hearing the total opposite of what King actually said. Then, he absorbed what he said, realizing that he in fact didn't murder Marduk. Quickly, he looked to his stepfather with a shocked expression.

"You…didn't go through with it?" Peter asked. King looked him in the eye and shook his head. Suddenly, Peter's face lit up with a gigantic smile and he reached over to hug King.

"I'm so proud of you! And I'm sure Armor is too!" Peter said as he hugged his stepfather tightly. King hugged back and closed his eyes, smiling with near-tears of joy. He knew that he had done the right thing, and that was all that mattered. He knew that Marduk would never know how to be a true man, and that was something he would never achieve. Marduk would never be a man and King would always be a gentleman. Now that…that was King's revenge.