CHAPTER 35: RETURN OF THE FREAK, PART 5
The Freak has returned, and he is on the loose.
This is the state of reality for the Green Eye as he chases down his sworn enemy, having failed to capture him moments ago. Due to an interruption by the National Guard, attempting to bring him into custody, he was forced to fight them off instead, leaving the Freak time to kill several people before he could be stopped.
Knowing what this one man was capable on his own, causing the entire city to go into riots and almost murdering his fiancee, he knows the danger of the Freak being loose. Knowing that he now possessed all his powers and knowledge on how to use them, that danger has elevated to immeasurable levels.
The Freak must be stopped, no matter what.
Jumping atop the rooftops of Hillwood, navigating his way through this concrete jungle, the Green Eye continued his mission to stop him. Despite the city being as wide and large as it was, the Green Eye knew the ins and outs of the city quite well, leaving no room for getting lost so easily.
Most importantly, the Freak, wishing to get himself a meeting with the Green Eye, gave him a trail to follow, inviting him to chase after him. Having been in a situation like this once before, the Green Eye knew very well that this could be a trap, but, with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people living in Hillwood, he knew that there was no choice but to pursue him anyways.
Chasing after the trail he had just barely caught over his enemy, the Green Eye dashed across rooftop after rooftop, hunting down his target wherever he may be hiding. The threat of the National Guard standing alert on the streets below would pose a threat to any other man, but the Green Eye's abilities of stealth and speed made this threat less than a problem in his pursuit.
Unfortunately, after running after the trail left behind by the Freak, the Green Eye eventually fell cold in the trail, hitting a dead end in his pursuit. Feeling a realization that his enemy might very well have escaped to commit more atrocities, leaving more citizens of Hillwood dead by his failure to act, he began to feel distress in his mind.
The thoughts of many dead citizens began to haunt him, especially the thought of Helga being among them. Such an outcome was not an acceptable one. The pursuit had to continue on; he had to find his target, he could not let anyone else die. This is his city, and he swore to protect it.
Pulling deep into the consciousness of the city, the Green Eye spread his mind across the sea of thought and emotion in Hillwood, pushing his powers to seek out and find the Freak wherever he might lay. In an instant, he finds the thoughts and feelings of many minds throughout the city, but none are the man he searches for. Frustrated, he threw his fist across the air.
Damn. He learned how to block me, too. Green Eye thought.
Hey Arnold. A voice in his mind said.
Hearing another voice in his head just as he thought out his own, the Green Eye turned around to see the Freak standing behind him, smiling from ear to ear as the two shared gazes towards one another; the Green Eye looking on him with anger with his bright green eyes, the Freak looking back in amusement with his glowing red eyes.
"Looking for me?" The Freak asked.
"Curly." Green Eye snarled.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
The Green Eye drew his staff, ready to battle against his opponent at last.
"Oh, so it's a fight you're looking towards? Well, I know just the place for a good fight, where these weekend warriors won't get in the way. C'mon." The Freak said.
Turning around, the Freak jumped off the building, jumping across to the next rooftop across the street. Though the Green Eye was aware of his enemy's sudden grasp over how to use his powers, seeing him in action was still a sight that took the breath out of him. Seeing him in action as well as Rhonda, it was clear to him that his status of power was not untouchable by others anymore.
Still, he had no time to fully realize the thoughts of insecurity that were settling in. There was only enough time to chase after his target; obtaining him at last and only because he had chosen to show himself. Running towards the end of the rooftop, the Green Eye jumped off it, launching himself to the rooftop on the other side.
With at least 1 building's worth of a distance between the two, the Green Eye continued his fast pursuit of the Freak, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in a chase down the city. Further showcasing how Freak had immediately mastered control over some of the powers of the Spirit Master, his footsteps were just as silent as the Green Eye's; neither catching the attention of the National Guard troops stationed below.
This pursuit lasted a good minute, leading the two superhuman entities jumping across nearly half the city. The run had left the Freak with a sense of amusement and childish fun from the affair, while the Green Eye was left with his desire to stop the Freak building by the second; tearing apart his mind and making him nearly lose all self-control.
Finally, the Freak came to a stop, standing before the edge of this last building, and allowing the Green Eye to catch up at last. Turning around to face his enemy once again, the Freak smiled and winked at him, leaning back to allow himself to fall off of the ledge of the building.
