Title : Is It Really You?
Summary : A long-lost love returns from the grave and secrets are revealed. Will Martin risk everything to get her back after she leaves him again? MartinOC (New summary cause old one SUCKED!)
Rating : T for, ya know, swearing and stuff
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RAN : Sorry about the lack of updating after I left ya at such a TERRIBLE spot. I just got writer's block, sidetracked, lazy, plus, my exams started today, so, I'm using that as an excuse. Hopefully this chappy makes up for it!
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(Jaws music heard playing)
PP : Oh no...
TT : Not...
(Music hits peak)
FF : Howdy y'all! I'm back.
PP & TT : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
FF : How about all you guys?
(cheers, whistles, kazoos, sirens and harmonicas go off)
PP : No, not the Cheer Box! I thought I tore that thing apart!
TT : Obviously you didn't do a good enough job!
(TaterTot hits PotatoPuff in back of head)
FF : There is a Cheer Box? Can I play with it?
PP : (massaging head) You're joking, right?
TT : You've been using that thing and don't know what it is?
FF : I haven't used anything! Those are my peeps! The reviewers.
TT : I see you picked up some new words over the holidays.
PP : Those are MY reviewers. Oh well, let's just get on with the story.
FF : Not yet, I need to inform the people of the plothole.
PP & TT : NO! SHUT UP!
FF : Fine! Other people own almost everything in this story except a few minor things... and Rachel. Look for the PLOTHOLE, PEOPLE!
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Chapter 11 : I Swear, I'll Make Him Pay
"Martin!"
At the sound of the voice, Martin's eyes fluttered open. He caught a glimpse of a pair of burning red eyes, before he had the feeling that he was being sucked into them. Darkness was all that he saw, even as he felt that he was flying.
Eventually, the darkness was broken by a speck of white in the distance. It slowly grew larger, so he could tell that he was heading towards it.
As he drew nearer, it took on the shape of a woman, sitting on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her arms were around her legs, her head facing the ground, laying on top of her knees, allowing her red hair to conceal her face.
As he came to a stop, she looked up, startled. Martin gasped. It was Rachel sitting there, dressed the same way Serafina had been. She looked as surprised as she felt. She stood up, and he could swear that he caught a glimpse of a chain on her wrist, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Rachel absolutely terrified, and Martin saw her lips moving but no sound came out. It seemed as though she were screaming it, whatever she was saying. He tried to take a step forward, only to once again feel as though someone were pulling him, backwards this time. He struggled against it, but to no avail, as her image quickly receded from him. Just before he lost sight of her completely, he heard a faint whisper of her voice.
"Don't let her decieve you."
He screamed her name, and was thrown back into his body with so much force that he stumbled, nearly falling over. He probably would have if a pair of arms hadn't supported him. He looked up into a pair of fierce red pair of eyes again, that quickly became a worried blue.
"What happened? Are you all right?"
He shook off her hands, and stood on his own, while examining her, trying to figure out what he had just seen. She looked hurt by his reaction.
"What's wrong? Do you not trust me still, or what?"
He wasn't quite sure what to say, but was relieved of the problem by Diana.
"Martin, no! Don't trust her! That's not Rachel! Can you not see who she really is!"
Finally, for some reason, everything clicked. Her red eyes. Her sudden reappearance after being kidnapped. "Don't let her decieve you."
He stepped away from her so quickly, that he nearly fell over again. His voice was a hiss.
"Azrael. You're Azrael, not Rachel. Daniel sent you here, you didn't escape. Isn't that right?"
She looked more hurt than before by his accusation, and a part of him instantly regretted it.
"Why would you even think that Martin? Why can't you just believe that it's me?"
"Because it's NOT you. You are not Rachel! I saw her, with my own two eyes, and believe me, she is in nowhere near as good condition as you are."
She looked down, her hair falling in front of her face, as she began chuckling.
"Damn. I guess you found me out. I knew I should have made a backup plan, or have just been a bit more careful, in case someone did walk out, but Daniel, that idiot, told me not to worry about it. Well, what was it that tipped you off Diana? Did you sense my evil aura? Was it the fact that the normally bright and cheery Rachel was dressed all in black? Maybe I forgot and accidentally showed my black wings to you? Or was it just the red eyes?"
Diana looked slightly nervous as she responded. Martin didn't blame her. Something had definitely changed in the air. It had put him completely on edge.
"Well, the red eyes were a major hint, but it also just felt like something was off. Almost like I could feel that you were Azrael, and not Rachel."
