#bad end

The flames of destruction burn hot as the village cave into their temptations. Like a plague robbing them of their will, each cookie had turned on their own with apathetic attempts. How easy it was for them to bend to slothful intentions of reactive instincts. All in order to silence their own kind so selfishly.

Yes, this was the sight and result of deceit. And the jester who orchestrated it was delighted to watch it play out so beautifully. Howling in laughter as he watches neighbors turn onto each other. Oh how wonderful it was to finally see someone else suffering much like he did long ago.

His two supporters, Black Sapphire and Candy Apple, were by now just watching the show beside him. Seeing their own handiwork be rewarded with such tragedy they also delight in.

“Kyahahahaha! Oh, look at those fools! They never suspected a thing,” cheered Candy Apple as she twirled happily.

“The show does seem to be bringing the house down . . . and that one, and also that one,” joked Black Sapphire, standing tall with his mic next to his face.

Shadow Milk leaned back as he floated midair cackling. “Ahahaha~! Yes! Now this is what I call a perfect piece! Well performed!”

Both of his minions smile back, feeling the joys of his praise. Yes, this was perfect. And the show wasn’t stopping here. Beast Yeast could only entertain him so much. There was always a new stage across the ocean. Perhaps he should stop by Crispia. Take a detour on the Tropical Isles. Oh, Whole Grania seems like a place to shake things up. Then again, imagine the chaos he could bring to Paradise Island. So many places to choose, he couldn’t just stop in one place!

Indeed, everywhere needed to see his brilliance up close and personal. This would be his Deceitful Grand Tour! A show that never ended! All for him to see! All for THEM to see!

THOOM!

In his moment of planning, something caught his attention. He didn’t see it at first. No, it was a feeling. A gut feeling that something had shifted. Turning away from the chaos he was enjoying, he curiously looked in a direction that seemed to be pulling him away.

What was this? Something that felt familiar? Something like himself? That was unusual. He then notices a beacon of darkness, and the hue of the skies fluctuating. Interesting.

Black Sapphire notices his new deminour and focuses on this turn of events. Looking over, he finds himself a little confused. “Master Shadow Milk Cookie? Is that-?”

“That feels like . . . your power, doesn’t it,” Candy Apple comments.

“Hm. Trust me, it’s not. Whatever that strange fluctuation in power is, it’s certainly new.” Shadow Milk grins and claps his hands together. “Perhaps this is exactly what I was waiting for.”

“You mean . . . this could be . . . the gods,” Black Sapphire asked.

“Oh it could be. I’ll handle this one,” the beast states, “you two stay here and keep the fun going. I don’t want the stage to get stale yet! Hehehehe~!”

At that, he disappears into the other realm. Traveling towards the source of this strange new power.

—-----------------------------------------

By the time the beast of Deceit arrived at his destination, he finds himself rather . . . disappointed. There was no gods, no higher being, not a single brimmed hat in sight. Just a tree. A very unusual tree, but that was all.

He tisked and folded his arms. “And here I thought the script was about to get interesting. Such a let down.”

Eyeing the strange flora, he ponders a bit. It may not be a witch, but this was new. He never noticed a power like this before. It was filled to the brim with life energy. More than what he was used to. And its roots were stretching far and wide. Probably beyond the borders of Beast Yeast itself.

Yet what made him so drawn to this thing was how his subordinates were correct. This power was new, but it still felt as though it were similar to his own. The darkness that wrapped around its silver bark. The eye adorned at the top. Yes, this was most strange of an occurrence. Who could have made this? Surely it had to be . . .

“I knew it had to be you.”

The clown turned around to see an old friend stare back at him. Burning Spice was walking towards the blue cookie, grinning with his ax on his shoulder. His eyes burning with a fire and lust for battle.

“How in the world did you achieve such power? This should be interesting,” he says, taking a stance to fight.

Shadow Milk raises his hand and sighs, showing an expression of disinterest. “BZZZT! Wrong this time. What you’re seeing here is not my doing.”

The beast of destruction scowled, stomping his foot. “Lies! I can sense it. This is your doing! Your power!”

