DtRH Boss Round - VS Klaus Pt3

-Down the Rabbit-Hole OCT-

Chapter 4: Valentine's Day


Pt. 3


Both twins' eyes widened and their mouths dropped in horror and confusion. Kore was shaking her head. "I-I don't understand…?" she stammered. "What do you mean, how I died?"

Klaus didn't remove his eyes from Ace but he still kept talking to her. "I asked because I wanted to make sure you remember the one who killed you."

Kore looked at him and then Ace, and realized what the ghost was talking about it. "You're lying…" she shakes her head harder, not wanting to believe it.

"What're you saying, Kore? …. You can't be dead," Ace said slowly, he was now more confused than frightened. But something is telling him that Klaus was telling the truth… He glared at Klaus. "Stop lying to us! We have enough of your tricks!"

"Tricks? You mean like this?" Klaus was standing so close to Ace with a blink of an eye, and before Ace can do anything, the masked ghost pierced his hand through his chest. It went through him, but Ace fell on his back, his body paralyzed except for head and face.

Ace tried to move his legs and arms, and even his tattoos, but he couldn't move even an inch. He saw Klaus looking down on him, his expression emotionless as ever.

"Silly boy, you should have learned to use your mouth less and your fists often," he taunted the paralyzed boy. He cocked silently his head at the side, looking at the struggling boy. "You killed your sister," he declared.

Ace stopped struggling and stared at Klaus. His words pierced his gut like knives, and something in those words contains the truth…

"Kore isn't dead! I didn't kill her!" Ace protested.

Klaus kept on talking, as if he enjoyed seeing the anguish look on Ace's face. "Your sister has been dead for years. And the one you've been traveling in this wasteland, the one you protect but mistreated at the same time, the one who called you brother is a fake."

Ace blinked. "What do you mean… Kore is fake?"

"Have you forgotten what this place is?" Klaus sighed. "This a dreamland, the world where people's dreams and imaginations go. You should know by now that you and everyone else are dreaming."

"How do you know I'm dreaming?" Ace demanded.

"You must be, or that black rabbit wouldn't have brought you here," Kluas replied. "Anything you have ever imagined would end up here, becoming as real like a scent of rain and touch of a cool breeze. The Kore you knew, mistreated, and loved isn't as real like you or any of the others you met and fought. She doesn't have a soul, but she still exists here because of you."

"So…" Ace tried to find the right words together. "All this time… before entering this world…"

"You were so wrapped up in guilt and loneliness, you unintentionally imagine her to be alive and aging with you," Klaus finished for him, "and forgotten the real one. Kore's abilities and her personality she displayed here are similar to the ones your real sister had, but only…."

"I don't want to believe it…" Kore looked away from him, as Ace listened to Klaus with a curious painful expression.

"Aren't you little bit curious why you're sister is always sick, and how you of your brother's memories?" Klaus asked her in a low voice as he stood close to her. "Would you like to know what happened if you die in a dream world?

"Stop it! I don't want to hear it!" Kore yelled in hysterics.

Klaus went on talking is if he didn't hear her. "Just because everything here is just a dream, doesn't mean it can't be real.  For example, if you get wounded or killed here, you can feel it but it only happens that way because you're just dreaming. But death in the dream world would have your soul wandering forever. The ones who died here are not completely ghosts, but had their physical selves really died before entering or while their souls were traveling in this world, I would have them fully under my control. Their souls shall be kept in my kingdom until their physical selves wake up with me defeated. As for you, Kore Valentine, I can't make a part of my ghost army after you die. You'll just… disappear."

"No… I won't let you!" Ace yelled as he struggled. He was almost on the verge of breaking down. "You can't make Kore disappear! I… I want her to live…!"

Kore was surprised by her brother's words. Had he changed so much in such a short time?

"Live?" Don't be ridiculous," Klaus said firmly. "She is a just figment of your imagination that became alive in this world because of your guilt and hallucinations."

"That's not true!" Kore shouted at him, angry tears leaking out from her eyes. "I breathe! I think! I have feelings, just like anyone!

"All of these were lies and illusions," Klaus told her.

