Van stood before Takeshi. Taking a deep, deep inhale.
'The wind is warmer now.' He noted.
"Van, yeah?" Takeshi called as he faced him, "Listen, uh… I came to see, uh… Sir Maglodune. You know where the queen—"
"I couldn't recognize your voice at first," Van spoke as he looked at him.
"W-.. What?"
"I couldn't recognize it," Van repeated, "Your voice matured a little. I guess it's natural." Van rubbed his helmet from behind.
Takeshi tensed his body.
"We both grew up, I suppose..." Van continued.
"Look, Van. I'm not sure what you're getting at—"
"But it was clear once I connected it. How you made your voice hoarse whenever Sato was around. The way you said things was different from natives, too. You spoke the way me and Sato Spoke."
'Fuck! He knows that I know it's Sato?! Who is he!?' Takeshi blinked.
"I honestly didn't really connect it until I considered how different the way us and natives talk."
Van added as he stretched.
"But the clearest giveaway was how you called his name while on the wall I've built."
"W… Who the fuck are you? How do you…!?"
"You don't remember me? Hmm," Van hummed, "My voice must've changed as well, it seems." He then grabbed his helmet from both sides.
"Sato recognized it instantly. Though, he was told it's me, so it's not really fair here." He then removed his helmet, putting it into his digital inventory.
"..!!!" Takeshi froze as he gazed upon Van's face.
"N… No… No fucking way…" He muttered.
"Cabbage-… Makoto..!?"
"No, finish that sentence." Van demanded.
Takeshi flinched, his eyes wide open as he looked at Van's face.
"Finish it now. What you intended to say." Van insisted.
"...."
Takeshi looked down.
"T.. M-Makoto's dead!" He stuttered, looking up at Van again, his pupils moving side to side, scanning his face.
'That's not him,' He thought to himself, 'What kind of… What the fuck am I looking at…?!' He gulped, unable to meet Van's half-lidded eyes for too long.
"I'm alive, though." Van continued, "Anyway, you remember? What was I about to say before you all executed me? That I'd kill you all..?" Van tightened his fist.
Takeshi's eyes wandered to Van's fist as it tightened, flinching.
"T-that was the king!" Takeshi shouted, "THE KING wanted to kill you, not us!"
"Right," Van rolled his eyes, "I guess he beat you to it. At least you got to see the cabbage head die."
Takeshi felt nauseous. His throat constricted momentarily.
'It IS him.'
He blinked, holding his breath.
'That's… Actually Cab… M… Makoto.'
"Th.. That ain't me anymore. I ain't gonna call you that."
"Ain't you anymore, you said?" Van asked.
"Y-yeah. YEAH. I… T…That was all—"
"Kazuya, right? It was all him," Van chuckled, "Right… Right. You were always so purehearted."
"I… I never claimed I was—"
Van chuckled harder.
And then harder. His tone pitched higher as he placed his palm on his face, looking up.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA…" He kept chuckling to no end.
Takeshi gulped.
"I-I was a piece of shit!" Takeshi yelled, his screams competing with Van's laughter for dominance and loudness, and losing.
"I WAS A SCUMBAG! I… I… You and Sato didn't deserve that. I was never pure! But… For what it's worth, that ain't me anymore!"
Van kept laughing. LOUDER. As if he was the embodiment of laughter wearing a meatsuit and armor.
"I'M SORRY!! You hear me!? I'M SORRY! I had nightmares over—"
"Aha… I.. Ahaha…" Van placed his hands onto his thighs, shaking his head as he looked down.
"Sorry, sorry," He said, raising his palm before Takeshi.
"...?" Takeshi gulped again, blinking as he tilted his head at Van. Narrowing his gaze.
'What..?'
"I'm not questioning that," Van said, "It's just… Ahhh…" He sighed, his shoulder loosening.
"Sato," Van started, "Earlier, he was all cuddled up with that elven queen slut. She came to him just like that. No one came to me at all, even though I did everything to protect them. Even that bitch daughter of hers promised to come. And she just fucks around with someone else."
He giggled some more.
"No, I know she was coerced. It shouldn't surprise me… But man. Looking at these two, I… I guess I want a mommy much more than he does."
'Just… What am I supposed to reply to that?' Takeshi blinked.
"Also, look at you now." Van's tone lowered, the smile on his face vanishing gradually, "You were on your way to Sato, right?"
"But now, you're one step away from praying to me I don't smite you where you stand. Suddenly, I'm all that exists. All I had to do was threaten you… Just how Kazuya did to get what he wanted."
A beat.
"Guess I should just lean the fuck into it from now on." He growled. "Maybe I should threaten the next queen I meet into marrying me? I think that'll work…"
"Nobody's scared of you! I just wanted to fucking apologize—"
"I didn't come here,"
A beat.
"to scare you." Van tilted his head, staring at Takeshi blankly.
Then he froze.
Another beat, now.
"..."
"Anyway," Van exhaled again.
"I don't care about your transformation, or your apology, even if it's genuine." Van missed no beat, "I… honestly don't care if you're a saint now."
He took a step toward him.
"Or some reformed good guy."
Another one.
"Scared or not, I'm still gonna fucking kill you."
"Even if you could revive my dead mother," Van continued, "I still wouldn't let you live."