Running to the edge, the Green Eye lost sight of the Freak, but found below him a large, abandoned St. Viksten Catholic Church. With no National Guardsmen in sight, it served to reason that the Freak wanted to lead him to this place, with only one thing left for the Green Eye to do.
Jumping down to the ground, he approached the church and sneaked inside, heading through an open door with a broken lock. Stepping inside, the building was littered with graffiti and empty beer cans and other refuse; a sign of derelict brought upon by teenage antics and desperate homeless looking for shelter.
But this place does not serve as shelter now. Instead, it is merely a stage set for the Green Eye and the Freak to do battle once again, but with the latter having a solid equal footing against the former. The Green Eye, keeping his footing silent, scanned his surroundings for his enemy, keeping his eyes and ears open wide for any sign of the Freak to appear.
Once again, the Freak finally made his appearance, and only once again on his own terms. Jumping down from the ceiling, landing right on his feet, the Freak gave out a snicker, letting the Green Eye look upon him and settle his own fears as they aroused in his consciousness. As the Freak stood up, black crows seemed to fly out from the corners of the building, all flying from behind him towards the Green Eye on their way through the window.
"Hey Arnold. Enjoy the exercise?" The Freak said.
"It was a nice warm-up." Green Eye said.
"Surprised to see me up and about again? And with all these cool powers?"
"No. I know how you got your powers. Rhonda stuck you with my blood. It gave you all my abilities."
"I figured. Not because of the powers, though that was the more obvious sign, but because, of course... of our connection."
"'Connection'?"
"Well, you know how it goes in the old comic books. There's the superhero, and then there's the supervillain. When I had just blown away my parents and raped Rhonda, I didn't quite have much to latch onto, so, at that point in time, I was just sort of... existing. No real reason to be around or reason to go on. I think I would've just shot myself and be done with it if the next thing hadn't happened to me."
"And what happened?"
"I found you. The Green Eye. People were going on and on about how you were the next big thing; the cure for crime in Hillwood. I just knew I had to bring you down."
"I heard the speech on TV. And you made it clear on my last visit to you in the hospital."
"I know you did, and I know you remember. There's much more to it than that. Why do you think I chose to be your opposite? Do you think I just... decided it on a whim?"
"I don't really care."
"Oh, but you should. See, I had a lot of time to think about why I wanted to do it. I always hear so much about purpose and what gives people meaning to their lives; none of it ever seemed consistent or clear to me. It's always some stupid shit like 'my kids give me purpose' or 'my career is my life'. It always seemed so stupid to me, like they have nothing better to but latch ourselves onto one piece of comfort and have no sense of self other than that one thing. Then, I started to reflect on why I decided to be your bad guy. The doctors told me that the fall I had should've killed me, that I should've died instantly, but there must have been something keeping me alive. I never understood it for the longest time, but, then, after your little shot, I finally came to realize the reason why we're so obsessed with purpose. We don't exist because we have a purpose. We exist because we don't have a purpose. We need to find a purpose, because, without it, we just don't live long without it. We're just nothing more than animals waiting to die. Purpose sets us apart from that. It's what makes us do the things we do, pushes us to achieve greater things. And it's because of our little connection that I finally realized that."
"And how is that?"
"Because, like me, you wouldn't have lived on much longer without your purpose. For the longest while of your life, your purpose was to find your parents and bring them home, and you finally did, with my help, I might add. What happened to you when you got them back? Mission accomplished, you can ride off into the sunset, right? No. You couldn't. Nobody ever really rides off into the sunset. They always go on, and they always need a purpose. When you got your parents back, you tried to fill that with being with your family, but, uh-oh, that didn't work out so well, now, did it? You just couldn't connect to your parents in the same way you connected to your sweet old grandparents, and, when they finally kicked the bucket, you lost that final purpose and you decided to end your life right after."
The deep prodding into the Green Eye's past drew with it anger from the superhero, making him clench his teeth to his foe.
"You don't know a thing about that!" Green Eye said.
Reminding him of his newfound mental abilities, the Freak shared a quick quip across the mental plane.
Are you sure? The Freak asked mentally.
Remembering that the Freak could now see into his own mind, the Green Eye's anger subsided to a state of vulnerability, making him quiet down.
