CHAPTER ELEVEN
IS insanity the price we often pay for power?
First of all, what do we define as "insane"? Certainly there are SOME standards. If a person dressed up in a loincloth in the middle of the day and sat atop a cloth, chanting Hindu songs, we'd probably say he needs to go to the loony bin, posthaste.
But, if that person firmly believes he is GANDHI, then there is some degree of logic to this insanity.
So, insanity is, in a sense, trying to justify a ridiculous, even HORRIFYING action through some twisted logic. In this regard…
Jack…was definitely going insane.
Jack calmly let out a looong breath of pink smoke as he tossed the Hypercortisone X inhaler to the side and smirked. "Ahhh, it's like breathing the electric air of the future." He remarked as Spectra, Spooky, Gavrilo, Esmeralda, Pele and Hiaka walked alongside him down the hallway of their new mansion. Mr. Jeffers wasn't going to…need it anymore. Nor would his wife. Both of them had been TRAGICALLY drowned in their own bathtubs. Or at least, that would be the story in the news tomorrow.
"Such a tragedy." Hiaka snickered, holding up her paw and forming a swirling orb of water. "Now what are we gonna do about their kids?" She asked.
"Yeah, those cheating twosome deserved it for their disloyalty, but what about the kids?" Esmeralda asked. "I don't hurt children anymore; I've thrown that part of me behind."
"Hmm. I'm not sure." Jack remarked as he kept walking down the hallway, heading towards the stairs. "I mean, I don't think anybody in town has DONE this before. We're picking off the scum and the phonies and the fakes one at a time. How far does one GET?"
"About as far as this." Snizzi remarked, smirking up at them as he leaned back against the wall, looking up at them all. "I know this'll hurt, but I gotta say it…you're pathetic. You really, really are."
"Oh?" Spectra inquired, her orb-like form bobbing in the air like a killer "Pac-Man" of some kind.
"You're trying to act superior when you're just confused about who you really are. I know what happens inside your heart when you find out you ain't the person you thought you were, but this is all just because you thought your parents were so amazing and wonderful and good to you that they could never do anything wrong, and when you found out you COULD, you started questioning everyone else's goodness."
Snizzi's red eyes became slits. "And you're wasting all this time doing pseudo-vigilante work to justify your need to lash out at everything you've ever known and reduce it to rubble. So why don't you just take a deep breath…do some hard thinking…and turn yourself in. You know Lilo will go easy on you."
"Well, well. Looks like you have a CONSCIENCE after all." Gavrilo remarked. "But isn't the POT calling the KETTLE black?"
"Hard thinking, huh?" Spectra inquired, eyes glowing. "Hmm, like that nagging feeling you keep having in the back of your head?"
"ERRR…" Snizzi's eyes widened and veins appeared on his body. He clenched his orange-gloved, three-digited hands and growled deeply, trying to steady himself as they calmly walked past him and down the stairs. "You've…sure…got some…balls, you…little…BITCH…"
"Yeah, I sure got YOURS, don't I, ya stupid prick!" Spectra sniggered. "That thought in your head's so huge you can't think PAST it, can ya?"
Snizzi's head snapped left and right as he stood in a dark abyss, with smirking demons and devils all around him, laughing and giggling evilly.
"Like YOU could ever rule over us!"
"Insignificant little imp!"
"Pathetic fool!"
"You, become "The Emperor"? Don't make us laugh!"
"LEFTOVERS from that stupid human, that's all you are!"
"I don't think I've ever seen anything so utterly without worth…"
"Worth…less…" Snizzi mumbled, falling to his knees, drool coming out of his mouth as his bladed tail dug deep into the floor.
Jack watched the others leave the mansion, their new HQ, and turned to Spectra. "Would you be a dear and get to dealing with the brats?"
"Absolutely." Spectra remarked calmly, floating back inside the house. She made her way to the playroom, which had been locked from the outside, and slid underneath through the cracks, appearing before two frightened black-haired children who clung to each other in utter fear.
"Hello kiddies, who wants to play with Auntie Spectra? I've got a game…"
Her eyes glowed. "It's called, "Don't Let Auntie Spectra Touch You Or You DIE!"
…
…
…
… King brushed his hair back. The Magician of the Major Arcana was looking out at the students in his classroom and he could see that Junior was visibly upset and nervous, rubbing a mood ring on his digit.
