Part Fourteen:
( Warning in this part Jett worst nightmare is his brother Jace coming on to him. Keep in mind that it's not real
Jett looked at his two brothers blearily. "Well, they're not here.
We're on our own and right now I need some clothes," he croaked as he
slowly sat up.
Joxer walked over to Jett and placed his hand on his shoulder. Jett
turned and stared at it but said nothing. Joxer looked up at Jace. "Jace,
come on over. Maybe together we can
make something for Jett to wear besides your robe."
"Hey! Are you making fun of my superior fashion sense?" Jace's lips
jutted out in a pout.
Strife giggled and waved his hands. "Oh no! You don't have to do that -
after all, you are my guests. Allow me!"
The wind began to blow hard as swirls of red, yellow, pink, and purple
lights surrounded Jett before the Trio could do anything to try and
stop him. When it went away, Strife
waved his hands in a manic gesture. "Voila! See! Now he has clothes -
and doesn't he look absolutely CHARMING?"
Joxer stared at Jett, trying hard not to let his mouth fall open in
shock. Jace tried without success not to laugh but it was impossible not
to. Joxer gave him a look, silently trying to
tell him to stop it. Jett stared at his brothers, blinking to get the
spots away from his eyes. "Why are you laughing? Jace, you better not be
laughing at me! What did that lunatic do
to me?"
"Jett, you **really** don't want to know," replied Joxer.
Jett reached out and managed to grab Joxer by the shirt collar. "I want
to see what I'm wearing, damn it!"
"Well, we don't want him to have a cow now, do we?" Strife hooted.
"Take a good look at your new image!"
Suddenly, a large mirror appeared. Jett let Joxer loose and turned
around to look at himself. "What the..." he muttered, not quite believing
what he was seeing at first.
Wincing from the headache he was starting to get, he slowly rose to his
feet, teetering back and forth a bit until he got his balance. He
stared into the mirror and got a really
good look what he was wearing. He looked down to his feet, then up his
body until he was gazing at what was on his head. He was wearing a pair
of tan shoes with pink
shoelaces instead of boots, a polka dot vest with no shirt underneath,
striped boxer shorts, and to top it off, on his head was a big Panama
hat with a wide brim and a purple
hatband.
Jett glared at his reflection, shocked at first. Jace was still
laughing. Suddenly, Jett moved quickly and grabbed Jace the same way he had
grabbed Joxer earlier. "You stop laughing
at me, Jace! Stop it now! Or I swear I will kill you, brother or not!"
Jace placed his hands over Jett's hands, trying to push them away.
Joxer grabbed Jett's hands. "Let go, Jett! Come on! We've got to work
together to get out of here. I don't think
Adora can help us. I lost the connection to her."
Jett's eyes were boring into Jace's. "Tell him to stop laughing at me,"
he growled.
Joxer looked at Jace, who was now really scared. "Let go, Jett. He
didn't mean to laugh. Did you, Jace?" he asked softly.
Jace shook his head, eyes wide in fear. Jett let out a heavy sigh and
let Jace go. Jace rubbed his neck but said nothing. Jett turned to
Joxer. "Now what?"
Joxer was a bit surprised that Jett had actually asked him for advice.
"Well, first of all, let's change clothes."
Jett again stared at Joxer, but this time it was in surprise. "You
would do that for me?" he asked, looking at his brother dressed in a simple
white tunic, brown leather pants and
boots.
Joxer shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the ground. "Yeah. I'm
used to being humiliated. What's one more time where I get made fun
of?" he sighed.
Jace looked at them. "Do you honestly think that Strife will let you
change outfits?"
Joxer sighed again. "Why should he care who wears that ridiculous
outfit as long as it amuses him?" He looked up at the spirit God of
Mischief. "Well, do you mind?"
Strife sat on a partially crumbling throne hovering over the brothers.
He tapped his fingers on the arm of the ruined throne, his blue eyes
wide as he looked up at the sky with
a deceptively innocent look on his face. "Ah gee, do I mind? Hmmm...
Let me see... Yes, of course I mind! It will be no fun if you wear it,
Joxie. My man Jett keeps it on!"
He hooted with laughter and slapped a black-leather clad thigh.
