Chapter 9: Raising The Dead
One Of Janice's Hidden Talents
Author's Note: Hey there! It's been like what, almost a year? I haven't been at my highest in life, then again nowadays no one is...An ways, this is the first official chapter and the hiatus is over! New chapters once a week and twice if I'm up to it. IF YOU'RE AN OLD READER, JUST READ CLOCKWORK'S EXPLANATION! (© Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon)
Somewhere deep within the ghost zone, a large decaying coffin shook violently underground. Deep red crimson lights spread across a forgotten ghost territory, its gnarled lifeless trees twisted, shrubs went up into flames, spears, knives, and swords arose from the yellowish green sands. The green skies were covered in smoke, reaching above the horizon, but were focused around the buried casket.
A pair of bandaged arms ripped through the ground, pulling a body and bits of wood with it. Muscles seized under rotting green flesh, red eyes skimmed its surroundings, and black hair whipped around a square face. The body was dressed in medieval roman armor, bandages covering each limb. A sword drew up next to it, roughly grabbing the weapon he shouted.
"Men awaken! For it is time that I, Thesis, become your king once again!" the last words echoed across the fields, a thunderbolt struck the ground.
Every decayed tree staggered before changing, each one morphing into corpses dressed as soldiers. Weapons were grabbed, limbs fell, legs staggered, but once they all settled they were kneeling in front of their king. The largest of them all stood next to the king, grunting as his left arm fell with sword in hand.
"Remus, dear friend, what has happen to you-?" Thesis' jaw fell, dangling from the skin of his neck. Pushing his jaw back up, he grimaced. "What has happen to all of us? Where is my beloved Rose? Where is Rosetta?"
"The afterlife is cruel, we are mere rotting flesh. Where is our promised land?" The larger roman grunted. "Thesis, my lord, our promised land."
The king let his jaw fall, thumping his collarbone. The blind witch promised of a better afterlife for him and his men, were they would all be reunited with their loved ones. Skimming the land he noticed where he was, the dead lands. The very land, the very desert, he and his men perished while protecting the front of his queen's kingdom. This was not the reward he dreamed of!
Throwing his sword to the ground, he roared. "My men! We have been tricked, the gods laugh at our face!" Cracking his jaw in place painful, he snarled. "If they do not show us our promised land, we shall take theirs! Show yourselves gods! Show yourselves and fight!"
The army roared with their king, filled with rage and hate.
"Show us our promised land!" Thesis was blinded by a white vortex, it hummed and whirred in front him. Teasing him, he was sure of it. "Is this how you show yourself?" he shouted. "Are you a coward? Fight!" He picked up his sword and ran into the void, his troop followed behind.
Janice pinched the bridge of her nose. She was once again stuck with a drunk Will, and he only drank a piña colada. A piña colada. This man, no, this boy could not handle alcohol. He was sitting at the hotels bar smiling like an idiot; Vlad decided to go mini-golfing with Gregory. Now she was babysitting some stupid drunk.
"Janice," Will sung, "I am not about to throw up." his eyes twinkled with mischief.
After a week with Will, she knew he was lying. Other than being a happy drunk, he was a lying drunk. She sighed, the bartender pulled out a bucket for Will, hearing Will vomit was enough to make her sick.
"Ok, I'm done." Will muttered into the bucket, he vomited again.
As he finished, the bartender left to dispose the liquid. He lazily looked up at Janice, with that smile Janice hated. "I think I saw Buddha." He slurred.
Janice slammed her head against the bar table. She cursed herself for wearing a long red dress, it was just too hot to wear anything else, wishing she had worn a tee and shorts like Will. Kicking someone over the head in a long dress is hard. "Shut up Will." Janice grounded.
Will frowned, but kept quiet. Then a loud crash was heard in the lobby.
"I didn't do it!" Will shouted as Janice turned towards the opening of the lobby.
A small closet door that was in the lobby shattered, roman zombies filled the lobby. The people that were lounging in the lobby ran for their lives, the lobbyist picked up the phone and called the police, the Romans shouted angrily.
"Seize this tower for the king!" One of the soldiers shouted, others ran to capture the people running away. "Make these peasants the King's servants!"
"What?" Will pushed himself up on Janice's shoulders, trying to get a better look at what was happening. "Is it Halloween already?"
"No, but we should be running already." Janice grabbed Will's hand and ran for the emergency exist in the bar.
Pushing the door open, Will pulled Janice back. Before Janice could yell at him, a spear lodged itself into the door. "Crud."
"You there," a voice shouted from behind, "where do you think your going?"
"Double crud." Breathed Will.
