Authors Note: Sorry for the delays in updating due to a family emergency we
were out for a couple of weeks. The following weeks were underscored with
much laziness in basking being back home. We shall now re-begin the process
of posting frequently. However the next couple of chapter may be delayed
due to their content being revised. Thank you for understanding.
Chapter 5 The Dead Sea
"Welcome to the Dead Sea." Patrick said to the clones.
"Armageddon is the only way to describe this place." Shaun said as they walked through the portal.
"Wow, this place is sure not what I thought." Steena said sadly looking at all the skulls.
"Our objective is to reach that middle pillar sky scraper. The one that looks like everything and anything was smashed together." Shaun said pointing to the obvious.
"Look, now that we are here let's get one thing strait." Paul said quickly. "Shaun is the only one that knows this place more than we do so no matter what LISTEN to him." Everyone nodded.
"Like it or not we got to stop being angry with each other." Steena added. "Or we're all as good as dead." Pat and Diss nodded. As they walked on they found all kinds of disturbing images. Disembodied people, animals, dead bodies, skeletons and anything disgusting or vile was most likely found in the Dead Sea.
"It gets better when we enter the building." Shaun said reassuringly.
"Bon'juer Madam Steena and Monsieur Dissinger! Did you miss Moi?" Came the French accent of one woman.
"Harle." Pat and Shaun said together.
"Zat iz correct." Harle said coming down form the sky in a sitting position.
"It's a clown." Paul whispered to Steena.
"Not a clown to underestimate." Steena whispered back.
"What do ya want ya loony?" Kid blared at Harle.
"No'ting to do wit you." Harle replied harshly.
"Then what do you want." Patrick asked.
"To talk wiz you." Harle said calmly. "You are looking for Monsieur Paul are you not?" Harle asked quizzically.
"Ya." Shaun replied bringing his hands up to his chest.
"Zen I must warn you of one t'ing. Ze Paul we all know and love iz not going to remember any of you. His irrational behavior will keep him from even recalling ze fact you look familiar. Ze only t'ing zat could help him remember iz zomet'ing you wish not to do. And even if you did it would not be eazy." Harle went on.
"TALK SENSE!" Kid yelled.
"She is." Paul said quietly.
"See, ze clone understands." Harle taunted to Kid.
"Shut up." Kid muttered.
"Explain." Pat said coldly to Paul glaring at Harle.
"Kick his ass so hard till he remembers what it felt like the first time he got a beating that bad."
"So wait. You're saying we need to beat him up enough for him to recall the kind of pain?" Shaun said sadly. Paul nodded.
"It must be extreme pain!" Harle said slowly. "Irrational Paul does not learn, does not sleep, and does not understand who or what he is, and what he will become!" Harle continued.
"What are ya sayin?" Kid asked.
"Paul only will learn by one method. Trial by Fire." Paul said. "I should know."
"Paul's had a lot of hard battles. Who knows the kind of pain he's been through." Shaun said sadly. Steena nodded saying quietly,
"By what I know of Paul I wonder if anyone can inflict that kind of pain." Pat looked at Harle as she began to leave.
"WAIT!" Paul shouted. "You available?' Harle laughed as she shook her head.
"My heart belongz to someone elze." She said looking at Serge.
"WAIT!" Steena shouted. "How come you are here?" Pat's eyes shot onto Harle as he thought about the fact she was the seventh dragon, and there were no dragons. Harle sighed before beginning.
"Ze Dead Sea az we all know iz a collection of pasts and futures zat never were. Zer waz a future where I am ze last of the Dragon Gods, understand?" Steena shook her head yelling her reply.
"Come on, the real reason!" Pat looked at Steena as if she was crazy. Harle laughed.
"Zis book kept me alive." Harle said smiling showing the book, Time Line For Dummies. "It waz Paul's way of making sure he could reclaim hiz memory if it were to be erased. He knew what FATE waz up to before FATE even began to plan for itz deception." Paul finished for Harle.
"The book is a how to return Paul in the event he should lose his memory! Harle was created in the Dead Sea, and Paul programmed her somehow to tell us what to do in the event we found her!" Harle nodded smiling.
"You are zo smart!" Harle said leaving. "I shall return when you need me most."
~*~
Patrick continued to walk into the Dead Sea silently. The information was really nothing new to him. He felt like Paul had always deserved a smacking. Patrick stopped as that last thought entered his mind.
"Where did that come from?" He asked himself quietly.
"Where did what come from?" Steena asked him.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Patrick grumbled moving faster. Steena caught up with him and spun him around so he was forced to face him.
"You start talking now. You feel different from the Diss I once knew. Something went on in there, now you start talking or we have words now," She growled lowly at him. Patrick narrowed his eyes.
"You got nothing on me, now leave me alone little girl," Patrick said before he went on walking. Steena started fuming.
"Little girl? Is that what I am to you now? HIYA!" Steena kicked right for Patrick's temple. He ducked under it and kicked Steena strongly in the back sending her sprawling. He then just returned to walking into the Dead Sea. "So that's it? No more?"
"You're a team member I'm not going to kill you." Patrick said cryptically. He continued his lonely march.
"Oh how noble, you make me sick!" Christy spat. Patrick turned and looked at her amused.
"Sick?" He asked as if entertaining a child.
"That's right you coward. You make me sick to my stomach, so what if you know a few moves. That means nothing to me. You're nothing but a coward that needs a good thrashing," She said pulling against the restraints Shaun was holding. Patrick walked up to her and watched her a look of sadness on his face.
"I'm not the person you think you know. I once killed people for the fun of it. I'm not going to start doing that now. If you have a problem with me that's just fine, yell at me all you want. You're only talking to a brick wall," He said morbidly before he turned and walked away. Diss walked beside him.
"What going on with you? We never-"He was abruptly cut off.
"I remember everything, and no I'm not telling you a thing. Just stay the way you are Diss. You are The man she loved," Patrick said softly putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Man she. Pat calm down man you're talking like your dead or something," Diss stammered.
"I am." Patrick replied before he pressed on deeper into the Dead Sea.
~*~
"Ya ok Steena?" Kid asked her helping her up.
"Yeah I'm fine," Steena grumbled glaring at Patrick. He had just taken her most powerful attack and used it against her. "What the hell is his problem?"
"He's under a lot of pressure Steena, a lot," Kid said matter-of-factly.
"Well forget his pressure," She grumbled rubbing her back where he kicked her. "He should learn to handle it just like everyone else. He doesn't need to attack-"
"Ya attacked him Steena. That was entirely your fault," Kid countered.
"Shut up Kid, you aren't allowed to be smart," Steena snapped.
"What's that supposed ta mean mate?" Kid retorted angrily.
"It means that we're lagging so we better catch up to the group!" Steena said running after Shaun and Christy, who formed the rear.
~*~
"They have no clue what I have in store for them." Lynx muttered gleefully. He amused himself by imagining the look on their faces when he unleashed his robotic unit of chaos. He took out one of his balls and began to swing it wildly. He let go after a few seconds and it caught to a high tower with no entrance. He tugged the elastic rope till it was tight and climbed to the top with little problems. He watched the ground and pressed a button on his remote control. He tested out his robotic creation and everything checked out. He just hoped he could defeat Paul fast enough before his electricity would be able to get to the wiring. He turned off his mechanical monstrosity and waited for Patrick and the others to arrive.
~*~
They finally made it up onto the highway after arguing for a while. As they got up there, Patrick got a sense of unease. Still a couple of the group members were bickering back and forth. He raised his hand sharply and tightened it into a fist. They fell silent as they looked at him expectantly.
"Shaun, you know this place. Anything here that might pose a threat?" Patrick asked. Shaun racked his brain and shook his head. "That's what I thought. Look around notice anything different?" Shaun looked around the place looked as bad as the first time everything was the same way also. Again he shook his head. "Then lets go ahead and move forward. Be careful I don't want any surprises."
~*~
Lynx grinned as he flipped the on switch of his remote control. "Surprise!" He muttered as he brought the machine monstrosity out.
