Oh wow! I've made it quite far with this story. So, Chapter Thirteen is here, and I know that was a major plot twist, but trust me, I will get your hopes high for this one towards the very of it.
Ok, time to see how this story continues unfolding... especially with the special effects and CGI used for some of the more daring visuals.
Chapter Thirteen: Endgames
Michael was now worried greatly. One, the girl that he and James were helping to get home had just died in his arms. Two, his friend had turned rabid, and seemed ready to attack anyone and anything in his sight.
"Calm yourself," Michael approached James, "Look at me and listen; ripping Randall limb from limb is not going to bring Mariko Tachibana back."
James was able to listen to Michael's words. He relaxed, his eyes returned to normal, and the foaming at the mouth ceased. However, he was left in tears, knowing that she was gone.
"Her parents will just think she somehow died in her sleep," James thought, "But if a doctor on Earth performs an autopsy on her, they'll know she was somehow injured, but nothing in her room would be able to explain it."
All of a sudden, something completely unexpected happened right before Michael and James' eyes. The body of the girl began to glow, and a bright pink light swirled out of it, manifesting itself into the image of Mariko; her pigtails billowing, and clothed in a flowing nightgown as flower petals trailed from her. She floated above the platform, and a pair of chains illuminated from her hands, which trailed in a gradient that progressed from soft pink to lavender, where they reached Randall's hands. He lay on the floor, bound and restraint, with tears staining his face. He rolled over, however, at the sight of the pink light hovering over him.
"What is going on?" Michael and James were in awe of the sight.
The glowing form floated down slightly, and lifted Randall, who now was consumed by a lavender light. She looked into his eyes and smiled.
"M-Mariko?" Randall was bewildered.
Visions began to flood into their minds. Memories of dark nights characterized by blood-curdling screams and serpentine slithers. Waking up from nightmares in a cold sweat, and gracefully blending in and out of a flowery pink wallpaper. Brown eyes wide in heart-pounding terror at the sight of moonlit purple scales, and jade eyes casting sympathy for the pigtailed, infantile beauty.
The stream of memories ceased as Mariko fixed her gaze on Randall, who placed a hand on her hair, even though it was only her essence.
"I am no longer afraid of you," Mariko spoke.
The chains connecting both their hands dissolved into a confetti of fading glitter. The glowing form then placed a small kiss on Randall's cheek, and a stream of lavender light flowed from him through Mariko, and into her actual body. The radiating pink apparition then flew swiftly around the warehouse, streams of pink light whirling rapidly and energizing the door frames. Laughter could be heard as all the door lights turned from red to pink. Randall floated back down and stopped glowing, slumping into exhaustion. Michael and James stared at the light show; their mouths gaping wide open as they took in the breathtaking imagery. The lights manifested again into Mariko's form, speaking, "Please do enjoy my gift of new light," before swirling around again into the door frames, sending the doors riding down the ziplines once more, and a wooden brown door came in sight. Michael grabbed the door and set in on a balcony, and James walked over to Randall, who was now only half-conscious, scooping him up in his arms again. He gently unwrapped the chains around his ankles, and removed the cuffs from his hands. Randall lay still, unflinching, and his eyelids lowered. He folded his hands over his chest, feeling his heart slowing back down to a steady rate. He could barely hear what the other two men were discussing, however.
"Randall is a danger to our society, and especially to Energy Floor F," James told Michael, "Who knows if he ever snaps like this again, and possibly against other co-workers. He cannot be here in our world anymore. One can only imagine if the violence and harm he has inflicted on us can get worse towards others."
Michael opened the door; the only items in sight being a meat cleaver and a clownfish mounted on display.
"Randall, please transform yourself," James advised the purple-haired man.
Still weakened and exhausted, Randall was able to hear James' command, and summoned the remainder of strength in him in order to morph himself into his creature form. He remained at rest in James' arms, not even trying to fight his way out of the restraint.
"Throw him in!" Michael cheered James on.
James aimed Randall directly through the opening of the door, and tossed him in as if he were nothing but a used vacuum bag. Michael slammed the door shut.
"Care to do the honors?" Michael asked.