“Ah, my dear dear brute,” Shadow Milk sang, “you may be familiar with sensing great strength, but the finer details of power and magic is not your forte.” He pats his head as he floats around him. “This power is similar to mine, yes. Drawing from the power of Deceit. But this did not come from me. Whoever did this is merely imitating me. Probably trying to get my attention, or something.”

“Grrr! Then where are they!”

“Not sure, but I do intend to find out.”

A mist of flour fills the air. The two look to the side and notices Mystic Flour appearing. Her pale face and immovable form staring towards the tree. “You are not above fooling us once in a while, Shadow Milk,” she comments, “surely you would deceive us for simple temporary thrills.”

“Gasp! I am insulted you would think that I would lie about such a thing,” the beast stated, “why I thought you knew me better!”

“If you are stating the truth, then who would be able to achieve something like this?”

“The gods, of course!”

“Of course you would say that.”

“Seriously, who else would be qualified!?”

In that moment, a mouth appeared from the ground. It opened as Eternal Sugar rose from it and shouted immediately. “Shadow Milk Cookie, you have much to explain for yourself!”

The jester groaned. “Okay, one, not my doing! Two, I don’t gotta answer to you!”

“Oh yes you will! My garden is getting infected with this . . . thing you’ve made!”

Shadow Milk pauses at that statement. It was doing what?

“The roots are trying to break through the barrier! And monsters are getting inside! It’s taking all of my power to keep my cookies from crumbling!” She pulls out her lyre and stares at him angrily. “If you don’t stop this right now, I will ensure your souljam is shattered to the winds!”

He backs up a bit and holds out his arms. “Whoah there! I just said I didn’t do it! Take a minute and feel the magic! It’s far different from my own!”

“A likely story!”

At that, she trills a tune. Vines erupt from below as it goes to attack the beast. Burning Spice tears them apart as he grins. He came here for a fight. If someone was willing, he would fight them first.

“Are we to assume the truce is off,” he states, “I’ll be happy to bring you all to your destruction swiftly!”

“You can try.”

Burning Spice and Eternal Sugar both prepare to battle one another. Shadow Milk was about to simply just watch it all happen. That was until . . .

“Wait,” Mystic Flour said. The other beasts freezing in their tracks as they turn to her. The monk places her hand on the bark, before she flinches it away. “Shadow Milk is correct. There is more to this tree than at a first glance.”

“Thank you,” the deceitful one shouts.

“Within this overwhelming Deceit, there are traces of other powers.” Her eyes open slightly. “Hints of Sloth, Destruction . . . and Apathy are buried here.”

This caused the three to widen their eyes a bit. Pieces of their power blended and mixed in a concoction of chaos? None of them ever remembered making something like this, or giving a cookie the ability to achieve such a feat. What sort of mystery was this?

“There is another source of power I can sense as well . . . an intense despair . . . ”

“But who could have done this,” questioned Eternal Sugar, “how are they doing this?”

At that, Shadow Milk suddenly thought of a possibility. And then smirked widely. “Ehehehe! Oh, I have a guess what this might be.”

They all turn to him, looking a little doubtful in his surety.

“If there are traces of our power in here, then surely the fifth power must mean that someone else has come to see the bitter truth of this world,” he states poetically.

Burning Spice, for once, was the first to realize what he was getting at. “Salt of Solidarity,” he says, grinning just as widely, “now it makes sense.”

“Yes. Oh so tragic his fall would be to make this thing and use our own powers to achieve it. I would be impressed . . . if it wasn’t a blatant rip off of my brand!”

Eternal Sugar found herself tensing in the air as she scowled. “So he is the one to blame for my garden’s state? I’ll make sure he pays for this transgression!”

“Hah! I’d like to see that,” Burning Spice states, “the Beast of Sloth against the Beast of Despair.”

“Ehe! A show like that would require a star,” Shadow Milk comments, hugging up to her, “perhaps you would like someone to assist you in your leading role?”

Mystic Flour at this point was just drowning out their little discussion as she looked at the tree. Amongst the powers inside the thing, she couldn’t find it to be so simple that Salt of Solidarity would be responsible for this. Surely there had to be another answer to this. After all, each of their souljams had long severed their connection since they’ve abandoned their virtues. How could he achieve such a thing without her feeling it?