Jett growled at Strife, "You son of a..."
Joxer stood in front of Jett. "Jett, don't! Calm down! Can't you see
that this is what he wants? We've got to stay cool if we're going to beat
him!" he whispered.
Jace glanced at his brothers. "How can we beat him? He's already dead.
We can't beat him!"
Joxer turned to Jace with a determined look in his eyes. "We will beat
him, Jace. I know we will."
Strife laughed. "You sure do have a way with words, Joxie! Just how do
you plan to beat me, O Mighty One? I cut you off from that daughter of
yours and Unc sent Xena,
Jerkules and Gabby-brat off on a wild goose chase."
"You mean that there's no trouble where they went?"
Strife rolled his eyes and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Nope!
You see, Zeus needed to see how strong your God tamers powers were. So,
he told me if I tested you to
see how strong they were and if I won, I'd get my God life back again.
So, I jumped at the chance. Do you know how INCREDIBLY BORING it is in
Tartarus?" he finished with a
yawn.
Joxer glared at him. "Then all this was a set-up?"
"Boy, you catch on quick, Mighty One! Yeah! Unc figured that if he set
Jett up, his niece would help him, although he didn't figure on her
turning him into a - **ICK** - cat, but it
was SO cool when he turned him into a panther! I kind of wish I let him
tear you apart first, but when I saw you were getting through, I had to
step in."
"So, what you're saying is that we have to defeat you?"
Yeah Joxie! And if you do, I go back to Tartarus and if you don't, you
all go to Tartarus in my place! So say *sayonara*, suckers!" Strife
giggled madly.
******
Adora picked up the meat platter and banged it hard against the table,
making Eve jump. "What happened to the picture? Why can't I see them?
Why can't I contact Papa?"
Cyrene took the frightened child in her arms as Eve patted her back.
"It's okay, Dorie. It will be okay. Joxer's gotten out of worse
situations."
Adora pulled away, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You don't
understand! Papa and my uncles could die - and it'll be all my fault! I don't
know if they can beat a God that's
already dead."
Cyrene pulled her closer and also gathered Eve into her arms. "I know,
Dorie. I know."
*******
When Xena, Gabrielle and Hercules arrived in Sparta, everything was
peaceful. Men and women were going about their business and children were
playing in the streets. In fact, it
looked as if there wasn't any trouble at all. The three gazed at each
other, puzzled. Xena grabbed at a man's arm as he walked by. "Say, are
you having trouble here?" she asked.
The man stared at Xena with a frown. "No. Everything's fine."
"No warlord, monsters, or evil demons?"
"No." The man hurried away, glancing behind him uneasily.
Gabrielle looked at Xena, worried. "Xena, what's going on?"
"I'll tell you what's up, Blondie. Zeus wanted to test the Trio's God
taming powers without you goody two shoes in the way," a smooth voice
replied.
"ARES! I should've known, you bastard!" Xena yelled as Ares appeared
before them.
Ares held his arms out before him. "Hey! Don't yell at me, Xena. We've
got to know where we stand with them."
"You dirty scum bucket! You know they won't hurt the Greek Gods,"
Hercules growled.
Ares rolled his eyes. "Well, Zeus isn't too sure about that, Jerkules.
So he's going to find out and don't try to go back and help them
because I'm here to make sure you don't."
Xena took out her sword and grinned wickedly. "Come on, then! Bring it
on!"
Ares sighed and rubbed a fist against his chest. "As you wish," he said
mildly and waved his hand before Xena could attack him. He disappeared
into the ether, laughing.
"This is **not** good," Hercules muttered.
Suddenly the ground stared to shake and opened up. The residents
screamed and ran away in terror as soldiers from long ago wars climbed from
the ground, all of them carry
blood-caked swords. The three friends made ready to fight.
*****
The three fought ferociously, but even as they destroyed the first
round of corpses, more emerged from the ground. Gabrielle gagged from the
smell of rotting flesh, twisting and
turning, knocking them away as quickly as she could, but the dead
bodies continued rising from the ground. "Xena! They don't stop! They keep
coming back!" she screamed.
"It's because they're already dead, Gabrielle!"