"With much pleasure," James winked.
The two then tossed the door over the railing, plummeting several stories down where it finally shattered into shreds.
In the Southern United States, there was a trailer that seemed to resemble the one shown in the movie A Bug's Life. It was nighttime in the area, and a boy who was picking up trash caught sight of Randall and called out, "Ma, there's a gator in here!"
"What?" Randall shot up awake in confusion, his eight limbs scrambling in a frenzy, "I'm not a—"
"'Nother gator? Gimme dat shovel!" A woman ordered.
The boy gave his mom a shovel, which she used to hit Randall over the head, beating him senselessly.
"Stop It! Stop It!" Randall cried as he slumped to the floor, waving his four arms in desperation and kicking with his four feet in self defense. His cries, however, were drowned by the mother and son's wild cheering and the sound of the metal shovel beating at his lizard snout. Given that the portal was destroyed, there seemed to be no way out for him.
"The doors have lost their power!"
Michael and James had finally reached Mariko's closet door. Unfortunately, the power had gone away, and the pink light indwelling the door frames seemed to have vanished, spiraling downward in the warehouse.
"What's the use?" James remarked, "She's dead, Mike."
"We have to put her in bed anyway," Michael answered, "Like you said, her parents will just think she passed in her sleep and probably attribute it to SIDS or something like that."
Before James could open his mouth again, the door rode down the zipline and through the tunnel that led back to Energy Floor F. Both men were bewildered; someone must have summoned the door, but who? As the door was on its path to the Energy Floor, the faint pink light followed behind them; neither were aware of its presence. However, the two men reverted back from their heavily damaged battle costumes to their original clothing, which were just as tattered and worn.
"I can't help but think about when she said 'New Light'," James spoke, "It sounds so familiar, but I don't remember where I heard it."
"Let's see who's waiting for us over at the Energy Floor," Michael whispered back.
The door was lowered from the zipline and onto a station on Energy Floor F. A team of CDA agents, clad in the yellow hazmat suits and armed with their equipment, were waiting around the door. They could not see anything however, for Michael and James had hidden behind the portal.
"This is the CDA," began one of the agents, "Come out with the child slowly in plain sight."
Michael and James appeared, walking slowly, with Mariko wrapped in the chamois. The faint pink light whirled around the green one of the pair, and he started to cough slightly.
"Mike, is everything alright?" James asked, worried.
The pink light lifted itself from Michael's head. He then tilted his head back to normal and smiled.
"Yes," Michael turned his attention to the CDA, "We'll give you the child. But before we do..."
Michael opened his mouth and revealed a sock on his tongue. He peeled it off, and threw it at one of the hazmat-suited agents, causing all the other to scream "2319! 2319!" as they scrambled to remove the sock from their fellow cohort. It seemed as if they were able to distract the CDA men, until another figure appeared: Mr. Waternoose.
"Give me the child!" Mr. Waternoose ordered.
James and Michael turned towards the entrance to the Energy Floor and ran off, the lifeless child still in their arms. The faint pink light followed them on their dash through the halls, trying to evade the CEO at all costs. It seemed like an endless maze, switching directions through the many office halls; the call of "James! Come back here!" was the only thing that kept the pair running to safety. Fortunately, in the nick of time, they were able to find the training room.
"In here, Mike!" James called out.
Michael and James entered the training room and locked themselves in. James pulled out a metal pipe on the side of the double doors, and bent it around the handles in such a way that it shut the doors. However, as Michael set up a door, Mr. Waternoose was already trying to bust the restraint on the doors. James fled inside the closet door, with Mariko's body still in his hold. Mr. Waternoose managed to break in, and immediately chased after the polka-dot haired man. Unknown to the CEO, Michael had hid himself under the main control desk, and began to fiddle around with the wiring and plugs. A horde of CDA agents also ran in with long-range recording microphones and other equipment.
"It's over, James!"
Mr. Waternoose had entered the bedroom. James hid Mariko's body beneath the pillow on the bed, and then turned around to face his master. However, the CEO fired a blue lightning bolt from his hand, almost causing James to fall.