~*~
Patrick was the first to hear it. The others followed his lead as he took a defensive position. Something was coming their way fast. When it finally came into view everyone's jaw dropped. It was a huge robot of some sort. It had six large wheels evenly distributed and a large mechanical body. The shocking part was how the thing looked like something off a punk rock cover. Patrick switched from defense to attack preparing himself. "Lets take it down!" Patrick yelled.
"I got first strike!' Paul called. Everyone backed up as Paul drew energy to him. He brought both hands in front of them creating an arc of electricity between his hands. He slowly upped the voltage until he shot it forth hitting the machine dead on. The machine didn't even jerk before it seemed to charge up energy. "What the hell that should have wasted it!"
~*~
"Oh my dear, dear electrician, haven't you heard of shielding?" Lynx mumbled grinning as he released the button he was holding. It was time for his toy to take care of them.
~*~
"Everyone out of its way!" Patrick called dropping low. It was too late the thing obviously had determined how to get the job done as it started spinning on its wheels. It quickly spun right through the group hitting everyone except the Shaun guarding Christy. He quickly pulled her back bringing her out of the fight along with himself. Patrick pushed up onto his knees assessing the situation. Steena and Serge were out cold, and probably would be for a while. His counterpart was getting up already, as were Paul and Shaun. Kid was getting up showing some wear and tear on her body.
"What in the bloody hell was that?" Kid yelled as she prepared to attack.
"Tech talk later Shaun for now lets kill this thing!" He said cutting off Shaun who obviously was going to reply. Patrick channeled his anger and looked at his counterpart. Both stretched their hands forward and shot streams of flame at the robot. To their surprise it actually caught on fire.
~*~
"What? No! That's impossible!" Lynx yelled as the electric shielding was burned off his robot. He fiddled with buttons and tried to charge up to attack again. "You'll pay for that you meddling hosts!"
~*~
"Paul hit it again!" Patrick called out.
"Gladly!" Paul sang as he charged up firing again. The machine jerked around as the electricity fired through its systems. After he was finished it seemed to slump, then straightened as it attacked again by turning around. Large clouds of thick black smoke churned from it. The entire grouped coughed and rubbed their eyes as it began to get hard to breath or see. Patrick and Diss looked at each other nodding barely seeing anything. They rose up a column of flame reaching higher and higher. The smoke followed the created updraft clearing the area. Looking around Kid was out as was Shaun, but not Paul. Diss looked at Patrick.
"Do it Diss, I'm keeping the tunnel going,' Patrick muttered as he fed more fire into the tunnel. Diss looked at Patrick like he was crazy. "I said do it! That's a direct order from your leader!" Patrick snapped. Diss nodded dumbly stopping his flow. Patrick extended his other hand and from it flew a new source of fire keeping the tunnel up.
"Paul, Mega-Flare!" Diss shouted. Paul nodded as Diss pulled on his pair of gloves.
~*~
"What the hell?" Lynx cursed as he saw the tunnel. The machine couldn't touch them. He merely waited to see what was going on until he saw thunderclouds form overhead. "This can't be good."
~*~
Miguel looked over at The man curiously as he pointed upwards. "Is that you buddy?"
The man shook his head, "I don't know who's doing that, but they're at least as powerful as me."
"Great, just what we need, another weatherman."
~*~
As Paul called the storm to him Diss readied himself. He slowly covered his body in flame rising up through the tunnel. Patrick saw that the smoke had stopped and took advantage of it. He slowly began collapsing the tunnel onto Diss further strengthening the flames that covered him. Diss let out a cry of pure rage as the thunderstorm reached its peak. He began to release the inferno when the storm struck him focusing it into an intensive beam the beam struck the robot sending it flying. It crashed but impossibly got back up. Tension filled the air as the two Dissingers and Paul watched it come at them again.
~*~
"Yes, YES!" Lynx cried in triumph. "Now you pay!" He hit the attack button on the machine, but it didn't respond. "What?"
~*~
The machine slumped and the light in the eyes shut down. Diss looked at Patrick. He looked tired but had a hard determination. He got up. "I'm not taking chances," He said as a flame erupted from his Staff. Paul charged up his halberd and together they slashed the machine to pieces.
~*~
"No! Come on what's wrong with you!" Lynx yelled as he looked at the controller. He finally saw the blinking "low battery" light. "Oh no, that can't be possible!" He fished around in his pockets and realized he had no back up batteries. "No!" he screamed as he watched Patrick slash the head off his robot effectively killing it.
~*~
"Hmm, looks like we lost round one." Fate muttered seeing the thunderstorm leave. He walked up to Miguel. He grabbed Miguel's rear collar and tossed him to the side. He stared at the locket ahead of him and in complete shock saw the locket go from his foes hand to a squirrel's mouth as it scurried away.
"Who are you?"
"More like, what are you." Fate said attempting to confuse his enemy. He didn't except his foe to grab the nearest object and chuck it at him. Fate was hit square in the face and he sprawled to the ground. As he opened his eyes he saw the light beam stretched around Miguel's arm. He blasted Miguel away and jackknifed up onto his feet running away. He looked behind himself to see his enemy trying to run after him before Miguel stopped him.
"We got problems down there." Miguel said pointing to a large group. "Take a look at that one. He looks like you." Miguel looked at his friend as he looked at his replica.
"I want you to hold them off for awhile until I get myself a decent weapon to aid you. My hands won't help this time." Miguel nodded as he prepped to do the undoable.
~*~
The group slowly started regrouping after the machine was disabled. They looked at each other before they decided what would happen next.
"We need to scout out ahead. Someone should stay here with Christy while we check out if its safe." Shaun said softly.
"I am," Patrick said softly. Diss looked at him. Then everyone looked at him.
"Why does it have ta be you mate?" Kid asked softly.
Diss replied softly, "Christy is a Master Psychic. She can control weaker minds; only one of us or Paul can watch her and stop her from controlling us. Paul has natural mental shielding, and we are so used to her probes that before they can get any stronger we can block them out." Slowly Steena nodded.
"Makes sense, I mean if she can't control you guys you should be watching her. We'll scout ahead and come back for you later," She said leaving and dragging the others with her. Diss looked at Patrick then tapped his head and left. Patrick turned and faced Christy. He undid her gag then sat down across from her. She glared at him growling low and dangerously.
"So, just me and a rat," She started. Patrick rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Listen, if I wanted abuse I could have asked Steena; cause at the rate I'm going I'm no longer going to be leader." She was shocked at his frankness.
"So why you moping to me, it's not like I'm going to help a rat like you," She said. She realized that the rat comment seemed to get under his skin. She filed it away for later.
"I don't know either. You aren't her; I can see it in your eyes. I don't even know why I even try anymore. I'm not making anyone happy including myself," He grumbled standing not facing her anymore.
"Well boo hoo hoo! Life's not going to treat you nice and ask if you want a pillow. It's going to pound you into the ground unless you fight back. You aren't even trying. You're riding the current and taking the path of least resistance!"
Patrick spun on his heels glaring her down. She defiantly looked back at him. The stare down continued neither one saying anything for a long while. Patrick finally broke the silence, "You're so lucky the woman I love is in there somewhere. Otherwise your smart mouth would have met my left boot."
"Oh please, you would really hurt someone unarmed? I thought you were the good guys here. You don't have what it takes to hurt an unarmed defenseless -," She stopped as she received a backhand across her mouth. She looked up at him and glared. "Oh so brave you rat. Have to prove you're big and bad to stop me from telling you the truth!"
"Shut up now before I gag you again!" Patrick growled.
"Rat!" She yelled. Patrick growled louder and more threatening. Grabbing the gag he got behind her and roughly re-gagged her. He sat on a nearby chunk of street. Flames erupted from his shoulders as he vented his anger forming a demonic visage on his features. Christy shivered seeing she had really pissed him off. Footsteps could be heard coming from far away.
"Roads clear lets go," Came Paul's voice quietly. Patrick grabbed Christy and led her away.
~*~
Patrick looked up at the walkway. His danger sense was tingling. "You guys wait here, I'm going up there to scout it out," He said climbing the ladder to ignore the objections that undoubtedly were being voiced. Kid muttered something vulgar and followed Diss from a distance, as did Serge.