This also didn’t answer the fact why Deceit was overpowering over them all. Shadow Milk had to be involved in this. Even if she believed he had nothing to do with it, there was no doubt his powers were the base source of this strange occurrence.

Suddenly, she notices something. Turning her head away, she sees a creature walking towards them. At a distance, it was hard to see. But she could see it was dragging something in its hands. The pale cookie walks forward, preparing to attack. The other beasts see her move, and look in the direction of the creature.

“Looks like we aren’t the only ones that are attracted to Salt’s tree,” Burning Spice says, “I’ll go take care of it.”

Both Eternal Sugar and Shadow Milk are more than willing to let him deal with the pest alone. Mystic Flour watches with wary instincts. Something was still off about all this. She hadn’t figured it out, and it was vital she learned what it was.

With that, Burning Spice charges the creature. In response, it charges too. The two clash at the center as the warlord thrashes his ax at it. However, what deflects it was not a horn or pincer. It was a sword. The beast looks at the monster and finds himself wondering something. Its insect eyes stare back at him blankly. A swarm forms behind it as smaller bugs start to screech and overwhelm the beast.

Mystic Flour sees the distress and summons hands to pull him away and grab hold of the monster. The roars of its battle cry tore through the silence of the desolate area. Shadow Milk waves his little staff and summons puppets to attack the monster. The swarm shredded them to bits.

“Ugh, what is that thing,” Shadow Milk asks aloud.

“It’s certainly not native to Beast Yeast,” Eternal Sugar says.

In an instant, a blue spotlight comes from the eye above the tree. Shining on the four beast cookies. Each one flinching at first and turning to it.

“AH, THE STARS HAVE ARRIVED~! WELCOME, WELCOME DEAR BEASTS AND PITIFUL CLOWNS!”

The monster is stepping closer to them, causing the four to turn back to it. The new voice . . . why did it sound familiar?

“THE SLAUGHTER SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! AHAHAHAHA!”

The creature struck first, raising its sword and summoning the swarm to strike. The beast cookies scatter, realizing the fight that was ahead. Perhaps one beast could not take that bug down, but four could do more damage.

Mystic Flour started things off by creating the dense fog of flour. Eternal Sugar strums her lyre strings to summon plantlife to take down a majority of the swarm. Shadow Milk summoned a portal, leading some into a volcano far away. It dwindled the count significantly with their efforts. Which gave Burning Spice the chance to exchange a few more blows with it before slicing it down.

As the bug falls to the floor, the beasts recollect, waiting to see it move again. It did not. Guess they won.

“That sword,” Burning Spice muttered. Stepping closer to look at it.

“Careful, Burning Spice Cookie,” Eternal Sugar warned, “it could get up and-”

He pulls up the sword, seeing it was fused with the monster’s hand. “This is Salt of Solidarity’s blade.”

Shadow Milk spat a laughter. “PFFF HAH! Come now, that’s not-”

“I would recognize it anywhere. It’s different in shape, but the metal and weight are similar.”

They all freeze in horror. Surely this thing wasn’t . . . no, he couldn’t be . . . but if it was . . . who could have-

A sound then came to them all. The sounds of a single cookie clapping slowly. Once again, they turned to the source, and they could not believe what it was they were seeing.

Floating down to the ground, slowly, a blue cookie grinned back at them. A familiar cookie wearing a familiar souljam upon his chest. Yet there were parts of him that were different. His coat of black and gold. The clawed hands. Even the souljam itself looked rather weird and deformed.

Three of the beasts look over to Shadow Milk. Who once again tries to defend himself. “Wh-Pfff-You, you can’t seriously think this is still me!?”

Burning Spice gestures his hand towards the stranger.

“Ack! It’s clearly just some imposter! It doesn’t even look a little like me!” He hovers over to the copy cat and points his staff at him. “Why don’t you show us your real face! Or I could assist and do it for you.”

Shadow Milk reaches his hand towards the souljam. The moment it touches it, he feels his dough stiffen and shiver. Something slithering in his jam and reaching into his mind. Flinching back, he returns back to the others. Making them shift their suspicion on the new stranger.

What was that? What was it that Shadow Milk just felt? Overwhelming deceit with intense despair. Much like the tree. But . . . what was it!? This amalgamation of power beyond anything he had ever seen before.

