'Tell me when I'm gonna live again
Tell me when I'm gonna breathe you in
Tell me when I'm gonna feel inside
Tell me when I'm gonna feel alive'
Rebirth, Skillet
Chapter 21: Rebirth.
As the sounds around him left…
As the world faded to nothing….
As the spirit embraced the sweet embrace of nothingness…
A voice called out.
One who held the weight of creation.
One who transcended the reality we know so well,
One who held hope…
The last hope of humanity.
"Zack!" the voice bellowed, it demanded power, bringing the young man to action.
It filled him with purpose; reminding him of the desire to fight that had driven him this far, and triggering the love that propelled him to leap for the impossible. Zack felt his eyes shoot open, the realm of darkness, of nothingness, was still before him. But somehow he was alive. Some unseen power wrapped its arms around him, setting him apart from the nothingness that tore through the world. He wasn't sure how, but despite the destruction that consumed all reality, he had been spared.
"So, the last Maker reveals himself," Stacie sneered as the corruption fully took over her body. The blue light of destruction made itself into something more; darkness filled her limbs, her face was contorted and Zack knew that the creature that stood before him was no longer human, if it ever was one.
"Who are you?" Zack asked, almost surprised his voice could still make a sound. He knew this wasn't his physical body, heck, the physical world no longer exited.
Could he really make things right after they had gone this far?
He'd failed again.
This time the consequences were worse than anything he could imagine. He said he'd protect them, all of them. That he'd make the most of this second chance, one that it was a miracle he even got to begin with.
But with that gift, came and even greater responsibility.
The fate of not just his brother's life, but the whole world rested upon his shoulders. He replayed the memories in his mind, thinking of what he could have done differently. If he had been smarter, stronger, and not played so foolishly into Damon's plans.
"That's the annihilator's true form Zack," the voice from before answered.
Zack gazed forward at Stacie, and saw her body shift. It resembled something Zack could only describe as demonic. Her mouth opened and were fangs exposed with a look of rabid hunger in them. He could see the longing desire run through her; her arms growing longer as claws formed at the ends. Her skin turned to a darkish red, while a blue fire coursed through her eyes.
Zack finally turned back to his guide; repulsed at the creature that stood before him, but as he did so, he nearly froze in surprise. For a second he readied his fist to punch the guy in the face. But he didn't…at least not yet. He needed answers, and even if he'd rather cut the guy's tongue out than let him speak, he'd let that wait.
"Mike? Just who the hell are you?"
"Zack, I am sorry for all I put you and your brother through. But I knew this could happen; and that the only way to stop it was to kill the annihilators. Something I am not capable off."
"So then why'd you break Cody's leg?"
"To force you to fight with everything you had."
Zack stared up at Mike; not believing him although he had no other choice. Could that that evil man that was the quiet killer of many really be on his side?
"I understand your doubt Zack. But right now, we are the only ones left here to fight her. If you wish to live and see your world again, we need each other."
"Then die," Stacie said, her twisted form flying at Zack. He tried to raise his arms in defense, hoping to harness his powers, hoping that they were still there, but he didn't have too. Mike stood before him, a sword of gold held in his hands. As he brought it down across her, Stacie had no choice but to step back. "You cannot kill me," she said unafraid. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, your skill and power will fail you."
Mike seemed unafraid, as he took a step forward. "Light, time, fire, these are what drive the world, give it shape and life," Mike said as if to Zack, though he had no idea what it meant.
"And you seek to destroy me with the time I have so utterly eliminated," Stacie said, her eyes glowing red as she pounced at Mike again.
He blocked her once more; her claw tearing at him, but with his blade's every nimble movement, he fought her off. Though as Zack watched, he could see something that shocked him. Desperation in Stacie's eyes, fear even. So, whatever she was, there was still emotion. And in a way, he could relate to it, the loneliness of being torn from everything, the desire to not be alone.
Perhaps she was a monster beyond hope, but he believed there was still a human somewhere beneath the ferocity.
Zack swallowed as he took in the rest. Perhaps she was human; perhaps her heart still beat with kindness, but that was covered by a monster. One who would destroy without remorse. And if his guess what right, there was still a way to fix everything. And if killing Stacie, a lonely and forgotten soul, was what it took then he'd do it.
Gathering the power of destruction once more; he was nearly overwhelmed by its power. Never before had he experienced such strength in the expanse of nothing. The destructive power flourished beyond anything he had experienced in the confines of reality. Letting the full force flow through him, he charged at Stacie; her attacks swiping furiously at Mike, who with each defense seemed to be getting slower and weaker. Zack jumped onto Stacie's shoulder, sending a tremendous blast of energy at her, but the explosion threw him off. And despite his best efforts, she turned to him, nearly unharmed at the attack.
He wouldn't let that stop him though, he's just keep going.