"So, where was I? Ah, yes: Then, those Green-Eyed People called you all the way back home and gave you all those sweet powers to give you a purpose again. So, you had at least 3 chances for a purpose, and you're sticking pretty tight to this one, now, aren't ya? I guess the 3rd time's the charm." The Freak said.
"So, what's your point?" Green Eye asked.
"My point, my friend, is that we are at opposing purposes now. Your purpose now is to bring out the best of the human spirit; to show that we are all capable of a greater good and to show the best in every person to be as good as they can be. But my purpose is..."
The Freak threw a punch towards the Green Eye, which was subsequently blocked as quickly as the blow was thrown, but his other hand made it away the football head of his enemy, with his first hand following with it. Resulting from this grip onto his head, the Green Eye suddenly stopped in his tracks; feeling something new coming of the Freak's hold on his head.
"...to prove you wrong. To bring out the worst in everyone." The Freak said.
As the Freak continued to hold onto his head tightly, the Green Eye's entire world and vision began to change before him; his presence in reality starting to shift itself to something entirely different. The strain that was forced upon his mind left him unable to think, unable to fight back against this mental assault, leaving him able to do nothing more than endure whatever the Freak was doing to him.
The tension and mystery over what was becoming of his mind was nearly as overbearing as the pain itself, but, suddenly, the two came to an end.
Upon opening his eyes, the Green Eye found himself not as his superhero persona, but, instead, as his alter-ego: Arnold Shortman. The clearest sign that he was not currently the Green Eye was the absence of his distinct green suit, in its stead laying a tuxedo and white flower in his pocket.
As surprising as this change was, it was not the largest change he had in store. The church, seconds ago standing derelict and vandalized in the dark of the night, was clean and full of decorations in the middle of the day, with every aisle of chairs filled with his friends and family.
The sudden change of situation left Arnold confused, visibly acting unsure of what to do. In the seats closest to the altar, Gerald quietly whispered to him, trying to give some form of comfort to ease the tension on what was without a doubt the biggest day of his life.
"Psst. Hey Arnold. Just take a deep breath, okay?" Gerald whispered.
"Huh?" Arnold asked.
"I know it's a big day for you, man, but we're all rooting for you here. We know how long you've been waiting for this day."
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"
A pair of soft hands led their way onto his shoulder, leading him to turn to face their owner. Behind him were his mother and father, both offering their support to their son as he awaited the moment in which he would be wed at last. Though emotions ran high in the church, none were ringing higher than the Shortmans', shown by the tears held back by both adults.
"It's okay, Arnold. You don't have to be so nervous. I mean, I know we haven't been holding ourselves the whole time, but... Oh... Just give me a minute." Stella said.
Taking a tissue in hand, Stella blew her nose and wiped her tears, with Miles taking her place to offer their son support.
"Don't mind your mom, Arnold. She's just been waiting for this day like us. Just try to enjoy your big day." Miles said.
"What 'big day'? What is going on here?" Arnold asked.
The front doors of the church began to creak open, making all heads turn towards the entrance.
"Oh, here she comes now." Miles said.
Looking to see who was coming out from the doors, Arnold found out quickly now what the meaning of this setting and time was about. This was his wedding day, the day he had been planning for months finally coming to fruition, and his bride was approaching him down the walkway, the woman he loved with all his heart:
Helga.
Dressed in virgin white, her face was only barely covered with a veil, with her long, blonde hair flowing to her shoulders. Most important to see under the veil was her smile, decorating her beautiful face with a look of satisfaction and happiness unlike anything else could invoke.
Anything, except, it seemed, for viewing this face for one's self, as the case with Arnold Shortman. Seeing his beloved so happy as she was, he, too, found himself happy as well. Forgetting everything else in this moment, questioning nothing else, all he can think about is her smile and the way she looked in that white wedding dress.
However, as the pure white began to stain to a dark red, the smile across his own face began to dissipate. An excess of blood began to pour from her chest, with a hole in it showing the cause of her most vital bodily fluid start to leave her. Despite this wound appearing to be one that would kill instantly, Helga still continued to walk towards the altar; her blood continuing to seep onto her dress and the floor.