The past week had taken a toll on him…he had seen more and more deaths and had had to carry the departed's souls to the Other Side. He was coming VERY close to finding out who'd DONE the deeds…
King felt a sense of sorrow fill him as he looked at the child. Poor little thing. His mother and father kidnapped and he had to take the people who had been his dear family to the Other Side. His heart was breaking a little bit every day.
"Now…" He bit his lip, then went on, golden eyes gleaming. "Magic is incredibly important." He told the class, noticing Yuna was paying VERY close attention. "Furthermore, it can be found in all things. There are primary sources of magic that you have to know about for the final and once again, I'm going to drill them into your head."
He clapped his hands. "Aero!" He announced.
Instantly a whirling green twisted launched some chalk on a nearby table into the air. He leapt up and caught it in his three-digited, clawed hand and then expertly landed back down, turning around and writing away on the chalkboard in the lecture hall he was using for his class. All of the students had gone "Oooh" at his demonstration of skill.
"Elemental magic comes from the Earth and the Universe around us." King explained. "It consists of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Metal, Poison, Ice, Gravity and Time. There is a final element known as "Quintessence", "Aether" or "Dream"…it is the power of creation itself. It is Imagination…Unlimited…it is what the Soul is made out of." King went on dramatically.
He then took a breath and turned around, having drawn an alchemic circle. "Alchemy is a brand of magic that stems from two sources…the caster and the Universe. You're all aware of what alchemy is?" He inquired.
Lots of nods. Plenty of people had seen "Fullmetal Alchemist".
"Well, that leads into the next source of magic power…a person's form. A person is made up of four major parts in terms of magic. There is the "Mind"…our ability to reason and rationalize. It allows us to think. The "Body"…that is shell which we live within and which sustains us. The "Soul" is what connects us to the forces beyond, that which lies in Other Realms. It is our tether to God, and by transplanting a Soul into something, you create a vague copy of what a person was."
He looked through his class. "Who can tell me the ingredients for human transmutation?"
A hand raised in the air. King grinned. "Ah, yes, Yuna? Will you tell us the ingredients?" King inquired.
"35 liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia and 1.5 kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorous, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of saltpeter 80 grams of sulfur, 7.5 grams of fluorine, 5 grams of iron, 3 grams of silicon and 15 other trace amounts of various other elements." Yuna explained in her distinct voice. "BUT for so-called Human Transmutation to be successful, you need one more thing…the most important thing of all! A special kind of data that comes from in HERE." She said, placing her hand on her chest.
King smiled. "The "Heart"." He agreed. "It allows us to FEEL, and it contains our memories and personality. It is our "Self". Without the "Heart", we are like golems or chimera. We live, but we are not truly alive or self-conscious. We are barely people at all. And if a being has neither soul nor heart, it is not a being at all, but a thing."
King grinned. "Alchemists have a spark within their mind that allows them to tap into the knowledge of the Universe and connect the dots to create…alchemic circles. They can construct and deconstruct objects around them using raw tools and their mind is perpetually turning out energy that's used for alchemic purposes. There are certain other sources of magic that must be mentioned…death magic, necromancy, and life magic, Bios. Now Bios is-"
"HAAAUUUUHHHH!"
Patch suddenly gasped in pain and fell out of her seat to the ground, groaning horridly. Yuna ran to her side and helped her up as King's eyes went wide. Outside, peering in from the window, Spectra's eyes narrowed.
"Patch, what's wrong?" Yuna asked, concerned.
"I…tried to tell dad…" Patch whispered as Yuna helped her stand up…and they saw the blood.
Saw the blood dripping from wounds that had suddenly appeared on her hands…wounds that had appeared from nowhere and generated a vaguely perfumed, almost holy scent.
"Something's wrong with my body…" Patch gasped out.
…
…
…
…Sari was having another dream. An awful dream of the past before Pleakley had brought her out of that horrid institution.
Tossing and turning in her bed, she pictured his face. Director Bartok, snarling as he picked her up. He had lost his patience with Sari because she had been too tired to try cracking more bank codes.
"WHY YOU LITTLE F-CKER!" He snarled, holding her above his head.
Pleakley's eye widened. "That's enough, Director." Pleakley demanded.