"I KNOW THAT! Uh.... So, do you have any idea on how to stop them?"
Gabrielle ducked before an animated skeleton decapitated her with an axe.
She dropped to the
ground and kicked it in the shinbone, shattering it.
Xena plunged her sword into one of the dead soldiers and at the same
time kicked another one in its gut. "Just keep fighting, Gabrielle!
Everything has a weak point. We just have
to find it!" she grunted.
Hercules, in the meantime, had his own problems as a group of dead
soldiers attached to his body. He sent them flying only for them to get up
again and reattach themselves to
him. "GET OFF ME!" he roared as he sent them flying, but it was
useless. They just kept coming back.
"WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE! WE NEED A PLAN!" yelled Gabrielle, even
though she hated the idea of retreating.
"No! We can't! If we don't stop them now, Sparta will be doomed!"
"THERE ARE TOO MANY OF THEM, XENA! WE NEED A PLAN!"
Xena swung around, stabbing one of the dead soldiers in the gut. He
stared down where the sword had plunged through his rotted stomach and
kicked Xena, sending her flying
across the street. Xena managed to land on her feet. The dead soldier
charged her, ready to end her life. Xena readied herself for another
round of fighting. Suddenly, he stopped
in his tracks.
Xena stared in puzzlement as she walked over to him curiously and then
reached out, cautiously poking his shoulder with a finger. He was
completely frozen in place. She
turned around and gazed at the other animated corpses. Not one soldier
was moving. One even had his sword ready to plunge into Gabrielle, who
slowly moved her body out from
under him and rose to her feet. "Xena. Hercules. What's going on? Do
you think one of the Gods is helping us?"
Hercules looked around. "I really don't think so. I think something
else is going on here."
Suddenly the dead soldiers started moving again. The three friends got
ready to fight once more, but the soldiers ignored them and as quickly
as they came out of the ground,
they returned to it.
"Come on. Let's get out of here before something else happens," said
Xena as she ran over to Argo and jumped onto her back. Gabrielle followed
and quickly mounted her own
horse.
Hercules looked around, shaking his head. "You two go ahead. I'll stay
and clean up."
Xena and Gabrielle looked around and both dismounted their horses.
"We'll stay and help you, Hercules," Xena said.
"What about Joxer and his brothers?" asked Hercules.
Gabrielle gave him a half smile. "Let's hope they'll be okay."
*****
Cyrene gazed at Adora, who was now sitting on the floor, shaking a bit.
Eve was sitting with her. "Are you all right, Adora?" she asked,
squatting down next to her.
Adora slowly looked up at her. "I helped them. Why can't I help Papa
and my uncles?"
Eve took her friend and held her as she had seen her mother do with
Gabrielle when she was frightened. "You're being cut off from them, but
you did help them, Dorie."
"How?"
"By helping Mom, Aunt Gabrielle, and Uncle Hercules. Just as soon as
they help get Sparta back to normal, they will go and help Uncle Joxer,
Jett, and Jace."
Adora smiled at Eve. "Thanks, Eve."
******
The long mirror disappeared and Strife howled in anger. "Damn her for
interfering!"
Joxer looked up at him. "Damn who?"
"Your daughter."
Joxer smiled. "Good for her."
Strife jumped off his throne and landed inches away from Joxer. His
face turned ugly as he shoved it into Joxer's face. "You don't understand,
you mortal moron! When **you**
die, **she** dies. Adora is part of you. She can't EXIST without you!"
With a scream of frustration, Strife then made a fireball, hurling it
at one of the ruined walls. It bounced off
the stones and landed right in front of Joxer, making a gaping hole.
Joxer suddenly lost his footing and tumbled down into the dark, dark pit
with a yell. The ground then closed
up. Jett and Jace looked on, horrified. Strife smiled. "Ah! One down,
two to go!"
Suddenly a pair of long, hairy arms grabbed Jace, who screamed as he
was pulled away from Jett and pulled into the rubble, vanishing without a
trace. Jett turned around and
tried to attack Strife, but found he couldn't move from where he was
standing. "You'll pay for this, you freak!"
"Nah. Don't think so. You see, I think I already paid my debt - but you
still owe and payback's a bitch! Why don't you take a look and see?"
