Hello everyone, and welcome to chapter ten. As per usual, let's cover a few notes before we get into the reading portion.
1) The whole idea of Alex and Grandfather being equals is actually something that comes from their personalities being rather similar. It also comes fomr the dark connection shared between them.
2) Alex tends to make many pop culture jokes and reference that I love to throw in from time to time. However, I have made the conscious decision to respect the audience's intelligence, instead of telling you what the reference is. If you do however not get any of the references in teh following chapters, please feel free to ask.
3) The Citizombie Patton talks very differently from teh real Patton, this was done to showcase the idea the Citizombies are their own people, they still carry some of Grandfather's traits and quirks.
4) I apologize isf this chapter seems somewhat shotty, this was mostly due to the fact that I wasn't in the best of moods while writing this chapter. I know that's excuse, but at least I polished it up enough in editing that it's not a total bomb.
Other than that, read, review, and enjoy!
The Demon Master's Puppet
Chapter 10: Disturbing Seduction
Silence; at first it seems down right creepy, but after awhile, becomes sort of a welcoming, almost calming effect. Or at least maybe it just felt that way to Rachel as she continued to quietly walk through her now desolate dreamland, her gloved hands tightly gripped around her trusty Yield staff as she felt prepared to take on anything Grandfather would throw in her way. Deep in her heart, she could not deny the feelings of failure continuing to seep through her body. And yet she knew she would have to put those feelings aside for now, for she knew that more than anything, she wanted to banish this diabolical demon from her mind and return to her loved ones as she continued to sternly press forward.
"Hello Rachel", said a familiar voice from behind. Although somewhat startled, the young girl allowed sternness to overtake her as she turned to face the tone she recognized; the Citizombie Patton, smiling as evilly as he ever had been. Wasting no time, she quickly threw her staff up in defence, causing him to chuckle evilly at the sight.
"Already getting defensive, are we", Patton asked in an amused tone.
"well considering how our last fight went down, I'd rather not take any risks. Besides, I refuse to be defeated by any of Grandfather's trick or offers", she replied in a genuinely stern yet calm sounding tone.
"I can see why, although one would question why you would run away from a fight you were capable of winning. But then again, one can never be too careful...or too fearful", he replied in a calm yet sinisterly teasing tone. Despite feeling the harsh reality of his words, the young blonde continued to sternly hold her staff up to him in defence, prepared to take him on at any given moment.
"Still though, I fail to see why you're so resistive", the old Drill Sergeant admitted to his lovely young friend. "Why not stop this pointless fighting and give into the Master's power? Why not rejoice at your rebirth and live life anew?"
"Like I told your "Master"; I'd rather die than live to see that happen. You should know that, considering who you are", she sternly replied.
"True...But don't you think it's pointless to be fighting for the sake of a few", Patton asked in a calm yet oddly sinister sounding tone as he grinned evilly at his opponent. Despite this though, the young girl did not budge from either her stance, or her stern composure.
"I'm not risking my life for the sake of a few I deem worthy. I risk my life for the fact that whether one is good or evil, no one should be conformed into a life of servitude. If you were really Patton, then you would do the same", the young girl replied in a mixed tone of stern and anger, something which brought an evil smile to the old Drill Sergeant's face.
"True...but you forget that I am still Patton...And even if I was opposed to servitude like you are, who's to say I'd rather go back to the life that I once had", he asked in a sinister tone as he smiled evilly at his opponent, only for her to remain perfectly still once more.
"The real you would", she sternly replied.
"Maybe...Until he saw the benefits...", Patton calmly replied as he went to gently grab Rachel's infected hand, only for her to swat his hand away with her Yield staff.
"Don't touch me", the young girl replied in a deeply angered tone.
"I have no intention of hurting you Rachel...In fact...I'm even concerned about you", he sincerely replied.
"Oh really", she replied in a tone of disbelief, not buying his act for even a second.
"I am...I'm concerned that these thoughts of freedom are corrupting your mind...concerned that they're making you suffer...concerned that they're causing you pain", he sincerely replied. "All I ask is that you let me free you of this life, and show you just how truly amazing this style fo life is", he sincerely replied as he grabbed her infected hand, gently caressing it in his own hand as he planted a small kiss onto her wrinkly hand. Despite being taken aback by this, the young blonde refused for him to win her over with his charms as she stood to face him with stern integrity.
"Why do you care so much", she asked in a stern tone of disbelief.
"Because", he said in a almost romantic sounding tone. "I love you."
Upon hearing those words, Rachel felt herself become overwhelmed by shock; shock of what she had just heard, and the shock of what those words meant. "It could be sincere" her panicked mind thought, but it could also be nothing more than a dirty trick. She knew it must be one of those two answers, but just which one it was, she was uncertain of as she began to try and pull her hand away from his grip.