"I defeated you!" Ace snapped at him. "You were already beaten!"

"You thought you defeated me," Klaus corrected him. Then he asked him, holding out his hand, "Why don't you join me then, Ace? Once I destroyed everyone here, I can keep your soul (and the others as well) safe somewhere until your physical bodies rot. And then you, Ace, will be part of my personal army along with the others. Your strengths and skills would make formidable soldiers, and I can make sure you can be with Kore for as long as you want."

Ace looked at him for a long time, thinking of his proposal. It sounded tempting, but…

"No…way," Ace grinned bitterly.

"Then you leave me no choice," Klaus said coldly. He goes over to pick up the pocket-watch that Ace had dropped, and is pleased to see that it's still ticking. He then heads to where Kore is and into her chest the watch went. Kore moaned in pain.

"What did you do?" Ace demanded.

"I'm giving you a choice," Klaus said coldly. He released his hold on Ace, and the latter can move his body again. "You still have 10 minutes of your life left, but I want you to think: would you destroy the watch along with your dream-only sister to live, or die and become my slave?"

"I only have a third option," Ace muttered. Klaus looked confused, "What's that?"

Ace suddenly came up to him so quick and smacked Klaus down with a flying fist. "To send you back to the grave."

"Brother, forget about me, just save yourself!" Kore told him.

"Hang on, Kore, I'll get you out of there," Ace tried cut free her. He took her hand. "Kore, are you alright?"

"Brother…" Kore began, she suddenly looked frightened.

"Kore, it's okay," Ace tried to soothe her. "I won't kill you just to stop the watch, we'll think of another way."

"Brother-Ace…ACE!" she screamed when Ace noticed she was looking at something behind his shoulder.

"You are running out of time," he heard the voice of Klaus speaking behind his ear.
Klaus grabbed the back of Ace's shirt and threw him over to the other side, far from Kore. Ace was surprised up to see some parts on the white side of Klaus mask has shattered, revealing a bloody skin. The ghost floated off the ground, his hair blowing wildly, his aura of menace growing.

He fired rapid multiple wisps at the Valentine boy. Ace blocked it a shield made from his tattoos just in time. Klaus glided toward, his fist embedded with wisps. He punched the shield and the impact sent a shock wave though out his tattoos and Ace's body. Ace was thrown back. Before he can even hit the ground, Klaus swung his arm forward; three whip-like wisp struck Ace across his face, torso, and legs. Furieux's duck Pip, fell from his pocket and rolled around the grass.

Ace fell hard, gasping and coughing up blood. "Ace!" Kore cried. She wanted to help him, but the dead tree branches held her back. She was helpless.

Klaus stared down at Ace, a bloodshot eye peeking through the partly broken mask, satisfied to see him in pain. "Let me tell you, little boy, when you've lived as I've lived, you learn to fight with everything…"

Ace looked around to see if he can find anything to distract Klaus. He found Pip lying nearby; he reached out a shaking hand for it…

"Fools who placed their hearts on their sleeves die young and horribly," Klaus continued. "Don't worry, though. Your little lady will soon follow you.... You can be together in eternity."

He raises his hand to summon a wisp. Ace managed to grab Pip in time and throws it at Klaus, hitting him on the skin of his face.

An old memory flashed before Klaus' eyes, and a pretty girl smiled before him. Klaus stopped with shock. Ace uses this only chance to wrap his tattoos around Klaus' body.

You're dead, Klaus! He thought. The tattoos squeezed Klaus' body so tight it exploded before Ace's eyes, spilling tar-colored blood.

Klaus head was decapitated and it landed clumsily on the grass. Suddenly, head began to float and the tar-like blood formed into smoky blackness swirling around the Valentine twins. They can see the pale faces of agonized trapped spirits around them, and Klaus' dark laughter can be heard over their wailing.

The swirling blackness flew into the dark sky and began to form into something…




The ghosts of the graveyard stopped fighting with others and they froze into one spot.

"Huh? Why did they stop?" Silver asked someone.

"Look up there!" Artemis pointed flying something in the sky.