The stranger snickered. “Brava, dears, brava! I had betted on Silent Salt tearing you all apart. And yet here you stand.”

“Who are you,” Mystic Flour demanded.

“Aw, what’s wrong~? Don’t you recognize your old pal~? Or are you fearing one of your own is taking advantage of you?”

Shadow Milk interjected. “How dare you! Trying to impersonate me and ruin my reputation! I will not let this stand!” Once more, at a flick of his staff, the beast of deceit summons a magic circle behind him. “Kaleidascope of the Void!”

The circle appears in front of the stranger, reflecting every harsh memory and imagery that would rip this cookie apart from the inside out. And yet, they didn’t flinch. It just reached out, and snatched that circle, shrinking it down and crushing it with his hands. “A nice try, but that little spell only works when it’s cookies aside from ourselves.”

Wh-What!? How!?

Eternal Sugar shouts at him. “Then let me try something more direct.” Her attack of plantlife wraps around the stranger as he giggles.

Burning Spice rushes towards him, slicing around the neck, causing his head to fall off. The black goo that squirted from the dough trickling down the vines pooled on the ground. Whatever this thing was, it was now dead.

Or so they thought.

“Ehehehehe~! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

The dough melted, reforming outside of the vines with a wild smile of wicked delight. “Oh, yes! Care to try again? I could use a new arm too!” His laughter echoing around the area as the cookie’s black arm reaches and grabs him by the chest, wrapping around him and his souljam.

“Let’s see what’s burning inside of you, Ol Spicy. AHAHAHA!”

Burning Spice screamed at the top of his lungs as he feels a strange power seep into him. Corrupting his dough and souljam. It burns within him as he lights on fire, insect legs piercing his dough and extending outwards. His body transforms before the other beasts, whom stare in horror as their friend mutates into a giant centipede. The monster howls and begins to thrash around, leaving craters and scorched marks everywhere.

The three fly upward and look at the chaos that happens before them. It doesn’t take long before the new beast calms down when its master snaps its fingers. Leaning its head down, the creature that was once Burning Spice lets him stroke his head. “Oh, how lovely you turned out.”

Eternal Sugar clutched her arms in fear. “No . . . No, this cannot be!”

“And yet it is~.” The strange cookie teleports behind her, causing the beast to flinch and fly a bit backwards. Yet his hand grabs her head as she shrieks as well.

Shadow Milk and Mystic Flour rush to try and save her. The pale cookie’s hands separating the two as Shadow Milk cradles his pink angel in his arms. Her dough spasms, but they cannot tell if they made it in time or not as the four of them land on the ground.

“What’s this? The Beast of Apathy saving other cookies? Ehehehehehe~! Isn’t that just a thing of irony,” the imposter shouted.

“You still have yet to answer my question, anomaly,” she deflected, “who are you?”

His expression lit up. As though he was excited to answer her in kind. “Oh, how to explain this in a way for you and the idiot to understand-” Shadow Milk felt like that comment was directed at him. “-perhaps it would be simple to understand by my new title.”

Behind him, the bug with the sword slowly twitches, standing up again. It stares at them all before returning to the side of it’s owner. Who grins widely as his hand covers half of his face with one eye peaking through.

“I am your god. And you are going to be my beautiful puppets that will help me reshape this world into my image.”

Eternal Sugar’s souljam darkens as her own dough mutates. Her wings being shedded for ones like a moth. Her face distorts to make her eyes bigger and antennae sprouting above. Her voice being replaced with the shriek of a bug as her form is now a new monster for the cookie to command.

Shadow Milk tries to catch his breath as he feels his fear overcome him. His friends . . . they were being taken from him . . . what was this!?

Mystic Flour clenches her teeth as she rushes to the only other beast cookie left. Grabbing him, she tries to fly off with him. “We need to leave now!”

The blue beast tries to focus, flying forward. The two are stopped by a pillar of fire. The centipede monster blocks their path as the swarm from below surrounds them and drags the two to the ground. As Shadow Milk and Mystic Flour try to stand back up, the cookie walks right up to Mystic Flour and holds her down.

“How unfortunate I get to see this side of you moments before your rebirth,” he says in a gentle tone, “I might miss it . . . only for a moment.”

