Kill Six Billion Demons III: “Seeker of Thrones” (part two)
Chapter three opens on a new location. I thought it might be a lower class neighborhood of Throne at first, based on the creatures wandering around, but then I noticed the blue sky and earthlike sunlight. So, this is just some alternate earth that's been dissolved into Throne's melting pot. A preteen girl carries a bowl of food to a...barrel? pythos?...with an old homeless woman curled up in it. And, while neither of the two are named, it quickly becomes clear who they are and when this is.
This is a flashback to how Mathangi earned the privilege of adding "Ten-Meti" to her name. Or at least, the first of many steps toward earning that privilege. Looks like Meti wasn't exaggerating when she wrote that she chose the life of a homeless beggar as a weird kind of asceticism. It also looks like Mathangi's affinity for noodles had its start way back in her formative years.
Mathangi asks Meti to train her, and Meti - true to form - says that only idiots want to learn to fight, and that she'd never waste time on an idiot. Mathangi's pleas seem, at first, to fall on rather hilariously deaf ears.
Finally, when she can't seem to dissuade Mathangi with words, Meti tosses an extremely rusty shortsword onto the pavement in front of her and tells her that if she wants to be her student, she first needs to shave off every hair on her own head using this sword. Mathangi protests that she'll get cut (and probably tetanus). Meti agrees, but fails to see the issue with this. Mathangi further protests that it won't even cut her hair at all with all that rust on it, and Meti tells her she'd better un-rust it then.
Ah. Okay, that's actually a pretty reasonable first assignment, now that the logic behind it is clear. Shaving herself demonstrates that she's serious, and willing to put up with pain and risk for the sake of the training. And...well, learning how to maintain and repair your equipment IS a prerequisite to responsible ownership, especially when it comes to weaponry. Additionally, starting her off on sword maintenance rather than sword use communicates to Mathangi that the Way of the Swordsage involves much more time spent making sure you're ready for ights than actually being in them, and that most of that time is spent in boring, unglorious work. So, yeah, apart from the bad attitude Meti seems to be pretty canny in how she's going about this.
Then, adult Mathangi wakes up from her reminiscent dream as the sound of her own voice addressing Meti as "auntie" becomes those of the Mykosian girls standing over her.
Hmm. If the words blurred together like that, it implies that they're speaking the same language, rather than simply using equivalent terms in two different ones. That can be attributed to Throne's dominant language becoming lingua franca throughout the contacted multiverse, but it could also mean that Mathangi was originally Mykosian herself. She does have the same skin tone as the others we've seen. Eh...probably just a superficial resemblance, it would be too big of a coincidence.
Anyway, it seems like Juggernaut Star's self destruct blew a chunk of building off the side of Mottom's ship, sending a number of people - including Mathangi - tumbling hundreds of feet to the wasteland below. Mathangi's survival probably involved some whacky application of sword magic; I don't see how it could have happened otherwise.
As Mathangi comes to, she asks the children for her wine flask laying a few meters away from her. Either it's actually full of healing potion, or alcohol heals her, or she...actually just really needs a drink after being blasted off a flying saucer and falling to what should have been her death. All plausible. As the kids pry the flask out of the soil, one of them notices something vibrating underneath it. Something large and wheel shaped, and its thrumming is taking on a specific tune. Mathangi realizes what this is and warns the kids to get back just in time.
"...for you."
That answers my question from before. Juggernaut Star was remotely operating that Thorn Knight synth, not just traveling with a body-double. If he can pilot multiple avatars at once, then it's even possible that *both* of the wheels were him, as well as the rider. Or maybe one of the wheels was really just an inanimate object, with only the back one that needs to provide the thrust being an avatar. Either way, the loss of 69 Rolley and 404 Polley from the story's possibility space leaves it a much poorer narrative.
Juggernaut Star has taken a beating himself in that fall, but not as bad of one as Mathangi. They both know she's in no condition to fight him at this point, so she just tells him to kill her and get it over with. It looks like he's about to do just that, but moving forward in his damaged wheel-synth seems to break his concentration, and the fiery specter floating over it momentarily flickers from the affected Thorn Knight form he was holding it in to show a glimpse of Juggernaut Star's true spirit form.
...sorry, wrong folder. I meant to post this:
Her confidence broken, 6 Juggernaut Star Bashes Herself Unconscious Against The Inside Of The Closet petulantly declares that killing Mathangi would be a waste of her precious time and that she's leaving her to rot in her pathetic mortal-ness before rolling away really, really, really fast.
Oh, Juggernaut Star. I can't tell if this makes you more hilarious or less.
Once the world's most cishet angel is gone, Mathangi sips from her flask, pulls herself to her feet, and thanks the Mykosian kids for their help. She's got to get going now that she has the strength to walk, though. There's a crowd of idiot bounty hunters after the Chosen One, and she's got to keep herself between them.