Everyone looked up and their jaws dropped. "What kind of material is that…?" Seed wondered.




A giant version of Klaus' mask appeared in the black sky and it looked down at Ace, Kore, and everyone.

"Welcome to the end of the world," Klaus' voice rumbled like an incoming thunder. "You better give up right now, because it's hopeless for you. You will never defeat me as long you can't let go of your pain, sorrow, and anger from your hearts."

Something blew Ace off balance, and stung his face and body like sand blowing on a beach on a windy day. He covered his eyes and stood straight. Kore's hair whipped around her face as she tried to see what's happening.

The sand stings got worse, and it got harder and harder to stand, as if he were being pushed into the wind on a blustery day. It was a vicious wind, a cold one.

He saw the small duck Pip rising from the ground and was pulled into the giant mask. It was then it hit Ace: Klaus was trying to suck him inside his mask.

Soon, everything around him began to grow dark as Klaus kept consuming everything. Ace was lifted from the ground and was disappeared inside Klaus' mask.

"ACE!" Kore cried when she saw her brother gone, and she was swallowed too.




And then Seed and everyone saw them; all the ghosts arrived and merged together and create a single, immense, dangerous creature…

"Mère sainte de Dieu…" Furieux gasped.

"Oh, are we in trouble…" Rucio dropped his cigarette as Leonor hid behind him.

The new creature is a gray dough-like body with arms and legs as thick five trees; it had black eyes, a gaping head split in a vertical line (one side is white, and other side black) and rows of sharp teeth along its jaw. Hundreds of faces peeked out from its chest and a giant symbol of a spade formed on eyeless face inside the split-head.

"We're no longer in Wonderland, Toto," Jack said to the others. "They've taken us to Silent Hill."

The monster moves forward, swallowing up the air, killing the grass, and chilling the earth it tramples on. Seed, Jack, and the others noticed how deafening the silence has become, and icy cold penetrating their insides, fog starting obscure their visions.

Seed blinked furiously to try and clear his vision, he tried to speak but he found out that he lost his voice. He looked around and saw everyone beside him collapsing one by one. Their faces full of fear and pain, their bodies shivering.

Then a train of the worst memories and experiences he ever had, began popping in his mind. He found his body getting weaker.

Seed kept shaking his head to rid it of the bad memories. The monster was closing in, barely 30 feet away from them. He can barely see the ghostly faces on the monsters chest, their gaping, shapeless mouths sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.




A paralyzing terror filled Ace as he collapsed on a snow-white ground under a black sky (the same place where Kore had been imprisoned earlier) so he couldn't move or speak. His tattoos stopped moving.

He can hear a rattling breath like an evil wind around him; white fog blinding him. He had to fight… he couldn't see… and in the distance, he heard a familiar screaming… He found Kore lying facedown with the pocket-watch and the yellow duck Pip next to her, and took her arm… Klaus isn't going to take her…

A pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Ace's neck. They were forcing his face upward… he could feel Klaus' breath… he was going to get rid of him first… He saw his mask… He thought hard on Kore's face, and her gentle smile… It was going to be the last thing he ever saw-




Seed fell facedown, sick and shaking. He heard the voice of the one called Klaus speaking again; he sound triumphant. "I'm too powerful even for you. It's useless for all of you who entered my graveyard, whose energies I'm draining off little by little… It's hopeless for all those who are dear to you… Close your eyes and let yourselves be whisked away to the end of everything…"

"For… forget it…" Seed finally found his voice. His voice becomes stronger. "Hear that, you lousy villain? FORGET IT!!"

Memories are rekindled…

"Jack, stop that!!"
"Stop what?"
"Stop graffiting those grave stones!!"
"And who's gonna stop me? You?!"

"You can call me Furieux Chapeau, mon bon homme… ma dame."

"Uh... I'm Artemis... it's... a pleasure to meet you, Miss Silver.... and again, I'm sorry about the arm..."
"It's alright... i-it was my fault for startling you…"

"I knew it, Ryu, we should have got Hisao."
"Don't worry, Eri, I promise you we will be out of here in no time."

"Humans these days! Have trouble living."