"As your boss, I order you to hand me the child now!" Mr. Waternoose shouted.
"But why?" James was confused, "Why if she's safe and sound here in her own room?"
"She has seen too much," Mr. Waternoose continued, "She cannot go back to Earth with the knowledge she has now."
"It doesn't have to be this way," James answered back.
"Scaring is not good enough anymore, James," Mr. Waternoose explained, "And that girl is no ordinary girl; she is a child of prophecy, destined to save our world from the darkness of a power blackout. Randall does not know this, but the machine I made him create was for the primary purpose of extracting the gift of New Light from her, since the prophecy stated that she would be incapable of normal, human speech, therefore placing the gift in my possession. And if she is not the one, or the prophecy was all just a vain fairy tale, I'll kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die! All to have their screams harvested by force if they won't scream for us anymore!"
"Do you realize what you are saying?!" James was in shock, "We may be beasts and creatures of mystery and night, but the purpose of our job is that we watch over the children of Earth, and make sure they provide us energy, no matter the amount. Our motto says, 'We Scare Because We Care'. We should be guardian angels to them, not demons."
Mr. Waternoose's face turned a furious, raging red as he advanced towards the bed, forcefully taking a hold of the blue gingham comforter.
"With the girl once again in my possession," Mr. Waternoose panted, "Lux Nova shall surely be mine, and our realm shall be saved! You have lost this one, James P. Sullivan!"
"Good night Mom. Good night Dad." a robotic boy voice spoke.
"What in the Crab Nebula?!—" Mr. Waternoose was shocked to discover than he had not grabbed Mariko, but rather the robot boy attached to the bed. The lights switched on, and the walls lifted as the intercom voice announced "Simulation Terminated! Simulation Terminated!"
"What's going on?" Mr. Waternoose was shocked by the sudden turn of events.
"I'm kinda wondering the same thing," James remarked, "especially with the CDA around."
At the seat of the control panel was Michael, surrounded by some CDA agents. He smiled at them and chuckled.
"So, did we get all of that?" Michael asked, still smiling.
"We sure did!" answered a CDA agent.
James stepped out, with Mariko's body in his hold. "Uh, Mike?" he asked, "What are you doing?"
"I got it all on tape!" Michael answered, "Gonna send this baby to the CDA, and let's especially replay my favorite part in the entire video."
Michael pressed a rewind button, and the a play button. On one of the television monitors, a recording of the showdown between James and Mr. Waternoose played out, with the CEO exclaiming "I'll kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die!", much to his dismay. As the green-haired man kept rewinding and replaying the clip, Mr. Waternoose grew wide-eyed at watching the video.
"I—I didn't—!" Mr. Waternoose had no excuse. Those were his exact words; recorded on video. And the worst part for him? The CDA was witnessing the evidence.
"This here, is proof," began Michael, "Proof that Henry. J Waternoose III, CEO of M. Energy Incorporated, is guilty as charged. Also, I'm already making a list of dance music I could remix this clip to upload onto MonsTube. I feel some dubstep will do it justice."
"Arrest him!" ordered a CDA agent.
The yellow-suited men took hold of the tuxedo clad, well-groomed elderly man, and dragged him out of the door. As he was being led out, he began to scold James.
"Because of you James," Mr. Waternoose shouted, "The energy crisis will only get worse, and darkness will destroy out world! Because of you, we shall never know what the New Light is, and M. Energy Incorporated is dead!"
The CEO was led out of the room for good. However, just as Michael and James were turning to leave, they were halted by another agent.
"Hold it right there!" the agent said, "Number #1 wants to speak to you."
The double doors flew open again as a horde of CDA agents lined up on both sides of the entrance. Michael and James covered their eyes in anxiety, until they heard a familiar voice say, "Hello Boys!" The two men uncovered their eyes, only to see someone they seemed to not have expected to be involved. She was wearing a yellow cardigan with the number "001" printed on its left side, along with her long golden-colored skirt trailing on the red-carpeted floor of the training room.
"ROZ?!" Michael and James were dumbfounded.