~*~
Lynx glared down at Patrick as he walked across the walkway. "Now you pay!" He growled as he jumped down onto the walkway. Patrick Instantly dropped into a fighting stance. Both glared at each other.
"Round two?" Patrick taunted as Lynx nodded. Patrick stretched his hand forth calling out his staff before he readied it. Lynx laughed as he pulled out the spike chain tossing it at Patrick. Patrick blocked the chain, but Lynx jerked it causing it to wrap around it and pulled causing it to fly from his hands. The staff clattered as it dropped below.
"Pat's in trouble mate," Kid whispered to Serge. Serge nodded as he looked around. Kid looked at him questioningly.
"I'm going to get his staff back, wait here," Serge said as he went climbing over the debris. Patrick dropped into another stance. Kid watched dumbfounded as Lynx laughed and chucked the spiked chain again. Patrick caught it on his arm and Lynx sang out in joy as he jerked it. Patrick resisted and pulled on his end causing Lynx to fall forward and slide towards him.
"Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon," Patrick replied coldly. Kid shivered as Patrick's demeanor changed completely. Lynx looked up in shock. This wasn't turning out the way he wanted to. Lynx got up and undid the Scythe on his back swinging it at Patrick.
"And only an idiot brings no weapons to a fight," Lynx retorted as he swung it at head level. Patrick ducked it as Lynx pressed his advantage swinging it down at him. Patrick quickly used the railing as a guard before he gripped it and swung bringing his legs up hard enough to send Lynx reeling as he dropped the Scythe. Patrick kicked it hard sending it flying over the edge. "No! You fool!" Lynx cried as he began to attack and pummel Patrick senseless.
~*~
Steena had had it with whatever was up with Patrick. She grabbed Christy and tied her up and gagged her. Then she saw a chance and she decided to take it. Shaun and Paul followed shortly by the clones, which both objected. When they reached the top Steena saw before her a man wearing orange shorts and a short sleeved white shirt. As soon as Shaun was up he looked at The man before him.
"Miguel." Shaun whispered to himself. Miguel tipped his fishing hat to Shaun and the others.
"Welcome to the Tower Of Gheddon. Time Crash Ground Zero." Miguel stated. "A collection of all that could have been. Each passing day we make choices, and this is a place that takes all those answers that could have been." Clone Paul looked at Miguel and instantly he knew what was going to happen. He walked up to Steena and whispered to her softly,
"He's gonna fight us to the death." Steena shrugged.
"I don't care as long as Paul and I are reunited." She said sternly. Diss stepped forward.
"Have you seen a man that looks exactly like this man?" Diss asked Miguel pointing to Paul.
"Yes I have." Miguel replied happily. "And if you are looking for him here I am afraid you are wrong. That man left the Dead Sea ages ago. Well, ages to me." Miguel said laughing softly.
"Man." Diss said kicking a rock. "We wasted our time." Miguel kept a straight face. He looked at each person's eyes directly and in those eyes no one could tell him he was lying. Steena walked up to Miguel and peered into his eyes.
"You're lying." Steena said softly. Miguel shook his head.
"Search all you want. He isn't here." Miguel looked right into Steena's eyes as she backed down. She looked behind Miguel to see Catherine pointing to an enclosed room. Steena nodded and she returned her gaze to Miguel.
"He's in that room, and if you don't think he's here you won't mind me searching it." Steena began to walk forward before Miguel gave a heavy sigh and grabbed Steena's arm throwing her into Diss. Shaun punched the Earth and grabbed two maces tossing one to his clone. Diss struck the air quickly summoning his staff to bear. Steena drew her sword and glared at Miguel. Miguel closed his eyes as a white energy beam formed around his arm. It resembled very much like a sword and when it was done erecting he opened his eyes.
"I did not wish to resort to this kind of combat. Or any combat at all. But I promised my friend a long time ago I would remain here, and I promised another friend I would protect him and die for him if need be. I am prepared to that right now!" Steena dropped into a low stance as did clone Shaun. Paul grabbed his Halberd and un-strapped it holding it loosely in his hands. Diss drove in swinging hard in a left strike to the mid section. Miguel countered and blew Diss away with a ball of pure energy. Diss slowly got up before he slumped down.
"This was hard even with irrational Paul, without him we got a problem." Shaun said diving in with an overhead smash. Miguel rolled to the left kicked Shaun in the stomach and kneeing him in the face. Steena slashed Miguel's back and kicked him in the back of the head as he leaned back in pain. She whipped into a round house that Miguel ducked and he charged Steena driving his energy blade deep into her stomach. Steena looked at the blade as it was yanked out. To her amazement she saw no blood, but she did feel the pain. She slumped down to the ground and tried her hardest to get back up. Miguel side stepped clone Shaun who tripped over Steena's arm and rammed himself into the ground. Shaun got back up to be hit in the back with an elbow. Miguel shoved Shaun into the ground and lifted his knee jumping to his side so that Diss' charged was countered. Everyone on the ground was down and out as Miguel whipped around to see a clown fall from the sky.
"I am Harle. You muzt be Miguel, non?" Harle asked.
"I am, what's it to you?" Miguel asked dropping to a defensive stance.
"Life, death, and everyt'ing between iz not'ing but war. Do you know who taught me zat?" Harle asked.
"Who?" Miguel replied dumbly.
"Ze same man who you protect." Harle said quietly. Miguel took a step back. "He iz not what you t'ink he iz." Harle continued advancing on Miguel. "He iz a host. A man chozen to be burdened wiz ze power to control electricity. He haz been modified to t'ink irrationally and zus he iz a hazard to himzelf, hiz friendz, hiz family, and any'ting in hiz path. He iz a ticking time bomb zlowly ticking away. One day he will explode and go inzane." Miguel shook his head.
"How would you know?"
"Enough of zis. Now we duel." Harle said throwing a punch at Miguel. Miguel dodged the punch and countered by grabbing her arm and tossing her over his head. Harle was able to regroup as she levitated in the air. She dove in to srike and Miguel again countered by tackling her mid air. Harle was able to blast Miguel away with a ball of pure energy. The hit itself was powerful, but Harle seemed to tremble after the blow. Miguel got up to be hit by a ball of pure darkness. Miguel twitched after the blast as he hit the ground. He and Harle slowly got up as they made one last charge at each other. Both collided hard and collapsed.
"I can't go on." Miguel said. Miguel looked up to see his friend look down.
"I will fight for you now." He said softly. Steena and the others slowly got up as the man looked at them with a flame in his eyes.
"Remember, you must hurt zat man zo much he will recall ze pain!" Harle said tiredly.
~*~
Lynx punched Patrick hard sending him to the ground. "You aren't so tough now without your staff are you?" He kicked Patrick while he was on the ground. "You have nothing, you are nothing, and you will never be anything!" Christy had this weird look on her face as Kid looked at her. Kid frowned as she looked up at the two fighting. Christy looked at her and tried to say something but couldn't. Kid undid the gag.
"LYNX! You rat! You can't even fight on even terms can you?" Christy yelled at him. Lynx looked down at her in anger. She continued to yell at Lynx as Patrick got up and perform a kick at the hip. Lynx went down hard. Patrick grabbed him by the collar jerking him up so Lynx got a good look at him.
"You have something that's mine!" He growled. Lynx looked up at him in horror. Patrick reached under Lynx's shirt and grabbed the necklace that held Christy's engagement ring. Lynx looked from the ring to him and back.
"All this for a stupid ring?" Lynx breathed in disbelief. Patrick punched Lynx hard causing him to shut up. Lynx looked up at him. "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you have what it-" He shut up as Patrick grabbed his throat and squeezed.
"One ounce of pressure more and your skull pops off your neck. I don't want to hear a word from you got it?" Patrick growled. Lynx nodded dumbly. Patrick released the hold and jerked the necklace from around Lynx's neck. He turned his back to the cat man who took the opportunity. He jumped up and kicked Patrick hard causing him to fall over the railing. He fell and landed right next to his dragon staff. He looked up weakly and saw Lynx disappear. Then all was black.
~*~
Kid ran to where she saw Patrick fall. Christy was in tow as they found Serge casting revive on Patrick over and over. He simply couldn't wake up. Christy looked at him.