"I have had MORE than enough patience with this kid, WENDY." The director hissed, turning his head at Pleakley.
"Let her GO, right now." Pleakley demanded, his long fingers curling into fists.
Bartok turned back to Sari, who had eyes wider than dinner plates at the moment, and they were filled with fear. "I am putting in the reddest cell possible, you insolent little-"
"LET HER GO, YOU F-CKING NAZI!" Pleakley snarled.
Bartok stopped speaking. He slowly turned around to look at Pleakley. "...what the Hell did you call me?"
"I called you what you ARE. Let…her…GO." Pleakley demanded.
Now an amused SMILE crept up Bartok's face. "Do you honestly think your threats SCARE me, noodle man?" He laughed, turning back to Sari. "Now then…"
He tightened his grip on her collar, choking her slightly. "As I said…"
Pleakley had grabbed the chair. It had been somewhat of an effort to lift it over his head, but…his aim was true. With a CRACK and a THA-THUNK Bartok hit the ground, head busted wide open, BOTH eyes now eternally unseeing. Sari dropped to the ground and scurried away from the horrible red pool forming around him, gasping.
Gently, Pleakley picked her up and rocked her back and forth, singing softly to her. She clung desperately to his beautiful blue shirt and allowed herself to be lost in the more soothing part of the dream as the sweet angel sang her to her rest…
But then it turned wrong. Then she saw it. Fire…flames…people searching through the wreckage for their own body parts…screaming and pain and-
And then it ended…and she was alone, in her blue-painted room.
What had that dream meant, she wondered with fear. But all that came out was a low moan, and she shivered in horror, clutching herself tightly.
…
…
…
… "I didn't think I'd make it." Staccato said as he leapt down from the rooftops to the ground below, then walked over to the murder scene with Ace. "But Dimension 1414 has been awfully quiet. What do we have?"
"415 turned into a 187." Ace said stonily. "None of the people inside are alive."
Staccato's eyes, situated within his green face mask betrayed deep, deep sorrow. The rest of his body revealed no other emotion as he folded his arms, his gleaming armor shining in the light of the afternoon sun. "Pretty sick." He said as he activated his optic sensors to see through walls. "There's blood everywhere." He turned to Ace. "We've got to cordon off the area, first and foremost. I'll get to work on collecting the evidence inside."
Ace nodded and headed off with a walkie talkie while Staccato walked inside the house. Out of respect for the children, he did them first, examining the bodies. It was like somebody had thrust thick needles through their bodies…many…many times.
"God…" He whispered softly. "Have pity on their souls…"
Somebody sent out a communications bolt on his wrist/comp which was part of his right plasma buster. He held it to his mouth…this was a secure channel. Only a select few…the MA themselves…knew.
"Yes?"
"Justice, I've got news."
"The Chariot? Draco, you found out something?"
"Yes. I got a little bird to sing. Ace can't be trusted."
Staccato frowned deeply at this. Ace? Not trusted? He was a SUPERHERO. Had been so for YEARS. And a good friend. "…you're SURE of this?" He asked.
"Yes. I need you to keep a close eye on him while I track down another lead. Ace isn't SMART enough to build whatever he's building, he had to have had help. And there's somebody on Niihau who's been giving him that help."
"You don't suspect JUMBA, do you?" Staccato whispered.
"No, he's been examining data on Green. He's not a factor. Just keep an eye on Ace."
With that, the call ended. Staccato stood up, dusting himself off…then kneeled back down, looking at the children.
"I promise, I'll avenge you." He said to them. "You have my word."
…
…
…
…White carried Sari on his back as he made his way through the crowd to where the fuss was. Apparently a large Irken ship had landed and this was something White HAD to see.
Sari shivered at the sight of the two Irkens who approached her. Mostly, she was shivering at the red one. She didn't like red.
"Do you any gumdrops?" She asked the purple one as White stood next to Nick and Grey.
Purple looked this human over and then smiled, reaching into his pocket. "As a matter of fact, I DO." He said, holding up a small bag of gumdrops and giving them to her. She eagerly took them and began chewing happily while White placed her on the ground, ruffling her hair.
"How come she scowled at ME?" Red wanted to know.
