Throne of Pain

Max Prodigy glumly looked down at the ship's floor. His history was presented to his team as plain and simple as it could be: he alone caused the First Collapse, he alone brought Humanity to its knees, he alone nearly destroyed the world. Why? he asked himself, What could possibly cause me to snap against my kin? He looked across the cargo bay at his team, except for Leviathan piloting the Jumpship back to the Moon. Jess looked confused, she couldn't bring her wide eyes to meet Max's. Cass was grumpy, here was a Warlock who broke the law so much that it destroyed the world. But his friend, Shin Malphur, had the worst expression on her face. She was sad, and who wouldn't be when it's revealed that their closest friend also has the potential to be their worst enemy.

The only one who didn't look sad, mad, confused, or zealous was Kaden-2. If anything, he looks at Max as if he were only human. He signed to the Warlock, "Do you want to talk?"

Max shook his head.

"Ok. I'll be here if you need anything."

Max said, "ok," unsure if he meant it or not.

Leviathan said, "We're here, Beginning our descent."

Max moved to the passenger seat and looked out the window, Wait! We're diving into the Hellmouth!?

The Dredgen Bane grinned, "You and I, Max, we can save the world!"

"We have different concepts of 'saving the world,'" Max warned, "You might want to tell Crota that before you drag me to him."

Leviathan laughed, "Causing the First Collapse? You two are more alike than you know!"

Max scoffed and returned to his original seat as the sunlight pouring into the cargo bay shrunk in intensity and volume. Cass looked away from Max in disgust, Jess heaved as she went to the passenger seat, and Kaden signed to Shin, "Ask him about his past."

"Why?" she whispered, "The Vault showed us the truth!"

"The Vex only know the 'What', they only show the 'what' to divide us. You need to ask him, 'Why did you do it?'"

Before she could even ask Max, Leviathan spoke into the comms, "Open the doors, Ir Yut. I have the Worldbreaker." A thin vertical slit of poisonous green light appeared before the ship. The slit had small, dark, horizontal lines at random points, and as the slit grew into a large rectangle, the small dark lines were later revealed to be forks in the doors, keeping them shut in case of intruders. Leviathan pushed the flight stick forward, thrusting the ship into the light. As they pushed further away from the doors, the light began to pour in from the windows, blinding everyone except for Leviathan.

Then the intensity shrunk back to normal, revealing an almost empty world except for a green star armored by rock, and a floating green castle made of bone and a metal composite known as Hadium below the star. Inside some of the walls and pillars of the castle, Vex radiolaria flowed without a problem. The castle had 9 different large rings surrounding the central cylinder, each ring's height was lower than its neighboring inner ring, and every so often on the exterior of the rings was a symbol of an outstretched wheat crop surrounded by a green circle. Acolytes, Thrall, Knights, Wizards, and Ogres would bow to this symbol when they had a chance.

And in the center of the cylinder of the castle stood the Altar and Throne of the Hive Prince, Crota. The Altar was divided into two floors and an indoor and outdoor section, the floors were connected by two staircases and the sections were connected by a ringed bridge representing the second floor. In the middle of the bridge, opposite the inside section was a large upside-down arch projecting a large image of Crota to oversee his Throne World.

Max's first impression of Crota's Throne World was fear, shock, and terror. "Oh my God!"

Leviathan parked the Jumpship on one of the long platforms leading into the cylinder and shouted, "Everybody out!"

Shin and Max were the first to enter the Altar, followed by Kaden, Jess, and Cass, with Leviathan pointing Thorn at their heads. "Keep moving!" Dredgen Bane said, "It's time to meet your savior!"

Shin defied, "Crota is no savior! He is a reaper!"

Leviathan fired Thorn in the air, this time with a louder VANG, "Do you want to say that again, bitch!?"

The Hunter and her sister gulped. Max and Kaden shivered. Cass was too angry to bother.

Crota announced, "Step forward, Dredgen Bane." Leviathan came to the first floor of the outdoor Altar, leading the other five Guardians into it. As Leviathan walked, Acolytes and Knights bowed. Max passed them, scared for his life, but they didn't raise a finger. It wasn't until Shin came by that they growled. Cass looked at them and growled back, finally scaring the Hive. The Hive Prince looked at Max through his image, "Ah, Max the Worldbreaker! Welcome to my humble abode!"