"N-No, that can't be...that's not possible", She replied in a panicky tone, trying desperately to pull herself away from his grasp as he continued to smile evilly at her.
"Why not", he asked.
"Because...it...it must be some sort of trick", Rachel panickingly replied.
" Perhaps...or maybe you're just in shock because you never believed that those words would come out of my mouth", he smoothly replied.
"What", she asked in complete shock, even though she knew what he was referring to.
"You love my real self...don't you", he asked in a smooth yet evil sounding tone as the young blonde stood there, uncertain of how to response as her shock began to turn into anxiety. Realizing that she could not allow her emotions to get the better of her however, she took a stern breath of air and stood to face him, having mostly regained her stern composure.
"Whether I see Patton as more than my friend is my own personal matter. Besides, even if that were the case, I doubt he'd ever feel the same way", Rachel replied in a stern tone, one which only deepened the old Drill Sergeant's evil smile.
"I'm quite certain he would and does", he replied, watching as her eyes softened. "After all, we may have our differences, but I am still him."
"Now why settle for him when you can have me", he asked in a smooth tone. "I'm much stronger both physically and mentally than he could ever be...And besides...With my strength and intelligence I can free you from your troublesome thoughts, and bring you into a peaceful life of servitude...There you an I can live together in peaceful harmony...as Citizombies" the old Drill Sergeant replied in a sincere, romantic sounding tone. And yet as he did, the young blonde could not help but stare at him in great confusion, for she was confused by his words.
"But...that doesn't seem right though...because if you really loved me, you wouldn't want me to be like this...just as the real you wants me just to be me...", she softly yet observantly replied.
"What are you saying", he asked in an curious tone.
"What I'm saying is that your words...your actions...even in your gestures...it almost seems as though whom you really love is my Citizombie self", Rachel replied in a soft tone, only to feel herself be vindicated upon seeing the grin run smooth across her opponent's old face.
"To an extent...Don't get me wrong though, I do have romantic feelings for you. But you're not wrong in assuming otherwise, for my true love is your beautiful Citizombie self", Patton replied in a deeply smitten tone as he felt her old, infected hand pressed up against his old face.
"So what do you say", he asked her in a low, almost seductive sounding tone. Despite the shock she clearly still felt, the young girl remained as stern as she could possibly be.
"I will never submit to you", Rachel replied in a low yet stern tone, one which caused the old Drill Sergeant's face to turn into budding anger. "You may still be Patton, but as far as I'm concerned, you'll never be him. And the only Patton I care about is the real you."
"Forget about him; I can give you so much more than he ever could", he replied in angered tone, one which seemed to oddly transform into a suave sounding one. "I can give you all that your heart desires..."
"I can bring you flowers and diamonds...make you smile...talk to you...listen to you...comfort you...take care of you...protect you...kiss you...I would even go as far as to make you evil Queen of the world...and I could be your loyal King...And together, we could rule as King and Queen of the Citizombies...if you desired it so...he suavely replied. And yet despite the love that Rachel could clearly see in his eyes, she could not help but spot the look of a madman hiding behind all that love, something which frightened her greatly.
"Never! You're insane if you think you can persuade me that easily", the young blonde yelled at him in furious rage as she tried to loosen his grip on her once more.
"Perhaps...but I can promise you that it won't be an offer you'll regret taking...if you choose to accept it...my love", the old Drill Sergeant smoothly replied, only for Rachel to feel even more disgusted with him now than she had been before.
"Forget it! It doesn't matter how you try and persuade me; I will banish Grandfather from my mind, and I will save humanity from his tyranny", the young girl yelled in a very stern yet noble sounding tone.
"But what happens once you defeat Grandfather", he asked in a sinister tone.
"What", she asked in angered confusion.
"What will happen? Sure, Grandfather will have been defeated, but what will become of you Rachel? True you'll have saved humanity...but you still won't have what you truly desire", he replied in a sinister tone.
" I'll have accomplished what I desire", she angrily replied.
"But you won't have your man", he sinisterly replied, his face lighting up at the moment of realization for her on this matter. "Think about it; You'll have saved humanity, and he'll go back to being your good friend, never to know how you truly feel about him. Don't you think that that's unfair?"
"I do...but...I've always felt it were better that Patton not know how I feel, so as to not ruin my current relationship with him...", she softly replied.
"But how is that fair to you? It's not really what you want? So why not seize the opportunity and make him yours?...Or rather...why settle for him when you can settle for me...", he suave asked her.
"But-"
" Think about it Rachel; in the real world we are constantly thwarted from giving into our feelings because of the rules and regulations of the Kids Next Door. Here, there's nothing to separate here, here we can live in peaceful harmony, if you just give into his power", he replied.
"But the rest of humanity will-"
"Screw the rest of humanity. As long as we have each other, that's all that should matter."