"All that for a stupid ring?" She asked just as Lynx had.
"Mate, that ring was yer engagement ring," Kid said softly. Christy frowned.
"Engagement ring?" She said. She wasn't engaged. She didn't know anyone other than Lynx and that man, and she definitely didn't want to spend the rest of her life with them. She picked up the ring and looked at it.
"To Christy, with all my heart and Soul, Diss." She frowned at the inscription. This man was willing to give his life for a ring he had given to her. She thought about it for a second. No, this wasn't right, nobody could love someone that much. She gasped as she saw the image replay in her mind. The ring had belonged to Diss. Originally it was the, no it couldn't have been.
"This was, oh Diss," She said moving closer to him. She may have been bound but she took his hand and held it. Kid looked at her. Christy turned and looked back, then returned her gaze to Patrick as she gently squeezed his hand.
"Mate ya ok?" Kid asked softly. Christy nodded slowly before she replied.
"I'm fine. I need you to do me a favor. Shoot a fireball at Diss," She said softly backing up, she got well out of range.
"Yer kidding right mate?" Kid asked her until she saw the look.
"Do it now or I'll make you do it!" She growled. Kid shivered before she charged up the fireball. She fired it at Patrick who gasped then fell back down. Serge got and idea.
"Everyone back up. I'm casting magma burst on him and I don't want to risk you guys," Serge muttered before charging up. Kid pulled Christy back farther as the ground below Patrick began to glow red. A torrent of magma pushed Patrick up into the air. The torrent continued unchecked as Patrick began spinning in the magma. Serge looked on in awe. "He's controlling it. He is actually controlling the flow; it should have stopped long ago!"
"My fiancée wouldn't want to disappoint his friends," Christy said smiling. Patrick slowly touched ground kneeling and gasping for air. Everyone clustered around him checking on him to see if he was all right. Christy gently held his hand smiling, "Hey there good looking." She grinned as he looked into her eyes. He hugged her tightly tears flowing. She hugged him back the best she could given that she was still tied up. With the flash of a knife Kid had cut the ropes allowing Christy to hug him back just as tightly. They stayed there for a few minutes as Kid and Serge watched.
"Serge?" Kid asked.
"Yeah Kid?" Serge asked quietly watching them.
"You think we'll ever find that?" Kid asked in a whisper.
"Find what?" Serge asked completely miffed.
"That kind of love." Kid said distantly as Patrick slowly got up. Christy helped him to his feet slowly as he looked around.
"My staff?" He said looking around. Serge tossed it to him.
"I've had it for awhile now. I was trying to figure out how to get it up to you," He said as Patrick caught it. Patrick nodded as he moved to the ladder and began climbing it. They followed behind him wondering what was going on.
"Lets go help the others, they're going to Miguel right?" Serge nodded dumbly. "Then they'll need it." Serge realized what was being said and climbed quicker.
~*~
"YOUR NAME IS PAUL!" Steena shouted.
"So my name is Paul." The man said. "Well, no matter." He said again. He kicked up a plate and chucked it at his clone. The plate shattered against clone Paul's skull as he flew to the ground unconscious. Diss looked at Paul and cussed as he dove in to strike at Paul. Paul saw the dive and ducked grabbing Diss' leg as he was in mid air so his flight was finished early. Diss landed with a thud and a sore chest. Both Shaun's jumped Paul and began to beat him violently. Paul was able to fight them off as he launched clone Shaun into Steena. Both collided with a hard crash and both fell down hard. Paul kicked Shaun in the stomach and placed it between his legs. He linked both arms around Shaun's waste and lifted up so Shaun was now sitting on Paul's shoulders. Paul whispered goodbye as he ran forward slamming Shaun into an odd shaped alter table. It cracked under Shaun's weight and gave away as Shaun's back ached all the way up and down his spine. Steena slowly got up as she began to chant a spell of healing. Paul saw it and hurled his hand forward. The energy flowed from his hand evenly and quickly as it hit Steena's chest blasting her back into a wall. Paul stalked his way up to Diss as he slowly got up. Paul lifted Diss up by his shirt and whirled him around. He tossed Diss forward and then spun him back hitting Diss with a powerful forearm into oblivion. Patrick, Kid and Serge ran into the battle but Kid and Serge were stopped by Paul's energy blasts. Patrick was about to get ready for a spear but was caught off guard as Paul ringed his fingers around Patrick's throat and lifted him up off the ground and slammed him onto his back. Steena jumped onto Paul's back and began to choke him. Paul flailed around for a while before he stopped and fell back squishing Steena. Clone Paul woke up and assessed the battle. Patrick got up as well and looked at Paul then Serge.
"Serge, Solaris!" Pat yelled. Serge nodded. "Paul, Electric obliteration! FULL STEAM AHEAD!" The words electric obliteration echoed in Paul's head as he began to violently build up energy around him. Shaun was able to stop him as he launched a boulder at him. Clone Paul, Diss, and Serge all rose in the air. Serge began to create a blinding light around him, Pat began to serge with Fire, and Paul was violently spinning attracting energy from the clouds that formed overhead. Paul got up and assessed the pain he was going to feel.
"YES! BRING IT! DO YOUR ATTACK! LET ME FEEL THE PAIN!" They all let loose as Shaun and Clone Shaun's rock barrier shielded anyone in the blast radius. The rock crumbled and blew away as the blast went by. Kid was knocked out, but Both Shaun's and Steena survived. They looked at those who casted the powerful spell, and as expected saw them all unconscious. Steena looked at Paul and screamed as she saw him get up.
"THE PAIN! MY GOD THE PAIN! IT'S THE ONLY TIME I FEEL ALIVE! THE ENERGY PASSING THROUGH MY VEINS, THE PURE ADRENILINE OF KNOWING AND WAITING FOR THE ULTIMATE RUSH OF PAIN! HURT ME MORE!" Paul shouted as he began to bang his head against a wall. Catherine and Samantha showed up next.
"My god." Samantha said shocked. "He still wants more pain." Steena couldn't believe it.
~*~
"HOW COULD HE WITHSTAND THAT PAIN?" Fate said shocked. "No normal man could withstand it. How could he have survived? The blast would have killed anyone. Even me." Fate shivered as he repeated his last words. He turned to go back to the boat to study exactly what it was that made Paul take that blast.
~*~
"He's gonna lose it." Catherine said in a worried tone as she saw Paul begin to laugh hysterically. Kid woke up and saw Paul hitting himself with anything possible. She revived those who casted the spell and all three cussed as they saw Paul hurt himself more and more.
"He's a freak!" Kid said quietly.
"We can't let him go insane!" Steena said quickly. "Patrick. I want you and Kid to do Firestorm." Both nodded as the cannon fell to the ground. Paul saw the weapon and squealed with delight. He dove in front of it and made sure nothing would cushion the blow. Steena looked at her boyfriend and began to cry. Kid kicked her button and Patrick did as well. The firestorm was casted and the blow was heading towards Paul. Steena had enough. She dove in front of Paul holding him tight as the blast hit her hard in the back.
"NO!" Patrick yelled. Paul tossed off Steena who was knocked out from the blow.
"WHY?" Paul asked hysterically. "Do you like pain also?" Paul's voice had a demonic tone to it.
"Poster boy just struck out." Pat said as he ran up to Paul. Paul saw Pat and he kicked up another plate. He smashed it over his own head and grabbed Patrick's kick. He spun him around and kicked Pat in the midsection. He got to the side of Pat and grabbed his arm closest to him placing it between Pat's legs. He lifted up and had Pat's legs dangle over Paul's back. He ran forward and jumped smashing Pat on his back.
"YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!" Paul sang as Pat groaned in pain. Steena got up and glared at Paul.
"Forgive me." She muttered quietly as she walked up to Paul. Paul spun around and was about to dodge Steena's round house kick. The blow was too fast to be blocked and the hit was too much to be taken as Paul fell down. Steena mounted on top of Paul as she began to punch him. She stopped as tears rolled down her eyes. She grabbed Shaun's mace and held it by the neck as she beat Paul with it. Paul began to bleed everywhere until he was knocked out. Steena still continued to hurt Paul. She kept hitting and hitting letting all her anger go. She continued and continued before Serge had to drag her off. As soon as she was off and the mace taken away she grabbed onto clone Paul and hugged him tightly crying letting everything go.