Max looked at the Image of Crota, "And you must be the Hive Prince, Crota?"

The Prince grinned, "You know of me! I'm pleased!"

"Don't be!" The Warlock snapped, "I see what you did to the Moon, to the Guardians, and what you will do to humanity!"

"Do you?" Crota inquired, "You say that I harm the universe, but I am merely a blade to reap enemies and a guiding principle to save my followers."

"Prove it!"

Max was trapped and lifted up to the Image's eyes by a green energy orb. "Close your eyes, Max," said the Prince, "Close your eyes, and see the universe in its entirety." Max tried to fight the urge, but the mesmerizing sound and visual of the orb and Crota's three eyes took effect, and he drifted into a sleep state.

As soon as he fell asleep, Crota ordered, "Ir Yut! Begin your Deathsong!"

Ir Yut cackled, "With pleasure, my lord!"

Shin, Jess, Kaden, and Cass stared at Crota, "But we're your guests!"

"No!" The Hive Prince bellowed, "Max is my guest and next disciple. You are non-believers, and therefore you deserve to die!"

Leviathan shrugged, "Sorry guys, but that's the rule."

Max found himself in an ethereal room, surrounded by a ring of green flames. In front of him stood the Hive Prince himself, in all his transparent green glory. "Look, Max," he said, "Your Earth is dying, your kin are barely surviving. And you saw them at their peak: fat, greedy, lazy, exploiting each other left and right. Humanity is a poison to the Universe. But you said 'enough is enough.' You decided to stop the poison before it spread."

"And what about you?" Max inquired, "What makes you any similar to me?"

"I'm glad you asked," and he brought up images of multiple planets, "These are all planets who faced the same problems humanity faced: overpopulation, corruption, and sloth. My father solved all of that by offering a simple choice: Praise Him as their new god, or be exterminated."

"And the planets?"

One by one, the images of the planets exploded, sometimes blasting small people into the vacuum of space. "The Universe needs whittling."

Shin Malphur gritted her teeth at Leviathan and whipped her Last Word out, drawing on 8 Acolytes in a row, killing them with headshots. Jess and Cass marched up the right staircase and killed the Hive on the right side of the room. "We found Ir Yut!" they said over the comms, "She's inside!"

Shin immediately said, "Kill her!"

Cass fired, but the invisible energy field surrounding the middle room dissolved the bullet upon impact. Cass's mouth dropped, "Force field!"

Shin groaned, "Ok, try to take it down from your side. Kaden and I will try to take it down on the left."

Leviathan stood confidently, "You won't make it."

Shin gritted her teeth and said, "Doesn't mean I can't try!" She ran up the steps with Kaden and cleared the left side of the room. As soon as she did, two armored purple orbs appeared on either side. Jess destroyed one and Shin destroyed the other. The force field fell, but it was too late: Green flames surrounded Ir Yut as she had begun to sing.

The Deathsinger's raspy voice cut into everyone's ears, forcing them to fall. Shin growled, "Stop her!" Kaden forced himself to stand up, using a nearby pillar for support. He tried reloading his sniper, but the scratchy voice was forcing him to take his time and not lose any bullets. Eventually, he readied his sniper and aimed for Ir Yut's head.

Even aiming was difficult for him, the scope shaking, the barrel always moving. He moved his recessive hand further down the barrel to stabilize it. Even then, it was a mess. He looked down the scope. Ir Yut screamed louder and louder. Kaden aimed through the shaking scope, then fired. He flinched at the last second and didn't get to see the aftermath, but he heard it loud and clear.

Ir Yut wailed as the bullet passed through her head, the green flames surrounding her now engulfed her until she was nothing more than ash. Crota cried out, "IR YUT!!!"

Max stared at Crota for a while before taking a step back, "You want to cut the universe down until there's only you and your father!?"

"And my followers," added the Hive Prince.

Max shook his head, "No! You can't!"

"Why not? The Hive and the Undying Vex have accepted me as lord and savior. You wrecked the world until there was nothing left but your image-"

"No!"

"-so why are you resisting?"

Max shouted, "Because these people have lives! They can serve and lead whomever they want! You want to take that away and replace it with slavery to you!" Max closed his eyes again, forcing himself out of the dream state.