"I guess I don't need to keep my true looks undercover anymore, do I?"
She was engulfed in black flames, and when they disappeared, Azrael had assumed her true identity, casting away Rachel's looks. Her hair was shoulder length and black, her skin was pale, and her wings were visible. As she looked up, her blood red eyes became visible behind her curtain of hair. She was smirking.
"Well, shocked? You certainly look it."
They had both recoiled when she had shown her true self.
"You were right. Daniel did send me here, hoping that I would be able to stop you from pursuing Rachel. Basically, I was given orders to kill you, unless you found out that it was me, and not who you thought it was. Strange, huh? Oh well, orders are orders. You see, he had another plan if you were to find out."
She snapped her fingers and a rolled up piece of paper appeared in front of Martin.
"This is a map to Daniel's headquarters. If you wish to have a shot at saving Rachel, he suggests you go there. Take your time though. You want to enjoy what life you have left before you get there, because you won't make it out alive."
She flapped her wings and was gone in a flurry of dust, leaving Diana and Martin to cover their faces, coughing.
Martin noticed something laying on the ground after the dust had cleared though. He rushed forward to pick it up, and let out a growl when he saw what it was. It was the bracelet he had given her for her thirteenth birthday.
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Flashback
"Oh Martin, it's beautiful!"
She held her wrist up to let the bracelet catch the light. He had it custom made for her, so in the end, it had cost him nearly a year's allowance.
"Well, I'm glad you like it, 'cause it's your birthday and Christmas present for the next five years at least."
She giggled, taking a good look at it. It was a delicate silver chain that fit her wrist perfectly. The highlight though was the phoenix, designed so that it looked like it was in flight. It was the reason the bracelet had cost him so much. The eyes were two rubies, and the golden specks were actual gold. It had been worth the $400, and the time that he had spent drawing a picture for them to go off of for the phoenix, just to see the look of delight on her face when she had unwrapped it on his front porch. She suddenly launched herself at him, causing him to blush.
"It's the best present I've ever gotten."
He nervously wrapped his arms around her waist in response.
"Good. I'm glad you like it."
End Flashback
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After that, it hadn't been so much that they had drifted apart, but that they had gained new friends, and started getting interested in different things. She also disappeared quite often for a couple of days at a time, and only revealed to him a year later that she was gone on missions for the Center. Her salary was how she managed to buy him the pure silver Chinese character that now hung from a cord around his neck. Courage. There was many a time where he looked at himself and asked why she had thought that it was appropriate for him.
Two years after he had given her the bracelet, just when he had finally decided to tell her how he truly felt about her, she went on the mission to New York and never came back.
He stood up, tightly gripping the bracelet in one hand, the map Azrael had given him in the other. Diana walked up next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He made his vow partially to her, but mainly to the bracelet he held in his hand, which almost made him feel as though he were talking to Rachel herself.
"I swear, I'll make that bastard pay. Daniel won't get away with this, and neither will Azrael. I'll be there for that final battle, and I'll get Rachel back, even if it's the last thing I do. I won't let her slip away from between my fingers again. I won't fail her a second time."
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Martin spent most of his time after that perfecting his sword skills with the chief. He ended up being a very quick learner. He even found it easy, but was careful not to get overconfident. One of his first lessons, and one of his most painful, had been not to get cocky, and doing so would only lead to failure... and many cuts and bruises.
When Martin wasn't training with the chief, he was working with Diana, Java and M.O.M. to make a plan to save Rachel. It wasn't going nearly as well as his sessions with the chief. They just didn't have enough information to form a plan. They weren't even sure if Azrael's map was right, because the Center had previously mapped it and found absolutely nothing. All in all, they basically came up with scout the area and, if the map was right, barge in through the front door. After that they'd try to stay low, and sneak around, looking for something that would help them.
When they finally realized that they weren't getting anywhere, Martin began devoting all of his time to training. The chief was astonished by his fast progress, and knew that Martin had learned everything that he could teach him when, after not even 5 minutes, he found himself laying on his back with a sword lightly pressed against his throat. He smiled.
"You have come far, my boy. A month ago, you could barely tell one end of the sword from the other."
Martin backed off, still holding the sword out in front of him, just in case the chief still had something up his sleeve, another lesson that had earned him some bruises.
"Hey, I wasn't that bad. And the only reason I've come this far is because of my teacher. I owe you one for teaching me so much in so little time."