"Two and a half years of undercover work," Roz started off calmly, "I knew something fishy was going on here. What I didn't know was it all led up to Waternoose. But I don't think I ever would have figured it out if it wasn't for you two and your schemes, which I've been familiar with for the past ten years. You should remember that I'm Number #1, don't you?"
James and Michael were confused, until something seemed to click in all three of their minds...
Ten years ago, Roz found herself running with her men down the path of a university campus plaza, when she heard a fiery explosion. She arrived at the science building, only to see a room covered in soot and flames burning around a the remains of a door frame. The agents took the ash-covered Michael and James out the room as an elderly woman with deep red hair and clothing lay on the ground, panting heavily as she looked at all the fallen, blown canisters littering the tiled floor.
Michael and James did meet Roz many years ago; she had helped save them from certain death in a science lab, back when they were college freshmen. They had apparently forgotten all about the incident, until she reminded them about it now. Were it not for her, Michael and James would have perished in a fiery demise.
"Ever since then, I made sure I would be always watching you," Roz continued, "And I don't want any paperwork on this. None of this ever happened. And now, about the girl..."
"Um, I need to tell you something, Roz," James started off, nervously.
"Permission granted," Roz let him continue.
"About the girl," James tried to speak calmly, holding back tears, "We were trying to get to her door in the warehouse, and we were in a scuffle with one of our co-workers, and a bookcase crushed her, and, she—she died..."
"We still have to send her home," Roz answered, "There's nothing more we can do."
James held Mariko's body close to his for a moment as he sobbed silently. At that moment, however, his blue eyes shot open as he turned his gaze to Michael.
"Mike, it doesn't have to be this way!" James turned up a small smile.
"What are you talking about?" Michael was confused.
"You told me about Celia's healing powers," James continued, "You said she's probably even capable of reviving the deceased within twelve hours."
Michael pulled out his cell phone from his jean pocket. He began to dial a number, and then uttered, "Hello, Celia? I need you right now..."
Sprinting through the halls in a nurse costume, Celia arrived at the training room with a portable, baby-sized bathtub in her arms. She walked over to a counter for hand-washing, and began to fill up the small tub.
"What is she doing?" asked James.
"You'll see," Michael answered.
Carefully, Celia set the tub on the floor. Roz also watched, trying to make sense of the scene, and wondering just how she was going to help the girl.
"Where is she?" Celia asked.
James handed Mariko's body over to Celia, who unwrapped it from the chamois cloth. Her costume was torn in shreds, and stained with blotches of blood.
"How long ago did she die?" Celia inquired again.
"Probably less than half an hour," James responded.
Celia removed the clothing scraps from the girl, and handed them to Roz, who sealed them off in a bio-hazardous bag. She took in a few deep breaths as she analyzed the child.
"Listen closely," Celia started off, slightly nervous, "I have only been able to successfully heal others of our kind for moderate injuries and poisonings. I have never once used Revival on a deceased person, let alone use any of my powers on a human. I ask you to please give me full concentration as I work with her."
Michael, James, and Roz stood back and remained completely silent. Celia brought her hands down just an inch above the water. Holding them open-palmed, the water began to glow beneath her hands. She slowly moved her palms back and forth; the glowing water following her lead. Even though the water glowed white, the body of the girl began to glow in swirling light of pink and lavender. Roz only stared at the sight, wondering about how she had probably seen a trick like this on television as she began to write down her observances on her clipboard. Michael, however, found himself pulled into a tight and warm embrace by James, who silently shed tears.
"I really hope this works," James whispered softly, stroking Michael's green hair.
"I hope so too, Sulley," Michael whispered back as he looked up at his friend, a small tear rolling down from his visible eye.
After about ten minutes, the water stopped glowing. Celia pulled her hands back, and Roz came over to see if the revival was successful. The girl lay still in the portable tub; no evidence of cuts, bruises, or blood on her body; she was free of all injury and blemish, perfect as a doll. Nevertheless, her eyes remained closed as a sleeping infant.
Oh no! Will Celia succeed in saving our beloved Boo-chan?
It's almost the end, and if there's one thing I'll tell you about it, it will be MIND. BLOWING.