'Tee-hee, I screw'd ev'rything up, huh?"
"No. I never wanted to take part on this whole thing since the beginning."

"Thanks, Kore. Are you okay?"

And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a greenish-silvery light growing brighter and brighter… Seed opened his eyes. The blinding light was illuminating everyone around him… the worst memories had stopped; the cold was waning away…

Something was driving away the monster. Seed raised his head and saw that the light was coming from his pocket. He takes the out the source and it was the white cloth he have been carrying. He realized what the "light" Jack and Artemis were talking about. If this had weakened the spirit that had possessed Silver earlier, surely…?

Seed holds up the cloth higher, and the others who collapsed opened their eyes when they felt the light.  

"See? That's what I'm talking about!" Jack exclaimed.

Seed couldn't help but smile. He saw the dough-like creature backing away, blinded by the light.

It's time to end the madness.




Klaus released Ace and clutched his heart. He felt an odd pain, and he realized something went wrong…

"Those fools…" he whispered. "They are fighting back. I didn't plan for this…"

He angrily turned to Ace, who was on all fours and his body shaking. "I'll finish you off first, Valentine," he told him in his deadliest voice. He has never been so angry before.

"Excuse me…" he heard a weak voice behind him. He slowly spun around and found a weak-looking Kore, holding the pocket-watch in her hands. "Get away from my brother."

Then she struck his face with a powerful swing, the pocket-watch shattering half his mask at impact. The watch became broken once again, and is her brother is safe…

Klaus screamed and it no longer sounded faintly human. The black part of his mask, which held the spade symbol, remained on his face and Kore saw half of his face was rotten like a corpse… she couldn't help but pity him…

His fingers wrapped tightly around her fragile neck, raising her from the ground. "Since you're so eager, little girl, you'll go first!" Klaus' inhuman voice screamed at her. He holds out his hand to form wisp.

"No-DON'T!!" Ace screamed from the floor, as he tried to move.

Klaus was about to blast a hole in her gut when she reached out a hand and softly touched his corpse-like face. It surprised him so much that his aim only singed her shoulder.

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Ace gets up on his feet and raised his tattooed arm.

Kore's touch ignites another memory and Klaus saw the girl giving him a flower that he liked. He remembered her gentle smile and her sad eyes… He realized how Kore looked so much like her…

"No…!" Klaus shook his head and dropped Kore. She saw him grabbing his heart as if he were in deep pain. "What…what's happening to me…?"

He felt multiple red-hot tattoos piercing in and out from his chest and neck, and through the spade symbol of his mask, before they snapped back into Ace's arm.

"… I…" Klaus choked and gasped for air, and then fell facedown.

"Thought you'd never die," Ace panted.

"Ace! Are you alright?" Kore ran to her brother and pressed her body against his.

At that moment, the black sky above them began peel off like paint and soon they were back in Klaus' grave, in the warm air again…




Around the same time, Seed managed to stick the white cloth on the monster's forehead (where the spade symbol is), and was wounded badly by its split-headed teeth.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten killed!" Jack yelled at him, shaking the front of his shirt.

"Hey, Jack," Seed began, raising an amused eyebrow. "You really do care about me."

"What? No!! You're crazy!" Jack crossed his arms in denial. "I was just saying it was a stupid thing to do!"

"If you keep standing here, you'll miss out your chancing taking out that big monster," Seed tells him with a sly smile on his face, pointing at Artemis, Johnson, Ryu, Leonor, and Furieux were busily fighting the monster who was blinded and weakened by the light-clothe attached to its forehead

Jack's yellow eye twinkled with madness and raised his hammer in the sky. "YAY, ACTION!!" he screamed with excitement.

Artemis used his Phoenix Burst to blast the monster's chest, Leonor shot the arms, and Johnson and Ryu slashed at the feet, making the giant creature fell with a clumsy splat. Jack then lifted up into the air, and his hammer grew triple in size, and with a mighty swing pounded the doughy monster on the head.

The monster reverted back into hundreds of the individual ghosts, but they did nothing but float around in confusion.

"Did we… win?" Eri asked in wonder.

