A/N: Yo! Just wanted to clarify something for the weekly readers- you've probably noticed this already but, I say that I update on Friday but, nowadays that's more like really early saturday morning (EST at least) because I stay up late lol. Anyways,

Last chapter, Kodan studied more scripture in order to gain the power of "spirit manipulation"- and against all odds, it worked. This ability, as well as some "cowardly" tricks like taunting, let him win against King Metallica in a duel that would make him his pal.

Kodan's P.O.V.

"My win- ring out." I say to Metallic who's just lying face first in the snow now, I won't celebrate though- doesn't feel right. Looks like he's about to get up now though-

"Hell yeah Kodan!! He's your problem now, have fun you fucker." Timso shouts and claps at the same time- guess he woke up. Douchebag. Could've at least said that in private to me, King stopped moving now too so it must've hurt him.

"Shut it bud, or you're next. Here, King Metallica, don't listen to him. Also I'm really sorry about what I said to you, back there during the fight I mean. I just wanted to do anything I could to win- I didn't mean any of that bullshit I said. I just wanted you to be my pal no matter what. ...You can get a hit on me back if you want now." I say as I try to lean down and give him a hand to get up- I may regret that last bit but eh, I won't bitch out of it now.

Finally he starts to get up, but only after he's on his feet does he grab my hand, alright then. "No worries then, pal! And-"

*FWOOSH- BONK!*

"Ow! Nice hit." I cry out as he swings his arm behind, and above his head, 180 degrees to chop me on my own head. But more importantly he called me his pal- we're good to go I guess, sweet!

"Why thank you pal- do know that I won't be as forgiving next time! On that note, I guess this is goodbye, Timso... we never got to bond too much did we? It truly is a shame... I thought I'd be able to make you a better person but- it seems like I didn't quite manage that. But regardless- thank you for sticking with me, and for being my pal! We sure did have a blast of a time together! I wish you the best, you're just fine the way you are now too ya know!" Metallic says with his eyes closed but- I frown as I look behind me, to see that Timso is already long gone.

"Ouch... maybe that's why King closed his eyes, may have seen this coming." I think to myself with an even bigger frown, and hug King Metallica's body-

"YEESH you're cold!" I cry out as I jump back from his cold metal chest, and his snow covered massive purple robe.

"Ah- I would hug ya back pal but I wouldn't want to freeze you up after all. One time about 50 years ago, I had one of my old pals get his lips stuck to me like a pole- I unfortunately had to cut his lips off but, he was O.K. in the end, yashashasha!" Metallic laughs- heh, maybe Timso was partially right, this bot is pretty wild- in a good way though. I can handle him.

"Well damn, yeah I sure hope the poor guy was alright. And 50 years ago? You can sure fight well for being that old. Also if I can ask King Metallica- what kinda robot are you? Don't you have a product name or something?" I ask as my teeth start to shiver- wait no what do you call it again when it happens... hah I don't know, anyways I need to get out of this cold ASAP.

"Ah- well I am over 200 years old so 50 years means squat to me! And my product name- everyone asks me the same thing, I haven't a C.L.U.E. No clues and I could care less- all I do know is that I am a mighty King! And a machine. Enough bonding for now, let's skedaddle, we'll miss Kingmas mass if we twiddle our thumbs around here for any longer. I've got just the building to go to for it, come on!" King Metallica says as he grabs my hand and pulls me along as he runs super fast. Hey I don't even need to move my legs I can just slide on the snow while he pulls me! But oh yeah, glad I'll be out of the cold at mass at least.

A few hours later...

☕🛐☕

"Well that was sweet, wasn't expecting the free hot chocolat- wait just realized isn't drinking bad for you?" I ask Metallica with some concern as he finishes downing his cup of hot cocao,

"Why would it be, I'm just like you all after all! I appreciate your concern however- and indeed the mass was as great as ever." Metallica replies as he shoves the cup into his robe, and right- time to pester him again. The reason being that, he accidentally mentioned taking out a criminal with a HUGE bounty just before mass started.

"So- sorry for bugging you again but still, I can't help but be amazed at how you took down Jon Layez. I mean, I think his bounty was the highest in the whole damn continent at one point. So how did you beat him King Metallica, by using your catapult?" I try to ask nicely, have a feeling he'll fall for my little trick here.