Strife pointed and laughed as Jett
looked down at himself and saw with horror that he was disappearing.
Strife danced around him like a madman. "Oh dear! Are you losing sight
of reality? Ohhh! Poor
baby!"
"I'll get you for this, Strife!"
Strife watched as Jett disappeared before his eyes. "Yeah, you and what
army? Bye bye!" he chortled with a wave.
****
Joxer slowly woke up. His head was pounding and he felt a warm, sticky
liquid running down his right cheek as he rubbed his forehead.
*Wonderful,* he thought to himself. He
looked around, his eyes slowly readjusting to the dim light. He
suddenly heard movement and looked up to see Jett standing in front of him.
"Jett! Thank the Gods you're all right.
Is Jace with you?"
Jett stared down at Joxer with an evil look in his eyes and a small
smile on his lips. Joxer, not noticing this, stood up and brushed himself
off. "Come on, let's find Jace." Joxer
started to walk away when Jett suddenly jumped him from behind. "What
are you doing? Are you crazy?" he managed to twist himself so that he
faced his brother and his eyes
widened in horror.
Jett grinned at him widely as he grabbed him by the shirt collar.
Joxer's eyes grew even larger than they already were when he saw a long
assassin's dagger in Jett's right hand.
Jett's eyes glittered with malice as he drew the dagger back and aimed
the blade straight at Joxer's heart. In a low, raspy voice, he growled
in Joxer's ear, "Tonight, *dear brother*,
you die."
*******
Jace found himself crawling in the narrow space he was in. Jace hated
and feared small, dark places and was trying to hurry to get out. He was
almost at the end when he saw
Joxer at the entrance. "Oh Gods! Joxer, I'm so glad you are all right.
Here, give me a hand."
Joxer smiled, but it wasn't his sweet, slightly goofy grin. Jace's
throat became dry and he began sweating. "You've been a very bad boy, Jace.
A *very* bad boy and you must be
punished," Joxer said in a low voice.
"Joxer! That's not funny! Come on! Give me a hand. Let me out, please!"
Joxer shook his head, continuing to block the entrance. "You are Jace,
son of Judd and Jezda. You will learn this, and until you do, you will
remain in there."
Jace felt tears start to roll down his cheeks. "No, Joxer! Please! It's
dark in here! Please! I'll be good!" he begged.
Joxer only smiled evilly and rolled a large stone in front of the exit,
closing out the only light in the narrow space.
"JOXERRRRRRR!" screamed Jace. He began pounding his fists against the
boulder,
screaming and crying in terror.
********
Jett was disoriented for a few minutes after he reappeared in a large
room. When his senses finally cleared, he realized that he was not alone
and he turned around. Jace stood
over in a corner, looking him over. Jett had a strange feeling about
this, but was also glad Jace was okay. "Jace! Good, you're safe. Let's
find Joxer and stop Strife before that
lunatic does something else."
Jace approached Jett slowly and began to talk in a very seductive
voice. "I should have never laughed at you, brother. You look so sexy in
that outfit. Real sexy and hot."
"WHAT? Jace, have you lost your mind?" Jett's eyes grew huge as Jace
reached out, grabbed Jett's face and placed his lips over Jett's, kissing
him. Jett pushed Jace away from
him. "What in Tartarus is WRONG with you?"
Jace only laughed. "You *know* you want me, Jett. I can *tell* when
someone wants me." Jace suddenly moved fast and had Jett in his arms
before he could stop him. "You
are mine, baby. You want me and I want you," he whispered in Jett's
ear. Jace then lowered his head and bit Jett's neck. Jett knocked him
away, slapping him across the
mouth. Jace slowly wiped the blood from his mouth and licked his lips.
He smiled lazily as he began approaching Jett slowly. "Don't fight it,
Jett. You are just like me."
"No, I'm not like you! Stay away from me!" Jett yelled, backing away
from Jace.
*****
Ares appeared as Strife watched what was happening from three different
mirrors. "So, how's it going?" he asked, crossing his arms over his
chest.
Strife smiled. "I've got all three of them living their worst nightmare
of each other. Hmph! If they're God tamers, we've got nothing to worry
about."
