Chapter Six: Dual Match

(Ramona's POV)

"Maybe you should tell me what's going on one more time," Kim says as we head for my place, "I mean, you didn't exactly give a lot of details here."

"It's like I said," I tell her, "I have seven evil exes. They were all people I dated and the relationships didn't end well. Now they've decided that they don't want me to date anyone else, so they've joined up to work against me. In another reality, Scott wanted to date me. Naturally, they tried to kill him, but he beat all of them. But when I woke up this morning, I tried to call Scott, but his number went to another phone. So I called Knives."

"Who?" Kim asks.

"Right, you never met her in this reality," I say out loud, "Scott dated this girl named Knives before he met me. He cheated on her with me for a while. It got kind of ugly."

"Typical Scott," Kim says, sighing and rolling her eyes, "He gets a good thing going and he screws it up."

"It worked itself out," I tell her, "Anyway, I called her and she didn't know me. But when I mentioned Scott, she remembered a news story about him and told me he'd been killed."

"Didn't it seem a little strange that she remembered a news story from three years ago?" she asks me, raising an eyebrow.

"A little," I admit, "But it doesn't matter. Knives didn't do this. Even if she was jealous of my relationship with Scott, which she isn't, she would attack me, not him."

"You sound pretty sure," Kim says, as if she doubts it.

"I am sure," I tell her.

"You said you beat two of the exes," she says, "Who's left?"

"The third is Todd Ingram," I tell her.

"Todd Ingram, the bassist from The Clash at Demonhead?" Kim says, almost sounding excited, "We get to beat him up?"

"Don't get too excited," I tell her, "He's really powerful. Anyway, the fourth one is Roxy Richter, the only girl among the evil exes. She actually had a pretty glaring weakness, but given the pattern of events so far, I'd bet that whoever changed history took care of it for her."

"You dated a girl?" Kim asks, giving me a strange look.

"It was a phase," I tell her, "But yeah. Exes five and six are Kyle and Ken Katayanagi."

"The keyboard players?" Kim asks, "That's quite a list you've got there."

"There's one more," I tell her, "The leader of the exes, Gideon Graves."

"What the heck?" she says, sounding shocked, "The band I'm in just signed a contract with him!"

"Yeah, I know," I tell her, "That happened in the other reality too, but then he died. By the way, how's Neil doing on the bass?"

"I won't even ask how you know about Neil or that he's our bass player," Kim says, "But he's doing all right. So, where are we going to find these exes of yours?"

"Don't worry. Based on my luck, they'll find us," I tell her, "But you know, you still never answered my question. Who's Simon Lee?"

"A guy that I dated in high school," Kim says, "We broke up before I met Scott. One day Scott walked in and saw Simon hugging me and he attacked him."

"Heavy," I say.

"No kidding," Kim says, "Don't make me say more though. It isn't exactly a shining moment in my past."

"Fair enough," I tell her. To be honest, I can understand how she feels. I have a lot of moments in my past I'd like to forget.

"Ramona Flowers!" a voice calls from somewhere behind me. Speaking of things I'd like to forget…

"Hello Todd," I say turning around, "Did you come here to ruin my life a little more?"

"Well, it's nice to see you too Ramona," Todd says, "And you brought a friend. How nice."

"You sure you want to do this?" I ask Kim, "It's not too late to leave."

"You came to me for help and now you're asking me if I want to run away?" Kim asks me, "In this other reality of yours, we don't know each other very well, do we?" I guess that's her way of saying she's not backing down, because she turns and glares at Todd.

"Oh come on Ramona," Todd says, "Do you really think you can beat me? Having that little pipsqueak on your side doesn't mean you can take me on."

"Pipsqueak?" Kim says angrily, "That's it! Envy had better find a new bass player, because I'm about to kick your ass!" She charges towards Todd and he gestures with one hand. Kim floats into the air and becomes suspended in place.

"I see you've still got those psychic powers going for you," I tell him.

"Thanks to you," he says cryptically.

