Sorry for the long wait, but I was kind of stuck at this part; I was never very good at ending stories. It's one of my flaws. Anyway, enjoy the story and happy New Year! I know it's past that, but I'm trying to be polite.
"Let's see if we can teach you some control." Jessica sighed after Bart accidentally set her hair on fire for the third time. "Try to concentrate your energy at that tree."
"All right, I'll try." Bart replied. "I hope Lisa doesn't find out about this." He focused as hard as he could, using his determination to save his family as a guide. Bart fired a huge burst of energy, but missed by several inches. "It's a start, at least. Why is this so damn hard?" As if on cue, part of the tree exploded, the duo taking cover from flying bark.
"You'll learn soon enough." Jessica sighed. "We've only got about a day, so we have to keep working." They continued wandering, neither of them wanting to wait. However, if they decided to attack immediately, the evil Bart would defeat them quite easily. Even if they did, he was superior, but what else could they do?
"I'm scared, Jessica. I don't want my family to die." Bart sat down, tears going down his cheeks. Jessica knelt down beside him and hugged him. "If I watch that, I will turn into him."
"We'll stop it, I promise." She noticed the bushes moving and pointed her gun towards it. "Show yourself now!" Ralph came out, panting.
"Calm down, Jessica; I was looking for you guys." Ralph sighed. "The dome's already down, as you can see. You have any ideas?"
"I'm trying to teach Bart how to control his powers." Jessica replied. "He's doing well, but it may not be enough. I'm coming with him, no matter what. I'll probably die, but it'll be worth it if that demon is destroyed at last."
"I hate to say this, but even together, we don't stand a chance." Ralph warned. "The best we could hope for is to hold him off, and even that sounds unrealistic. However, I've been thinking of an alternative idea."
"And what would that be?" Bart asked, sounding desperate. Jessica hadn't heard him sound like that since the last time she saw him before he became a demon.
"Instead of fighting him, we concentrate on getting his family out of the dome." Ralph mused. "True, that dome is strong, but our weapons should be able to get through it. It sounds like a better idea than fighting that thing."
"He's probably going to hang around, making sure they die." Jessica replied. "Perhaps we can do both." She thought for several seconds. "We free the Simpson family while Bart fights his older self."
"Are you fucking crazy? He won't stand a chance in hell against him!"
"I know, but he can't kill him, or he ceases to exist as well. I don't understand time travel, and I can't bring myself to kill his 12-year-old self anymore."
"I suppose that makes sense, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Bart started glowing with dark energy and launched it, forming a crater at least several feet deep and 10 feet wide.
"Where do I begin?" He smirked.
XXXXXXXXX
As for Evil Bart, he waited around in his room for the mob to arrive. However, it must have taken longer than he remembered, since it had been several hours and Homer's action had still not been discovered. Not having anything else to do, he wandered outside.
"Hey, Bart, you been kicked out of your house too?" Milhouse asked, walking beside him.
"No, I'm just bored." Bart replied, rolling his eyes. "You have any idea what to do for fun in this damn dome?" It wasn't that much of an inconvenience, since it was an order of magnitude lower than the shield he had destroyed in his time.
"Well, we could go throw stones at a wasp's nest." Milhouse suggested. Bart chuckled, remembering Flanders' reaction when he saw one of them in his mailbox. He never did suspect Homer, much to Bart's amazement. For someone so intelligent, he could be pretty naïve. Bart followed his former friend, trying not to think about what would soon happen.
They found the nest, but Milhouse didn't have any chance to enjoy himself as Bart threw a stone and knocked it to the ground. The wasps went after Milhouse, while Bart turned invisible and laughed at his former friend's trouble. "There's nothing like suffering for a day's entertainment." He flew overhead, accidentally slamming into the dome. Furious, Bart charged up a blast and launched it towards the ground. "I have to control myself." After taking several deep breaths, he set down on the ground.
Sighing, he sat down near a tree. It was the old lemon tree of Springfield they had to steal back from Shelbyville. It had been many years for him, but he still remembered it quite quickly. "What are you doing here, Bart?" Ned Flanders asked, as he was on a hike with his sons.
"I needed to get away from everyone." Bart asked, thankful that he was away from people he hated. True, Rod and Todd were quite annoying, but they helped him on several occasions. "This is about as close as I can get to the outside world."
"Yeah, me too," Flanders replied. (I'm not very good at his kind of speech, so bear with me) "Come on, you can join our hi-diddly-ike." Bart shrugged and followed them. The final few hours were moving at a crawl. Bart had never gone so long without blowing something up.
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he bumped into Allison Taylor. "Hey, Bart, what are you doing?" she asked. "Have you seen Lisa lately? I swear she's trying to avoid me."
What a surprise. He thought to himself. "What are you doing here?" Bart asked, now very bored. "Let me guess: you're here with your dad on some type of educational trip. Boring!"
"How did you figure that out? Have you gotten smarter since I last saw you?"
Oh, yes, everyone considered me an idiot. I was never stupid, even before I obtained my powers. How did I ever put up with this? Oh, well, they'll learn soon enough. "No; I've always had a brain." He struggled to control his temper.
"Whatever you say; I'm looking for Lisa. Can you at least tell her that?"
"I don't feel like doing any favors for you; leave me alone."
"You don't sound like Bart; you're never that focused." Allison had never liked Bart, seeing him as too much of a troublemaker, and wondered how Lisa had put up with him.