********
( Warning in this part Jett worst nightmare is his brother Jace coming on to him. Keep in mind that it's not real
Jett looked at his two brothers blearily. "Well, they're not here.
We're on our own and right now I need some clothes," he croaked as he
slowly sat up.
Joxer walked over to Jett and placed his hand on his shoulder. Jett
turned and stared at it but said nothing. Joxer looked up at Jace. "Jace,
come on over. Maybe together we can
make something for Jett to wear besides your robe."
"Hey! Are you making fun of my superior fashion sense?" Jace's lips
jutted out in a pout.
Strife giggled and waved his hands. "Oh no! You don't have to do that -
after all, you are my guests. Allow me!"
The wind began to blow hard as swirls of red, yellow, pink, and purple
lights surrounded Jett before the Trio could do anything to try and
stop him. When it went away, Strife
waved his hands in a manic gesture. "Voila! See! Now he has clothes -
and doesn't he look absolutely CHARMING?"
Joxer stared at Jett, trying hard not to let his mouth fall open in
shock. Jace tried without success not to laugh but it was impossible not
to. Joxer gave him a look, silently trying to
tell him to stop it. Jett stared at his brothers, blinking to get the
spots away from his eyes. "Why are you laughing? Jace, you better not be
laughing at me! What did that lunatic do
to me?"
"Jett, you **really** don't want to know," replied Joxer.
Jett reached out and managed to grab Joxer by the shirt collar. "I want
to see what I'm wearing, damn it!"
"Well, we don't want him to have a cow now, do we?" Strife hooted.
"Take a good look at your new image!"
Suddenly, a large mirror appeared. Jett let Joxer loose and turned
around to look at himself. "What the..." he muttered, not quite believing
what he was seeing at first.
Wincing from the headache he was starting to get, he slowly rose to his
feet, teetering back and forth a bit until he got his balance. He
stared into the mirror and got a really
good look what he was wearing. He looked down to his feet, then up his
body until he was gazing at what was on his head. He was wearing a pair
of tan shoes with pink
shoelaces instead of boots, a polka dot vest with no shirt underneath,
striped boxer shorts, and to top it off, on his head was a big Panama
hat with a wide brim and a purple
hatband.
Jett glared at his reflection, shocked at first. Jace was still
laughing. Suddenly, Jett moved quickly and grabbed Jace the same way he had
grabbed Joxer earlier. "You stop laughing
at me, Jace! Stop it now! Or I swear I will kill you, brother or not!"
Jace placed his hands over Jett's hands, trying to push them away.
Joxer grabbed Jett's hands. "Let go, Jett! Come on! We've got to work
together to get out of here. I don't think
Adora can help us. I lost the connection to her."
Jett's eyes were boring into Jace's. "Tell him to stop laughing at me,"
he growled.
Joxer looked at Jace, who was now really scared. "Let go, Jett. He
didn't mean to laugh. Did you, Jace?" he asked softly.
Jace shook his head, eyes wide in fear. Jett let out a heavy sigh and
let Jace go. Jace rubbed his neck but said nothing. Jett turned to
Joxer. "Now what?"
Joxer was a bit surprised that Jett had actually asked him for advice.
"Well, first of all, let's change clothes."
Jett again stared at Joxer, but this time it was in surprise. "You
would do that for me?" he asked, looking at his brother dressed in a simple
white tunic, brown leather pants and
boots.
Joxer shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the ground. "Yeah. I'm
used to being humiliated. What's one more time where I get made fun
of?" he sighed.
Jace looked at them. "Do you honestly think that Strife will let you
change outfits?"
Joxer sighed again. "Why should he care who wears that ridiculous
outfit as long as it amuses him?" He looked up at the spirit God of
Mischief. "Well, do you mind?"
Strife sat on a partially crumbling throne hovering over the brothers.
He tapped his fingers on the arm of the ruined throne, his blue eyes
wide as he looked up at the sky with
a deceptively innocent look on his face. "Ah gee, do I mind? Hmmm...
Let me see... Yes, of course I mind! It will be no fun if you wear it,
Joxie. My man Jett keeps it on!"
He hooted with laughter and slapped a black-leather clad thigh.