"If you're going to praise me get it right, I used the Emperor to take him down with a punc- ACK! Dang it!" King stops him self midsentence and I start to smirk, had a feeling he'd correct me.

"The Emperor? And what would that be, it sounds cool as hell- you get promoted from a King or something?" I ask as I touch his crown but he slaps my hand away- oh so that's off limits.

"Haaaaaah- I was on a streak of no one knowing about it too. My body's getting old ya know, it makes my bolts sore every time I use it! But alas, like with the others I'll inform you about it..." King Metallica says with a sigh.

An hour of walking and talking later...

👑👑👑

"My God- oh no, forgive me God. But JEEZ MAN- with feats like that, you could definitely beat Prósopsi's ass!" I try to say quietly to Metallica who's drawing something in the snow right now with his finger, as he's kneeling down and looking away from me.

"Isn't that fool the one who leads the army here now? Well I suppose I'll take that as a compliment then- B.U.T. still, do know I do NOT use this form lightly. Only when my pals are in ultra deadly danger- or if I must avenge them." King Metallica says as he finishes up his drawing- heh, it's stick figures but it kinda looks like me and him.

Anyways- there's some more important stuff to talk about than that now. If he really could take down Prósopsi...

"Right. But King, you're REALLY old- you must've seen this continent in it's glory days back then right? When a lot more people were praising the Five Kings, instead of being mind controlled and stuck in those tubes up there?" I ask which makes him jump up and spin his head towards me. Right after that I point up to a massive tube that's suspended in the air above us, that's transporting said people.

"Indeed! Sure I still love this place now, as my Kings instruct us to do- but boy do I miss how things were before! Everyone looked so much happier before the, admittedly somewhat pretty, dome got set up around this place that traps everyone here. Who would ever want to face darkness 24/7?!" King Metallica says as he nods his head like crazy.

"Exactly man. So. Why don't we bring this place back to how it was before? If you can take down Prósopsi- and some other big members of the Hopian Army with that form of yours... we'd be able to take control of the government. And bring this place back to the greatness that it used to be, together?" I ask- feeling tempted to shout that out but, would rather not get our plans shut down the second we make them.

"I truly would love to follow your wishes but... a warning. I had a few ex pals who said those exact same words many years ago. The first, Jay, I accidentally killed using the Emperor- because she got in my way, of course. The 2nd, Jonathan- told me to wait to use the form, while they breached into a fancy-schmancy Hopian Army base, in order to bring out some high ranking soldier buffoon for me to kill. They were shot dead by the army before I could even cry out their name. The 3rd-"

"Rest in peace to those folks, but look- I'd say I'm a pretty different than they are- or were. First off, I served in the Hopian Army's special forces for what- a decade? So I already have a fair bit of info on how they run stuff, as well as some of their weak points. 2nd, I'm pretty popular around here- so getting people to join us wouldn't be too hard-"

"Wait we're geting more pals?!" King asks which kinda dumbfounds me,

"I mean, yeah? Haha, we'd sure need a lot of folks to take the army on," I quickly glance around- no bots or people are around us still, good. "But anyways- yeah I'd be able to get us a lot of pals to take the baddies on. And third, you said it yourself that you were impressed by my skills when I fought you right? That should just be the beginning of my powers that I got from reading scripture." I try to convince him some more, he seems pretty interested at least-

"Wait wait wait you got that power from reading about the Five Kings?! Holy S.M.O.K.E.S. that's incredible! You've gotta tell me how I can too- pretty please pal?!" Metallic begs me as he steps towards me and grabs my hand with both of his own- he's even kissing it too, well it'll be hard to break the news to him then...

"Um... sorry but- Blessings as well as this power are limited t-"

"Limited to humans DANG IT every time! Considering our Lords love us so dearly, it does bum me out that I'm excluded from their gifts to humanity so often..." Metallic says as he drops his arms and droops his head.

I glance around again, someones walking towards us but their still pretty far away. "Yeah, sorry bud. Can't imagine how that would feel. They still love you though don't worry, and hey I'm your friend now. Anyways- so whaddya say? Wanna take on the army with all those things about me in mind? We'll fix this place right up, I promise." I ask as I give him the best puppy dog eyes a 28 year old man can.