"I'm sorry guys. She doesn't like the color red. It's not personal." White insisted. "So, what can I do you for you two?" White inquired. He was longtime associates of Red and Purple and had provided them with a LOT of money and equipment over the past fifty years. "If you wanted me to get you something, all you had to do was call and I'd bring it TO you."
"Actually, we have come looking for the one who possesses the Blessing of the Phoenix."
"You're looking in the wrong place, you want Snizzi and Vassago's home, Earth 1031." Nick told them, spreading his hands out. "White could take you there."
"No, we speak of a different sort of Phoenix." Purple spoke up. "The Phoenix's "Blessing" is a bestowment of immense power. As you know, Irkens who manifest any sort of ability usually gain elemental powers, though there have been noticeable exceptions…"
Red waved his claws in the air. "But that's not important right now. There's ONE power that the Hierophant foretold would bring immense danger to the Empire and the Galaxy…the power over fire. Pyrokinesis. The Phoenix would be born in flame and on a shaft of burning light, shall ascend into the stars to bring annihilation to all she wills!"
"Scary stuff!" Purple agreed.
Sari nervously held her hands over her mouth, trying to keep herself from saying what was on her mind. Her thoughts were racing all over the place but she knew, she KNEW who they meant. She had SEEN her…
"So Lady Miyuki has ordered us to eliminate whomever holds the blessing within them. We know that they are on this island!" Purple added. "…because we're from space!"
Kila and the "Almighty Smallest" himself were there as well, and Zim was happily jumping up and down. "My Tallest! My Tallest! Hey! My Tallest! Hey! Hey! Oh, my Tallest! My Tallest! Hey!"
"…hellooooo, ZIM." Red mumbled, frowning. "What are you doing here?"
"I LIVE here." Zim remarked.
"…ANOTHER reason to raze this place to the ground and turn it into a parking structure planet." Red muttered hatefully.
"Oh, I know you!" Green said, pointing at him as she stood behind her parents. "You're Red and Purple! Oh, my Dad had a HUGE crush on Miyuki."
Zim gaped. "How do you know THAT?" He asked. "I never told you about-"
"MIYUKI!" Kila snapped, placing her paws on her hips and looking right at Zim's maroon eyes. "Zim, c'mon! She's way out of your league."
"You DID talk about it. You were kissing a pillow in your sleep and mumbling while taking a nap on the couch. That was the same day GIR ate me and my powers manifested."
"But you weren't even FOUR!" Zim gasped. "You can't…remember…"
Red and Purple's eyes widened. "Enlightened intelligence on THAT scale?" Red asked. "Has she also been emitting solar radiation?"
"Yeah." Kila admitted.
"Then we'll kill THAT one." Purple said, pointing at Green.
"You can't just KILL her!" Zim said, protesting.
"That girl is a host to a living force of Fire, Darkness and Light!" Red said solemnly.
"I've been that too!" Nick said, shrugging.
"Me too." Lilo admitted.
"Then our decree by Lady Miyuki gives us the right to dispose of you ALL." Purple spoke up. "And it's gonna get messy, too." He added. "So I probably should have brought my armor that doesn't rust when blood gets sprayed on it, but noooo, I had to make a good first IMPRESSION…"
"And how exactly do you plan to "dispose" of any of us? We OUTNUMBER you." White laughed.
"We've got a secret weapon." Purple added. He whistled with two claws and a teleporter beam shot out from the ship, beaming several guards down. They held up a very large dowel with funny Irken lettering written all over it.
Needless to say, nobody was impressed.
"…that's IT? That's a bloody STICK." Alex remarked stonily.
"Not just ANY stick! Just look at the SIZE of it." Red defended.
SFX: Crickets Chirping
"…it's from SPACE!" Purple added.
"It's BLUE." Sari remarked, eyes widening. "I like blue." She added.
"…you're…interesting…" Red remarked.
"Will somebody do something about my daughter? SHE'S BLEEDING FROM HER HANDS!" Heala shouted, holding Patch in her arms.
"You Irkens are just have to wait your turn!" Nick yelled. "We're already DEALING with a crisis here! A charismatic schizophrenic with immense delusions of grandeur has recruited a death squad and is rubbing us out left and right!"
"And I can explain about Patch." King said, stepping forward, patting her on the head. "She's got Zoe in her…advanced life magic. She's a WONDER."
Dr. PL gasped. "My baby girl's magical?" He realized out loud.