Chapter 5 The Dead Sea
"Welcome to the Dead Sea." Patrick said to the clones.
"Armageddon is the only way to describe this place." Shaun said as they walked through the portal.
"Wow, this place is sure not what I thought." Steena said sadly looking at all the skulls.
"Our objective is to reach that middle pillar sky scraper. The one that looks like everything and anything was smashed together." Shaun said pointing to the obvious.
"Look, now that we are here let's get one thing strait." Paul said quickly. "Shaun is the only one that knows this place more than we do so no matter what LISTEN to him." Everyone nodded.
"Like it or not we got to stop being angry with each other." Steena added. "Or we're all as good as dead." Pat and Diss nodded. As they walked on they found all kinds of disturbing images. Disembodied people, animals, dead bodies, skeletons and anything disgusting or vile was most likely found in the Dead Sea.
"It gets better when we enter the building." Shaun said reassuringly.
"Bon'juer Madam Steena and Monsieur Dissinger! Did you miss Moi?" Came the French accent of one woman.
"Harle." Pat and Shaun said together.
"Zat iz correct." Harle said coming down form the sky in a sitting position.
"It's a clown." Paul whispered to Steena.
"Not a clown to underestimate." Steena whispered back.
"What do ya want ya loony?" Kid blared at Harle.
"No'ting to do wit you." Harle replied harshly.
"Then what do you want." Patrick asked.
"To talk wiz you." Harle said calmly. "You are looking for Monsieur Paul are you not?" Harle asked quizzically.
"Ya." Shaun replied bringing his hands up to his chest.
"Zen I must warn you of one t'ing. Ze Paul we all know and love iz not going to remember any of you. His irrational behavior will keep him from even recalling ze fact you look familiar. Ze only t'ing zat could help him remember iz zomet'ing you wish not to do. And even if you did it would not be eazy." Harle went on.
"TALK SENSE!" Kid yelled.
"She is." Paul said quietly.
"See, ze clone understands." Harle taunted to Kid.
"Shut up." Kid muttered.
"Explain." Pat said coldly to Paul glaring at Harle.
"Kick his ass so hard till he remembers what it felt like the first time he got a beating that bad."
"So wait. You're saying we need to beat him up enough for him to recall the kind of pain?" Shaun said sadly. Paul nodded.
"It must be extreme pain!" Harle said slowly. "Irrational Paul does not learn, does not sleep, and does not understand who or what he is, and what he will become!" Harle continued.
"What are ya sayin?" Kid asked.
"Paul only will learn by one method. Trial by Fire." Paul said. "I should know."
"Paul's had a lot of hard battles. Who knows the kind of pain he's been through." Shaun said sadly. Steena nodded saying quietly,
"By what I know of Paul I wonder if anyone can inflict that kind of pain." Pat looked at Harle as she began to leave.
"WAIT!" Paul shouted. "You available?' Harle laughed as she shook her head.
"My heart belongz to someone elze." She said looking at Serge.
"WAIT!" Steena shouted. "How come you are here?" Pat's eyes shot onto Harle as he thought about the fact she was the seventh dragon, and there were no dragons. Harle sighed before beginning.
"Ze Dead Sea az we all know iz a collection of pasts and futures zat never were. Zer waz a future where I am ze last of the Dragon Gods, understand?" Steena shook her head yelling her reply.
"Come on, the real reason!" Pat looked at Steena as if she was crazy. Harle laughed.
"Zis book kept me alive." Harle said smiling showing the book, Time Line For Dummies. "It waz Paul's way of making sure he could reclaim hiz memory if it were to be erased. He knew what FATE waz up to before FATE even began to plan for itz deception." Paul finished for Harle.
"The book is a how to return Paul in the event he should lose his memory! Harle was created in the Dead Sea, and Paul programmed her somehow to tell us what to do in the event we found her!" Harle nodded smiling.
"You are zo smart!" Harle said leaving. "I shall return when you need me most."
~*~
Patrick continued to walk into the Dead Sea silently. The information was really nothing new to him. He felt like Paul had always deserved a smacking. Patrick stopped as that last thought entered his mind.
"Where did that come from?" He asked himself quietly.
"Where did what come from?" Steena asked him.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Patrick grumbled moving faster. Steena caught up with him and spun him around so he was forced to face him.
"You start talking now. You feel different from the Diss I once knew. Something went on in there, now you start talking or we have words now," She growled lowly at him. Patrick narrowed his eyes.
"You got nothing on me, now leave me alone little girl," Patrick said before he went on walking. Steena started fuming.
"Little girl? Is that what I am to you now? HIYA!" Steena kicked right for Patrick's temple. He ducked under it and kicked Steena strongly in the back sending her sprawling. He then just returned to walking into the Dead Sea. "So that's it? No more?"
"You're a team member I'm not going to kill you." Patrick said cryptically. He continued his lonely march.
"Oh how noble, you make me sick!" Christy spat. Patrick turned and looked at her amused.
"Sick?" He asked as if entertaining a child.
"That's right you coward. You make me sick to my stomach, so what if you know a few moves. That means nothing to me. You're nothing but a coward that needs a good thrashing," She said pulling against the restraints Shaun was holding. Patrick walked up to her and watched her a look of sadness on his face.
"I'm not the person you think you know. I once killed people for the fun of it. I'm not going to start doing that now. If you have a problem with me that's just fine, yell at me all you want. You're only talking to a brick wall," He said morbidly before he turned and walked away. Diss walked beside him.
"What going on with you? We never-"He was abruptly cut off.
"I remember everything, and no I'm not telling you a thing. Just stay the way you are Diss. You are The man she loved," Patrick said softly putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Man she. Pat calm down man you're talking like your dead or something," Diss stammered.
"I am." Patrick replied before he pressed on deeper into the Dead Sea.
~*~
"Ya ok Steena?" Kid asked her helping her up.
"Yeah I'm fine," Steena grumbled glaring at Patrick. He had just taken her most powerful attack and used it against her. "What the hell is his problem?"
"He's under a lot of pressure Steena, a lot," Kid said matter-of-factly.
"Well forget his pressure," She grumbled rubbing her back where he kicked her. "He should learn to handle it just like everyone else. He doesn't need to attack-"
"Ya attacked him Steena. That was entirely your fault," Kid countered.
"Shut up Kid, you aren't allowed to be smart," Steena snapped.
"What's that supposed ta mean mate?" Kid retorted angrily.
"It means that we're lagging so we better catch up to the group!" Steena said running after Shaun and Christy, who formed the rear.
~*~
"They have no clue what I have in store for them." Lynx muttered gleefully. He amused himself by imagining the look on their faces when he unleashed his robotic unit of chaos. He took out one of his balls and began to swing it wildly. He let go after a few seconds and it caught to a high tower with no entrance. He tugged the elastic rope till it was tight and climbed to the top with little problems. He watched the ground and pressed a button on his remote control. He tested out his robotic creation and everything checked out. He just hoped he could defeat Paul fast enough before his electricity would be able to get to the wiring. He turned off his mechanical monstrosity and waited for Patrick and the others to arrive.
~*~
They finally made it up onto the highway after arguing for a while. As they got up there, Patrick got a sense of unease. Still a couple of the group members were bickering back and forth. He raised his hand sharply and tightened it into a fist. They fell silent as they looked at him expectantly.
"Shaun, you know this place. Anything here that might pose a threat?" Patrick asked. Shaun racked his brain and shook his head. "That's what I thought. Look around notice anything different?" Shaun looked around the place looked as bad as the first time everything was the same way also. Again he shook his head. "Then lets go ahead and move forward. Be careful I don't want any surprises."
~*~
Lynx grinned as he flipped the on switch of his remote control. "Surprise!" He muttered as he brought the machine monstrosity out.
~*~
Patrick was the first to hear it. The others followed his lead as he took a defensive position. Something was coming their way fast. When it finally came into view everyone's jaw dropped. It was a huge robot of some sort. It had six large wheels evenly distributed and a large mechanical body. The shocking part was how the thing looked like something off a punk rock cover. Patrick switched from defense to attack preparing himself. "Lets take it down!" Patrick yelled.