"There's plenty you don't know about me. Go away, Allison, or you will regret it." This whole experience had been a major strain on him, and he was reaching the end of his rope. "I'm more than you think I am."
"Now I'm really starting to think you're not Bart. Anyway, I'm leaving; nice to see you." Bart grabbed onto her arm, spinning her around and almost breaking her bones.
"I have had enough, girl. I have put up with you for far too long. So you think you're so clever? Did you expect this?" Bart transformed into his true self, looking down at her with a grin. Allison was stammering, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"What… what the hell are you?"
"I see your education doesn't help now." Bart knew it was a foolish move, but he couldn't help himself. "I'm Bart, of course. What did you expect?"
"You… you can't be him. You don't look anything like him."
"Well, think about it. I am him, or rather, what he will be. You consider yourself better than everybody else, but you're the same as everyone. You consider me as nothing more than a troublemaker, never once thinking there was something more behind it. Surely someone as intelligent as yourself could figure that out?"
"How… how did this happen?"
"It's a long story, and I don't feel like going into it.
"Where's… where's the Bart I know?"
"Imprisoned, along with that bitch Lovejoy; I'm sure you're about to say that he'll find some way to escape and beat me, but you're wrong. This is reality, not some poorly constructed novel where the good guys always win."
Allison was too shocked to make any kind of reply. Bart was always a rebel, and someone she tried to avoid, but how did he turn into this? From the looks of him, he would be quite capable of murder.
Before she could try and get away, though, Bart grabbed her leg, crushing the bones. She screamed and gasped for breath. "Sorry; I can't have you blabbing to everyone." He fired a shot towards her heart, killing her. Dispassionately, he threw the body into a nearby rock. "Thankfully, you don't affect my future."
He saw the sun setting and rejoined the Flanders family, who were just finishing up their hike. "Wasn't that fun, neighborino?" Ned smiled. "Maybe tomorrow we can do something else. Any ideas, Bart?"
"I'll have to think about it for a while." Bart replied, knowing there would never be a tomorrow for him. "Let's get home; I'm tired. It's been quite a long day."
"Maybe you can sit next to us in church this Sunday." Todd suggested brightly.
"Now, now, he has a family of his own." Ned told his son.
It's not like I'd want to go there, anyway. Bart shook his head. Upon his return to Springfield, the church was among the first places he had destroyed, having developed a great contempt for religion during his flight. Unlike many demons, it didn't affect him in the least. He rather enjoyed seeing the townspeople's surprise. Why would I want to listen to that idiot Lovejoy go on and on about what will send us to hell?
He walked back home, forcing himself to keep going. It was only a couple of hours before the town discovered Homer's foolishness and kept after them. Bart took several deep breaths, despite the fact he didn't need to breathe. He walked into the house, turning invisible. He saw Lisa playing on her saxophone, Homer watching TV and drinking beer, while Marge tried to get the last dishes clean.
Bart didn't realize a tear went down his cheek until he saw it hit the floor. I didn't know I could still cry. It doesn't make any difference, though; this is what is supposed to happen. Besides, they will all pay for their crime. Still, maybe I could… no! I won't risk my future! Bart saw Maggie playing with her blocks, forming E MC squared. They were willing to burn a baby to death, and they call me evil for my actions? I've never made any secrets about who I am. They actually said it was the right thing to do! Why shouldn't I tear them to pieces right now? However, he wasn't able to do so. They would pay soon enough.
All the emotions Bart had suppressed the past 15 years in favor were coming to the surface. He tried to force them back down, but they were too strong. He sped into the air, smashing into the dome. Bart wiped off some blood on his face, wanting to tear something apart.
He launched his sonic attack, aiming away from the dome. Bart continued it for over a minute before he finally got himself under control. He highly doubted there was anyone in the town that didn't see or hear the energy. Even several miles away, the sonic attack had affected the other side of the dome. Thankfully, it didn't break, but there were small cracks all over it.
XXXXXX
"We don't have much time." Ralph warned. "That was probably your evil self causing that." True, their technology had healed his jaw somewhat, but it still hurt to talk.
"I'm ready as I'll ever be." Bart nodded with determination. "He will go down, one way or another."
"We're coming, too." Jessica reassured. "Our weapons don't do much, but we can provide a distraction before we make sure your family's safe. Our future will not happen again."
Bart flew up in the air, ready for battle. True, his control left much to be desired, and that was being generous, but he had made remarkable progress in a short time. "No, it's between me and him." Bart exclaimed. "This is my fight, my enemy, and I have to face him. Just get my family out of there."
"Hate to say this, but I agree with him." Ralph sighed. "Neither of us are in much condition to do battle, particularly with a being of this magnitude. I know I keep switching my opinion, but I've made up my mind. I'm going to get them out, even if I have to knock them unconscious." Ralph knew it was not an easy decision, but he was thinking more logically than Jessica; not that he could really blame her, after what she had suffered.
"I'm coming with him, like it or not." Jessica exclaimed. "This is my fight as well, Bart; don't forget that!"
Before Bart could say anything, there were something that stopped all of them. There were lights in the distance, and Ralph and Jessica knew exactly what they were. It was exactly what they had been preparing for.
"Let's go." Bart stated, flying off towards his evil self.
Just one more chapter and I'm done with the story. I'm sorry if it sounded like it was dragging on, but I wanted to give the evil Bart more of a background, so he appeared to be more than a psychopath. He's meant to be a tragic character, and I honestly got this idea from another story with a similar idea, except I twisted it around quite a bit.
As always, please review!