Watching her finally reach the altar, Arnold could do nothing more than simply observe; his state of shock preventing him from moving at all. Stretching her hand out to her groom, Helga desperately reached for his, hoping that she could hold him one last time before her death; tears of blood falling from her eyes.
Unfortunately, Helga had not fulfilled her last moments with the warmth of the one she loved, leaving her now lifeless body to fall to the ground. Finally acting upon his own instincts, Arnold caught her body as it fell, gently cradling it in his arms. Tears began falling from his own face, leaving him to cry over the death of Helga before she could be his wife.
Then, echoing throughout the church, a sinister laughter caught the attention of Arnold, breaking his concentration from Helga. Standing at the doors of the church was the Freak, holding a beating, bloody heart into his hand. Giving the heart a light squeeze, blood squirted out from its ventricles, pouring onto the floor. Bringing the heart to his mouth, he took a bite of it, chewing off a piece to eat.
Recognizing that he had failed to protect the woman he loved, and that she had finally died at the hands of the man who had nearly brought her to that edge once before, Arnold had found himself losing all control of his body. His fists clenched so hard that his fingernails cut into the palms of his hands, drawing blood, and his entire body shook with rage and fury unlike anything he had ever displayed before.
Throwing his fists to the air, Arnold let out a scream; his voice enraged past all known points of his limits of anger.
[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - R,U,OK?]
Opening his eyes once again, the Green Eye found himself back within his superhero persona, and in the real world once again. Breaking whatever sort of control that the Freak had placed upon him, the Green Eye pushed him off, sending him sliding back across the church.
Taking his fists to a fighting stance, the Green Eye immediately began quickly walking towards the Freak, ready to use them on him. Eagerly awaiting for him to do so, the Freak began approaching him at a similar speed of walk, holding his arms open in anticipation of the fight.
"That's it. Now you're seeing it my way." The Freak said.
Throwing a punch towards the Freak, the Green Eye made his first strike against his enemy, only to find it quickly made futile. Leaping up over his head, the Freak jumped right over the Green Eye's head, throwing a kick to the back of his head while descending to the ground.
Quickly turning back around, the Green Eye faced the Freak, watching him look back at him with an amused smile. Taking a defensive stance, he allowed the Green Eye to come his way, as his enemy prepared his arms to his face, ready to continue their fight properly.
Meeting face-to-face, the two exchanged punches towards one another; their movements faster than most human eyes could possibly catch. Each party's stikes moving at lightning-fast speed, their punches and kicks each followed up with more the instant they were blocked, it seemed to make the backdrop of the church seem blasphemous, as anyone observing would assume there could be any other gods than these two.
Increasing his efforts, the Green Eye began driving the Freak back towards the wall, leaving him to nearly stumble as he was forced to quickly step backwards. Upon reaching the back wall, the Freak spun around and jumped on it, kicking himself off of the wall and landing a kick straight to the Green Eye's face.
Sending him back with a sharp blow to his skull, the Freak began to take his own advantage in the fight, beginning to draw him backwards towards the adjacent wall. As the Green Eye began to gain some of his concentration once again, he began to stand his ground once again, preventing himself from being pushed back any further.
Ducking to the ground, the Freak threw a sweeping kick to the Green Eye's legs, knocking him into the air. Spinning to gain momentum, he then kicked the Green Eye right into the chest, sending him flying back against the wall at last. Running up to land another hit to his downed enemy, the Freak was soon stopped in this next strike, taking a double kick to his own chest by the Green Eye.
Landing back on the ground, the Freak ran towards the Green Eye, but, instead of making any more attacks, jumped over him once again, beginning to run up the wall towards the ceiling. Though a brief pause came over the Green Eye over watching his enemy manage such a feat, he began pursuing after him, taking to the corner of the building and proceeded to tic-tac against the corners until he reached the top.
Reaching the top of the building, the Green Eye and Freak stood on a series of support beams, running horizontal to the ground, as if it were almost a building level of its own. Jumping across the beams to reach one another, the two came to exchange more blows between one another.
Jumping to the Green Eye, the Freak threw more punches towards him, leaving his enemy to dodge each strike. Without much to keep their feet on, both of their actions were leaving them to nearly lose their balance; both needing to stabilize themselves after each move before making another.