Jett growled at Strife, "You son of a..."
Joxer stood in front of Jett. "Jett, don't! Calm down! Can't you see
that this is what he wants? We've got to stay cool if we're going to beat
him!" he whispered.
Jace glanced at his brothers. "How can we beat him? He's already dead.
We can't beat him!"
Joxer turned to Jace with a determined look in his eyes. "We will beat
him, Jace. I know we will."
Strife laughed. "You sure do have a way with words, Joxie! Just how do
you plan to beat me, O Mighty One? I cut you off from that daughter of
yours and Unc sent Xena,
Jerkules and Gabby-brat off on a wild goose chase."
"You mean that there's no trouble where they went?"
Strife rolled his eyes and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Nope!
You see, Zeus needed to see how strong your God tamers powers were. So,
he told me if I tested you to
see how strong they were and if I won, I'd get my God life back again.
So, I jumped at the chance. Do you know how INCREDIBLY BORING it is in
Tartarus?" he finished with a
yawn.
Joxer glared at him. "Then all this was a set-up?"
"Boy, you catch on quick, Mighty One! Yeah! Unc figured that if he set
Jett up, his niece would help him, although he didn't figure on her
turning him into a - **ICK** - cat, but it
was SO cool when he turned him into a panther! I kind of wish I let him
tear you apart first, but when I saw you were getting through, I had to
step in."
"So, what you're saying is that we have to defeat you?"
Yeah Joxie! And if you do, I go back to Tartarus and if you don't, you
all go to Tartarus in my place! So say *sayonara*, suckers!" Strife
giggled madly.
******
Adora picked up the meat platter and banged it hard against the table,
making Eve jump. "What happened to the picture? Why can't I see them?
Why can't I contact Papa?"
Cyrene took the frightened child in her arms as Eve patted her back.
"It's okay, Dorie. It will be okay. Joxer's gotten out of worse
situations."
Adora pulled away, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You don't
understand! Papa and my uncles could die - and it'll be all my fault! I don't
know if they can beat a God that's
already dead."
Cyrene pulled her closer and also gathered Eve into her arms. "I know,
Dorie. I know."
*******
When Xena, Gabrielle and Hercules arrived in Sparta, everything was
peaceful. Men and women were going about their business and children were
playing in the streets. In fact, it
looked as if there wasn't any trouble at all. The three gazed at each
other, puzzled. Xena grabbed at a man's arm as he walked by. "Say, are
you having trouble here?" she asked.
The man stared at Xena with a frown. "No. Everything's fine."
"No warlord, monsters, or evil demons?"
"No." The man hurried away, glancing behind him uneasily.
Gabrielle looked at Xena, worried. "Xena, what's going on?"
"I'll tell you what's up, Blondie. Zeus wanted to test the Trio's God
taming powers without you goody two shoes in the way," a smooth voice
replied.
"ARES! I should've known, you bastard!" Xena yelled as Ares appeared
before them.
Ares held his arms out before him. "Hey! Don't yell at me, Xena. We've
got to know where we stand with them."
"You dirty scum bucket! You know they won't hurt the Greek Gods,"
Hercules growled.
Ares rolled his eyes. "Well, Zeus isn't too sure about that, Jerkules.
So he's going to find out and don't try to go back and help them
because I'm here to make sure you don't."
Xena took out her sword and grinned wickedly. "Come on, then! Bring it
on!"
Ares sighed and rubbed a fist against his chest. "As you wish," he said
mildly and waved his hand before Xena could attack him. He disappeared
into the ether, laughing.
"This is **not** good," Hercules muttered.
Suddenly the ground stared to shake and opened up. The residents
screamed and ran away in terror as soldiers from long ago wars climbed from
the ground, all of them carry
blood-caked swords. The three friends made ready to fight.
*****
The three fought ferociously, but even as they destroyed the first
round of corpses, more emerged from the ground. Gabrielle gagged from the
smell of rotting flesh, twisting and
turning, knocking them away as quickly as she could, but the dead
bodies continued rising from the ground. "Xena! They don't stop! They keep
coming back!" she screamed.
"It's because they're already dead, Gabrielle!"