Back to the SS Killy as it floats through the sky over Throne amid the many other airships constantly coming and going. Most of the team is up on deck, looking out over the city and deciding what they should try to do next. Killy is in her makeshift hospital bed, being miserable in the wake of her conversation with Cio. As she's inspecting her hideous wounds under the insufficient-looking bandages, Killy suddenly receives a transmission from ground control.
I guess "blackout drunk" is just one of several mental states that allow Incubus to project himself into your brain, with "semiconscious with anemia and emotional post-trauma" being another.
Killy asks why he's here, and he deflects the question by telling her that he's been inspecting her internal world, and he thinks he can help her make some improvements. To illustrate his point, he conjures a dreamscape that is either actually drawn from her mind, or a convincing enough depiction of it that she is forced to recognize his point.
This definitely isn't the core of who Killy is, though. He's making it look like she's just completely faking being capable and is actually just a vortex of depression and anxiety all the way down, which she definitely isn't. She'd never have found her backbone against Mottom in the previous book, or even against White Chain in the book before it, if this was this downtrodden in her deepest of hearts. But, being literally poked full of holes isn't doing wonders for her current emotional state, and in this condition Incubus has a painfully easy time convincing her that this is who she is. She barely even pushes back before he bowls over her confidence.
...now that I put it that way, I wonder if this has as much to do with Mottom's attempts at emotional fuckery as it does with the physical injuries. Mottom damaged Killy's self-confidence, and now Incubus is exploiting that while her armor is still cracked.
This longranged invasive telepathy power of his is *REALLY* dangerous. It might make him effectively the most powerful of the whole bunch, even if Jagganoth is the best at brute force.
Incubus then tells Killy that while he might be best known as a sorcerer king, he sees himself a primarily a self-actualization dealer. Right. Yeah. Sure. That sounds like the kind of person who would conquer a seventh of the multiverse, I'd totally believe that. As he speaks, he changes his appearance in Killy's mind, and...did I preempt this? I was sure I did. Oh, yes, here it was:
“I’m probably never going to run out of things to make fun of or cringe at as I continue this comic”
The most embarrassing thing about this is that a page later, Killy herself asks what the fuck is up with the look, and Incubus tries to tell her that this is her own mind's fault. And like. Author? Abbadon, or Horus Heresy, or whatever you call yourself? You can't really pin this one on your characters. You chose to put Incubus in the Ziggy Stardust outfit the last time he showed up. There was no in-universe reason for Killy to imagine him in that, it was completely external to her understanding of who he was. You can't do that and then turn around and say that this other, cringier David Bowie reference is because of Killy's mental image of a dream-dealer.
I seriously would have preferred it if the comic hadn't lampshaded the Labyrinth cosplay at all, and had the balls to just let the reader roll their eyes at it for what it is.
Killy might be in a bad place right now, but she isn't stupid. She asks Incubus what his angle here is, and - as they costume shift into a more fitting-for-Killy Usagi and Tuxmask cosplay set - he tells her what I'm guessing is a half truth at best.
She'll put himself in her and be his queen, and they can be heroes. If only for a day or so.
Killy. Killy, remember. Bossman told you you need to destroy the seven-headed beast. You've heard the names of those seven heads by now, and know that this is one of them. He's just trying to do the same shit Mottom did and flee the sinking ship at your expense. You might be weakened from that earlier attempt, and he might be better at it because of his powerset making him privy to your emotional weaknesses, but come on, pattern recognition. You can see the pattern, right?
...right?
...welp.
Killy, you fucked up the Sailor Moon and Tuxmask cosplay. This is Mookoo Moogoo and Evil Fluffy Puffy you're doing now. You're doing it wrong. Don't.
Fucking...
Killy why.
Well, have fun letting Darth Bowie rip out your literal soul and hijack your body, Masterkey and all. That's totally what she just permitted him to do. "Put a little of his mind in hers" is going to mean he can assume direct control.
Well Killy, you deserve whatever happens to you as a result of this. It was a moment of weakness, sure, but come the fuck on.
Well, the next page cuts through all the glitz and glam he surrounds himself with on tour and brings us face to face with David Robert Jones in the flesh. We get his boss card, and a glimpse at what might be his weak spot.
That lake of blood he's bathing in is fed by corpses strung up in a very similar manner to how Mottom bled her own victims for the husbandtree. Additionally, he appears to be covered in wounds that are in the process of healing. This is probably his own immortality-device. Like Mottom's, it's fueled by the blood of human sacrifices. Unlike hers though, he seems to be absorbing their life force directly instead of using an intermediary like the tree.
