BK93: HERE COMES THE ACTION CHAPTER I PROMISED…I hope! Let's see how well I screw things up, shall we?

Blackheart: Gladly! (sarcastic)

BK93: (glare) Well, unlike most times I've written, I'm actually on my meds and have no idea what to say! So I'm just going to go ahead and get the ball rolling, because I know you're dying to know what happens next!

REVIEWERS OF CHAPTER 8!

Thank you thank you thank you for reviewing, first of all! The reviewers of this chapter were piratewitch92, DemonBlackheart, Gothicprincess303, and AngelOnTheRun! LOVE TO ALL!

Chapter 9: Of Nightmares, Secrets, and Magic

Angel didn't know how long she had slept, and momentarily forgot where she was. Everything was dark, and then, there was a sudden burst of light. The cell door was open and a figure stood in the doorway, but Angel couldn't tell whose. A voice spoke, and it was the best thing Angel had ever heard.

"Angel?" The voice called. "Angel?"

"Who's there?" Angel asked warily, knowing who it was but just making sure.

"It's me, Angel. I've come to rescue you." The voice became more distinctive and Angel recognized it almost immediately.

"Blackheart?" Angel had been sitting up. She was standing now, and footsteps brought the illuminated figure of her demon boyfriend to her. He held his arms open and she ran into them. "I was beginning to worry…" She admitted, looking up into his eyes. Something suddenly didn't seem right. His eyes were the wrong color…Blackheart's eyes were a deep pitch black. The eyes of the look-alike holding her were a very deep, soulless violet. Everything seemed to shift, and it was no longer Blackheart holding her, but Matthias. Angel shrieked and pushed him away.

"What's the matter, Angel? Don't you remember me?" It was Blackheart's voice in Matthias's body. Then, Matthias shifted back into Blackheart with his own voice. "You want to see what your darling prince really looks like?" The ever-shifting form became a hulking black and violet monster with fangs and claws. Its eyes were a blood red and there was no pupil to speak of. It was somehow reptilian, completed with a long black tail. Black hair –if you could call it that- sprouted from its head. The monster gave a grin, and its sharp pearl-white fangs appeared to be dappled with blood. Angel gasped and backed away. "Now stop me if you've seen this guy before." Matthias spoke through the great black monster. Once again, he changed shape, taking on someone very familiar to Angel.

"Dad!!" She shouted. The image of Johnny Blaze stood before Angel now, and her eyes welled with tears. "What do you want with him?!" She cried.

"Watch this. Dear old daddy isn't all he's cracked up to be." Matthias tormented, using Johnny's voice to break her down even more. The fake Johnny's hair began to catch fire. Angel watched in pure horror as the flames spread, burning hair and flesh and muscle and ligament. The flames that consumed his face flared higher to form what looked like a great crown of fire around his bleached white skull, and his hands were skeletal and burning. The flaming form of Johnny Blaze roared loudly, the mere force sending Angel to the ground in total shock, tears flowing freely now. "They're all so FAKE. Liars, every one of them. Can't trust any of them. Remember this face?" Matthias was now Roxanne, Angel's mother. "What about him? Him? Him?" Roxanne became Abigor, Abigor became Wallow, Wallow became Gressil. Angel was sobbing now, but an unknown force held her face towards the ever-changing mass, her eyes practically glued open. Gressil became Adriana, who became Melissa, who became Johnston, who became Mephistopheles. Lastly, Mephistopheles became Carter Slade. "Remember this guy? He's the whole reason any of the shit ever happened to you, Angel. Because dear old daddykins had to bring you to meet him, only to get you kidnapped by Blackheart." Matthias became Johnny again, then Blackheart once again. "And then you made the biggest mistake of your life. You fell in love with the Prince of HELL!!" Suddenly, Blackheart was Selene. "Who can't understand the meaning of love at all." Selene's voice taunted her. "Sorry to burst your bubble, baby, but that's how it is!!! They all LIED to you, Angel. Your father, your boyfriend, your mother, your friends…" Matthias's form was changing so rapidly now Angel couldn't tell any of them apart.

"Stop…" She muttered. "Stop. Please, stop!" Matthias continued to change at a very rapid pace. "STOP!!" Angel shrieked, and Matthias became himself again. He bent down to Angel's level, wiping away one of her many tears.