"I KNOW THAT! Uh.... So, do you have any idea on how to stop them?"
Gabrielle ducked before an animated skeleton decapitated her with an axe.
She dropped to the
ground and kicked it in the shinbone, shattering it.
Xena plunged her sword into one of the dead soldiers and at the same
time kicked another one in its gut. "Just keep fighting, Gabrielle!
Everything has a weak point. We just have
to find it!" she grunted.
Hercules, in the meantime, had his own problems as a group of dead
soldiers attached to his body. He sent them flying only for them to get up
again and reattach themselves to
him. "GET OFF ME!" he roared as he sent them flying, but it was
useless. They just kept coming back.
"WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE! WE NEED A PLAN!" yelled Gabrielle, even
though she hated the idea of retreating.
"No! We can't! If we don't stop them now, Sparta will be doomed!"
"THERE ARE TOO MANY OF THEM, XENA! WE NEED A PLAN!"
Xena swung around, stabbing one of the dead soldiers in the gut. He
stared down where the sword had plunged through his rotted stomach and
kicked Xena, sending her flying
across the street. Xena managed to land on her feet. The dead soldier
charged her, ready to end her life. Xena readied herself for another
round of fighting. Suddenly, he stopped
in his tracks.
Xena stared in puzzlement as she walked over to him curiously and then
reached out, cautiously poking his shoulder with a finger. He was
completely frozen in place. She
turned around and gazed at the other animated corpses. Not one soldier
was moving. One even had his sword ready to plunge into Gabrielle, who
slowly moved her body out from
under him and rose to her feet. "Xena. Hercules. What's going on? Do
you think one of the Gods is helping us?"
Hercules looked around. "I really don't think so. I think something
else is going on here."
Suddenly the dead soldiers started moving again. The three friends got
ready to fight once more, but the soldiers ignored them and as quickly
as they came out of the ground,
they returned to it.
"Come on. Let's get out of here before something else happens," said
Xena as she ran over to Argo and jumped onto her back. Gabrielle followed
and quickly mounted her own
horse.
Hercules looked around, shaking his head. "You two go ahead. I'll stay
and clean up."
Xena and Gabrielle looked around and both dismounted their horses.
"We'll stay and help you, Hercules," Xena said.
"What about Joxer and his brothers?" asked Hercules.
Gabrielle gave him a half smile. "Let's hope they'll be okay."
*****
Cyrene gazed at Adora, who was now sitting on the floor, shaking a bit.
Eve was sitting with her. "Are you all right, Adora?" she asked,
squatting down next to her.
Adora slowly looked up at her. "I helped them. Why can't I help Papa
and my uncles?"
Eve took her friend and held her as she had seen her mother do with
Gabrielle when she was frightened. "You're being cut off from them, but
you did help them, Dorie."
"How?"
"By helping Mom, Aunt Gabrielle, and Uncle Hercules. Just as soon as
they help get Sparta back to normal, they will go and help Uncle Joxer,
Jett, and Jace."
Adora smiled at Eve. "Thanks, Eve."
******
The long mirror disappeared and Strife howled in anger. "Damn her for
interfering!"
Joxer looked up at him. "Damn who?"
"Your daughter."
Joxer smiled. "Good for her."
Strife jumped off his throne and landed inches away from Joxer. His
face turned ugly as he shoved it into Joxer's face. "You don't understand,
you mortal moron! When **you**
die, **she** dies. Adora is part of you. She can't EXIST without you!"
With a scream of frustration, Strife then made a fireball, hurling it
at one of the ruined walls. It bounced off
the stones and landed right in front of Joxer, making a gaping hole.
Joxer suddenly lost his footing and tumbled down into the dark, dark pit
with a yell. The ground then closed
up. Jett and Jace looked on, horrified. Strife smiled. "Ah! One down,
two to go!"
Suddenly a pair of long, hairy arms grabbed Jace, who screamed as he
was pulled away from Jett and pulled into the rubble, vanishing without a
trace. Jett turned around and
tried to attack Strife, but found he couldn't move from where he was
standing. "You'll pay for this, you freak!"
"Nah. Don't think so. You see, I think I already paid my debt - but you
still owe and payback's a bitch! Why don't you take a look and see?"