Which in turn might mean that he can re-create this regeneration chamber if it gets destroyed, unlike Mottom with her one-of-a-kind tree. Well, maybe. Mottom might be able to make another tree like that out of the corpse of another powerful wizard, and/or Incubus' blood bathhouse might have a unique magic seal or meathook or something. In any case, blowing this structure up should at least keep him distracted for a little while.
On a related note, it really does appear like those are slashing wounds he's recovering from rather than mere age and decay like Mottom. Wonder if he was on the brink of death from wounds sustained in battle when he first started doing this, as opposed to Mottom who was simply old at the time? Could be. He is described as the "sword king of the middle army," which suggests that he's much more likely to fight at the head of his army and get injured in the process than Mottom.
Exiting the bloodbath, Incubus crosses through the courtyard of a very ill-maintained palace called Lethyx. Looking back at the map of in book one, Lethyx is labeled as Incubus' main headquarters in Throne. Big phallic-looking tower, appropriately enough. Hmm. I believe Killy was also in Throne airspace the last time he dreamwalked into her, so if he spends most of his time here then maybe his range with that is more limited than I thought. Anyway, as he crosses through the courtyard Incubus is accosted by crowds of withered, washed-out looking men and women who are all begging him for another fix. He tells these "kings" to leave him alone, he's busy right now.
I'm guessing these are all people - actual kings, or else that's just his ironic nickname for them - who he made the dream contract with. Gets them addicted to his power, and it makes them dependent and eventually burns them out just like an actual drug. I guess that's just fitting, given both the mythological origins of his name and the fact that his power word is "flame." Burn hot, burn out, leave only ashes as you spread to more fuel elsewhere. Joining his junky collection is the fate Killy will now have to find some way of avoiding.
Killy why.
Incubus reaches a room that looks like a treasure vault, but which also is currently housing a guest I hadn't been expecting to see.
I guess Jagganoth might not be on the warpath against all the other Six after all. If these two are working together, then that's...really bad. We don't know much about the other Black Kings' powersets, but it's hard for me to imagine a more devastating combination than these two's.
Well, the saving grace might be that they'll likely turn on each other at some point. Earnest cooperation between the Black Kings seems very off-theme for them, so this is probably temporary.
And...yeah, going by this next exchange it definitely seems more like Incubus and Jagganoth are just tolerating each other for a little while than actually being allies.
Is Incubus' throne perched atop a pile of cups? I thought those were gold coins or nuggets at first, but no, they're all goblets. Weird.
Also, everyone else keeps reminding Incubus that that throne was never his, apparently. Does that mean he somehow usurped another demiurge after the war had already ended? Mottom did that to her own husband, but in her case the war was either in progress or hadn't happened yet, and I guess being married to Hastet might also have given her some more legitimacy in the others' eyes. I wonder what about Incubus' ascension makes them see him as less of a rightful Thin White Emperor than the rest?
Hmm. Come to think of it, the bloodbath scene had a whole bunch of hooks up on the ceiling, but only one of them had a body on it. I wonder if that was the previous Black King? If so, then Incubus' immortality method is even more like Mottom's than I thought.
Or...no. Incubus starts ranting about how "she" is a fat, washed up old drunk who was letting her kingdom go to waste until he took her throne and started rebuilding her army. And saying that he's too powerful to be threatened by "her" now, implying that she is not the body hanging up in his bloodbath. I wonder...Meti? It sounds like it could be Meti, but it also could be someone else who we haven't heard of yet.
Anyway, once he's done ranting, the two talk plans. And yeah, their alliance is definitely temporary. Incubus is planning to use his newfound control over Killy and her Masterkey to sew chaos between the other five and weaken/distract them so Jagganoth can wipe them out. Then, once the others have been eliminated, he and Incubus will fight over who gets to be the multiversal hegemon. They both know it, and acknowledge it in as many words. Gotcha.
They both know something else too, though. Incubus tells Jagganoth that he's sure Allison is, in fact, Kill Six Billion Demons, the true and chosen heir of Zoss. Interesting. Did he learn this on his own, via dreamwalking, or did Jagganoth and/or 1 Metatron let him in on the ploy? Well, if the two of them AND the Thorn Knights are all in this together, then this game just got a hell of a lot harder.
Flash back to Killy. She wakes up, asking herself what the hell she just did. Yeah, that's a good question Killy. What the HELL did you just do? She seems to be trying to convince herself that it was just a dream, and not quite succeeding. When we zoom in closer, we see that her irises have turned the same pink color as Incubus' as she stands up and magically heals her own wounds using his magical knowledge.
I don't think she's full-on possessed in the sense of him puppetting her body. But I have a feeling that the more burned out she gets, the greater the chances of him being able to do that will become.
That's a post. Killy why.
Due to a combination of recent events on the forum, and me having a long queue to get through, I’m going to be taking a break from K6BD for a while. We’ll resume in a few months.