"ZOE. That IS impressive." Red admitted. "But we really do need to deal with…" He turned back to Zim, Kila and Green only to find they were gone. "What the? Where'd they go?"
…
…
…
…Green held the side of her head, groaning. "So…so many thoughts…" She whispered. "Too many…too much…seeing…SEEING…"
Kila held her daughter's back as Zim crouched down and looked Green in the eyes. They'd run down the beach and were now two miles away. "What's wrong?" Zim asked. "Have you brain worms?"
"No…I…I can FEEL it…" She said. "Feel…the light…so much…and…" She looked up. "I'm not even born yet…and now I am…I'm in the womb, I…I can feel and see EVERYTHING…"
Her eyes went wider. "Oh WOW…the world looks so…beautiful from far away…Daddy, what if…what if the problem wasn't in humans? What if…the enemy was…INSIDE? What if it's always been inside us?"
And with that she suddenly screamed and Kila and Zim were thrown back.
The crowd of people who had gathered at Red and Purple's ship gasped as they turned around to see Green rising up from where she'd been and into the air, being circled by shafts of fire. Her eyes were wide open and white, like burning stars, and her claws twitched as she floated towards Red and Purple. Purple grabbed the Exorcism stick and readied himself as Red lifted himself off the ground with his power and folded his arms, looking at her. "Am I speaking to the Phoenix?" He asked.
"And if you are?" Phoenix/Green asked. "Neat, huh? My body and plasma contain a high hydrogen content, and I've surrounded myself with an exuded cloud of mono-atomic hydrogen atoms! This hot cloud provides sufficient positive buoyancy for me to float!" She told them all. Furthermore, with my power I can form a jet and achieve supersonic speeds of up to at least 300 miles per hour!" She bragged.
"By d-decree of the Irken Empire, we have b-been task-ed to destroy the vessel for the Phoenix entity, cleansing the Galaxy so that we m-m-may all be spar-ed the fires of d-d-d-destruction." Purple stuttered.
"Obviously I scare your dim-witted companion…do I scare YOU?" The Phoenix asked Red.
Red frowned. "No."
"I don't like this." Sari said. "She's SCARY."
Then Green/Phoenix did something disgusting. She calmly reached up to her face with her pointer claw and peeled away some flesh…revealing a burning light beneath. They all watched in horror and perverse fascination as she began to peel skin off like she was wearing a mask, and she tossed the skin away, making it dissolve with a burst of flame…revealing her head had become a brightly shining star.
Red began to nervously shiver, sweat appearing on his brow.
"How about now?" Phoenix/Green inquired.
"NO." He insisted, lying as best he could.
"I suppose I shall have to try harder." She remarked, shrugging. She began stripping the REST of her skin right in front of them as quickly as possible, making it dissolve away. What was underneath was a blazing figure…she was a living STAR…she had been a SUN hiding behind a guise of flesh and only the vague outline of what she had once been could be seen, a tiny attempt to give Green any semblance of a physical form.
Red hovered down, clinging to Purple. "HOW?" He whispered. "Only one with Irken blood can have this occur…"
"Well Kila's part Irken, isn't she?" Grey wondered.
"But you'd still need to be more than PART Irken!" Purple said, giving him a look like he was dumb. "At LEAST ¼ of your-"
"Green happens to be one third Human, one third Experiment and one third Irken." White spoke up. "THAT would give her enough Irken blood…"
Everyone looked at White.
"…how…do you know that?" Kila whispered, stepping through the crowd with Zim by her side.
"I'm getting bored." Phoenix/Green announced, raising up claws. "And hungry. I think reducing the entire island to ashes and consuming everyone here will sustain me for quite a while…but I'll begin with YOUR empire first." She said, pointing at Red and Purple, her body glowing more brightly. "You may consider it fair play for attempting to kill me and-"
White tapped the side of his head, grinning. "Have time, will travel." He said. "Hey Grey, you were wondering about how Green IS the way she IS…well…" He spread out his arms. "She's got your TWO daddies." He laughed.
Green/Phoenix stiffened. She slowly began to hover down, the burning, star-like appearance melting away to become what she had been before her transformation, her brown hair willowing around her. "Two…dads?"