Strife pointed and laughed as Jett
looked down at himself and saw with horror that he was disappearing.
Strife danced around him like a madman. "Oh dear! Are you losing sight
of reality? Ohhh! Poor
baby!"
"I'll get you for this, Strife!"
Strife watched as Jett disappeared before his eyes. "Yeah, you and what
army? Bye bye!" he chortled with a wave.
****
Joxer slowly woke up. His head was pounding and he felt a warm, sticky
liquid running down his right cheek as he rubbed his forehead.
*Wonderful,* he thought to himself. He
looked around, his eyes slowly readjusting to the dim light. He
suddenly heard movement and looked up to see Jett standing in front of him.
"Jett! Thank the Gods you're all right.
Is Jace with you?"
Jett stared down at Joxer with an evil look in his eyes and a small
smile on his lips. Joxer, not noticing this, stood up and brushed himself
off. "Come on, let's find Jace." Joxer
started to walk away when Jett suddenly jumped him from behind. "What
are you doing? Are you crazy?" he managed to twist himself so that he
faced his brother and his eyes
widened in horror.
Jett grinned at him widely as he grabbed him by the shirt collar.
Joxer's eyes grew even larger than they already were when he saw a long
assassin's dagger in Jett's right hand.
Jett's eyes glittered with malice as he drew the dagger back and aimed
the blade straight at Joxer's heart. In a low, raspy voice, he growled
in Joxer's ear, "Tonight, *dear brother*,
you die."
*******
Jace found himself crawling in the narrow space he was in. Jace hated
and feared small, dark places and was trying to hurry to get out. He was
almost at the end when he saw
Joxer at the entrance. "Oh Gods! Joxer, I'm so glad you are all right.
Here, give me a hand."
Joxer smiled, but it wasn't his sweet, slightly goofy grin. Jace's
throat became dry and he began sweating. "You've been a very bad boy, Jace.
A *very* bad boy and you must be
punished," Joxer said in a low voice.
"Joxer! That's not funny! Come on! Give me a hand. Let me out, please!"
Joxer shook his head, continuing to block the entrance. "You are Jace,
son of Judd and Jezda. You will learn this, and until you do, you will
remain in there."
Jace felt tears start to roll down his cheeks. "No, Joxer! Please! It's
dark in here! Please! I'll be good!" he begged.
Joxer only smiled evilly and rolled a large stone in front of the exit,
closing out the only light in the narrow space.
"JOXERRRRRRR!" screamed Jace. He began pounding his fists against the
boulder,
screaming and crying in terror.
********
Jett was disoriented for a few minutes after he reappeared in a large
room. When his senses finally cleared, he realized that he was not alone
and he turned around. Jace stood
over in a corner, looking him over. Jett had a strange feeling about
this, but was also glad Jace was okay. "Jace! Good, you're safe. Let's
find Joxer and stop Strife before that
lunatic does something else."
Jace approached Jett slowly and began to talk in a very seductive
voice. "I should have never laughed at you, brother. You look so sexy in
that outfit. Real sexy and hot."
"WHAT? Jace, have you lost your mind?" Jett's eyes grew huge as Jace
reached out, grabbed Jett's face and placed his lips over Jett's, kissing
him. Jett pushed Jace away from
him. "What in Tartarus is WRONG with you?"
Jace only laughed. "You *know* you want me, Jett. I can *tell* when
someone wants me." Jace suddenly moved fast and had Jett in his arms
before he could stop him. "You
are mine, baby. You want me and I want you," he whispered in Jett's
ear. Jace then lowered his head and bit Jett's neck. Jett knocked him
away, slapping him across the
mouth. Jace slowly wiped the blood from his mouth and licked his lips.
He smiled lazily as he began approaching Jett slowly. "Don't fight it,
Jett. You are just like me."
"No, I'm not like you! Stay away from me!" Jett yelled, backing away
from Jace.
*****
Ares appeared as Strife watched what was happening from three different
mirrors. "So, how's it going?" he asked, crossing his arms over his
chest.
Strife smiled. "I've got all three of them living their worst nightmare
of each other. Hmph! If they're God tamers, we've got nothing to worry
about."
********