"See you when you wake up, Angel." He said, and Angel succumbed completely to total and utter blackness.

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"Angel? Angel, wake up." Something shook her, and Angel's eyes shot open. Her pupils were doubled in size as she saw Selene looking down at her with a worried look on her face. She screamed and jolted up and away from the villainess, tears falling again.

"St-stay away from me!" She released the stammering cry as Selene tried to approach her. The frightened, no, horrified girl was crouched in the farthest corner of the cell now.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Selene asked.

"I'm warning you! D-don't come any closer!" Selene crouched in front of her, gently running a hand through her red-brown hair.

"Calm down, you probably just had a nightmare." Probably was the understatement of the millennia and she knew it. The poor child had been crying, screaming, and having convulsions in her sleep. She had shouted for something to stop several times, but continued to shiver and cry. Selene knew Matthias had to have had a part in Angel's nightmare.

"Please…don't…change…" She cried, but reacted to Selene's soft petting of her hair and began to calm down and shiver. Her tears lessened. Selene was at once surprised by Angel's statement.

"I'm not going to change, Angel. I don't have that ability." She gently hugged the shivering child. "It's alright now. You're safe." She whispered. The cell door was suddenly flung open, revealing Matthias.

"I trust you slept well, Angel?" The mere sound of his voice sent Angel back into hysterics. Selene stood in front of her and faced Matthias, hate racing through her veins.

"What the hell did you do to her, you bastard?!" She shouted, rage resonating in her voice. Matthias merely shrugged, which seriously pissed her off.

"Just played with her mind a little. Showed her the truth." He gave a however small, very sadistic smirk.

"About what?!" Selene raged. Whatever Matthias called the "truth" had seriously messed with Angel's mind, making the girl a basket case waiting to burst. Matthias's smirk widened to a full-on, very creepy evil smile.

"Everything. Blackheart, her father, everything." He said.

"You screwed up her mind, you fucking psycho!" Selene yelled, hands balling into fists at her sides.

"Move, Selene." Matthias held up a hand, palm upturned, and clenched it into a fist. Selene was suddenly bound by an invisible force. Matthias swung his arm, and Selene was forcefully thrown, crashing against the opposite wall and falling back to the floor with a groan. She lay there, unmoving, either unconscious or dead, Matthias didn't care. Angel was looking up at him, her eyes possibly the size of saucers in fear.

"Good morning, Angel dear."

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If sleep was necessary to Blackheart's survival, he wouldn't have gotten any that night. She was barely gone and he missed her presence. The warmth she brought to everything, her sweet voice, the heavenly way her elegant blue eyes sparkled…He sat up in the bed all night, hugging the pillow she had used, his face buried in it. It smelled like her hair…that glorious, silken red-brown mass of sinfully straight hair that hung to her shoulders. He missed her. He missed holding her close while she slept every night, watching her sleep, holding her close…She always liked to be right next him, cuddled in his arms, although he offered no warmth, no pulse, no breath. She just slept curled against him, her head either on the pillow or on his chest. Her legs wrapped around his a few times during some nights, not that he minded in the least bit. He loved the way she slept, snuggled against him. He just flat out loved her. He had gotten used to her presence, and the quiet of no gently-breathing Angel was driving him mad. Even if Blackheart didn't need to breathe, he inhaled Angel's scent, before angrily casting the only thing in his bedroom that he hadn't totally destroyed in his fit of rage. "Goddammit Angel!" He shouted as the pillow connected with the wall. "Why did you have to let him kidnap you?! Why wasn't I there to protect you?! GODDAMMIT!" Blackheart shouted in frustration, fisting his hands in his spiky black hair. "Why wasn't I there to protect you?" He lay down on what remained of his bed, staring at the ceiling, hands behind his head. "Angel…" He rubbed his temples to fight the oncoming headache as the result of a stressful couple of hours. He would get his Angel back, no matter what the cost…

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Angel sat silently beside Matthias, her once-gleaming blue-gray eyes now a dull, lifeless gray. Matthias had found her another dress to wear after she had ripped hers taking care of Selene, a flowing red one, almost exactly the same as her previous white one. Matthias had made sure everything about her was neat and tidy. Her hair was swept back into a neat ponytail and a ruby necklace hung about her neck. She looked regal again, and quite beautiful. The spell he had placed over her in her dreams was working wonderfully. Matthias anticipated visitors that day to put the spell to further tests. If he was right, Blackheart would show up to get her back soon, and she would be terrified of him. Ah, how lovely that would be…Angel running from Blackheart and back into the safety of his arms…He smirked at what he expected to be the prince's reaction before looking at the beautiful puppet he had created from the prince's girlfriend. He took hold of her chin and stared into her empty gray eyes.