"What do you mean 'thanks to me?'" I demand, "What do you know about this?"

"Sorry," he says, "I'd rather watch you agonize over what I could possibly mean by that."

"Why don't you just wipe me out?" I ask him, "Isn't that why you came?"

"I could," he says, "But I sorta promised Roxy she'd get a few blows in." Roxy? Oh shit. I suddenly feel a sharp pain in the back of my head and crumple to the ground.

"Hey bitch!" Roxy says angrily, forcibly rolling me over. What I see on her face shocks me. It's covered in bruises.

"Roxy," I choke out, "What happened to you?"

"Like you care. After all, I was just a phase, right? Well, if you must know, I tried to come here through subspace," she says, "Your little boy toy smacked me around. You ever battle inside subspace? It's the world's greatest rush. Too bad you'll never get the chance, bitch." Scott tried to stop her from coming after me? That makes me want to smile. He even broke his "no fighting girls" code for me. But…she's here. That means he lost. Is he…

"Oh don't worry," Todd calls to me, "He's alive, if you'd call it that."

"Not for long," Roxy says, "See, once I kill you, his last link to this reality will be gone. Then we won't have to be bothered with either of you ever again." Not good. I can't let Roxy kill me. Not if I ever want to see Scott again. "Oh, and in case you were thinking of exploiting that weakness of mine, don't bother. I had that fixed. "

"No worries. I'll just kick your ass the old fashioned way." I say, shoving her off me, "I can't allow myself to lose to you."

"There's nothing you can do to stop me," she says, "You haven't even got a weapon."

"Of course I do," I tell her, calling the Power of Love out again, "A little gift from Scott."

"Not bad," she says, "But that doesn't mean you can win. You have no idea what kind of power you're dealing with." She charges towards me again and I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my gut. She's fast. A hell of a lot faster than normal. I'm gasping for breath. How am I going to fight back like this?

"Come on!" Roxy challenges me, "Put up a fight!" Another blow to the face. "Come on, bitch!" she says, "This is all you've got? Too bad. I was hoping to have a little fun."

"Well why don't you try this?" Kim's voice says and Roxie suddenly falls to the ground. Kim is standing behind her with one fist stretched out. "You okay?" she asks me.

"Been better," I tell her, trying to stay on my feet. I hold my sword with what strength I can manage and plunge it through Roxy's back, causing her to burst into a pile of small animals. "Who's the bitch now, Roxy?" I say before stumbling a bit.

"She really did a number on you," Kim says, "Maybe you should rest."

"I'm okay," I say, shaking my head, "Let's keep moving."

"At least let me help you," she says, "Wouldn't want you to collapse." It's strange hearing the note of concern in her voice. Guess sometimes people can surprise you.

"Okay," I agree. It's a little awkward since I'm taller than her, but I manage to lean on her as we head for my place. "So how did you get away from Todd anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Kim says, "While he had me pinned there, I got hungry. I couldn't stop thinking about how I could go for some steak. He freaked out and started crying, then burst into a pile of coins. It was really weird. What the heck happened?"

"I think I get it," I tell her, "See, Todd's a vegan and as a vegan, he has these incredible psychic powers. He can attack people, move objects with his mind and even read thoughts. But the person who changed history has been enhancing the powers of the exes. I think Todd's mind reading was so strong that he couldn't turn it off. While you were thinking about steak, he could hear every minute of it, maybe even taste it. You must have mentally tortured him to death."

"Wow," Kim says, "Not the ass-kicking I had in mind, but still pretty satisfying."

"Yeah I guess," I tell her, "Well, let me go treat you to steak. After all, it was your steak craving that saved us. Seems like a fitting celebration."

"Count me in," Kim says, grinning.

(Kim's POV)

"So how'd this all happen anyway?" I ask Ramona between bites of steak, "How does someone rack up a grand total of seven evil exes?"

"It's a part of my laugh I'd really rather not go over," Ramona answers.

"Too bad," I tell her, "Look, I think we both know that could have ended a lot worse than it did. If you want me to keep involving myself, the going rate is the truth. Tell me what happened."