Taking these awkward start-and-stop motions, one strike and/or block from one, then trying to balance once again on the support beams, the fight began slowing itself down, with each party taking care not to fall off. However, remembering his newfound powers and wishing to push their limits, the Freak began disregarding his natural human instincts for care and self-preservation; keeping only to his goal of killing the Green Eye.
Jumping across the beams to the Green Eye again, the Freak threw two more punches to his enemy, but this time anticipating his dodges. Instead, his punches connected with the support beam behind his foe, leaving him to shatter it in half with his bare knuckles.
Letting the Green Eye begin to come his way, the Freak began jumping back, dodging and blocking all hits coming his way. Allowing his enemy to come closer and get reckless with his attacks, the Freak backed himself against a support beam, ducking under it to allow the Green Eye to punch through it, which, with his strength, managed to do so more than easily.
With both a support beam on both their sides destroyed, the beams below their feet began to creak and groan, meaning that they would be descending to the ground shortly. As the Green Eye paused to pick up this fact, the Freak jumped and landed on him, pushing him against the beams and breaking through them, sending them both falling to the ground.
Grabbing the Green Eye by the neck, the Freak continuously punched him in the face as the two fell to the ground, ensuring that he made the most of his attack. Upon reaching the ground once again, the Freak ensured to see that the Green Eye took the blunt of the fall all on his back, keeping him on the ground for a short period of time.
With his accelerated healing factor undoing the damage his back, the Green Eye got on his feet once again, reaching back to give his spine a crack. Preparing himself to continue the attack, he pulled out his staff, resorting to the aide of a weapon to assist him. Likewise, the Freak got the same idea, grabbing an elevated fireplace by the handle, wielding the tall object like a staff of his own.
Running back towards his enemy, the Green Eye lunged out with a strike of his staff, only to have the Freak lunge his weapon forward, throwing a cloud of ash in his eyes and mouth. Unable to stand the sudden assault to his breath and sense of sight, the Green Eye began coughing heavily as a result; his eyes watering concurrently.
Taking advantage of the temporarily stunned Green Eye, the Freak threw a downward-swinging attack with his fireplace, bashing him on the head with the large blunt side of the object. Not allowing him to repeat the attack, the Green Eye threw his staff up in defense, catching the next blow.
Jumping into the air, the Green Eye threw a heel kick to the Freak's face, sending him stumbling backwards. With his senses regained, the Green Eye laid in varying lunges and strikes with his staff, beating the Freak as much as he could to put him down. Alas, while the Green Eye had plenty of brawn and brains to win the fight, the Freak now had just as many to continue the it.
Regaining his senses once again, the Freak deflected the next blow, pushing the Green Eye back. Taking notice of a rock laying on the ground, he gave it a kick towards his opponent, leaving the Green Eye to make an opening for him to exploit. Rushing back to his foe, the Freak lunged once again at him with the fireplace, this time using the feet of the object to stab him.
Throwing a downward kick to the oncoming fireplace, the Green Eye stepped on it, preventing the Freak from moving it any further. While keeping it down, he threw his other foot forward and stepped on it again, this time breaking the fireplace in half, leaving the Freak with only half of a compromised weapon.
Tossing the remaining half of the fireplace towards his enemy, the Freak began rushing towards his enemy once again, using the remainder of the object as a distraction. Watching the Green Eye knock aside the other half, his plan for a distraction had worked, leaving the Freak face-to-face with him again.
Resorting back to his bare fists, the Freak continued his attack, only to find most of his punches blocked with the Green Eye's staff. The solid wood build of the staff would be more than enough to knock a man down with a decent amount of force behind the throw, but the Freak seemed to ignore the pain of each strike, even with his hands beginning to show bruises and blisters.
Finally, the Freak grabbed hold of the staff, leaving both him and the Green Eye pushing against it in opposing forces. Both shared a strong eye contact with one another; their minds connected as one, each with polar opposite thoughts and views, but both parties wanting to put an end to the other.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
What eventually stopped the fight was not a move from either of the fighters, but, instead, a gunshot that flew right between their faces and hitting the wall. As both instinctively jumped back from the bullet, both were immediately drawn to the source of the shot, quickly trying to find out who shot it.
