"He ran."

"You don't have to do this, Gold."

"You know I do."

And with that, Gold released his hold on Brandon's soul, and against his wishes, Brandon passed over to the other side.

With that out of the way, Gold began to clean the rotting corpse out of the metal suit, to make room for Mike. He would deal with that weakling later.

"One day... One day I'll find the warrior I need to take over the world. Whatever they fight for... Money... Fame... Power... A Sense of Duty... They will fight. And when I don't need them anymore..."

He crushed a nearby piece of wood into sawdust.

"After all, it's what I'm made to do. It's not like I'm to blame."

Surprise ending! I meant to draw this story out longer, but I felt this was a good place to stop it. Did you catch every allusion I made? Put your count on the comments, and I'll give the first person to get it right a special surprise.

TWoP out! Peace!