"Well- you certainly sound more qualified than my other pals so, fine! This place better be fantastic by the time we're done with i-"

"Shush." I say, slapping my finger onto King Metallica's mouth as the person that I saw before walks by us. I wait a little but King Metallica ends up slapping my hand away anyways,

"Hey interuppting your new pal is NOT ok ya know!" My new friend says as he wags a finger at my face.

"Just trying to keep us safe, wouldn't want anyone knowing our plans. But sick man, thank you! Well- to get started we'll need a hideout... I have a badass idea. Wait. Shit hold on. How much Herin do you have on you right now- well that you'd be willing to give towards our missi-"

"About 40 million... I believe? I haven't looked at that card of mine in a long while. I got about a third of the money from the bounty of that man I killed recently, ya know the one you were impressed by!" King Metallica says like it's nothing as my jaw drops-

"WHAT?! Why- hold on, why did Timso want to get rid of you then?!" I ask- I mean I thought Timso was kind of a fool for wanting to get his ass beat by me over and over but- wait no there's probably more to this.

Suddenly I hear a clicking sound coming from King Metallica- who looks super pissed, and now he just slapped his hand onto my chest-

*CRASH!*

I gasp for air as both my back and head suddenly get smacked into a wall, OW-

"Ah!" I cry out as I somehow get sucked back towards King, who's standing across the street from me now with his palm sticking out. This is kind of fun besides my feet scraping across the cement below me-

*CRACK!*

"OW MAN CHILL OUT!" I scream as he launches my back into the same wall again, I think he's shouting something. But first off I've gotta brace myself I'm flying back to him again-

Thankfully I don't get sent back again- as this time around he takes his hand off of my chest, and instead grips both of my shoulders annoyingly hard and stares me in the eye.

"HE. DID. NOT! Want to get, "RID", of me. He had to leave. That is all. Understand?!" He shouts which makes me feel like a loser... how could I be such a dick to say that to him? I mean- Timso obviously wanted to get rid of him but, King obviously isn't ready to believe it yet... it's like telling a kid santa isn't real.

"Right. You're right. Sorry about that. I had it coming..." I say with a sigh as I rub just one part of my aching body- my head. Which is wet, blood. I really hope I don't need stitches. ...But wait- why the hell did that hurt so much compared to his other sphere that sent me flying across the damn continent?!

I want to ask but... I'm feeling... sleepy......

A week later...

🏚🏚🏚

"Man, I'm surprised by how good that guy was. Thought the doc would try to steal one of my kidney's there but nope, don't judge a book by it's cover. Thanks for paying for that, King Metallica." I say as both me and King leave the "unofficial" doctors house I was healing up at these past few days. And of course it's in the outskirts of the Hopian continent.

My new pal here offered to stitch up my head himself at first but, the second he did my scalp started splurting out blood. So yeah that wasn't an option.

Also- since the doctor was complaining a bunch about the state of this place, I brought up the idea of if he would ever want to fight back against the government. And he said "Hell yeah!"- so that's pretty sick, we may have a doc on our hands soon.

Anyways King Metallica says back to me,

"No problemo pal! I'm just glad you agreed to go to him instead of one of those pricey "normal" hospitals, I wouldn't have been able to see you for a while otherwise, due to my pesky bounty of course. Now then, as a sorry-for-D.E.S.T.R.O.Y.I.N.G. you gift, lets go make that hole you were asking me for!" King Metallica says as he pats my back and we start to search for a place for our base... shouldn't be too hard, all we need is a big place with a basement for my idea.

A few hours later...

👘👘👘

"SHIT you look so cool man!!!" I squeal as King Metallica finishes his transformation into the Emperor- with his robe's fabric turning into clusters of shiny metal shards, and his eyes- or pupils I think? Anyways the black pupils of his eyes get a gray rim around them which makes him look badass. Also his crown is way bigger now as well as his palms.

"Thanks pal! Now then- so you just want me to make a H.U.G.E. hole underneath here, right?" King- or Emperor Metallica asks me as he points down the ground of the abandoned apartment complex's basement we're in. We cleared it out so I'm highly doubting that anyone's squatting in here.

"Yep- but make the hole REALLY big, please. Like as big as a town. We're gonna have a bunch of pals staying with us- and hell with the money you have we probably COULD make our own city down there." I confirm as I take some steps back, and he only nods as I can see him raise his fist and get ready to slam it down into the ground- annnnnnd I'm running away now, as cool as this would be to watch, I don't wanna die.