The answer came out of the shadows, revealed to be a man with a rifle in his hands. A look of unbridled rage burned on his face, with his eyes locked straight onto the Freak. Even though it was obvious what this man wanted of the Freak, the man's first words made his intentions even more clear.
"GAMMELTHORPE! DIE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" The man shouted.
Following a quick snicker, the Freak jumped into the air again, avoiding the next shot fired out of the rifle. Climbing his way up to the ceiling once again, the Freak crawled his way out of a hole, making his escape at last. Having the Freak slip out of his fingers once again, the Green Eye immediately began making his way after him, not able to afford losing him again.
However, before making a single step, the man cocked his rifle again, making the Green Eye stop in his tracks.
"Don't move!" The man shouted.
Raising his hands in the air, the Green Eye slowly turned to the armed man, keeping his movements careful and gentle to give no signs of ill intent or means of harm towards him. Having no knowledge of who this man was or why he had appeared here all of a sudden, he delved into the man's mind, getting an understanding of him to try to appeal to him emotionally.
What he saw was almost completely unbearable to experience, leaving him to wonder how the man could have done so, but it did not stop him from reasoning with him.
"Listen to me. I understand why you're angry, but this isn't the way, and we won't stop him like this. If you don't let me go now, we might never catch him again." Green Eye said.
"Shut up! Just shut up! You don't know anything about me!" The man said.
"Keith, listen to me, I understand. This is not how you bring him to justice. Please listen to me."
Hearing his name come out of the mouth of someone he had never met before in his life, the man named Keith began to slightly lower his rifle. Feeling a mixture of both intrigue and fear, his hands stayed ever so tight on the rifle still ready to fire, but just hesitant enough to continue talking.
"How do you know my name?" Keith asked.
"I know why you're doing this, and it's not going to do you any good. Now, please, I'm begging you, put the gun down and we can-" Green Eye began to say.
Before he could finish his plea with Keith, G-Funk and Lady Tetsu both arrived at the scene, aiming to give backup to their teammate. Immediately noticing a man with a gun in his hand pointing it at said teammate, their reaction was as quick as their minds processed the sight.
"Eyeman, get down!" G-Funk shouted.
"No, don't-!" Green Eye began to shout.
The warnings of the Green Eye could not be heard by either of his teammates; the sounds of loud gunshots from Keith putting all sounds and voices completely unheard, save for the sound blasts fired back from G-Funk out of his Sonic Fork. Their crossfire lasted only mere seconds, but what followed seemed to last an eternity for everyone involved.
One bullet from Keith's rifle made its way to Lady Tetsu, piercing right through her stomach. She immediately howled in pain at the shot, falling to the ground while continuing to scream. The sounds of gunfire and sonic blasts immediately died down, with all parties looking on Lady Tetsu in shock, but G-Funk quick to rush to her aide.
Caring not for his own identity being compromised, G-Funk threw off his mask, taking Lady Tetsu's off as well, putting both in their respective alter-egos.
"Phoebe! Pheebs, you alright?!" Gerald shouted.
"Ungh... Gerald... It hurts... It hurts so bad..." Phoebe groaned.
Taking a look back to Keith, watching the rifle begin to smoke in his hands, Gerald began turning to absolute anger; his face and eyes beginning to go bright red. Keith, never having shot any living being until now, and instantly seeing the negative consequences of his actions, began to raise his hands in a sign of peace.
"W-Wait... I didn't mean to... I didn't want to hurt anyone..." Keith stammered.
Wielding his Sonic Fork again, Gerald fired a sound blast towards Keith, sending him flying against the wall and crushing the rotted drywall in. Falling to the ground, he began crawling away from the approaching Gerald, seeing the vengeance in his eyes and his tight grip on his Sonic Fork, more than ready to use it on him.
Gerald took his weapon and prepared to beat Keith with it, but his attack was stopped by the Green Eye; fighting against his best friend to keep him from making a dire mistake.
"No, Gerald, no! No! He's not to blame!" Green Eye shouted.
"'Not to blame'?! This son of a bitch shot Phoebe, of course he is!" Gerald said.
"Gerald, listen to me! He didn't mean to do it, it was an accident! You know that I know that!"
"I don't care! You saw what he did!"
"GERALD! YOU WILL NOT HURT HIM! PUT THAT WEAPON DOWN NOW!"