"I got first strike!' Paul called. Everyone backed up as Paul drew energy to him. He brought both hands in front of them creating an arc of electricity between his hands. He slowly upped the voltage until he shot it forth hitting the machine dead on. The machine didn't even jerk before it seemed to charge up energy. "What the hell that should have wasted it!"
~*~
"Oh my dear, dear electrician, haven't you heard of shielding?" Lynx mumbled grinning as he released the button he was holding. It was time for his toy to take care of them.
~*~
"Everyone out of its way!" Patrick called dropping low. It was too late the thing obviously had determined how to get the job done as it started spinning on its wheels. It quickly spun right through the group hitting everyone except the Shaun guarding Christy. He quickly pulled her back bringing her out of the fight along with himself. Patrick pushed up onto his knees assessing the situation. Steena and Serge were out cold, and probably would be for a while. His counterpart was getting up already, as were Paul and Shaun. Kid was getting up showing some wear and tear on her body.
"What in the bloody hell was that?" Kid yelled as she prepared to attack.
"Tech talk later Shaun for now lets kill this thing!" He said cutting off Shaun who obviously was going to reply. Patrick channeled his anger and looked at his counterpart. Both stretched their hands forward and shot streams of flame at the robot. To their surprise it actually caught on fire.
~*~
"What? No! That's impossible!" Lynx yelled as the electric shielding was burned off his robot. He fiddled with buttons and tried to charge up to attack again. "You'll pay for that you meddling hosts!"
~*~
"Paul hit it again!" Patrick called out.
"Gladly!" Paul sang as he charged up firing again. The machine jerked around as the electricity fired through its systems. After he was finished it seemed to slump, then straightened as it attacked again by turning around. Large clouds of thick black smoke churned from it. The entire grouped coughed and rubbed their eyes as it began to get hard to breath or see. Patrick and Diss looked at each other nodding barely seeing anything. They rose up a column of flame reaching higher and higher. The smoke followed the created updraft clearing the area. Looking around Kid was out as was Shaun, but not Paul. Diss looked at Patrick.
"Do it Diss, I'm keeping the tunnel going,' Patrick muttered as he fed more fire into the tunnel. Diss looked at Patrick like he was crazy. "I said do it! That's a direct order from your leader!" Patrick snapped. Diss nodded dumbly stopping his flow. Patrick extended his other hand and from it flew a new source of fire keeping the tunnel up.
"Paul, Mega-Flare!" Diss shouted. Paul nodded as Diss pulled on his pair of gloves.
~*~
"What the hell?" Lynx cursed as he saw the tunnel. The machine couldn't touch them. He merely waited to see what was going on until he saw thunderclouds form overhead. "This can't be good."
~*~
Miguel looked over at The man curiously as he pointed upwards. "Is that you buddy?"
The man shook his head, "I don't know who's doing that, but they're at least as powerful as me."
"Great, just what we need, another weatherman."
~*~
As Paul called the storm to him Diss readied himself. He slowly covered his body in flame rising up through the tunnel. Patrick saw that the smoke had stopped and took advantage of it. He slowly began collapsing the tunnel onto Diss further strengthening the flames that covered him. Diss let out a cry of pure rage as the thunderstorm reached its peak. He began to release the inferno when the storm struck him focusing it into an intensive beam the beam struck the robot sending it flying. It crashed but impossibly got back up. Tension filled the air as the two Dissingers and Paul watched it come at them again.
~*~
"Yes, YES!" Lynx cried in triumph. "Now you pay!" He hit the attack button on the machine, but it didn't respond. "What?"
~*~
The machine slumped and the light in the eyes shut down. Diss looked at Patrick. He looked tired but had a hard determination. He got up. "I'm not taking chances," He said as a flame erupted from his Staff. Paul charged up his halberd and together they slashed the machine to pieces.
~*~
"No! Come on what's wrong with you!" Lynx yelled as he looked at the controller. He finally saw the blinking "low battery" light. "Oh no, that can't be possible!" He fished around in his pockets and realized he had no back up batteries. "No!" he screamed as he watched Patrick slash the head off his robot effectively killing it.
~*~
"Hmm, looks like we lost round one." Fate muttered seeing the thunderstorm leave. He walked up to Miguel. He grabbed Miguel's rear collar and tossed him to the side. He stared at the locket ahead of him and in complete shock saw the locket go from his foes hand to a squirrel's mouth as it scurried away.
"Who are you?"
"More like, what are you." Fate said attempting to confuse his enemy. He didn't except his foe to grab the nearest object and chuck it at him. Fate was hit square in the face and he sprawled to the ground. As he opened his eyes he saw the light beam stretched around Miguel's arm. He blasted Miguel away and jackknifed up onto his feet running away. He looked behind himself to see his enemy trying to run after him before Miguel stopped him.
"We got problems down there." Miguel said pointing to a large group. "Take a look at that one. He looks like you." Miguel looked at his friend as he looked at his replica.
"I want you to hold them off for awhile until I get myself a decent weapon to aid you. My hands won't help this time." Miguel nodded as he prepped to do the undoable.
~*~
The group slowly started regrouping after the machine was disabled. They looked at each other before they decided what would happen next.
"We need to scout out ahead. Someone should stay here with Christy while we check out if its safe." Shaun said softly.
"I am," Patrick said softly. Diss looked at him. Then everyone looked at him.
"Why does it have ta be you mate?" Kid asked softly.
Diss replied softly, "Christy is a Master Psychic. She can control weaker minds; only one of us or Paul can watch her and stop her from controlling us. Paul has natural mental shielding, and we are so used to her probes that before they can get any stronger we can block them out." Slowly Steena nodded.
"Makes sense, I mean if she can't control you guys you should be watching her. We'll scout ahead and come back for you later," She said leaving and dragging the others with her. Diss looked at Patrick then tapped his head and left. Patrick turned and faced Christy. He undid her gag then sat down across from her. She glared at him growling low and dangerously.
"So, just me and a rat," She started. Patrick rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Listen, if I wanted abuse I could have asked Steena; cause at the rate I'm going I'm no longer going to be leader." She was shocked at his frankness.
"So why you moping to me, it's not like I'm going to help a rat like you," She said. She realized that the rat comment seemed to get under his skin. She filed it away for later.
"I don't know either. You aren't her; I can see it in your eyes. I don't even know why I even try anymore. I'm not making anyone happy including myself," He grumbled standing not facing her anymore.
"Well boo hoo hoo! Life's not going to treat you nice and ask if you want a pillow. It's going to pound you into the ground unless you fight back. You aren't even trying. You're riding the current and taking the path of least resistance!"
Patrick spun on his heels glaring her down. She defiantly looked back at him. The stare down continued neither one saying anything for a long while. Patrick finally broke the silence, "You're so lucky the woman I love is in there somewhere. Otherwise your smart mouth would have met my left boot."
"Oh please, you would really hurt someone unarmed? I thought you were the good guys here. You don't have what it takes to hurt an unarmed defenseless -," She stopped as she received a backhand across her mouth. She looked up at him and glared. "Oh so brave you rat. Have to prove you're big and bad to stop me from telling you the truth!"
"Shut up now before I gag you again!" Patrick growled.
"Rat!" She yelled. Patrick growled louder and more threatening. Grabbing the gag he got behind her and roughly re-gagged her. He sat on a nearby chunk of street. Flames erupted from his shoulders as he vented his anger forming a demonic visage on his features. Christy shivered seeing she had really pissed him off. Footsteps could be heard coming from far away.
"Roads clear lets go," Came Paul's voice quietly. Patrick grabbed Christy and led her away.
~*~
Patrick looked up at the walkway. His danger sense was tingling. "You guys wait here, I'm going up there to scout it out," He said climbing the ladder to ignore the objections that undoubtedly were being voiced. Kid muttered something vulgar and followed Diss from a distance, as did Serge.
~*~
Lynx glared down at Patrick as he walked across the walkway. "Now you pay!" He growled as he jumped down onto the walkway. Patrick Instantly dropped into a fighting stance. Both glared at each other.