"We're going to have some visitors today, okay, my dear?" He said, as if the girl could actually hear him. The spell had caused her to wander deep inside her mind, lost and silenced. She just sat there, like a cold, lifeless doll.

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Much like Blackheart, Johnny hadn't slept, either. Johnston had put him in a room not far from Blackheart's, and he now lie on the bed, hugging a pillow and staring at the ceiling. He hadn't agonized for weeks for this!! He and Angel should be at home right now, safe and sound. But now, another psycho had his baby girl. "This is all my fucking fault…I'm so sorry Angel…" He muttered, a tear escaping his eye. "I'm so sorry…" As he mumbled, Johnny rolled over on his side, still hugging the pillow and trying to get a little bit of rest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…" He mumbled as he slipped into a restless, dreamless few moments of on-again, off-again sleep.

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The two enemies turned temporary comrades were now about two seconds from leaving, the three elementals ready to go on a split-millisecond's notice. Johnny mounted Grace, both he and the chopper taking on their ghastly flaming appearances. He looked over at Blackheart.

"How you gonna get there?" The Rider's voice was slightly different from Johnny's, deeper and sounding more like a lion's roar than anything.

"Well, he'll be expecting me to teleport, so I thought I'd run." Blackheart said nonchalantly.

"How's about a race, then?" The Rider proposed. Blackheart shrugged.

"Whatever causes us to double-time it there, I guess." The pair took off, Abigor close behind. After they had found their way, the air elemental would show the slower two how to get there by the quickest means. The Rider accelerated, and Blackheart ran faster. They were neck-and-neck until they reached Matthias's "fortress", causing the Rider to have to skid to a stop, leaving a larger-than-usual smoking black trail of burnt rubber. Blackheart stood at the door before Johnny had dismounted.

"I win." The demon said cockily. Johnny glared. Abigor materialized as he normally would, looked around, and vanished again, back to Gressil and Wallow. Blackheart pushed open the great oaken doors and the two entered a large, black room.

"Congratulations on making it, my Prince. And who's this you have with you? Your princess's father? How amusing." Light suddenly filled the room, except for one area, where Matthias stepped out from, wearing a sadistic, sarcastic smirk.

"Where is she?!" Blackheart demanded.

"None of your damn business." Matthias said, giving them a particularly evil smile now.

"It is my business!! Now Where. Is. My. Girlfriend?!" Blackheart grabbed Matthias by his shirtfront. The other demon didn't seem phased at all. He instead looked over at the other person in the room, Johnny.

"You must be Angelique's father. You really do have quite a charming daughter."

"Yeah, I know. Now where the hell is she?!" Johnny demanded. Matthias seemed determined not to tell them.

"If you insist in seeing her…Angel, my dear, you can come out now." Matthias was looking toward the shadowy corner that he had appeared from. Angel slowly stepped out from the shadows. Blackheart released Matthias and ran over to her, holding her in a tight embrace.

"Angel!! Are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he? Angel what's wrong? Why aren't you talking? Angel?!" Angel's eyes were glassy and cold and had lost the spark of happiness they normally held. They were…empty. She was cold and unresponsive. Blackheart released her and turned to Matthias, the hate and rage on his face so clear it could destroy everything in the room, namely the other smirking demon.

"She's lost in her mind at the moment, wandering its deepest plains. She knows no one except me." Blackheart's face was now etched with worry and fear.

"Angel? It's me, Blackheart! Remember?" Something in Angel's mind jogged to life. Her nightmare. She saw Blackheart become a horrible monster and instantly tried to get away.

"No…stay back! Stay back!!!" She cried, backing away.

"What's gotten into you? It's me!"

