Chapter 2: Enter the Demon
This morning, four months after that, Matt was fed up. Today was the day he would reveal all of his inner thoughts to his friends, and confess his weird encounter. He needed someone to carry all this misery for him.
And he certainly would have, that is, if he were in his room.
Matt was inside an open, wooden coffin in front of a large, golden organ. He sat bolt upright and stared at his surroundings.
He was in a church, and the coffin was on an elevated platform that led to flights of stairs which then extended into the audience. Luckily, the church was deserted, and no one occupied the dozens of rows of seats. The entire floor was also covered in a sand orange carpet, like the desert. The ceiling was also richly decorated with paintings concerning Jesus and Mary. In addition, there were windows all around the church with colored glass. The pictures they formed were so beautifully carved, they almost looked three dimensional.
Matt shook his head and pinched himself, but that just gave him a huge pain on the arm. So...he wasn't dreaming? Where was he?
And out of the dark came a voice. "Well, you finally woke up." That's my voice, thought Matt. No, I must be talking to myself. Matt slapped himself and said out loud, "I'd better get out of here."
"You may go," said the voice, "after I have killed you."
He wasn't talking to himself! Someone was in the room with him. There's no one here, Matt reassured himself. Wait, something's materializing in front of me!
And indeed something was. It had two antenna, a robot body, and it was lavender all around. Matt knew who it was, there was no mistake...
"D...D...Delete Clone?"
The clone laughed, and it was using Matt's voice as well. "Wow, the idiot can figure things out. Bet you weren't expecting to see me again."
Before Matt could react, the clone dematerialized, and out of the dark came a large...what was it? It had a nose, a mouth, and eyes, but otherwise no other recognizable features on its blue body with purple stripes.
"Or perhaps you remember me better," it said with the same voice, "as the Egyptian worm."
Matt had no idea what was going on. At that instant, the worm disintegrated, and from its ashes crawled a bug.
"Meet the bug you shot with the hose." growled Matt's voice. "That was me too, as if you didn't know..."
"I don't," said Matt, who was getting agitated. "You're talking nonsense."
The bug disappeared, but the voice continued, with a hint of impatience. "Don't you get it, Matt? Those were all holograms. I'm trying to tell you something, but I guess my clues are too complicated for your bean-sized brain."
The voice then laughed and said, "But I'd have to agree with you. The thing is, when you're reincarnated, you're not supposed to remember your previous life. However, as I died more often, I gradually became aware of it. Gradually."
The voice, whoever it belonged to, paused, and then exploded. "Anyone would, you know, if the same thing kept happening to them! Every life I've ever lived ended in being killed by Matt. I would choose a new life, make sure there was no way Matt would find me, and settle down."
Again the voice paused, probably to swallow saliva, as if it had been waiting for years and years to say this.
"But just when I think I've got it made, along comes Matt, and BOOM! I die. Well, I've had it Matt! Call me crazy, Matt, I dare you to!"
"You're crazy," Shouted Matt. "I mean it! Listen to yourself!"
Now Matt could hear wheezing sounds; the voice was panting for breath. It didn't seem to take in a word of what Matt said.
"Here's the moment," it rasped, "When at last I knew who the assassin was!"
An image flashed before Matt's eyes. He found himself staring at Hacker, who was battling a boy who looked exactly like Matt, but was dressed like a Sailor Scout.
Before he could react, the boy cried out, "MATEO EMERALD EARTH SACRIFICE!" and his energy wrapped around him and destroyed everything...including himself......When the green light faded, the sailor scout was not breathing or showing any vital signs of life.
Then the screen went black.
"Tell me it was a coincidence, Matt!" screeched the voice. I DARE you to tell me it was a coincidence!"
Still puzzled, Matt automatically droned, "It was not."
"Oh yeah? Let's see you say that to my face! That's right, I have a new body, and this time, I'm not going to let you destroy it. Today, I will be the one handing out punishment instead of receiving it!"
No sooner had those words stopped coming than something materialized on top of the organ. It jumped off and landed on its feet right in front of Matt.
Matt looked up, and wanted to scream even louder at the figure he was looking at than four months ago when he saw the eyes.
He was looking at a mindless mixture of his friends and enemies. The figure's left side was of goodness, and the figure's right side was of evil. On the left, Matt recognized the following features: The leg of Dr. Marbles, the body, and skin tone of Jackie, the beak and arm of Digit, and the eyes and hair of Inez. As a final touch, the left side also had the wings of a dove. On the right, Matt recognized the following features: The body of Machinos, the eye and arm of Blackjack, the leg of Delete, the antenna and mouth of Buzz, and the hair and skin tone of Hacker. As a final touch, the right side also had the wings of a bat.
No one spoke for a long time; the two just stared at one another. Finally, the figure said, "You know, I could go on about how many times I was killed by you. But none of them involved of this body. Oh no. This is my final body. My last chance for revenge. My body specifically designed to kill Matt. And I'm not even going to go into how hard I worked to get it. But don't worry. I didn't harm anyone in order to get it."
Matt was thoroughly spooked. But in a last-minute attempt to sound tough, shouted, "Oh yeah? Well, it looks like you lost the instructions trying to put yourself together!"
The figure smiled. "Yes, joke while you are still capable of doing so. But I shall have the last laugh, once I avenge all the lives you killed."
"Enough!" Yelled Matt. "You are bluffing. I did nothing!"
"SILENCE! You are a multi-me murderer, and today, you will be the fodder," roared the figure, "of me! THE CRIMSON BLADE!"