"Zack, don't give up!" Mike ordered, and Zack knew what he had to do.
He took aim, his hands quaking in fear, and gathered every bit of power that existed in the land of destruction. He sent a massive blast of destructive energy at her.
Stacie smirked, easily dodging it, and Zack saw the reason for her smile. Right behind her stood Mike, but unlike Cody when the same thing happened earlier, Mike just stood his ground. He swept the energy with his blade and it cascaded with colors Zack had never seen. Sparks rose, and Zack knew that this was exactly his plan.
"Creation, Destruction, Time," Mike said, his voice steady even as his hands began shaking. " Life, Death." Zack saw a star not unlike his own appear in the hilt of the sword, the blue light giving light to the darkness they fought in. But on the other side, another star glowed, this one golden, and Zack could feel energized from its power, assurance of the present and hope in the future even if it was one that seemed to have been stolen. "Let the cycle of time shatter."
Mike shot up after Stacie, and while she tried to deflect the oncoming attack, the blade sliced through her. As the metal pierced the demon, she shrieked loudly, trying to break free from its power; the coexisting powers of creation and destruction coursing through her. She contorted but the light held her, Mike's gaze dead set into her. She stared at him with hatred as she felt her power wane, unable to withstand the opposite energies that were tearing her apart.
"What are you doing?" Zack asked, but it did little good as her outcry overwhelmed any sounds that could have existed. He wondered how he could even talk or hear anything in that dimension but theorized that it could only be the way his mind processed being away from his body as it clung onto something resembling normality.
As Mike gripped his sword with two hands, he began pulling it apart, Stacie seeming to take two forms before him as he did so. One blade coated in gold, one in blue. Zack couldn't believe his eyes as she split as well. One the demonic form; the lust of destruction still in her eyes. The other, a person with serene innocence about them. Zack ran over to the latter, seeing her fear, her knees beginning to quake.
"Stacie!" he called, hoping that this could be real. For this split second, he forgot about the world that no longer was, and only thought about the girl that had guided him, the one he knew shared the experience of knowing what it was like to lose, to fail, and to bear the weight of sin.
"Zack?" she asked softly, her mind unable to comprehend just what she saw before her. There was Zack, she knew in her heart that he was a friend, but her memory was too blurry to make out any details. And it didn't help that the creature she saw before her gazed at her with hatred, but she couldn't fathom just why.
"The essence of destruction stands before us," Mike declared, standing before the demon once more, his blade returned to one. Zack and Stacie rose beside him, the creature stunned for a second at being torn from Stacie, but they all knew that it wouldn't last for long, and without a human to restrain it, it would be more ferocious than ever.
"Now we end it?" Zack asked, no longer feeling any sympathy for the creature that stood before him, ready to end this.
"No, first we must undue the destruction to give us the power to fight." Mike held his sword out once more, spinning it as one would spin the hands of a clock. Hues of colors blended together, going from dark to bright and both at once. But out from the nothingness arose figures from the past. One that Zack recognized with but a lock of his blond hair. He ran toward his brother, ignoring the other two and wrapping his arms around Cody, not caring about the tears or the danger they still faced.
"Zack," Cody said, returning the embrace, as the two others stood around them.
"How?" Zack asked.
"As you have seen, the path of time is not set in stone. Life, death, not even they are final when outside of time," Mike explained. If Zack didn't know better, he'd say he saw a small smile coming from the mysterious man. Consumed with hope like never before, Zack didn't even notice the two others standing beside Stacie.
"So if we beat it…" Zack pointed to the demon standing before them.
Mike nodded. "However, I cannot destroy the spirit of Annihilation. All of you have felt their power, walked the path of destruction, so only you can put an end to it."
"Then let's do this," Zack said venturing before the others.
"Agreed," Cody said.
Even though the events that brought him here were a mystery to him, his instinct told him all he needed to know. He was an Annihilator, the power of destruction flowing through him. Some would see such a gift as evil, but that was all in the eyes of the beholder. And now, as the spirit contorted before him, he'd use its own power to destroy it.
Stacie wasn't sure what to think, weakness filled her body after the great power was torn from it. Even after all she had been through, all it had given her, she wasn't sure what it was, even who she was anymore. "Stacie."
She felt the strong arms around her, the assurance from a life long ago. "Look at me," he said and she did, and she didn't see the rage or fear from before. But instead saw joy, and happiness, and love, all the things she didn't think life could hold.
"Come on Stacie, we're here for you," the other one said, her voice calm and serene.
She couldn't believe it. Looking them in the eyes she saw the faces that only filled her dreams. Here she was, in the land of nothingness, surrounded by her siblings, Trevor and Kelsey and their love. She thought of the times of arguments that filled their house, her anger at their hatred, and her loneliness as she fled to the confines of her room. Trevor brought her to her feet and rested his chin upon her head, his height dwarfing her. "We need you," Trevor said, pulling away from her.