"Round two?" Patrick taunted as Lynx nodded. Patrick stretched his hand forth calling out his staff before he readied it. Lynx laughed as he pulled out the spike chain tossing it at Patrick. Patrick blocked the chain, but Lynx jerked it causing it to wrap around it and pulled causing it to fly from his hands. The staff clattered as it dropped below.
"Pat's in trouble mate," Kid whispered to Serge. Serge nodded as he looked around. Kid looked at him questioningly.
"I'm going to get his staff back, wait here," Serge said as he went climbing over the debris. Patrick dropped into another stance. Kid watched dumbfounded as Lynx laughed and chucked the spiked chain again. Patrick caught it on his arm and Lynx sang out in joy as he jerked it. Patrick resisted and pulled on his end causing Lynx to fall forward and slide towards him.
"Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon," Patrick replied coldly. Kid shivered as Patrick's demeanor changed completely. Lynx looked up in shock. This wasn't turning out the way he wanted to. Lynx got up and undid the Scythe on his back swinging it at Patrick.
"And only an idiot brings no weapons to a fight," Lynx retorted as he swung it at head level. Patrick ducked it as Lynx pressed his advantage swinging it down at him. Patrick quickly used the railing as a guard before he gripped it and swung bringing his legs up hard enough to send Lynx reeling as he dropped the Scythe. Patrick kicked it hard sending it flying over the edge. "No! You fool!" Lynx cried as he began to attack and pummel Patrick senseless.
~*~
Steena had had it with whatever was up with Patrick. She grabbed Christy and tied her up and gagged her. Then she saw a chance and she decided to take it. Shaun and Paul followed shortly by the clones, which both objected. When they reached the top Steena saw before her a man wearing orange shorts and a short sleeved white shirt. As soon as Shaun was up he looked at The man before him.
"Miguel." Shaun whispered to himself. Miguel tipped his fishing hat to Shaun and the others.
"Welcome to the Tower Of Gheddon. Time Crash Ground Zero." Miguel stated. "A collection of all that could have been. Each passing day we make choices, and this is a place that takes all those answers that could have been." Clone Paul looked at Miguel and instantly he knew what was going to happen. He walked up to Steena and whispered to her softly,
"He's gonna fight us to the death." Steena shrugged.
"I don't care as long as Paul and I are reunited." She said sternly. Diss stepped forward.
"Have you seen a man that looks exactly like this man?" Diss asked Miguel pointing to Paul.
"Yes I have." Miguel replied happily. "And if you are looking for him here I am afraid you are wrong. That man left the Dead Sea ages ago. Well, ages to me." Miguel said laughing softly.
"Man." Diss said kicking a rock. "We wasted our time." Miguel kept a straight face. He looked at each person's eyes directly and in those eyes no one could tell him he was lying. Steena walked up to Miguel and peered into his eyes.
"You're lying." Steena said softly. Miguel shook his head.
"Search all you want. He isn't here." Miguel looked right into Steena's eyes as she backed down. She looked behind Miguel to see Catherine pointing to an enclosed room. Steena nodded and she returned her gaze to Miguel.
"He's in that room, and if you don't think he's here you won't mind me searching it." Steena began to walk forward before Miguel gave a heavy sigh and grabbed Steena's arm throwing her into Diss. Shaun punched the Earth and grabbed two maces tossing one to his clone. Diss struck the air quickly summoning his staff to bear. Steena drew her sword and glared at Miguel. Miguel closed his eyes as a white energy beam formed around his arm. It resembled very much like a sword and when it was done erecting he opened his eyes.
"I did not wish to resort to this kind of combat. Or any combat at all. But I promised my friend a long time ago I would remain here, and I promised another friend I would protect him and die for him if need be. I am prepared to that right now!" Steena dropped into a low stance as did clone Shaun. Paul grabbed his Halberd and un-strapped it holding it loosely in his hands. Diss drove in swinging hard in a left strike to the mid section. Miguel countered and blew Diss away with a ball of pure energy. Diss slowly got up before he slumped down.
"This was hard even with irrational Paul, without him we got a problem." Shaun said diving in with an overhead smash. Miguel rolled to the left kicked Shaun in the stomach and kneeing him in the face. Steena slashed Miguel's back and kicked him in the back of the head as he leaned back in pain. She whipped into a round house that Miguel ducked and he charged Steena driving his energy blade deep into her stomach. Steena looked at the blade as it was yanked out. To her amazement she saw no blood, but she did feel the pain. She slumped down to the ground and tried her hardest to get back up. Miguel side stepped clone Shaun who tripped over Steena's arm and rammed himself into the ground. Shaun got back up to be hit in the back with an elbow. Miguel shoved Shaun into the ground and lifted his knee jumping to his side so that Diss' charged was countered. Everyone on the ground was down and out as Miguel whipped around to see a clown fall from the sky.
"I am Harle. You muzt be Miguel, non?" Harle asked.
"I am, what's it to you?" Miguel asked dropping to a defensive stance.
"Life, death, and everyt'ing between iz not'ing but war. Do you know who taught me zat?" Harle asked.
"Who?" Miguel replied dumbly.
"Ze same man who you protect." Harle said quietly. Miguel took a step back. "He iz not what you t'ink he iz." Harle continued advancing on Miguel. "He iz a host. A man chozen to be burdened wiz ze power to control electricity. He haz been modified to t'ink irrationally and zus he iz a hazard to himzelf, hiz friendz, hiz family, and any'ting in hiz path. He iz a ticking time bomb zlowly ticking away. One day he will explode and go inzane." Miguel shook his head.
"How would you know?"
"Enough of zis. Now we duel." Harle said throwing a punch at Miguel. Miguel dodged the punch and countered by grabbing her arm and tossing her over his head. Harle was able to regroup as she levitated in the air. She dove in to srike and Miguel again countered by tackling her mid air. Harle was able to blast Miguel away with a ball of pure energy. The hit itself was powerful, but Harle seemed to tremble after the blow. Miguel got up to be hit by a ball of pure darkness. Miguel twitched after the blast as he hit the ground. He and Harle slowly got up as they made one last charge at each other. Both collided hard and collapsed.
"I can't go on." Miguel said. Miguel looked up to see his friend look down.
"I will fight for you now." He said softly. Steena and the others slowly got up as the man looked at them with a flame in his eyes.
"Remember, you must hurt zat man zo much he will recall ze pain!" Harle said tiredly.
~*~
Lynx punched Patrick hard sending him to the ground. "You aren't so tough now without your staff are you?" He kicked Patrick while he was on the ground. "You have nothing, you are nothing, and you will never be anything!" Christy had this weird look on her face as Kid looked at her. Kid frowned as she looked up at the two fighting. Christy looked at her and tried to say something but couldn't. Kid undid the gag.
"LYNX! You rat! You can't even fight on even terms can you?" Christy yelled at him. Lynx looked down at her in anger. She continued to yell at Lynx as Patrick got up and perform a kick at the hip. Lynx went down hard. Patrick grabbed him by the collar jerking him up so Lynx got a good look at him.
"You have something that's mine!" He growled. Lynx looked up at him in horror. Patrick reached under Lynx's shirt and grabbed the necklace that held Christy's engagement ring. Lynx looked from the ring to him and back.
"All this for a stupid ring?" Lynx breathed in disbelief. Patrick punched Lynx hard causing him to shut up. Lynx looked up at him. "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you have what it-" He shut up as Patrick grabbed his throat and squeezed.
"One ounce of pressure more and your skull pops off your neck. I don't want to hear a word from you got it?" Patrick growled. Lynx nodded dumbly. Patrick released the hold and jerked the necklace from around Lynx's neck. He turned his back to the cat man who took the opportunity. He jumped up and kicked Patrick hard causing him to fall over the railing. He fell and landed right next to his dragon staff. He looked up weakly and saw Lynx disappear. Then all was black.
~*~
Kid ran to where she saw Patrick fall. Christy was in tow as they found Serge casting revive on Patrick over and over. He simply couldn't wake up. Christy looked at him.
"All that for a stupid ring?" She asked just as Lynx had.
"Mate, that ring was yer engagement ring," Kid said softly. Christy frowned.
