Nuke Town r4 quick Epilogue

Without word or expression, Angelo brought the staff down again and again. Having been taken by surprise the first time, Clank soon found it hard to recover his footing. He fell to the ground in a twisted state; a black oil streaming from various dents in his metal skin.
"Angelo! What are you doing?" Mariotte screamed as she took off for the remains of the bridge. Blaire did not try to stop her this time and instead ran ahead of her, tightening his own metal knuckles.
Clank coughed and spattered, looking up at his attacker with those same maddened eyes as before. Angelo met his gaze and saw something unusual; he seemed to be suffering from something  within rather than the blows dealt to him.
"I was right about the murder, wasn't I?" he said softly. Blaire and Mariotte stopped suddenly. The calm tone after such a violent display was confusing.
He continued, "It hurts a lot... the first time,"
"Angelo..." Mariotte could not get the words out.
"If you let it, the guilt and suffering will tear you apart." He stood over Clank, "but if you move on in denile, it makes it easier to kill again," He pulled the staff back, this time preparing to stab Clank in the chest.
"Angelo, what are you doing?" Mariotte cried. Blaire was no longer beside her, but she didn't notice.

"I killed Pulse, Mariotte," Angelo answered. The ominous words stabbed her heart and she could not comprehend them. "Due and I are killers; we make our living doing it," there was no emotion in his voice. Mariotte herself completely shut down; she could not feel betrayed, for they had never said they were good people. It all made sense now; she had been too naive.
Angelo closed his eyes and drove the staff forward. I'll end the pain, but his strike hit with less force than intended. His hands felt as though they were burning again as they had when fighting Pulse, but this time...-

Clank shook; he heard a crack from within. He had felt close to death many times since entering the town; the feeling was almost natural now. The secondmost thought that came to mind was that he was aware... he was aware! Looking up with clear eyes, he watched his opponent stumble away as though he was being attacked by fire.

Angelo was being attacked by fire.
"She was right;" Blaire told Jacob as he ran ahead of him, "we can't just stand back and let Clank die like that!" It was now that Angelo felt the pain and fatigue setting in from his earlier wound. As the boys attacked him, he could not fight back.

During the ruckus, Clank sighed sadly; he had been defeated. The cracks in his soul core told him he should have been killed. He looked up to see a girl standing beside him. Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared blankly toward the new fight. She sort of reminded him of the girl in his care. Both had been let down by the one they trusted most and he could do nothing to save either of them now. The girl started walking now and he watched her.
Angelo was on the ground now, his body covered in burns and a strong swelling where he had been punched in the face. Blaire pulled back to hit him again, but his fist never met. He and Jacob found themselves being pulled away suddenly and then dropped. Mariotte walked past them and reached down her hand to Angelo.
He looked up at her in surprise but said nothing.
"Just... tell me the truth," she begged sadly, "let's... leave,"
They grabbed their things and, with Due lagging behind walked up the road in a solemn march.

---

"Clank!" The boys shouted as they stood and ran to him.
"AHHH! CRAP!" Stuffykins yelled as he bounced along on the back of their pet. The rat-spider whimpered and stopped at Jacob's feet.
"Idiots," a familar voice came from behind the ruins. A white head appeared; it was Izer, "you can heal him, ANA," he spoke over his shoulder. A glowing blue woman floated to where Clank lay, and as Izer approached, more slowly, he addressed the boys again, "you could have got everyone killed, interfering like that,"
"How long were you watching?" Blaire demanded.
"It doesn't matter," Izer replied, "You can't go blowing through the tournament ignoring the rules. I played by the rules and lost; there's no way I'm letting Clank win a round by cheating,"
"We didn't want to make Clank win," Jacob sobbed, "he just... he was trying to kill him! Clank was all bizzerk and couldn't get out of it,"
ANA worked slowly while Bibi stood, glowering nearby. Izer glanced toward them before speaking again, "Clank is stronger than that," he admitted this as though the words held a bad taste in his mouth, "you should belive in him,"

Clank stood up and looked around, "Well..." he said, "...well...."
Stuffykins climbed up his leg and onto his arm, "You freaking lost! Now what are we going to do?"
Clank shook his head.
Izer scoffed, "You should know. You have to play by the rules while you're a competitor, but after losing... I don't know about you, but I'm going not going to get taken away, I'm going to see if I can break into those prisons," he turned and started walking away, "And who knows, maybe your friends are there too. Come on, ANA,"
Clank sighed, "I guess there isn't much of a choice now," he tried to smile to encourage the others, "We'll get our loved ones back; don't worry," he said, convinvcing himself.
He looked down at his hand, wet and dust-matted. I do regret it.
The others had gone on ahead of him, following Izer. Clank started off at a jog to catch up with them. Sudden resistance jerked his body back.

"Hey guys... help me get my hand unstuck?"

---

Mariotte looked up at Angelo some way down the road. She had felt so safe with him before, and the only reason she was afraid now was because she still did.
"What did Pulse do to make you kill him?" She whispered.
Angelo shook his head, "I did it for Due; if I didn't kill someone, he would lose a bet,"
"A bet," she repeated, feeling the tears again.
"I'm not a good person, Mariotte." Angelo said, "I took this job for the money. I had the chance to quit and I decided against it. I ended the life of an innocent man and doomed his people so Due could win a bet,"

Due's voice joined the conversation, "I bet that you wouldn't kill someone,"
"What?"