Gerald threw the Green Eye off, preparing his Sonic Fork to bash Keith with it. While the victim cowered away from the attack, the Green Eye placed himself between both parties with his staff held, more than ready to attack his own best friend in order to preserve a life.
"Don't make me do this, Gerald. You know you're not going to win." Green Eye said.
Every part of Gerald wanted to beat Keith until the point where he would stop breathing, but seeing his best friend stand between him and that goal had put him at opposing ends. One hand still wished to consummate that urge to kill, but the other wished to heed to his friend's wishes, knowing that he was almost always in the right regarding moral issues like this one.
Though it pained him to do so, Gerald swung his Sonic Fork to the wall, shattering part of it, but ultimately obeying the Green Eye's wishes and sparing Keith. Throwing his weapon to the ground, Gerald leaned himself against the wall, breathing hard to overcome the emotional stress he was under. Giving his support to his friend once again, the Green Eye laid a hand on Gerald's shoulder.
"I came close, man. I came too damn close." Gerald said.
"But you didn't do it. That's the important part." Green Eye said.
Before anything else could be said, the Green Eye's own senses began picking up multiple human presences coming their way, recognizing them as members of the National Guard. Unable to stay in the abandoned church for much longer, it was clear that it was time for them to leave.
"We have to go. You take Phoebe, I'll take him." Green Eye said.
"What? Why are we taking him? Why not just leave him for the cops?" Gerald asked.
"I told you, he's not to blame. He's just a victim as a lot of other people. I'll explain later."
With the Green Eye taking Keith and Gerald taking Phoebe, the entire group quickly left the abandoned church, leaving just in time for the National Guard to miss their presence within. Their flight took them to a rooftop on a building far and above the church, letting them witness the close call they had dodged.
"That was too close. I'm surprised they didn't even find me fighting Curly." Green Eye said.
Upon letting the words come out of his mouth, the Green Eye instantly realized what they meant as well.
"Damn! I let him get away!" Green Eye said.
"What?" Gerald asked.
"Curly. He got away. He's out there somewhere."
"Hey, don't sweat it so much, man. We're all on him, and so's the National Guard. He's down to get caught sooner or later."
"I fought him. He's still got all my powers, and he's managed to figure them already. He can even do some things I can't now."
"I don't care what he has. We're gonna get him one way or another. You say you can't stand up to all these armed dudes, so, what makes you think he can?"
"I don't know how to explain it, Gerald, I just know... and I don't like it. Listen, we've got to get back to base; there's a lot we need to take care of now."
"Right. Pheebs, you good to walk on your own?"
Gerald tried to stand Phoebe on her feet, but she instantly fell back to the ground, leaving him to catch her once again.
"Whoa, girl, you okay? I know it hurts, but, if you can walk, you'd be saving us a lot of time. We can get you patched up at home." Gerald said.
"Actually, Gerald... I can't feel my legs." Phoebe said.
The sentence might have left Phoebe's lips in an expedient manner, but Gerald did not receive the news anywhere near the same speed.
"What?" Gerald asked.
"I... I can't feel my legs. It's like they're not there. I... I can't move them." Phoebe said.
Taking to his best friend's significant other, the Green Eye delved his mind into Phoebe's body, trying to troubleshoot the issue behind her legs. Prodding around in her conscious and subconscious, body and soul, he searched out to find the answer to this new dilemma...
...and, upon finding the answer, he is displeased to give it.
"Phoebe... you were shot in the spine. You've been paralyzed." Green Eye said.
Gerald and Phoebe both let out shared gasps, neither able to bear such news.
"W-What?" Phoebe asked.
"The bullet went through part of your spinal cord, and you can't walk again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Green Eye said.
As soon as they heard the news, Phoebe began crying over her condition, while Gerald provided her some comfort, shedding a few tears of his own. They are not alone in the display of negative emotions brought about by this event, as the man named Keith began to show immense remorse for his actions; his face turned away to hide a look of shame and disgust over what he had done.
In the middle of it all, the Green Eye absorbed every emotion given at once; the grief of Phoebe, the sorrow of Gerald, and the regret of Keith, and it tears at his own soul with his own share of negative emotions. The failure to apprehend the Freak was already enough to tear on his mind, but an event like this was nearly unbearable.
It is times like these when he regrets having the powers that he has.