"But-"
"You love me Rachel, and I love you...and together we can live a peaceful life here in this beautifully corrupt world", he sinisterly replied.
"But that's not-"
"Isn't this what you've always wanted though Rachel? To be with me? To not care about your role, your responsibilities...or who you are", he asked her in a smooth tone as he caressed her soft cheeks with his wrinkly hands, smiling evilly at her as he did so. And yet despite the fear she felt as she looked into his pale yellow eyes, the young girl could not help but feel want, need, and even desire wash over her as she felt herself sinking deeper into his eyes.
"Yes...", she replied in a low, almost emotionless tone.
As she spoke those words, her beautiful chocolate brown eyes glazed over into a dazed looking state, her eyelids beginning to droop as her hand loosened its tight grip on her staff. Allowing an evil chuckle to escape his mouth at this sight, the old Drill Sergeant then proceeded to cup his beloved's soft chin as he he began to slowly lean in, preparing to kiss her soft lips. Unbeknownst to him however, a floating Alex was just entering the area. Despite her presence, she seemed a bit tired an lazy looking as she continued her search for her friend.
"Oh god, I feel like I'm going up the Congo river", Alex replied in tired yet oddly reserved sounding tone. Or at least that's how she felt and sounded until she found herself shocked by the sight her eyes were just now witnessing; the Citizombie caressing a dazed looking Rachel, now preparing to kiss her.
"Rachel-san, no! Don't do it! Rachel-san, wake-up, it's a trick", she yelled to her friend, only to find that it was of no use. Now feeling anxiety running throughout her body, the mutant brunette felt that she had no choice but to intervene as she began to make her way towards her friend.
"You will not interfere with my plans this time", replied the booming, arrogant yet sophisticated voice of Grandfather as his golden yellow eyes appeared right behind the mutant girl, stopping her dead in her floating tracks.
"Omiwa", she softly replied as she turned to face him, all the while muttering the Japanese word for "you".
It was now that she was turned to face her foe and equal, only for her to feel excruciating pain as the satanic demon zapped her with his pyrokinetic eye beams, taking immense pleasure of the obvious pain of his young equal as he did so. It would seem fair that wherever Wally was, he was safe from this nightmarish torture. But to say so would be a lie, for he too felt himself wrapped up in the pain of these beams, screaming as if there were no tomorrow. Though not together, the two friends continued to suffer simultaneously as they continued to scream in agony. Unfortunately, the shock was beginning to take a toll on their bodies in the real world, alerting their friends to their obvious pain. The pain only ended however once the two friends were zapped by a strange crimson lightning, causing them to let go of each others hands as they collapsed to the ground simultaneously.
"Numbuh 4", Hoagie and Patton screamed in unison as they ran over to their fallen friend.
"Wally", Kuki screamed as she followed suit.
"Two-Seventy-Three", Nigel yelled as he collapsed to his knees to try and pick up his fellow operative and friend.
"Alex", Abigail screamed as she ran over to help her leader pick up her fallen friend, their three other friends following in pursuit as they began to slowly pick the Australian blonde up.
"Numbuh 4, are you okay buddy", the plump pilot asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, are you", the young Drill Sergeant asked in a concerned tone as he watched his small friend open his emerald green eyes.
"Oh man, I feel like I road the Spleen Buster eleventy kajillion times in a row", Wally replied in a groggy tone as he began to rub the back of his head.
" Oh Wally", the little Asian girl replied as she hugged him in relief, embarrassing the young boy just as she always did. Not too long after this display of affection, the young mutant brunette slowly opened her brown eyes, bringing a sigh of relief to her black friend.
"Hey girl, you alright", the braided beauty asked.
"I'm fine...Dakara...", Alex replied in a panicked tone as she ran over towards her still sleeping friend, all the while muttering the Japanese word for "Still." She began her ritual by putting her hand atop of Rachel's soft forehead like she had done before, but upon making an attempt to enter her friend's dream realm once more, she felt herself become shocked by the mysterious crimson lightning once more. "Shit! Be blocked me from re-entry!"
"From -re-entry", the nerdy pilot asked in a confused tone.
" Yes. When Grandfather zapped us back into our bodies, he must have also blocked our entry way just to be certain that we'd have no way of re-entering", she replied in a rather stern yet observant tone.
" You mean he actually discovered you two", the British bald boy asked.
" Yeah. I don't even know how it happened. I was just walkin' around, minding my own business, when all of the sudden these evil glowing eyes came out of nowhere and zapped me. I don't get it", the short blonde complained.
"He must be able to see into all areas of Rachel-san's dream realm and we just didn't realize it. That's probably why he was quick to dispose of me when I found Rachel-san", the mutant girl replied in a panicked yet observant tone, one which could not help but catch the attention of the raven haired boy.
"What do you mean", he asked in a low, concerned sounding tone as she turned to face him.
