Spike the Corrupter - CYOA
Chapter 10: The Kitsune Forest
Previous Chapter Next ChapterThe kitsune forest was... different to say the least. Different from any magical forest Spike had been to... which honestly wasn't saying much. The only magical forest Spike had ever really been to was the Everfree. While there were some minor aesthetic similarities the two forests were like night and day. While the Everfree was thick, dark, and twisted with thorn bushes, briars, and knotted oak trees, the Kitsune Forest was a somewhat beautiful sight.
Trees stood tall and strong, covered in a soft blanket of pure white snow. The forest was high up in a mountain valley in the same mountain range as Spike's Citadel. The forest was made up primarily of pine trees, with a thick but far-off layer of fog coating the ground. Less a horrendous mist, more something akin to morning dew.
Still, Spike could see vaguely anthropomorphic shapes moving in the fog, twisting and turning in unnatural ways. They seemed to notice the approaching party, but they didn't seem concerned, as they simply continued their strange dance.
"Are those the Kitsunes?" Spike asked, pointing to the dancing mists.
"No. The Kitsunes specialize in illusion magic. More likely, this is a trick, or perhaps a decoy for a trap. I would suggest caution, or we could lose a great deal of good changelings, not to mention our prize," Domination warned.
"Gotcha," Spike said, as he raised a hand.
Spike rubbed his chin. The fact that this was a mountain valley more than anything meant that isolating the place for a siege was far easier. Barring any hidden mountain passes, he really just had to deploy his forces here, to block them from leaving. Spike nodded, turning to his majority changeling forces, with all three hundred of his dragons as well, for safe measure.
"Alright, listen up!" He bellowed. "We're going to set up camp here and prepare a siege, don't let anything that doesn't have a gem in their forehead leave this forest." He paused furrowing his brow. "In fact, if anyone does try to leave without my explicit permission bring them to me immed-"
Spike was stopped mid-word by a horrendously large roar. His jaw hung open, and his eyes widened.
"What was that!?" A changeling squealed.
Just then a monster stepped out of the fog in the distance. It was a horrendously shaped thing, knotted and bent over at an odd angle. It was at least fifty feet tall, and it had three heads, each of them sporting a massive mane, and two large tusks. It was also covered in fur. Its front right foot had no toes, only a long stump, and on its back, there were multiple tendrils that lashed out at the air in odd directions.
The creature roared once more, a massive wave of energy pulsing off of it, which made Spike's troops, both Changelings and Dragons alike, quake and quiver.
"Oh dear, that is quite horrifying." Domination said, his tone rather dire.
"It's clearly an illusion!" Spike said, stomping forward. "Ignore it men, it's not-"
He was silenced mid-sentence when one of the creature's tendrils lashed out at a nearby tree, smashing it over and collapsing it onto its side.
"Oh..." Spike gulped.
"Yes, an oh moment," Domination grumbled.
Spike's troops didn't need any more incentive, as they all started firing everything they had at the monster.
Spells and fireballs rang out from his troops directly at the monster as the changelings desperately dug trenches and tried to set up a pike wall as the creature made a beeline directly towards Spike.
The creature roared, as it stomped closer, and a few of Spike's troops were blasted aside by a horrendous gale.
Spike's eyes widened as it arrived a mere few feet away from him and raised a foot to stomp down on top of him.
Out of instinct, Spike grabbed the nearest changeling, a male he didn't know the name of, and held him up like a meatshield as if that would do anything. He stood his ground, holding up a screaming and thrashing changeling who was desperate to escape his lord's grasp so he could run away from the beast.
Still, Spike held his ground. He had come too far to let a creature like this stop him. Besides, he had two free passes after all, he'd either win this, or be teleported to a universe where he did. There was a pause as the creature raised it's leg even higher, yet, the stomp never came.
After another moment... the monster disappeared into a burst of mist. Spike blinked twice.
"So it was an illusion!" He declared triumphantly.
"Perhaps, or a decoy..." Domination warned.
Spike kept the changeling held up as a human shield as he scanned the forest line, the tree that had been knocked down had, miraculously returned to standing up straight, further evidence that the monster had been a mere illusion.
"It seems safe," Domination said, his tone relieved.
Spike lowered the changeling, who was shaking like a leaf.
"Sorry about that, I panicked," Spike said, patting the changeling on the back.
"Y-you use me as a shield..." the changeling said as his legs shook. "You used me..."
Suddenly the white gem on his forehead shattered. Spike frowned as the changeling whipped around and pointed his spear at Spike's chest.
"You... You..." He sputtered.
Spike merely shot a hand forwards ripping the spear out of his grasp. Then he marched forwards, grabbing the changeling by the throat and picking him up off the ground.
"Get over it," Spike ordered, before tapping him on the forehead again, regemming him.
Then he tossed him aside, the now obedient changeling's eyes were wide and his legs wobbled as he watched his dragon lord march off, with a scowl on his face.
"This is ridiculous. How hard can it be to find a group of Kitsunes," Spike hissed.
Suddenly, another shape exited the fog. A two-tailed fox-looking creature that stood on two pawed legs. Another Kitsune. This one, however, was male. He looked older than the female Spike had seen at the Slaver base, sporting a thick beard, and a slightly more muscular body. He was dressed in a kimono, and his expression was stern and hard.
The changelings and dragons immediately dropped into combat positions again, as the Kitsune walked towards Spike, his hands raised in a pose of surrender.
"Lord Spike, I am assuming." He said.
Spike raised a brow.
"I, Lord Kisano, wish to speak to you face to face, on behalf of my people." He said, his voice quiet, but powerful.
"And what is it you want?" Spike asked.
"To merely explain to you something the gem on your forehead has been lying to you about." Kisano said.
Spike froze, his eyes widening.
"Go ahead," Spike said.
"I am not an illusion," Kisano said as he finally arrived face to face with Spike, the Changelings and Dragons nervously glancing between their master and the Kitsune. "If you were worried about that."
"What are you then?" Spike asked, a growl on his lips.
"A friend," Kisano said with a smile.
Spike blinked. "A friend? Really? You should see what I did to my other friends then." He laughed, thinking back to Thorax and Ember.
"Ah yes, I heard," Kisano replied, still smiling. "Though, I'd rather not end up the same way. I am, after all, the only one who can tell you the truth about Domination."
The gem in Spike's forehead flashed.
"This isn't good." Domination said. "You have to gem him. He'll lie to you."
"Gem him! Gem him now!" Punishment roared.
Spike merely ignored the two, staring into the Kitsune's eyes. "How do you know his name?"
"We Kitsune are an ancient people. Far older than the alicorns. Older than even the Peryton. We were one of the races that brought them down after all." Kisano said with a slight grin.
Spike's eyes widened.
"That's a lie!" Domination roared. "Do not believe this... this, creature!"
"What can you tell me about Domination," Spike demanded.
"Domination is a liar. He wants nothing more than to enslave all the world." Kisano said. "And he is using you. Using you like a puppet. You may think that you are in control of his power, but in truth, his power is in control of you."
Spike froze. "What?"
"You heard me, you're merely his puppet. Nothing more. He has already corrupted you, turned you into a monster." Kisano explained, straightening his back. "You said it yourself. Under his influence you turned your friends, perhaps your closest of compatriots, into mere automatons under your control. What's next, your family? Your own soul? Are you not even a little bit afraid of what could happen? Of whom you could hurt? Who you've already hurt?"
"I... I..."
"He has already turned you into a monster, you cannot deny that."
Spike merely glared down at the Kitsune before letting out a long hiss. He had to do something... now...