A short while of destruction and prayers later...

🙏🤛🙏

"So? What do you think of our base pal, looks cozy to me!" King Metallica asks as I point a flashlight that I just bought around the massive "hole", which is entirely made of the green metal, Hesalo. I've heard that there's an entire layer of Hesalo underneath the mainland of the continent- but damn it looks so much cooler than I imagined.

Especially since it's meant to be the strongest and heaviest material in the world...

More importantly though, King did NOT disappoint with the size of this place. A town really could fit down here, this place is huge!

"Looks great man, wow.  But wait..." I pause as I realize something, if the building we're under ever gets demolished that could be a problem... I doubt the government would put in the effort or waste the money to do that, but still. I've gotta stop being so impulsive, should've thought that through.

"I'm glad. Hesalo is a sacred object so I would normally never wish to even scratch it! ...But wait indeed, for our secret hideout's entrance- how will we make it? Could someone not simply enter it and ambush us?" King Metallica asks which makes me point my flashlight at him- I miss his Emperor form already.

"Don't worry, I've got juuust the right guy in mind for that. And I'm sure they'll want to join us once they see that you have the raw power to have made this place." I respond as I already start to head back towards the rope that's hanging behind us, that's attached to a pillar in the basement way above us.

"Well- I've got the feeling that I'm in for one hell of a ride." I think to myself as I start to climb,

Six months later...

🤝⛺🤝

"Yo, Kodan. It's 6 AM." I hear Anthony call out from the outside of my tent, which wakes me up as I kick myself out of my inflatable mattress right away.

"Surprised King wasn't the one to get me up, coming." I say with a quick yawn as I almost walk out in my boxers, hard to get used to actually having more than one pair of clothes now. I still have the shorts around though- and go shirtless still.

...Ok for the most part at least. During recruitings I normally wear a shirt so I can look more "professional" or whatever.

Anyways I slip on my pink socks and a pair of light blue jeans, as well as a rainbow colored spiral tie-dye tee shirt. And a slick pair of black sneakers that are really light, and good for both running AND training.

Finally I start to head outside my tent, to see the pretty empty and dimly artificially lit "streets" of our town. Well by that I mean the other bunch of tents that are set up on the rugged Hesalo below us- thanks to the help of insanely pricey, but super advanced super glue that we bought.

Course there's the stands around us too that mainly make and sell food, but some of them sell other stuff too.

So yeah you could say we've been busy these past few months, thanks to me being known around the continent, we've "hired" about a few hundred people who're permanantly living with us now. Most of them were homeless before they came here, but they help out too with things like setting up new tents or stands, or buying supplies that we'll need either now or later on.

Though we also have some black market type professionals with us, like the doctor who stitched me up a few months back. Also some retired ex Hopian Army members, and some awesome cooks. Hoping we can find some sort of engineer soon- or I don't  know, someone who could make weapons at least.

Oh yeah! Since I'm looking at it now, may as well mention we've also got a nice shrine to the Five Kings going too. Has a few statues and posters with quotes on them. Me and King as well as a few others mainly pray at it, Metallica doesn't do even close to 25 prayers a day he's meant to but- hey at least he prays at all.

"ACK! Shoot I repaired-myself in and missed waking you up, sorry pal!" I can hear the royal bot himself shout from behind me as he scrambles out his tent that's set up right next to mine.

Yeah funny story there- before King said he didn't even need a room, but since he never sleeps, he just wandered and dicked around every night, waking up everyone in our base to "bond with them". So my solution was to convince him that I was scared to sleep alone at night and needed him by my side, which he obviously agreed to. He wakes me up sometimes but, I'm a heavy sleeper so it isn't too bad, fun at times too anyways.

"Hah, don't worry Metallica- you've still got the record for best alar- I mean best waker-upper. Anyways. Let's go out there and get some more pals!" I shout quietly as the few other guys and gals who're part of the recruiting job sleepily walk up to us. We've already got a pretty good system going for getting people to join us, from making sure no one's a snitch to finding types of people. I think we'll make it big here!

A/N: Kodan and King Metallica finally start preparing for their revolution against the Hopian Army, and it seems as though they're moving it at a steady pace...

I hope you all consider voting or commenting if you enjoyed the chapter, and see you next week!