Being tied next to Will wasn't the ideal vacation, nor was being surrounded by a bunch of roman zombies. Janice grumbled as she wiggled against, now sober, Will. Will glared at her as if it was her fault that they were tied up in the first place, Janice glared back.
The people that were also bounded in the lobby huddled in fear, eyeing the soldiers like they would attack any second. They gasped when the soldiers quickly made two straight lines, making way for what looked like to be their leader.
The leader glared at the people with a hateful sneer, "I am King Thesis, by now and all eternity you all will become my servants. Any questions? No-"
"Get me out these stupid ropes." Will growled. Every human gasped at the outburst, Janice just hissed his name.
"What? Do my ears deceive me?" Thesis walked over to Will. "Does a low servant dare speak to me?"
"I'm no one's servant." Will smirked.
Thesis' loose jaw clenched. Raising his foot, he smashed it against Will's head, sending both Janice and Will skipping across the floor.
"Will, if we ever get out of this. I am going to kill you." Janice pulled at the ropes, getting them both sitting up again. Looking at Thesis she flinched, he was really ugly.
Thesis staggered, "Rosetta," he whispered. "You there, girl, next to the fool. What is your name?" he stepped closer to the pair.
Janice tried to scoot away from the king, but Will held them still. "Fudging rice." She cursed her luck.
"Hey, I'm not done with you." Will spat, his face was bruised.
"I am very much finished with you." the king sent his foot towards Will again, only to miss when Will pushed himself and Janice to the side. "Hold still, peasant." Thesis stomped on Will's left leg, making him cry in pain.
"Jesus, Will." Janice looked at her partner with shock.
"Now where was I? Oh yes," The rotting soldier smiled. "your name." he kneeled in front Janice, ignoring Will's cursing.
Janice paled seeing his red glowing eyes and how the skin on his jaw hanged. Swallowing, she opened her mouth, only to be frozen by fear. She did not think a character from a cartoon could be this scary.
"Your name?" The corpse asked again.
"Her name is Janice," A voice came from behind. "And I would very much appreciate it if you released her." Plasmius sent an ecto-beam towards the roman, sending the leader flying.
"Plasmius!" Shouted Janice is surprise.
"A god!" one of the soldiers shouted.
"Men, prepare to fight!" Thesis shouted while standing up.
Plasmius multiplied himself three times, four Plasmius' fought the oncoming army. Steel swords clashed with ecto swords, fists connected with undead flesh, and ecto blood splattered everywhere. None of the soldiers paid attention to the escaping captives.
Gregory and human Vlad untied everyone, instructing them to quietly leave the inn. When Gregory untied Janice and Will, Janice had to help Will stand up. Looking back at the fight, Janice winced when one of the Plasmius' was punched in the face.
Once outside, Will leaned against Janice as ambulances came to the building. A medic walked up to them check Will's bruised face and injured leg, sending for a stretcher a few zombie soldiers came out of the building. Everyone screamed and fled the scene, the medic checking Will ran for the nearest ambulance that began to drive away.
"Now I know why there were barely any cops on the show." Janice muttered as the policemen ran back into their cars driving away.
"Great, mister high and mighty is coming over here." Will glared as Thesis walked over to them. "Janice you stay here and fight him off, I'm going to hop for it."
"What the heck Will!" Janice twisted the arm Will had over her shoulder.
Both young adults bickered amongst each other, ignoring the fact that their lives were endangered. Thesis withdrew his sword, slowly walking towards them, then thrust the point in front of Will's visage.
"I command you release the girl, peasant." the zombie's red eyes narrowed.
Will looked at the undead king, then at the sword. Scowling, Will threw his mouth opened. "Ok, first of all, I am not a peasant. Second of all she's the one holding my arm."
Thesis' eyes widen, he snarled at the boy that was mocking him. "That's it boy. Now you die!"
Will's father voice rang, and the ancient warrior was thrown back. Plasmius showed up holding his fist high in the air smoking. Thesis' jaw fell off, hanging loosely against his chest. The fallen soldier slowly stood up, grabbing his jaw he forced it back into place. Giving out a battle cry, the soldier charged after Plasmius. Both undead creatures struggled with each other, Vlad having the upper hand for not being rotten flesh.
"Your cell's ringing." Will droned, indulged with the battle in front of them.
"Cell…We are being attacked by zombies and you're talking about my cell." Janice just about had enough of this moron. "Will, where is your head Will? Did the zombie kick it off your shoulders when he was beating the cheese out of you?" She didn't even remember bringing her cell, but something in her bra was vibrating. Reaching for whatever was vibrating, she pulled out Clockwork's compact.