"Fuck you said…?" Takeshi whispered, blinking at him. "What do you mean—"
"For a brief period," Van looked to the ground as he detailed, "I was sent back to Earth. After you exiled me." He took a normal breath.
"She killed herself."
Takeshi blinked.
Wind breezing.
"Injecting herself with drugs. I guess it was called… Heroine? Unsure. Never really looked at it too closely."
"Where'd she even find that in Japan is beyond me,"
Van then raised his gaze, looking at Takeshi flatly.
"Anyway, that's quite unfortunate for you and Kazuya." He tilted his head. Takeshi gasped softly.
"W-... What do you mean..?"
"Now you can't put her in a bunny suit and fuck her like you always told me you'd do. A real shame, huh?"
"D-... Dude, t-that's too much. I… T-that was Kazuya! We were just messing with you! You didn't think we'd really do that, right!? Besides, what do you mean she's dead, man!? Talk to me!"
"I DID, THOUGH."
"What?"
"I did actually think you'd fuck her EXACTLY the way you said." Van growled.
"I was CERTAIN of that."
Van stomped once toward Takeshi, who flinched, almost jumping backward like a cat.
"You took Rina just for sports. What's one more woman I loved, I thought."
Another stomp.
"... Or am I retarded for connecting these dots, Takeshi?"
"N-..."
"AM I."
"DUMB?"
"NO!" Takeshi replied, clearing his throat, "N… N-no, I was just.."
Van cracked his neck once, then taking a deep breath.
"Well. Maybe you still do wanna fuck her, actually."
Van then sighed.
"I put her lifeless corpse inside my inventory. Thinking this place has something that would revive her. Her body's state's been preserved. She's still warm, so maybe you'd have more use for her than I have, at this point."
A bile creeping up Takeshi's stomach the more Van spoke.
"Can't have her miso-soup anymore anyway."
'That's just… Too much…' Takeshi blinked.
"Dude," Takeshi cleared his throat, "I… I'm… I'm sorry. Okay? I'm… I'm sorry!"
"I regretted what… What Ka… What ME and Kazuya did to you ever since then!"
"I should've taken the deal," Van finally let out. Takeshi flinched again,
"And killed you all alongside the elves."
A beat.
"At least I'd have my mom right now."
Another.
Leaves rustling.
"M-man, look, I get it..! Alright?" Takeshi stuttered. "It sucks when no one notices you or—"
"Man," Van repeated, chuckling again.
"Man…" He dragged it, repeating it.
"What happened to Cabbage Head?" Van took yet another step.
'Fuck… Fuck! He's not listening to a word I'm sayin'..! I'mma have to fight him?! HIM?!'
"I-.. I told you, that's not ME anymore!"
"Yeah, you said that… Ah, right." Van took another step, and another, and another. Closing the distance.
"The elves repeated it a lot. You came here to kill yourself by dying to the demons, right? This is perfect, then."
Van then stopped, one meter away from Takeshi.
"I'll just kill you like you wanted."
Takeshi blinked, his palm already on his sword. Sato's face flashing in his eyes.
"I… I don't wanna die anymore."
He gulped.
"I was serious. I… I'm gonna change. And if that means fighting you to the death, then I'll do it."
"I'll fight you. Even if I'll lose. As much as I don't want to—"
"Who?" Van interjected.
SCRACHK.
Van's fist drove through Takeshi's chest, punching straight through.
"Cares," Van finished.
Takeshi's eyes widened. Blood dripped from his lips.
'That was funny,' Van thought. Looking at Takeshi's face. The way his jaw locked. The way air tried to escape his lips, only for more blood to come out.
And as he looked at his face…
He could feel it.
That warm breeze.
'...'
Takeshi then fell to the ground. His body convulsed.
Then, as Van looked at his bloody fist as he pulled it out, he could hear the flap of a salmon as it tried to climb upstream.
That dream he's been having.
As he looked up, he could see clear, bright and sunny sky without a cloud in sight, despite it being night-time.
'I'm here again.' Van blinked, the sound of Takeshi's coughs and convulsions was the sound of that very salmon reuniting with his family under clear water.
Then, Van lifted his leg.
SCRUUUUUUUUUUNCH.
.. Crushing Takeshi's skull, killing him.
A beat.
One more now.
The convulsions stopped.
Van was once more in the elven forest, the sky was dark again. The wind turned cold once more.
And Van exhaled deeply.
'Revenge is bad, is what they'd say.' He rubbed his face while looking up at the sky, then spreading his arms.
'Every protagonist. Every anime… Every philosopher. Every politician.'
'Every parent.'
Van stretched his arms.
'But as for me,' He looked down on the burst, mushy tissue and splattered body bits all over his boots and the grass. Whatever's left of Takeshi's head.
'My only regret is not being able to kill him again,' he thought.
'And again. And again… And again after that.'
A beat.
"I don't even care about that bitch elf ditching me anymore." He said aloud.
Another deep, full, satisfying inhale.
'You fucker.' He kept his gaze locked on Takeshi's corpse, putting his helmet back on as he heard someone moving toward him.
Van then cursed himself for not keeping him alive for a bit longer. For ending it so quickly.
Like a miso soup he wanted to savor.