When Max opened his eyes again, he was still floating above the ground inside the green orb. Crota howled and pushed Max into the center room, slamming his back against the soul gem Ir Yut was singing to. Crota also forced the other four Guardians into the same Soul Gem, then raised Leviathan into a green orb of his own. The Dredgen Bane exclaimed, "Wait, what are you doing master?"

"I need a body," Crota explained, "O Vessel Mine."

"Then take Max! He's not obedient! He needs-"

Crota paid no attention to his disciple as he said, "His body is not sufficient! I need something stronger!"

Leviathan felt himself getting pulled apart piece by piece, "Master! Please stop!" But the Prince wouldn't obey. Leviathan felt his brain getting ripped apart and he screamed his last. His armor and metal frame was pulled out to make room for the large Hive Prince, and as the green star poured itself into Leviathan's expanded body, it took the form of a giant green Hive Knight with a regal crown of upward facing spikes. Crota raised the acidic auto rifle that Leviathan was carrying and crushed it, transforming it into his Sword. "Now, Warlock," Crota bellowed, "Your soul will be mine, and I will reign destruction down on the entire Earth!"

Max and his team were abruptly dropped to the floor. "Ok," said the Warlock, "We need to stop Crota!"

"Oh and why should we listen to you, Worldbreaker!?" Cass accused.

"Because he's going to destroy the Earth!" Max rebutted.

"Then why do you want to stop him!? Don't you want to wreck the world again!? Hmm!?!?"

"Look!" Max declared, "I know what I did in the before is wrong! Hell! It's unforgivable! But from what I've seen it's changed from being corrupt and enslaving to actually helping people! That's the world I want to save and see at the end of the day!" He calmed down, "We are the only things standing between Crota and Earth. I'm more than willing to work with you guys to make sure humanity is never reaped again. My question to you is, 'Are you willing to work with me?'"

Silence broke out. Jess stepped forward, "Do you really want to save the world? The City is still corrupt with selfish politicians." She almost sounded like the devil's advocate, but she wanted to know which side her friend was on.

Max replied, "Trust me, Jess. They weren't as corrupt as the politicians I've met."

Shin asked, "But are you corrupt, or a Guardian of humanity?"

"I'd like to believe so, but I can't do it without any of you."

Shin nodded, "Then let's save the world!"

Jess agreed. Kaden bowed with respect. Cass was still unsure about Max, but she heaved and said, "Ok, I'm in."

Max smiled, "Awesome! Now let's go kill a Hive Prince, Fireteam!"

The 5 Guardians stepped outside and began shooting at Crota, only to find that their bullets were smashed on impact, dealing nothing to the Prince. "It's not working!" Jess shouted, "We need something more effective!"

Just then, a fiery Hive Knight appeared on the bottom floor, with a Hadium sword instead of a bone sword. Max said, "He who lives and thrives by the sword, dies by the sword."

"Huh?" Everyone else was confused.

"Crota's power lies in the Sword, cutting everything down until only you remain! If he instead was cut down in the same way..."

Jess realized, "He can die!"

Max jumped down and began attacking the fiery Knight, taking his sword and cutting off his head. The Hadium glowed purple and orange with Max's Void energy and the Knight's soul intertwined.

The Warlock lifted himself up to the bridge, ready to duel Crota. The Prince charged and slammed his Sword down, but The Warlock was faster. Max swung his sword through Crota's legs, taking out bits of Leviathan and dissolving them outside of Crota's body. The Hive Prince howled in anger and blasted darkness bolts at Max in rage. The Warlock kept chopping Exo pieces out of Crota as he worked up the legs and to the abdomen. Crota reached behind him, grabbed the Warlock, and sliced him in half.

Shin screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

The green sun expanded and Crota said, "Now, it's time!"

Max was once again in the ethereal realm, without his void powers. Crota stood over him, a giant compared to Max's small frame. "What else did you expect, Warlock?" Crota asked, "Did you really think you could take me? I'm immortal!"

Max coughed and shook his head, "No, you're not!"

"I killed the Worldbreaker and stole his soul! I live in my disciple's body forever! I am Crota, Son of Oryx, and soon to be, Savior of the Earth!"

"No!" Max shouted at the top of his lungs, "You're no savior! You're just a thief of faith, of souls! You do nothing but reap!"

