Smoke was pouring out of the wound and leaking into the world. Hours passed, and the Knights were still guarding the area under the wound, but nothing came out of it. Ochi had huddled into a corner by the side of the gate, and one of the guards had decided to bring him to the gate closest to Makeinu.

“Hey,” The same guard walked in, holding a cup of water. Ochi quickly wiped his eyes. “You okay?” Ochi mumbled something in return, “Being a Knight is stressful.”

“I know that,” Ochi said, his voice distorted.

“Ochi, I’m sure she didn’t mean anything she said,” The guard said, “I bet you the next time you see her she’ll be apologizing to you, okay?” Ochi nodded. The guard smiled and punched him on the shoulder, “Stay strong, kid.”

The ground rumbled again, and the guard fell onto the floor.

Through grates in the wall, Ochi could see the red mark widen outward, and a small, round figure, Keiri, coming out of the mark as a dark fog bled out of it. The round man walked out of the wound and hovered over the air, watching over the walled city with a sort of horrid pride. Just as suddenly as he arrived, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Keiri appeared again above the city walls. He descended so that he was even with the city gates, floating above the hills. The Knights quickly ran to meet him. Ochi watched what he could through the grates in the gate.

He could hear the round man’s voice through the marble wall. The round man sighed, “Another poor-quality landscape, how stingy must he be?”

Ochi scratched his head. How could land be poor?

The man took out a small black orb from his jacket and raised it into the sky, “Time to cleanse Manga of this world.” Ochi’s stomach dropped. The black hole floated into the air.

The knights jumped out of their hiding spots in a flash of color. “Stop right there!” Makeinu declared, the rest of the Knights close behind her. A few arrows were shot at Keiri. All of them bounced harmlessly off his armor, but he looked like he had been mortally wounded.

“Now I’ve lost my atmosphere,” He cursed. The knights all looked at each other in confusion. Keiri raised a finger, “Wait, let me remember my line.”

Keiri laughed, “Alright, ladies, you caught me.” The knights snickered amongst themselves. The round man put both his hands on the black hole, “The name’s Keiri.”

Makeinu asked, “What do you want here?”

Keiri smirked, “Do you need to know?”

One of the other knights asked, “Let’s make this simpler, are you a hero or a villain?”

Keiri laughed, rolling on the ground in happiness. Keiri finally got up and grinned, “I’m an executioner.”

“Great now… wait what?” Makeinu backtracked. She tightened her grip around her glowing sword.

Keiri continued, he was smiling, “I don’t care about protecting your city or the people inside it. All I care about is making sure that manga like yours are destroyed.”

“So, you are a villain!”

“Let me clarify something,” Keiri said, ignoring the knight. He paced around the city door like a teacher dramatically lecturing a class, “A villain is someone who does evil for the sake of evil. An executioner is someone who does evil acts for a greater purpose,” Keiri paused, reveling in the full attention of the girls.

“I’m no villain,” Keiri snapped his fingers, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The girls found him running away from the smoke. They shared an awkward glance before Keiri vanished.

His laugh boomed out of the earth, and he reappeared behind one of the girls. “I’m an executioner.” Before she could react, Keiri snapped his fingers again, and the girl’s head rolled off like it had been cut off with an axe. The dead girl’s body then disappeared.

Keiri put a hand on his hip and imitated the girl’s voice horribly, “I’ll get you for this.” The knight was shocked as Keiri had predicted what she wanted to say. Keiri looked up at the sky and shouted, “Hey, Danko! Can you possibly make dialogue more generic than this!”

Makeinu slashed at him with her sword. Keiri raised his hand, and a transparent force field appeared, shattering Makeinu’s sword. Keiri snapped his fingers, and every magical girl started choking like they were underwater. Makeinu ran around, trying to stop them from choking, as her plot armor grew bright yellow.

Ochi couldn’t believe how easily this fat man had taken down the knights. Stunned, he stepped back from the gate.

Keiri grabbed her by the neck, straining her yellow plot armor, “You’re coming with me.” He flicked his finger, and the gate melted. Keiri floated through, holding Makeinu by the neck.

“Hey, let her go!” The guard shouted, running up to him with his spear raised. Keiri flicked his hand, and the guard turned into rock.

Ochi snapped out of his daze, picked up what remained of Makeinu’s sword, and trailed after him.

Keiri walked around the city aimlessly. Wherever he went, people would run as they saw him carrying the leader of the knights by the neck.

“This’ll do,” Keiri said. He stopped at a small fountain that had dried up years ago. Keiri threw Makeinu into the fountain and took out his black hole. Ochi felt his blood boil. He raised Makeinu’s sword and slashed Keiri’s back.

Keiri’s head spun around, and the sword stopped before it could hit him, like it had hit a wall. Keiri yawned, “Playing the hero, are we?”

Makeinu growled, “Ochi, what are you doing!” Ochi’s heart beat intensely. Keiri bent his sword and flicked his fingers. Ochi was slammed into a nearby building, and ropes had tied up his body. His body ached as bricks dug into his skin.

Keiri dragged her towards the city center. He rearranged his armor and said dramatically, “Time to cleanse Manga of this world!” Keiri blew into the black orb, and he threw it at the broken fountain, then he disappeared in another puff of smoke.

The black hole burst with purple sparks. It began twitching and exploded in size and light. Orange and yellow beams of light flew into the black hole, almost like it was sucking the sun out of the sky.