With that, he then reaches for her souljam and begins to corrupt her. Shadow Milk is unable to move as he watches her transform in front of him. He was next. He was surely going to be next. There wasn’t any way for him to run. No way to escape this. He couldn’t let this be the end! He couldn’t!

The imposter slowly walks towards him. The jester feels his anger rise. His friends were gone. Taken from him. And it was all this one’s fault!

“You . . . you dare-!”

“Ah-! I’m going to stop you right there. I know you want to go on an entire speech of how I’m going to pay and you will undo this whole tragedy. But I don’t have time to hear anymore empty words from you.”

Shadow Milk was at a lost for words. He didn’t understand. What was this thing? Why was it doing this?

“That being said, I suppose I can accept a thank you.”

His eyebrows twitched. “What?”

“Go on! I would love to hear it~!”

“You think I would thank you after all this!? I owe you nothing-!”

“Wrong! You owe me everything!”

Silence. Dead silence only stood between them.

“Do you have any idea how much it took for me to come back to this moment! To change this entire narrative for our revenge!”

“ . . . Revenge . . . ?”

The stranger stepped forward. “You see, today was meant to be a tragic day for us. After finally seeing the truth of this world, our grand show was falling apart. All because of this traitor-” he points at the monster that once was Silent Salt. “-and his pathetic gnat allies! . . . But I found a way to change all that. And now, we can finally have this world to ourselves~!” He shifts behind Shadow Milk, grabbing his face in his claws and holding it up to face the corrupted beasts. “These fools were only going to stab you in the back if you allowed it. Now they have no choice but to follow our will! And with the other fools dealt with, we won't have to lose our powers! We can be finally whole! And with it, we can be gods of this miserable stage!”

Shadow Milk was at a lost for words. So much was being thrown at him. What was all this? What was going on? He couldn’t even process what he was saying. His friends . . . were going to betray him . . . he was going to lose . . . ? Not a single word could come to mind. Nor could he express a single thought.

The cookie turned him around to face him. “So go on~! Thank me! Aren’t I such a merciful deity?”

. . . Silence was all he could respond with . . . and then . . . he could only think of one thing to say . . . 

“ . . . You’re . . . me?”

“Yes.”

“ . . . This power . . . that you have . . . where did you-”

“Long story. Hardly matters.” He drops the blue beast. “But I can say there is much we must accomplish. First, we need to find a way to get to the alternate timeline of events. To tear apart those little pesky half baked thieves and their little gnat friends. Which is where you come in. I can just open another rift, and give you a piece of my power and-”

Something struck the cookie’s cheek. He looks over to Shadow Milk with an expression of disdain. The surviving beast stands up and scowls at him.

“You think I want to play second fiddle to your little show,” Shadow Milk growls, “This was supposed to be my moment! I was supposed to finally take the center stage! Where the witches-”

“HAHAHAHA! The witches never come, stupid! They never will!”

Once more, the beast freezes.

“Your attempts were nothing more than just mild tantrums. All leading to this inevitable moment where we lose! Do you still see no gratitude in the gift I have given us?”

“And what of the other beasts!? You tore them from the inside out, making them into these shells of what they used to be!”

The cookie looks at them, then looks back at Shadow Milk. “What? These things? Since when did you care about anyone but yourself?”

He flinches. “Wh-Wha-”

“Don’t give me that look, you and I both know that these weren’t ‘friends’ for us. You thought of that because you believed they needed us. That without us, they wouldn’t be anyone else but poor excuses for saviors.”

Shadow Milk growls and throws an attack at him. The imposter then disappears and reappears in front of him, grabbing his chest and his souljam. His last chance at being free was now in the hands of this anomaly.

“I should have known. You weren’t going to see it my way. You’re still just a reminder of the useless dough brain I once was. And here I thought I could make you into something better.” He grins widely. “Looks like I’ll have no regrets then when I make you like them.”

Once more, Shadow Milk felt the surge of magic through him. Seeping into his brain and mincing his thoughts into mush as his dough mutates. Screaming in agony as feathers sprout from him like grass. Who he was, what he wanted, why he was here, all faded into nothingness as the other Shadow Milk poisoned all that was within him.

“Now then . . . let the show truly begin!”

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