She looked at Will seeing that his eyes were glued to the fight. Snapping the item open, she was greeted by the time ghost's face. "Janice, it seems that we have a little problem in our hands."
"No," Janice mockingly drawled, "really?"
Clockwork ignored her, "It seems that your presences in this world has awaken an army that wasn't do for another millennia. The story begins thousands of years ago, where a small group of the Roman soldiers that sailed over to Africa in hopes of expanding the Roman Empire. Irrational I know, but that's what you get if you're only a group full of overconfident human males. Unlucky for them, they were building their new stronghold in the territories of a nearby tribal village. They were pushed deep into a desert and lost many of their goods, but they met a wandering witch that foretold of good fortunate if they would spare her some food. With little flesh she had, the soldier felt obliged to feed her. A few miles into their journey, they found a palace filled with servants, and a pale, white queen. The leader of the band of men, Thesis, instantly fell in love with her, and she with him. And don't interrupt me."
Janice held her tongue, but she really wanted to know why there was a white woman in Africa.
"The queen and the Roman leader married within a few weeks, the soldiers grew jealous as they themselves didn't have a love of their own. The queen, being the good hearted person she was, allowed the soldier to court any of her servants of their chosen. Soon the kingdom grew, filled with children and happy marriage, but not all was well. The queen could not bare children, for every time she tried she was doomed to fail. Both the queen and Thesis were devastated for not being able to deliver offspring.
"Years passed, when the witch Thesis and his men fed appeared to them. She began explaining why the queen couldn't produce offspring, for the neighboring kingdom was using dark magic so no heir would inherit her land. Furious, the Roman leader declared war against the kingdom, with his men by his side. The witch then asked for three pieces of gold, incase the men fell in battle, for she would promise them a better afterlife. Little did they know that the witch was really casting a spell that would keep them and their land asleep for three thousand years.
"When all the men died during battle, the queen begged the witch that next time she was reborn in this world she would be reunited with her love. The witch agreed, as long as her family could live within the palace. Summoning great spirits, the queen's soul was scattered around several worlds, until her soul settled whole once again in three thousands years. Turns out you have a piece of her soul…oops."
"Wait, what?" Janice blinked at Clockwork.
"Here, let me just," the ghost's image was washed away, showing a short plump woman with white hair and red eyes. "Take away the red eyes and white hair, replace them with green eyes and black hair. We get you." His voice chimed.
"You've got to be kidding me." She felt Will's arm shift over her shoulder.
"Great," Will growled, "team zombie is heading this way."
"Ignore the boy Janice, this is more important." Clockworks voice snapped, his image was back on the mirror. "Your presence here has awoken an army of the undead, and they will not stop until they are given what they want."
"If it's me, I'm out of here." the teenager was not going to be some ugly zombie's queen.
"No," Clockwork chuckled. "it's their promised land. The leader would be a bit tricky to please, but the others just want their promised land. All you need to do-. Hold on, don't go anywhere." The image showed Clockwork going away then coming back again with a Fenton thermos. "There are times where I wish he had a timeline so it wouldn't be so infuriating to be around him." Glaring at the object, he roughly shoved it into his cloak. "Now where was I? Oh yes, all you have to do is find a painting the queen made before she died, a painting of the promised land. After that, you'll have to imprison them, the army, into the painting. They'll be placed back under the original spell and awaken when Rosetta comes back."
"How am I supposed to do all that?" The teenager looked up to see a bunch of Plasmius fighting off zombies.
"You'll manage," Clockwork smirked, "after all, you have quite a few allies." His chuckling image vanished, leaving Janice to stare at her own displeased face.
"We need to scram fast." Will shifted to her left.
"Dear, I would advise you to put that away." Gregory said to her right.
Snapping her compact closed, Janice was slowly processing the concept that she may, or may not, have some hidden ability.
"Come on chubby," Will reached for the compact, but Janice quickly stuffed it in her bra. "We need to move."
"I'm going to ignore the rude behavior towards a lady, but he's right sweetie." Gregory took Will's arm from her shoulder and put it across his. "It's too dangerous to stay here, and I've lost sight of your father." He ignored Will's glare and Janice's wincing.
"I think Vla-, my dad, would be fine on his own." Janice felt her tongue swell as she said 'dad.' "He is a full grown man after all."
"That is correct, but I'm sure anyone could be hurt by Roman zombies." Gregory started moving away from the battlefield. "I mean, look at that poor Wisconsin Ghost. Who would have thought it would follow you and your father all the way here."
"Yeah," Janice witnessed Vlad's ghost forms being slammed into one whole being. She almost felt sorry for him, almost.
The trio began their movement of safety away from the undead.
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