"Skoodge DID mess up the process." White laughed, turning to Zim and Kila. "He used Grey's blood the first time and the egg was fertilized. But then when he fully examined the egg and realized his mistake, he also injected the egg with ZIM'S blood to try and make it right. She's a mix of you, Zim AND Grey!" He told Kila. "Zim's genes might be recessive when compared to yours and Grey's, but she IS his child…"
He turned to Grey. "And YOURS too." He added, poking him in the chest.
Green/Phoenix's eyes widened. This was an emotional blow that was VERY heavy. The Phoenix Blessing found itself being buried deep down amidst the churning, frothing wave of one of the most powerful things on the planet…a young girl's emotions.
Her eyes returned to normal and she blinked at Grey. "You're…my other dad? Honestly?"
"…yeah, I guess I am." He said. He turned to Kila. "Kila…there's…"
"I can't talk about it right now." Kila said quickly, leading Green and Zim away. Grey stood there, blinking…then sighed.
"…I guess I should have seen this coming."
"Fine, that girl can stay on this rock ball." Red remarked. "But if she attempts to leave the planet…by the authority vested in us, we grant Darth, the Hierophant, the right and duty to ensure the Empire prevails." Red said, handing the Hierophant the dowel.
Darth nodded, getting up from the knee he'd been kneeling on. "As you will it." He spoke solemnly. "As you will it."
One by one the others left. Nick and Lilo stayed with him, along with White and Sari.
"That Phoenix entity sure knows how to make an entrance." White laughed. "Seeing as she's living energy as well, perhaps I should ask her on a date. I think we'd hit it off quite well."
With that, he took Sari back up in his arms and voomed off. Lilo looked down at the Darth, the Hierophant. "Okay Darth, if you actually hurt her…"
"I'LL deal with you." Grey spoke up. He had remained as well and he clenched his clawed fist.
"You'll have to "deal" with her eventually." Darth remarked. "She is not controlling the entity, she is SUBDUING it. Right now she's excited at the prospect of having you as a "dad", and she's confused as to what this new power will do for her. But the Phoenix entity can feed off of negative emotions like sorrow and rage. If she feels a deep enough sorrow in her…the Phoenix will manifest again and the "dealing" must be done." He added coldly, slamming the stick into his gloved hands.
"Why would she feel any deep sorrow?" Lilo asked.
…
…
…
…Why indeed.
Green was fast asleep in her room as Zim and Kila stood in the laboratory. Skoodge and Tenn were looking over the prisoners, trying to hide their nervous eyes. They didn't' need to worry though, right now Zim and Kila tried to get a foothold on the situation they were in.
"You know what HE wanted us to do." Zim spoke quietly. "We can't go through with those plans for Star Command if Green comes with us, which is what was supposed to happen. She was supposed to get more deeply involved and then-"
"This ruins the plan, I know. Or rather it…" Kila choked back a sob. "It moves the timetable up…"
Zim's eyes widened. "You mean…"
"We have to do it more quickly than planned." Kila said quietly, sitting in a chair, holding her head in her hands. "We were going to break her heart anyway…might as well do it sooner rather than later…"
"He'll come after us if we try to-"
"That's why we'll use the other option…and we'll keep running."
Zim was quiet. Eerily so. Then he spoke up again, in a soft voice. "I didn't think we'd have to say goodbye this soon. I thought we'd at least have another half a year."
"I know…me too."
"But she's got all that power and she needs mentor figures to help her use it right." Zim said as he approached the computer and turned on the monitor, looking over a folder marked "Photos". It showed him and Kila with their newborn daughter. "…good parents wouldn't abandon their children in a time like this…"
"That's why we have to do it." Kila mumbled. "But no matter the reasoning, I'm going to feel like crap either way." She bit her lip, tears springing to her eyes. "AME KEF, this isn't right. Green never had the chance. We were supposed to be good parents one day, Zim."
"Yeah."
"We were supposed to win the Nobel Prize. We were going to have everyone cheer for us. We were going to be special."
"We were, for a little while."
"We were supposed to be a happy family."
"We were that too, for a little while."
"…do you think…maybe…if I had told Grey about this whole thing back in the convenience store…this never would have had to have happened? That he could have stopped this?"
"We'll never know." Zim mumbled as he and Kila embraced and Kila sobbed into her husband's shoulders. "Skoodge…you know what to do." He whispered quietly.