"You really don't wanna know this stuff," she says

"Let me decide what I want," I tell her, "Just tell me."

"I don't know why you care so much, but fine," she answers, "It's mostly my fault. Back in high school I was kind of a bitch. I dated a lot of people out of convenience or just of curiosity, like Roxy. I broke every one of their hearts." She stares down at her feet, seeming to regret it. "I came here to forget all that crap," she says, "But the crap followed me here. Gideon was really pissed off about our breakup and he tracked down the other exes and they've all conspired against me since then. Anyone who's tried to date me has been attacked by them. Scott was the only one to beat all of them."

"I see," I tell her. Heavy stuff. I can't imagine ever having to handle something like that. "Answer one more question and I'll consider you paid up."

"Fire away," she answers.

"You said you talked to Scott," I tell her, "Is he all right?"

"He's fine as far as I know," she says, "He's trapped in a place called Subspace. The full explanation is a little complicated, but there's basically this other space that interacts with our own. Ordinary people can't see it, but some people, like me, can enter it, travel through it, and even store stuff in it. Which reminds me, take this." She reaches into her bag and produces what looks like a giant hammer. "You might want a weapon for our next fight," she tells me, handing it in my direction, "Based on the pattern of events, the next two to attack will be the Katayanagi twins."

"Maybe we can go to them first," I say, grinning, "I know where they're going to be."

"Seriously?" she asks.

"Yep," I tell her, "They're opening for us at the Chaos Theatre tonight."

"Gideon's nightclub," she muses, "Good, I can finish this."

"Yeah, I guess that's one way of looking at it," I say, "Where did you get this hammer anyway?"

"From subspace," she says and leaves it at that. Guess she doesn't want to say more. "Hey, do you want to go see Scott?" she asks suddenly.

"Can I do that?" I ask her.

"There's a subspace door near here," she answers, "We can use it to travel to the Chaos Theatre and I'm guessing that we should find Scott somewhere along the way."

"Guessing?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I can't tell exactly where he'll be," she answers, "But I think it's a pretty good bet that he'll appear somewhere near me."

"You'll have to explain that later, but yeah, let's go," I say. I'm slightly excited at the thought of being able to see him.

"One warning," she says, "Don't wander off in there. If you get separated from me, you may end up trapped."

"No wandering off," I say, "Got it. Now let's go already."

"Take my hand," she says, holding it out. "And brace yourself." I nod, take a deep breath, and grab on to her hand. She leads me out of the restaurant and to an alley. With her free hand, she reaches out as if grasping an invisible door knob. She makes a turning motion and pulls off her hand back. The next thing I can see is a blindingly bright light, which forces me to shield my eyes with my own free hand.

(The culprit's POV)

So you're coming to the Chaos Theatre, Ramona. That suits me just fine. The final stage. So many questions to be answered, but they'll all be resolved in this one location. Will you overcome the challenge, or will it destroy you? Will you find me at the end of it? Will you choose this version of history or the other? It's fitting that we should learn the answers to these questions all in one place, since they're all connected to one person. See you soon, Ramona.

The whole scene fades to black. Ramona, Kim, and Todd appear. Oh, and JMFearless.

Ramona: Damn Fearless, you're giving me the chills. I'm not sure I want to read the ending.

Kim: I do. I can't stop reading.

JMFearless: Thank you Kim. And thank you Ramona. A good suspense writer always hopes he can inspire a little chill in some people.

Todd: Hey, what the hell was with that fight? First of all, all I got to do was use a little telekinesis and read a couple of minds. Secondly, I really died because fatass here got a craving for steak?

Kim: Hey! Don't call me "fatass!" I'm only of average weight!

Todd: I can call you fatass if I want to! I'm a rockstar!

Kim: Oh really? Well let's throw down then rockstar!

Ramona: Uh…Kim, maybe you shouldn't… *Kim and Todd begin to fight* Never mind. Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. See you in the next one.