"Engagement ring?" She said. She wasn't engaged. She didn't know anyone other than Lynx and that man, and she definitely didn't want to spend the rest of her life with them. She picked up the ring and looked at it.
"To Christy, with all my heart and Soul, Diss." She frowned at the inscription. This man was willing to give his life for a ring he had given to her. She thought about it for a second. No, this wasn't right, nobody could love someone that much. She gasped as she saw the image replay in her mind. The ring had belonged to Diss. Originally it was the, no it couldn't have been.
"This was, oh Diss," She said moving closer to him. She may have been bound but she took his hand and held it. Kid looked at her. Christy turned and looked back, then returned her gaze to Patrick as she gently squeezed his hand.
"Mate ya ok?" Kid asked softly. Christy nodded slowly before she replied.
"I'm fine. I need you to do me a favor. Shoot a fireball at Diss," She said softly backing up, she got well out of range.
"Yer kidding right mate?" Kid asked her until she saw the look.
"Do it now or I'll make you do it!" She growled. Kid shivered before she charged up the fireball. She fired it at Patrick who gasped then fell back down. Serge got and idea.
"Everyone back up. I'm casting magma burst on him and I don't want to risk you guys," Serge muttered before charging up. Kid pulled Christy back farther as the ground below Patrick began to glow red. A torrent of magma pushed Patrick up into the air. The torrent continued unchecked as Patrick began spinning in the magma. Serge looked on in awe. "He's controlling it. He is actually controlling the flow; it should have stopped long ago!"
"My fiancée wouldn't want to disappoint his friends," Christy said smiling. Patrick slowly touched ground kneeling and gasping for air. Everyone clustered around him checking on him to see if he was all right. Christy gently held his hand smiling, "Hey there good looking." She grinned as he looked into her eyes. He hugged her tightly tears flowing. She hugged him back the best she could given that she was still tied up. With the flash of a knife Kid had cut the ropes allowing Christy to hug him back just as tightly. They stayed there for a few minutes as Kid and Serge watched.
"Serge?" Kid asked.
"Yeah Kid?" Serge asked quietly watching them.
"You think we'll ever find that?" Kid asked in a whisper.
"Find what?" Serge asked completely miffed.
"That kind of love." Kid said distantly as Patrick slowly got up. Christy helped him to his feet slowly as he looked around.
"My staff?" He said looking around. Serge tossed it to him.
"I've had it for awhile now. I was trying to figure out how to get it up to you," He said as Patrick caught it. Patrick nodded as he moved to the ladder and began climbing it. They followed behind him wondering what was going on.
"Lets go help the others, they're going to Miguel right?" Serge nodded dumbly. "Then they'll need it." Serge realized what was being said and climbed quicker.
~*~
"YOUR NAME IS PAUL!" Steena shouted.
"So my name is Paul." The man said. "Well, no matter." He said again. He kicked up a plate and chucked it at his clone. The plate shattered against clone Paul's skull as he flew to the ground unconscious. Diss looked at Paul and cussed as he dove in to strike at Paul. Paul saw the dive and ducked grabbing Diss' leg as he was in mid air so his flight was finished early. Diss landed with a thud and a sore chest. Both Shaun's jumped Paul and began to beat him violently. Paul was able to fight them off as he launched clone Shaun into Steena. Both collided with a hard crash and both fell down hard. Paul kicked Shaun in the stomach and placed it between his legs. He linked both arms around Shaun's waste and lifted up so Shaun was now sitting on Paul's shoulders. Paul whispered goodbye as he ran forward slamming Shaun into an odd shaped alter table. It cracked under Shaun's weight and gave away as Shaun's back ached all the way up and down his spine. Steena slowly got up as she began to chant a spell of healing. Paul saw it and hurled his hand forward. The energy flowed from his hand evenly and quickly as it hit Steena's chest blasting her back into a wall. Paul stalked his way up to Diss as he slowly got up. Paul lifted Diss up by his shirt and whirled him around. He tossed Diss forward and then spun him back hitting Diss with a powerful forearm into oblivion. Patrick, Kid and Serge ran into the battle but Kid and Serge were stopped by Paul's energy blasts. Patrick was about to get ready for a spear but was caught off guard as Paul ringed his fingers around Patrick's throat and lifted him up off the ground and slammed him onto his back. Steena jumped onto Paul's back and began to choke him. Paul flailed around for a while before he stopped and fell back squishing Steena. Clone Paul woke up and assessed the battle. Patrick got up as well and looked at Paul then Serge.
"Serge, Solaris!" Pat yelled. Serge nodded. "Paul, Electric obliteration! FULL STEAM AHEAD!" The words electric obliteration echoed in Paul's head as he began to violently build up energy around him. Shaun was able to stop him as he launched a boulder at him. Clone Paul, Diss, and Serge all rose in the air. Serge began to create a blinding light around him, Pat began to serge with Fire, and Paul was violently spinning attracting energy from the clouds that formed overhead. Paul got up and assessed the pain he was going to feel.
"YES! BRING IT! DO YOUR ATTACK! LET ME FEEL THE PAIN!" They all let loose as Shaun and Clone Shaun's rock barrier shielded anyone in the blast radius. The rock crumbled and blew away as the blast went by. Kid was knocked out, but Both Shaun's and Steena survived. They looked at those who casted the powerful spell, and as expected saw them all unconscious. Steena looked at Paul and screamed as she saw him get up.
"THE PAIN! MY GOD THE PAIN! IT'S THE ONLY TIME I FEEL ALIVE! THE ENERGY PASSING THROUGH MY VEINS, THE PURE ADRENILINE OF KNOWING AND WAITING FOR THE ULTIMATE RUSH OF PAIN! HURT ME MORE!" Paul shouted as he began to bang his head against a wall. Catherine and Samantha showed up next.
"My god." Samantha said shocked. "He still wants more pain." Steena couldn't believe it.
~*~
"HOW COULD HE WITHSTAND THAT PAIN?" Fate said shocked. "No normal man could withstand it. How could he have survived? The blast would have killed anyone. Even me." Fate shivered as he repeated his last words. He turned to go back to the boat to study exactly what it was that made Paul take that blast.
~*~
"He's gonna lose it." Catherine said in a worried tone as she saw Paul begin to laugh hysterically. Kid woke up and saw Paul hitting himself with anything possible. She revived those who casted the spell and all three cussed as they saw Paul hurt himself more and more.
"He's a freak!" Kid said quietly.
"We can't let him go insane!" Steena said quickly. "Patrick. I want you and Kid to do Firestorm." Both nodded as the cannon fell to the ground. Paul saw the weapon and squealed with delight. He dove in front of it and made sure nothing would cushion the blow. Steena looked at her boyfriend and began to cry. Kid kicked her button and Patrick did as well. The firestorm was casted and the blow was heading towards Paul. Steena had enough. She dove in front of Paul holding him tight as the blast hit her hard in the back.
"NO!" Patrick yelled. Paul tossed off Steena who was knocked out from the blow.
"WHY?" Paul asked hysterically. "Do you like pain also?" Paul's voice had a demonic tone to it.
"Poster boy just struck out." Pat said as he ran up to Paul. Paul saw Pat and he kicked up another plate. He smashed it over his own head and grabbed Patrick's kick. He spun him around and kicked Pat in the midsection. He got to the side of Pat and grabbed his arm closest to him placing it between Pat's legs. He lifted up and had Pat's legs dangle over Paul's back. He ran forward and jumped smashing Pat on his back.
"YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!" Paul sang as Pat groaned in pain. Steena got up and glared at Paul.
"Forgive me." She muttered quietly as she walked up to Paul. Paul spun around and was about to dodge Steena's round house kick. The blow was too fast to be blocked and the hit was too much to be taken as Paul fell down. Steena mounted on top of Paul as she began to punch him. She stopped as tears rolled down her eyes. She grabbed Shaun's mace and held it by the neck as she beat Paul with it. Paul began to bleed everywhere until he was knocked out. Steena still continued to hurt Paul. She kept hitting and hitting letting all her anger go. She continued and continued before Serge had to drag her off. As soon as she was off and the mace taken away she grabbed onto clone Paul and hugged him tightly crying letting everything go.