"No…stay back!!!!" She cried again, running to Matthias, who held her in his arms. She looked at Blackheart frightenedly as the other demon petted her hair and cooed.

"It's alright, I've got you now." He then lifted Angel up and sat her down in a chair against the wall. "Now you wait right there. I'll be right back."

"What in the name of hell did you do to my daughter?!" Johnny shouted.

"I showed her what you never would. The truth!" Matthias caught fire and became a mirror image of the Ghost Rider. "Thought you would be able to keep it a secret forever, did you?" Johnny's eyes widened and he growled ferociously. "And you." Matthias turned to Blackheart. "When were you planning on showing her your true nature, Prince?" Matthias then became the hulking black monster that was Blackheart's true self. Blackheart roared with rage and fired a spell at Matthias, hitting him directly in the chest and sending him into the opposite wall. "So that's how you want to play, eh?" Matthias said as he got up, back to looking like himself. He fired a spell at Blackheart, who quickly ducked and fired another. Soon, spells were bouncing back and forth, ricocheting off the walls. One narrowly missed Johnny and he ducked behind an overturned table, the same one Blackheart was hiding behind.

"It would be wonderful if you would help!" Blackheart said, firing another spell at Matthias.

"How? I can't do magic!!" Johnny said angrily.

"No. But the Rider can help." Blackheart said, ducking as a spell ricocheted off the wall and came back at him. Johnny transformed into the Rider and whipped the long chain from about his chest. He pulled it taught and caused it to catch fire before twirling it as one would a lasso before throwing it at Matthias and catching him in it, tightening it.

"Yee haw! One little doggie rangled." The Rider chuckled. Blackheart rolled his eyes at the cowboy-at-heart and walked toward the other demon.

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The three elementals had been told that Angel was being kept in a cell and that they were to bust her out while Johnny and Blackheart kept Matthias busy. Gressil wandered a long corridor of cells before he smelled something familiar…Angel! He followed the scent to one particular cell and wrenched the oak door from its hinges and rested it against the wall. Angel wasn't in the cell, but another woman was. Selene.

"You're not Angel…" He said dumbly.

"No shit Sherlock." Selene replied, getting up. "Matthias took her. We have to go help her." She walked past him and out of the cell, using one hand to guide and support herself along the wall, the other to clutch at what Gressil guessed to be a few broken ribs. She walked with a limp and the earth elemental had to take all of a half-step to stand beside her.

"You're in no condition to be walking anywhere." Gressil said, calling the other two elementals. Wallow and Abigor seemed to spring up from nowhere in front of him and Selene.

"Matthias took her with him. Now we have to go help Blackheart and the Rider." The elementals started off toward the empty parlor of the fortress, where the battle was being held, Selene in tow.

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"I'll cut you a deal, Rider. Let me go and I'll break the spell on your daughter." Matthias proposed. There was something in his voice that made the pair of enemies-turned-comrades not want to trust him. The Rider looked at Blackheart.

"It's the only way." The demon prince said, and the Rider released Matthias. He turned toward Angel, somehow unharmed in the brawl, and began to mutter something in Latin. His voice rose as he continued to recite what the Rider and Blackheart believed was the counterspell. Selene and the elementals burst into the room and Selene recognized what Matthias was reciting instantly: a curse that would not save Angel, but kill her.

"NO!!!" Selene ran as fast as her wounded body would allow her to and flung herself in front of Angel as Matthias fired the curse. It struck Selene's chest dead center, almost blowing a hole through the villianess's body. She fell forcefully to the floor and skidded to a stop by the wall. Blackheart and the Rider looked from Selene's obviously dead body to Matthias.

"You were going to kill her you BASTARD!" Blackheart jumped on Matthias and flat out punched him hard in the mouth, shattering teeth and breaking his jaw. Matthias tried to fire the same curse at Blackheart but failed and settled for firing a spell at him. It grazed the prince's shoulder as he continued to beat Matthias to a bloody pulp. Gressil and Wallow went over to check on Selene. Abigor stood by just in case Blackheart needed him. The Rider, now Johnny once again, went over to Angel and shook her.

"Angel, it's me, daddy! C'mon Angel, say you remember me!" He shook his daughter again, but her eyes maintained their lifeless appearance. Gressil walked over to the father and daughter.