Crota crouched to his level, "And what about you, dead thing?"

Max paused, he had no answer...not yet.

"You are a dead thing, made by a dead power in the shape of the dead! The mark on your hand proves that all you'll ever do is kill! Your destiny is already written, Worldbreaker! You were meant to be sacrificed to me!"

Max gripped his fists and gritted his teeth, "I! AM! NOT! DEAD!" The realm began to rumble, Max began to grow in size. "I WAS MADE TO SERVE THE LIGHT!" All around Crota, the realm began to fall apart, piece by piece. Max was now up to Crota's height and shouted, "I AM THE WARLOCK! AND IF I CHOOSE TO BREAK A WORLD, I WILL BREAK YOURS!" He punched Crota in the face...

...and the Hive Prince fell back, dropping his Sword. "Impossible!" he cried.

Max's upper half was now engulfed in orange flames, regrowing his lost limbs as he floated in the air. He opened his eyes, white-hot flames filled the sockets.

Crota, who never felt fear in a long time, was now scared to his bones. He tried reaching for his Sword, but Max quickly stretched out his right hand, pulling the Sword into his grasp using some unknown magic, then leaped into the air and thrust it down into Crota's head. He screamed out, "ORYX!" before he died. Max took the Sword out of Crota's cranium and threw it into the green sun, causing it to explode.

The explosion killed all of the Hive in the Throne World, whereas outside on the Earth and Moon, the Spawn of Crota turned into dust.

Max's flames retracted into his body, and then he fainted. The castle began to crumble. Shin rushed over to him, saying to the rest of the team, "Rev up the Jumpship! We need to get out of here!"

She and Kaden carried Max into the ship, and the Fireteam sped away from the crumbling castle. Jess in the pilot's seat asked, "Where's the exit portal!?"

Kaden pointed to a white oval, Jess looked at where his finger was pointing, and sped into it.

Back in the Hellmouth, Jess flew the ship out of the Moon's pit, just in time to see the green flames shoot out of the Hellmouth from a safe distance. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Shin said, "We need to get back to the City and explain what happened."

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A Hive Acolyte stood before the Altar of Oryx, frozen by what he was about to say. Oryx, God of the Hive, demanded in the tongue of the Hive, "Speak, Acolyte!"

"My God," he mumbled.

"Louder!"

"My God," the Acolyte spoke, failing to keep himself from shivering, "I have good news and bad news."

"Let's hear it then!"

The Acolyte stuttered, "W-w-well, the good news is that Crota has deceived and killed one of the Seven Seraphs..."

Oryx grinned, "That is good news! Maybe it's time to welcome him home."

"...b-b-but...it cost him..." the Acolyte froze again, "it cost him his life."

Oryx stood in rage, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK SUCH LIES!!"

"It's not a lie!" the Acolyte said quickly, "He cried out through the Ascendant realm! Didn't you hear it!?"

Oryx then heard His son cry out His name, then the Sword hitting Crota's head, followed by the explosion of his Throne, and the deafening silence thereafter. He fell to His knees, crying in sorrow. He made his own Throne, and was permanently killed in it. He proved himself worthy of the Sword, but he was killed just as quickly.

The Hive God picked himself up, raised His right hand to summon His own Sword, Ecthar the Willreaper, and announced, "GATHER TO MY ALTAR, FOLLOWERS!"

Hours later, 1000 Hive Thralls, Acolytes (including the one who walked in), Knights, and Wizards stood in a line for the Altar. They entered in batches of 20 to 50, every single one of them asked themselves and each other, "What are we doing here?" Not even the next batch knew what Oryx was doing behind closed doors, until they entered themselves.

Oryx summoned a ball of pure Darkness in His right hand, while holding His Sword in his left. The Darkness began to shoot out of the ball and into the Hive's eyes, tearing each of them from the inside out. Everyone but Oryx screamed. The Hive were now Taken by the Darkness and remolded into darker and more powerful versions of themselves, but all of them enslaved to Oryx's will. "Tend to the Dreadnought!" He barked, "We're going to Earth!" The Taken obeyed and transported themselves back onto their assignments on the Dreadnought.

Oryx said to Himself, "My Hive and My target is not enough for me to Take. No, I will Take everyone in Sol!"