"I saw Rachel-san with your Citizombie self. I'm not quite sure of what happened beforehand, but she seemed dazed...almost as if she were under his control or something...and I showed up just in time to see him puckering up to kiss her, which I can only assume is just another way to transform someone into a Citizombie", she explained in a somewhat panicked tone. But as he said her words, all that the young Drill Sergeant could feel was anxiety surging through his body; anxiety towards Rachel, anxiety towards her dilemma, and anxiety to the fact that she was in serious danger.
"Why didn't you try and stop him", Patton asked in a panicked tone, grabbing his comrade by the arms as he did so.
"I tried to intervene, but before I could, Grandfather showed up and zapped me back into my own body", she replied in a tone of obvious panic and concern, one which did not ease his own anxiety. Despite this however, the young Drill Sergeant refused to give up all hope. Feeling a singe of determination overtake him, the raven haired body collapsed to his knees as he wrapped his gloved hands around her uninfected hand, prepared to help her the only way he could.
"Rachel, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can then you need to snap out of it! You've come this far without giving into one of Grandfather's tricks, and you can do it again", he replied in a determined tone. "You have to...because I don't want him to win just as much as you do..."
"That monster me...I don't know if he feels the same way about you that I do...or if you feel the same way that I feel about you...but even so, I wouldn't change anything about you...and I know that you wouldn't change for anyone else either...Because you're wonderful just the way you are...So please Rachel...Please don't disappear", he replied in a more mixed tone of sorrow and determination, uncertain if his words would reach her.
His wish became a miracle however, for it seemed as though the dazed Rachel could hear the voice of someone familiar to her, someone important to her. The words seemed fuzzy at first, but slowly, they came into perspective as she remembered what she really wanted right now, why she was even here to begin with; to free herself and the rest of humanity from the clutches of possible servitude. It was then that her eyes reverted back to their natural chocolate colour as she became fully awake once more, only to see that the Citizombie Patton was now close to brushing his wrinkled lips up against hers. Although disgusted by this, the young blonde quickly pulled up her staff and socked him hard in the stomach, causing him to collide hard with the ground. Upon regaining his composure, he merely sat there, staring in complete shock at what the girl had just done to him.
"But...but I don't understand...How could you have possibly...", he replied, his mere surprise to the situation clearly being too much for him to even finish his own sentence.
"It's like what I told you before; the only Patton that I care about is the real you", she replied in a stern tone, almost as if to say that he held no real power over her mind or heart.
And as she said her words, the old Drill Sergeant felt himself become completely overtaken by shock, his mind pondering over how she was able to break his spell as he dispersed into an eerie green mist. As her opponent faded into the dust, the young girl continued to stand there in stern composure, feeling mostly relieved, but also somewhat triumphant about her recent victory. Surprise however, seemed to overtake her though upon hearing a loud rumbling sound not too far from behind. She turned around just in time to witness a deeply enraged looking Grandfather rise up from the dead ground, his angered look being just enough to return the young blonde to her usual stern composure.
"You accursed child...I knew that bringing you over to my side would be no small task...But I figured that at some point, one of my persuasions would turn you willingly to my side...And yet though I persuaded you with the lowest trick I could possibly devise...you are still yourself when by now you should be mine to do with as I please! How can you possibly resist me for this long", the satanic demon asked in a booming voice, his temper very clearly teetering on a very destructive emotional level. Despite this however, Rachel never felt her bravery or anger subside as she continued to sternly stare at the old man she was determined to defeat.
"Simple; before I went to sleep, I read a few passages of the Book of KND, and fell asleep with it tightly wrapped in in my arms, knowing that it would give me a boost in the courage and strength I needed in order to defeat you", she replied in a loud, yet stern sounding tone.
"What! You used the Book", he replied in a rather angered tone of disbelief. "But how could you have possibly known about its immense power!"
"Because I remember all of the stories that Nigel told me that talked about the Book. I also remembered Fanny telling me something that her father heard you say; When kids read it, they discover the one thing more powerful than you", the young girl replied in a stern yet calm sounding tone, all the while allowing a small smirk to surface upon her beautiful face.
As she did though, it only caused the old man's temper to rise to the point of unleashing his wrath. Upon realizing that it wold do him no good to waste in energy in such a manner, he began to try and calm his anger, a look of slight annoyance now clear on his face as he continued to stare at his opponent and target.
"Very well...You have proven yourself be and enjoyable and formidable opponent, too much so to waste my temper on you...but even so, I grow impatient! If I cannot make you surcome to my power in a more sophisticated manner...I'm going to have to conform you by force", he replied in a booming voice, clearly voicing his subsided anger. Yet as he did so, Rachel did not budge an inch, she still looked as fierce and determined as ever, almost as if to say "You will not defeat me".
End chap.10