Skoodge nodded sadly as Zim led Kila out of the laboratory, patting her on the back. They had to go find a certain mutt and bring him to their home…
ELSEWHERE…
Patch was in Jumba Jookiba's lab on Niihau as Pleakley, King, Sari and Vassago stood to the side. Patch had a small thermometer in her mouth and was churning it around in her mouth nervously as Jumba looked her eyes over. "…yes, I can see it in her pupils." He said. "Is like star growing."
He stepped back and nodded at the others. "Is definitely zoe."
"Whuh's "Dzo-ay"?" Sari asked, confused as she rocked back and forth, back and forth in the chair, a big smile on her face.
"Zoe is the force of life and light, the magic of those that hold the Light in the highest esteem. Void is the force of death and night, whose Darkness seeks to remove all Light, and all its shining gleam." King explained.
"Angels use the power of Zoe quite often." Vassago added. "One power is of creation that seeks to preserve, and the other that of destruction, which will only bring ruin."
"…da Void, right?" Sari wanted to know.
"Yes, Void." Vassago agreed.
"Your hair is red but your eyes are neon green." Sari spoke up. "Neon, "new one", that's a kind of noble gas the Big Bang blew out of it's-"
"Okay, that's enough of that." Jumba said, covering her mouth. She promptly bit him. "OW!" He yelled, reeling back, making Vassago chuckle as Sari spat out some blood.
"Ew. It's purple." She remarked.
"Uh, moving along…" Jumba remarked, putting a band aid on his hand. "Essentially the force of Zoe allows for healing beyond that of simply patching up wounds. It can do something the element of "Light" cannot…"
"Element?" Sari spoke up. "I know that!" She then began to sing.
"There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium, and hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium, and nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium, and iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium, europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium and lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium and gold and protactinium and indium and gallium and iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium, there's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium and boron, gadolinium, niobium, iridium and strontium and silicon and silver and samarium and bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium and barium!"
"…MAGICAL elements…" Jumba remarked. "Hmm. You ARE a bright girl." He added, rubbing his chin. "Now Patch…I'm going to test something about with you…JUST to be sure."
He reached into a nearby cupboard and took out a small capsule that had a dead mouse in it. The little thing was bloated and had obviously drowned. "Don't go starting on what I was using mouse for, in ten seconds will possibly not matter." He handed Patch the jar. "I want you to be working wonder on it."
Patch blinked. "You mean try to heal it even though it's DEAD?" She asked. "…well…okay…" She mumbled, focusing.
A beautiful pale light began to shimmer from the mouse…and suddenly it's bloating vanished, and a light entered its eyes. It jumped up, now VERY much alive and squeaking as it ran around the jar.
"Is official, you are now capable of resurrection." Jumba laughed happily. "This is simply miraculous! Do you have any idea how RARE the gift of Zoe is?"
A gun cocked in the laboratory and Jumba pitched forward, hitting the ground. Sari screamed in horror as somebody stepped out of the shadows, holding a gun up. Pleakley's single eye widened.
"…Bartok…" he whispered.
"Correct." Director Bartok hissed, a metal cap now attached to the back of his head, harsh, cold and ugly just like his very soul.
"You leave the girl out of this, Bartok." Pleakley demanded. "She has NOTHING to do with you anymore!" He insisted, standing in front of Sari and spreading his arms out.
"Oh, I'm not here for HER. I'm FINISHED with her. I'm here…for YOU." He snarled, rushing forward. Before Pleakley could stop him Bartok had grabbed his right hand and Vassago had grabbed the other. Patch gasped as Vassago held Pleakley's hands behind the cycloptic alien and Bartok delivered a quick blow to the back of Pleakley's head, knocking him out and dragging him away.
"You…you…" She whimpered as King clutched her tightly to his chest, keeping her from the demon. "I…I HATE you…" She hissed.
Vassago looked at her with a sad glint in his eyes, then faded into the darkness after Bartok.
King looked down at Jumba's body. "Patch…I know you just used your power…but I need you to do it again. Do you think you can?" He asked.
Patch knelt by Jumba, jumping out of King's grasp and placing her paws on him. "I can TRY!" She growled, a white light surrounding Jumba's all-too-still body…
Which twitched.