They heard an inhuman scream and everyone looked up to see the giant mask twisting in into grotesque shapes before it exploded. The mist began to ebb away; the shadow on the full moon was lifted, and everything was now bathed again in moonlight.

"They did it," Seed gasped with amazement. He broke into a wide smile. "Kore and her brother won…!"




"Kore, we did it," Ace smiled at her. He hugged her tight and Kore returned it. Each twin is happy to get each other back, and the nightmare had ended…

"How sentimental," a raspy voice muttered.

Both twins turn in horror and saw had Klaus crawled back to his grave, leaving a trail of his blood. The tiny shards of his broken mask were left behind. Klaus turned to face them, his hair messier and his half of his face still covered by his (nearly destroyed) mask, yet the twins can see his corpse-like face.

Ace suddenly left Kore's side and walked casually towards him. He looked down maliciously at the fallen boss, and a grin formed on his face.

"Well, well, well," he mocked him. "Who's the big bad ghost now?"

"Shut up," Klaus snapped. He glared at him. "I don't care what you think…" his tone became sadder and he lowered his gaze. "Leave me alone…"

"Oh, I will," Ace smiled at him and he removes his tattooed hand. Kore covered her mouth with fear and was about to stop him…

Ace lowered his hand and kept staring at Klaus, his expression now solemn.

"As much I wanted to tear you apart right now for everything you did, I don't feel like it anymore," he said quietly. "I'm tired…"

He turned to leave Klaus, but stopped and looked back at him. "Hey, what will happen to you after all this?" he asked.

"… I'm damned," Klaus muttered without looking. "This world… was my only home… Where will I go?"

Ace didn't reply and turned to leave. Before he took another step, Kore walked past him and gazed down at Klaus.

For some reason, she he felt some spiritual force in her but Klaus was irritated when he saw her expression.

"What do you want now?" he snapped at her. "Leave me alone."

Kore looked at him sadly and he looked away from her. The two of them remain silent for a minute before she spoke up.

"I wanted to thank you again for giving me papers and crayons," she told him. He blinked at her. "Even though you tried to kill me later… you made me a bit happier. … Maybe that's why I don't think you're that bad."

Klaus just looked at her without saying anything. He lowered his gaze again and spoke in a nervous voice. "Do you hate me?"

She shakes her head at him. "No… you're just as lonely as us…"

Klaus became silent, trying to ignore her, wishing he could disappear along with the pain…

"I wanted you to have this," Kore's voice broke his thoughts. He looked up again and saw her handing out the pad of paper with the colorful drawings she made. On the front page of the pad is a drawing of him without his mask, but his face is blank, and there is a black and white butterfly fluttering above him.

"I don't know what you looked like," Kore explained in an apologetic tone. "So, I'm sorry I left it blank… I thought you seemed lonely, so I drew it for you… at least, to make you happy."

"I didn't know…" Klaus whispered, looking at the drawing.

Ace saw Klaus making movements; the ghost places a hand on his remaining mask. With a sharp cracking sound, the mask fell to the ground, shattering to tiny bits. Klaus' face was bleeding from the wound Ace had given him.

"Why did you do it?!" Ace asked him.

"It's all right…" said Klaus in a quiet voice. "If I kept wearing that mask any longer, I'd lose myself again and attack you both. That's why now… if I disappear with this world… I want to see it happen with my own eyes…" He turned back to Kore. "Did you ever find your real you? The real Kore who died years ago?"

Kore blinked at him, as she tried to remember but so many things happened tonight she lost track. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Was she a sweet girl…?"

Klaus didn't say anything.

A ray of bright light came down in the distance to the twin's surprise. Ace looked around and saw many similar lights shining down on every corner of the graveyard.

"What's happening now?" Ace asked urgently.

"Those lights will take the ghosts and the lost souls to an afterlife, I suppose... After that, this world would start collapsing. I'd escape here soon if I were you," Klaus answered in a monotone voice.

"Kore," Ace placed a hand on her shoulder. "We have to go."