While Ochi struggled to cut the thin rope, the black orb started to suck the nearby air like the drain of a bathtub, growing larger and larger. Keiri watched the scene from above like an audience watching a play. The black hole looked like the end.

Makeinu started to run as the black hole tore entire streets apart. Many citizens of the city were starting to get pulled in by the black hole, swirling around the event horizon, before they disappeared from existence. The few people who were able to escape the growing black hole were teleported into the orb by Keiri. “Ochi, come on!” Makeinu shouted, her bent sword shot to her hands.

She slashed the rope, and Ochi fell onto the ground. He stood there stunned as the black hole ripped through the city as if it had hundreds of claws and mouths all snapping away at the city. Makeinu repeated, “Ochi!” He snapped out of his daze and jumped on Makeinu’s sword.

The two of them shot out of the city on Makeinu’s sword as the black hole crawled towards them. Makeinu and Ochi were almost outside the city walls, while behind them, houses and humans were pulled into the black hole. Makeinu tripped and fell into the black hole.

“Keep running, Ochi!” Makeinu said, “I’ll be fine!” One of her feet had been taken by the black hole. Ochi screeched to a halt.

He extended his hand, and Makeinu held on. The black hole crept up her legs, but some protective force seemed to be keeping her alive. A yellow barrier surrounded Makeinu like an air bubble as Makeinu's torso was eaten by the black hole. Beads of sweat dripped down Ochi’s face. He grunted, “Use some force, Makeinu.”

But Ochi wasn’t strong enough, and Makeinu was being dragged back down. Dust and bricks behind him flew past his shoulder. It wouldn’t be long until he was next.

Only Makeinu’s head and hand were outside the black hole now, but Ochi was still holding on. She suddenly became resolute, “I’m so sorry, Ochi.” She muttered a spell, their hands glowed for a second, and smoke billowed out of Ochi’s palm. Makeinu’s plot armor lifted from her body and shifted onto Ochi. He staggered; it felt like the weight of the world had suddenly been thrust onto his shoulders.

Makeinu slammed her fist into Ochi. He flinched and released her, “Run!” Makeinu smiled before she was absorbed by the black hole. Instinctually, Ochi flew over the city walls on his sister’s sword, his heart pounding. Tears fell down Ochi’s face, although all he felt was emptiness.

The black hole didn’t stop after it destroyed the city walls. Instead, it just kept going, gnawing away at the field of gold. Panting, Ochi stopped at the edge as it continued to grow. Behind him, he could hear screaming as people ran for their lives. Ochi bit his lip, he wanted to save them, but there was nothing he could do.

He stopped. The black hole was dull and reflectionless and was so large that it was all Ochi could see. It was almost like he could see his past life staring back at him in the darkness.

It was like blinking his eyes.

One second, he had a family, a life, a future.

Now, she was gone, and everything felt empty.

The black hole grew at a quicker rate. Ochi jumped back onto the sword, but as he tried to take off, it began to flicker, sputtering smoke before crashing him into the ground. The bent sword split in half as he fell. The wind from the black hole was pulling him in.

Keiri was hovering over the black hole, and the two locked eyes. The black hole started to shrink.

He could see the remains of his home at the edge of the crater. The golden hill it was perched upon looked like it had been pecked apart by a predator. He fell onto his knees. The tears were gone as his brain just processed what had happened. The great marble city had been reduced to a crater and debris.

Something hit Ochi on the head. It was the head of one of his stuffed animals, covered in grime and dust.

Keiri teleported beside him, black hole in hand. He didn’t look at Ochi but said, “You need to go now.” The world seemed to be holding its breath as Ochi processed what he was saying.

Hot anger made his whole body itch with violence. He picked up Makeinu’s blade, the handguard had been chipped off, and the metal shortened so it looked more like a knife. Ochi leapt at Keiri.

“Monster!” Ochi pounced on him, pointing the blade at Keiri. Keiri teleported away.

“You’re all just fictional characters, created by a bad author, okay!” Keiri said, “None of you are real, but all you do is tarnish the name of manga, alright! I’m doing the world a favor by liberating this world, I’m not a monster!” Ochi fell on the ground. He could see his people, his sister, falling into the black hole. He didn’t even get to apologize.

Ochi had tears running down his face. He got up, his whole body leaning as if Makeinu’s sword was weighing him down. There was a look of pity on Keiri’s face, angering Ochi further. Why did Keiri only pity him? Ochi slashed at Keiri.

Ochi must’ve taken him by surprise because a large scar gashed across Keiri’s hand. Keiri groaned, clutching his injured hand, “This is how you treat my mercy?” His voice carried across the crater of his city. Ochi sprinted forward, leaping into the air at Keiri.

Keiri teleported away and snapped his fingers. A dim white glow appeared around Ochi, followed by a loss of air, before it was overshadowed by the glow of his plot armor. Ochi picked himself back up again as his body flashed white multiple times. Keiri’s face grew pale. He scanned the ground until he locked onto the black hole.

He dove onto the black hole seconds before Keiri. The black hole gnawed away at his fingers, threatening to pull his entire body in. If it wasn’t for his plot armor, Ochi would probably be dead.

He held the black hole in front of Keiri like a protective talisman. Ochi could feel the hairs on his head snap toward the black hole.

Beads of sweat dripped down Keiri’s face, “What do you want: fame, riches, immortality?”

Ochi slashed at Keiri again, but he only hit black smoke. Keiri was gone.