"Selene's dead…She saved Angel's life…" He said softly. Something in Angel's mind awoke.

Selene…is…dead? She died to save…me? Images of the dark villainess floated through Angel's mind. She's…dead? Angel began to fight the spell that held her captive. I must see her! Much to Gressil and Johnny's surprise, Angel jumped up and ran over to Selene. They both swore they had seen something in the emptiness of her eyes. Selene…Angel saw the hold where Matthias's curse had hit.

Keep fighting Angel, you're almost free! A familiar voice spoke in Angel's mind. In her mind, the image of Selene materialized in front of Angel.

Selene!!

Just keep fighting Angel, you've almost broken the spell! I can help, but it might hurt when you wake up…A glowing light swallowed up the mental vision on Angel. What everyone else saw astonished them to the core. Blackheart stood beside Matthias's spell-riddled body, covered in the other demon's black blood. He had made damn sure Matthias wasn't getting up again. A small stream of light emitted by Selene's body flowed into Angel's forehead before a greater amount of light slammed her body into the opposite wall, knocking her completely unconscious. She fell forward onto the stone floor.

"ANGEL!!!" Blackheart and Johnny sprinted over to her, leaning down over the small, unconscious body. "Angel?" Blackheart shook her. "Angel?" She groaned, the first noise she had made since they came to save her. Blackheart rocked back on his heels. The groan meant she was alive. Suddenly, the stone under his heel moved and Matthias's voice filled the fortress.

"Congratulations, prince. You've found the self-destruct button. You better run now, because I rigged this place to blow everything to bits! Have fun running."

Blackheart and Johnny looked at each other and both were thinking the same thing. "OH SHIT!" Johnny scooped up Angel and started running. The elementals were already headed for the door. Blackheart started to run, but remembered Selene's body.

She saved Angel…she doesn't deserve a burial by explosion! He told himself, grabbing her dead body and lugging it out with him. As soon as Blackheart had rushed out the door, the fortress exploded, sending him and Selene's body flying. Selene was lost to the forest surrounding them. Blackheart rose a groan and found the others, Johnny still cradling his unconscious child in his arms. She groaned and stirred, waking up. Johnny looked from her to Blackheart.

"She's awake!" Blackheart ran over to stand beside Johnny.

"What…happened?" She asked, putting a hand to her head. Johnny gently put her down, helping her stand. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck…Knowing my luck, that's probably not the case." Angel didn't even bother to look at who was stabilizing her. She saw Blackheart and tried to run to him, almost falling. He quickly caught her in his arms and held her tightly, kissing her soundly.

"I thought I'd lost you." She said as she pulled away.

"I thought I'd lost you." He replied, kissing her again. Johnny cleared his throat and the couple quickly pulled apart, Blackheart remembering they weren't alone. Angel looked over at Johnny and her eyes filled with tears.

"You start making out with him and I haven't seen you in fifty billion years and don't even get as much as a hug?" He joked. Angel jumped on her father and hugged him tightly. Johnny held on tightly and never wanted to let go. "I missed you princess." He said, kissing the top of her head. Angel buried her face in his chest.

"I missed you too." She said into his shirt, holding on tightly. Blackheart just smiled at the reunion of father and daughter, ignoring the fact that it had been him that had taken her from him in the first place. Angel's eyes glittered with unshed tears. Wallow cleared his throat this time.

"While this is all wonderful and sweet, I hate to wreck the reunion, but we need to get back to the castle now, don't we?"

BK93: AND CUT! That's a wrap for this chapter! So sad…Selene died…(moment of silence for Selene) ANYWAY……Wow, I completed chapter 9! Chapter 10 is going to be HELL to come up with an idea for…

Blackheart: Which means I have time to escape to Peru!

BK93: Oh no you don't! (ties Blackheart up) Anyway, I have an idea, but it will be very, very, very strange…

AUTHORESS'S COMMENTS

THERE WERE NO NUMBERED COMMENTS MADE IN THIS CHAPTER!

UNNUMBERED NOTES

MAN, I am EVIL, doing that to poor little Angel! And don't we all feel sorry for Selene? So sad. Chapter 10 will be out sooner than I think!

REVIEWS ARE LIKE COOKIES, VERY NICE.