Klaus felt her gaze on him and was a little glad that she haven't left yet

She wasn't a child. At most, the frail girl was only three years younger than Klaus. Or three years younger than the person he used to be. She has a scent that was a unique blend of the sweetness of light and the bitter scent of darkness…

As much as someone who is hollow inside, Klaus decided he liked her. She was unique, unlike any other... and she reminded him of…

Soon, Klaus' body began fading away into darkness, some flickers of blackness escaping to the sky.

"So, it's over…" Klaus said with a sad smile. "What happens to a damned soul like me? Where will I go?"

"Maybe to the same place as my soul," Ace said to reassure him.

Klaus puts an amused smirk. "Oh, well…"

And his body was enveloped in darkness and disappeared. A little black and white butterfly flew from the spot where he once sat, and fluttered into the sky.

Then the world began to shake.

"Let's go, Kore!" Ace took her hand but she won't move. "Kore?"

"Ace…" Kore looked sad. "I can't go with you…"

"What are you talking about?" he asked her. "If you don't leave, you'll be trapped here forever or something!"

"Ace, I'm just your imagination…" Kore said. She tried to keep a straight face. "I didn't want to admit this, but before we even came to this world, I've felt so much emptiness in me and I don't know why I was always sad, but I know why after tonight… Nothing would change, and I'll still be empty. … Perhaps I'm just one of your dreams."

Ace's voice sound broken. "You can't…!"

A white light swallowed Klaus' grave along with Kore. Ace tried to get her out but a barrier prevented him.

"Kore…!" He cried out to her. "Don't do this to me! … You can't leave me again…"

"Ace…" Kore was crying too. She placed a hand on the light barrier and Ace mirrored it. "If we were reborn… I want us to be twins again."

Then she disappeared into the white light.





The others watched with amazement as rays of light beam down from the sky, and the ghosts began to turn into butterflies and they fluttered into the light, as if they were free at last. They have never seen anything so beautiful.

A door formed out of nowhere with a sign said "exit".

"I guess that's our way to return home," Ryu said to the others..

"After traveling in this strange world, I'm glad to be going right back into bounty-hunting again," Rucio commented.

"Yup, it'll be luk a vacashion!" Leonor agreed.

Then the earth began to tremble.

"That's our cue to leave, everyone!" Artemis said with panicked as he and everyone head to the door.

"Hey! I got Pip back!" Furieux cried with wonder when his yellow materialized in his hands.

"And my watch!" Silver said with relief, as she hold her pocket-watch. "Why does it look like it had been broken again…?"

"Wait! We can't leave the twins behind!" Seed shouted in a panicked voice.

"Don't worry, dear child," Jack patted his back to reassure him. "I'm sure they'll follow us."

Seed gave one last look toward the cliff before entering the door with the others.

"I hope so…"





Ace ran down the hill, heading for the bridge. The dreamland is falling apart and he is trying to escape from it.

His mind was stuck on Kore's face and her last words. He couldn't clear his thoughts. He ran across the bridge and the wooden plank disappeared underneath his feet…

The fall seemed slow, and Ace looked up to the moon, seemingly as the last thing he'll ever see. A memory flashed before his eyes...

"Ace, I tried telling them what really happened," Kore tells him as they both lie together. "I tried to tell them that it was actually Peter's fault, but they wouldn't listen to me."

"It doesn't matter anyway. We both know what happened," Ace told her. He looked down at his bandaged hand, where the orphanage director had whipped it for his "punishment". He became silent for a moment and looks out the window. "Kore, we can't stay here... it'll be better we try our luck somewhere far away from here."

"But where do we go?" she asked with worry.

"Anywhere we like, but let's stick together, okay?"


So… this is what death feels like… Ace thought bitterly. How pathetic my journey should end like this… Oh, joy.

Ahahaha.

I've been horrible to shabby to Kore… my only friend in this world…

Please forgive me, Kore… and everyone…

And everything went black.








Secret Ending

She was floating somewhere… but where is here?

She wanted to open her eyes, but she was sleeping so peacefully. Is this, what happened to dreams when they die?

A familiar called out to Kore… It was the voice of a young female child…

"I'm so happy you're here," the voice said. "Now… let's go meet our brother again."