She nodded and took her place, knowing who she was, the mistakes she had made, the lies she had been told, but it was not her past that defined her.
Not anymore.
Her family was with her now.
It was her future that held her destiny; one that she would carve out herself, one she would earn. But it would be truly hers, not one built by the expectations of others.
She saw Zack and Cody, those who had lost so much, and she joined them. She felt the destruction within her but also the power of restoration. Followed by Trevor and Kelsey behind her, led by Zack and Cody ahead of her, she charged into battle.
…
Zack dove at the demon, sending a punch into its side though he was swiped away. The creature charged at Cody, but before it could do any damage, Stacie blocked its attack with a golden wall. Even as the creature slashed against the wall viciously, it could not break through. Stacie focused her power through it, reminded of her time as a mediator where the restorers had given her their power to fight, to counter the destruction of the annihilators. She never knew why until now, seeing the blending of the power of restoration and destruction inside of her.
The demon continuously assaulted Stacie's shield, determined to destroy it, but in its blind focus it didn't notice the opening it left.
Cody took advantage of this and leapt through the shield, absorbing its power as his own. He then blasted the demon away, its inhuman scream piercing the nothingness. It swung back as furious as ever, slashing into Cody, tearing into his spirit. In an instant Zack was at his brother's side, blocking the incoming attacks as the demon jumped back. But Zack wouldn't let it get away. He burst after it, blue streaks flowing out from his body.
As the creature tried to put distance between itself and Zack it didn't see the wall of destruction flying at it from behind. Preoccupied, it constantly fired at Zack, but the attacks were easily deflected. The wall collided into it, stopping the creature in its tracks. Zack gathered everything he had, the hope of his family and friends, the duty that this was his fight, and the love the led him through this dark night. With the power of destruction, consuming him, he flew through the demon, his powers protecting his body from the unnatural fiend.
"Good work."
Zack turned beside him and saw Stacie's brother there. "What are you-"
"We all have those we fight for Zack, and we've been waiting for just this time."
Before Zack could ask any more questions, they were broken out of the conversation by the creature letting out a cry of agony, parts of its body disintegrating from Zack's attack. Cody looked up, feeling the pain in his own body once more; but before he could begin to fade from its power, Stacie was beside him; her golden light restoring his spirit. "Thank you," he mouthed before taking off after Zack.
The creature swung at Zack again, but the twin deftly moved away before Trevor hit it with a blast of his energy. "This is cool," Trevor said, remembering all the times he wished he could have been in a video game. Granted, he wasn't exactly the fan of the fact he could die, but it was still fun. He and Zack traded off attacks, the demon fighting on pure instinct, able to only focus on one target at a time, but even with that, they weren't doing much damage to it.
"Any plans?" Trevor asked.
"Try not to get hit," Zack said, narrowly dodging a blast of destruction from the demon. He didn't notice the attack stopping right behind him until it exploded; the force sending him flying toward the demon, powerless to stop it. But Stacie and Cody were soon by his side, Stacie blocking the fiend's attack, while Cody hit it with a blast of his own.
"We got this," Trevor said.
"What makes you say that?" Stacie asked. With that, Trevor pointed down, and they all saw Stacie's sister, Kelsey down below them, blue fire racing along her body, ferocious and beautiful as well as wild and tame. Trevor smirked at his sister's plan. "She stood back, let us act as the punching bags so she could get the power she needed," Stacie said, knowing just how her mind worked.
Kelsey nodded, a tremendous wave of blue fire flew at the demon, the annihilators moving out of the way as the attack hit. It instantly consumed the demon, waves of blue fire wrapping around it. It screamed, begging for escape.
"Now!" Stacie commanded, and the four of them fired as much power as they could at the demon as golden lights encircled it.
"Now, let make sure that what is done today may never be undone," Mike said appearing over it, the five continued to fire, making sure the fight was truly over. Mike channeled his own powers, focusing on the golden power of creation, holding all the annihilators' powers within.
And in an instant, the golden light vanished, the blue light fully consumed. Before they could ask what had happened, or ponder the results of the battle, all of them were consumed by a wave of sleep.
A/N: Yay, story over. Well, except for the epilogue. Which will answer a few questions I couldn't in the main plot. That or just confuse you even more. You know how much I like doing that.
And because I apparently hid it too much, I revealed that Stacie was Jared's daughter back in chapter 10 when Jared said " Now, come my daughter, let's end this world of mortals" Sorry about the confusion, these small details I remember, but when you only see a new chapter every few weeks, it can easily slip by.
I hope you enjoyed this climactic ending, and for once my epilogue should wrap things up, and for once, there are no sequels planned. I hope you've enjoyed this wild ride as much as I did. Thanks once again to DarkElements10 for betaing the past few chapters.