the hated child

chapter sixty-six

Previously...

"Shed! Please! Help!" Ronald cried.

Smiling sadistically, Shed shook his head.

David shouted, "Why would you do this?! You monster!"

Shed took the notebook out of Ebony's hand.

David, Ronald, Ebony, and Mistake collapsed to the ground, the life draining out of their bodies.

Success!

4 Players drop to 0/100 HP.

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Present Time

Shed crouched down and caressed Ebony's hand.

"You know... We could've made a good team... if you weren't dead of course!"

He let out a maniacal laugh which echoed throughout the arena. In his peripheral vision, he saw a glimmer coming from Mistake's body. Curious, he approached it.

"Let's see what this mighty queen has to offer... Wait, does that make me the king? Anyways."

Shed rummaged through Mistake's pants pockets but immediately withdrew his hand.

"UGH." He looked down at his hand. Countless cuts were scattered across his palm. "What is this girl hiding?"

He ripped off Mistake's pockets out of frustration. A scalpel clinked onto the floor.

"Huh? What's this?"

He picked it up and observed it. "I bet this was her last resort. If she couldn't kill me with magic, she'd kill me with a weapon."

Suddenly, a rush of energy passed through him, launching him backwards.

"AHH!" he yelped, landing 100 feet away.and slamming into a wall.

"Kffaks." He coughed out blood. "All of this for a dumb tiny knife."

He approached Mistake's dead body. "What's so important about this huh? Did you really have to put a whole protective spell on it?"

The dead body didn't answer.

Hm. Interesting.

"Hmmm... I've always wanted to try doing plastic surgery on someone else..."

He attempted to use the scalpel to create an incision in Mistake's jawline, but a protective force blocked him.

"Ugh... First you protect the scalpel, now your face?" He began to stab and prod at the force field. Without a warning, all of Mistake's powers began to flow through Shed.

His hair stood up, his eyes shot open, and his heart was about to jump out of his body.

He let out a massive, body trembling, toe curling gasp. "I-I'm... I CAN FEEL THE STRENGTH!! NO ONE WILL EVER TREAT ME AS A DOORMAT AGAIN... No one will ever reject me, as I am the KING OF THE WORLD!! I AM THE NEW GACHA KING, I'M GOING TO DOMINATE EVERYONE!!! I need MORE."

GASP!!! NO ONE WILL EVER SEE ME AS SUBMISSIVE AND BREEDABLE ANYMORE!!!

His hair became red-brown-blonde-black. His eyes became an almond-raven-hazel-grey-amber-violet-crow-leaf-like-majestic-ocean-blue. His clothes became a #0048ba, #b0bf1a, #d891ef, #9400d3, #ff1493, #edC9af, #c2b280, #ccff00, #bf00ff, #50c878, #e48400, #ff00ff, #87421f, #ff5470, #eedC82, #3fff00, #ff7a00, #df73ff, #b2ffff, #ccccff, #cf1020, #fdff00, #ff6e4a, #c8296e, #ffcba4, #1f005e, #df00ff, #66ff66, #893843, and #00fffe dress.

"Perfect... I'm finally perfect!"

"No, you're not," a mysterious voice said.

"WHO'S THERE? I'M AN ALPHA MALE YOU KNOW, I COULD HURT YOU REALLY BADLY!!!" Shed shouted, his voice trembling.

Mistake's corpse slowly sat up.

"AHHHHH!!! ZOMBIE MISTAKE!!!!!!!!! Wait... Why am I scared? You're just a mere mortal now, even worse than that useless father of yours!"

Mistake rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said. "You don't think I would simply DIE like that, right?"

"Now you'll get to see what it feels like to be beat by a person who's way more powerful than you. A king if you would~"

"And who crowned you royalty?"

Shed was at a loss for words. "Well, me! I killed you, of course!"

Mistake gestured to her larynx. "Do I sound dead?"

"Uhhh... Obviously, we can't have a mere mortal ruling my kingdom! That would be preposterous!"

Mistake scoffed. "YOUR kingdom? You're already claiming ownership over something you haven't earned?"

Shed smiled with his eyes. "I'm ready for a fight, I'm just holding back because I might go too far on a powerless weakling like you."

"POWERLESS??" Mistake laughed. "In case you've forgotten, I am quite literally the Ultra Legendary-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it, super powerful and strong." Shed brushed Mistake off. "But I am now! I'm the pretty little alpha male princess!"

"...What?"

"Go on, try out your powers! Try transforming into a snake or something..."

Mistake concentrated, her mind focused on not shitting herself (and changing forms into a snake).

Rodents fell from the sky, onto Mistake's snake head.

"W-what... I'm weaker than before... Why did only my hair transform? WHAT DID YOU DO SHED? TURN ME BACK."

Shed cackled and looked up to face the sky. "It worked... at least, partially..." he said. "I've absorbed your powers."

"Shed... You have no idea how to control it. Please, give it back."

"I..."

Shed's knees buckled, he clapped his hands over his ears, and he started humming, attempting to drown out the sudden torrent of whispered voices.

"What... what is this?" he whispered. "I can... I can hear them, the voices of the spirits around us..."

Mistake sighed, chewing on the inside of her cheek nervously. "I warned you..."