At least the boy still had the ability to pretend that nothing was wrong with his life. He was smiling a lot, and laughing, but if you looked deep into his eyes you could see that it was almost as though something had died inside of him. The same passionate fire that had shone clearly when the chief had first met him had been replaced by a hollowness of sorts after his encounter with Rachel, almost like a part of him had given up hope.
He had also been wearing Rachel's bracelet ever since that night. When Diana had asked him why, he had replied that it was a reminder of his promise. There had been such an intensity to his voice that no one had brought up the bracelet at all again.
The chief stood up, resheathing his sword. Martin did the same.
"The only thing you can do for me is save Rachel. And try not to destroy the world when you do it."
Martin smiled, but it still didn't reach the depths of his eyes.
"I'll try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything."
"Come on, let's go back to the village. We're done training."
"Do you want me back at the regular time tomorrow?"
"No, Martin. Didn't you hear me the first time? We're done training. There is nothing more for me to teach you."
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They returned to the Center the next morning, very early, so as to draw as little attention as possible. They really didn't need Daniel to be attracted to them by a huge commotion, and figure out exactly when they were leaving. The chief had given Martin a last bit of advice before he had stepped through the portal.
"Against me, you have shown exceptional skills. Just remember, compared to your true opponent, I'm a pushover. I'm not sure if you'll have to fight both, but they both have much quicker reflexes, magical powers, and one apparently has the ability to take on the form of your best friend at will. Use great caution, and try not to let them trick you. Be careful."
Martin nodded, and after thanking him for all his help once again, let Diana and Java led him through the portal.
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Now, they were struggling up a mountain, through a snowstorm. To hopefully avoid notice, they had decided that a portal in the plain at the base of the mountain was the best idea, even though Martin had wanted to open it within Daniel's hideout. M.O.M. had been quick to, literally, slap some sense into him. He had apologized afterwards, saying that because of how close he was to either getting Rachel back or losing her forever, he had stopped thinking logically for a bit.
Immediately after they had arrived, he had plowed ahead, quickly leaving Diana and Java behind, despite the raging storm. They had lost sight of him, and had no idea if they were even going the same way he had, because the snow had quickly covered up all of his footprints. They had tried yelling at him to slow down, but whether he didn't hear them, or he was just ignoring them, he hadn't slowed down one bit.
When they finally did catch up to him, he was crouched behind a boulder, peeking out at something on the other side. He didn;t notice Diana and Java come up behind him, so they called out to him. He instantly spun around, motioning for them to get down and shut up. They did as he said, and crawled forwards, keeping as quiet as they could. When they drew level with Martin, they realized what he had been looking at.
Azrael's map had been right.
Daniel's hideout was an old Medieval castle. There were people moving wherever they looked, but something didn't seem right about them. Diana couldn't quite put her finger on it, but their movements seemed kind of stiff, like they weren't used to moving, and their clothing was from all sorts of different ages. Some looked like they could have been inhabitants of the castle they were looking at, some looked like pioneers, and, well, you get the picture, hopefully. Diana realized with a jolt that seeing was actually quite easy, because the storm ended abruptly shortly after the boulder.
"I'm going."
Martin's eyes glowed with a fierce determination as Diana gasped.
"With THAT much activity! Martin, there's no way you'll make it 10 steps past this boulder, let alone to the front door! You'll never be able to sneak by them!"
"Maybe I don't want to sneak by them? Think Diana. Where do you think they'll take me if they catch me?"
It was when Diana stopped to think that she saw the beauty of his plan. If he was caught, he'd be taken straight to Daniel, and where Daniel was, Azrael was sure to be, and that meant Rachel would be there too.
"You two stay here. If something goes wrong, call M.O.M. for backup. Even if she can't send anyone, she'll at least be able to tell you what you should do."
Diana and Java nodded. Martin stood up, brushing the snow off of himself as best he could before walking forward.
Diana had been right when she had said that he wouldn't make it 10 steps. He made it about 5 and suddenly felt the ground give way beneath him. He began falling, and faintly heard Diana scream his name before his head hit the ground and he saw no more.
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PP : HAHA! I get to leave you at another cliffy for, oh, another couple of weeks at most, due to brick wall on Chapter 12.
FF : Did you find the plothole?
PP & TT : SHUT UP ABOUT THE PLOTHOLE!
FF : A cookie to the person who finds the plothole! (cheers)
TT : Stop the cheering! And the plothole wasn't even in this chapter.
PP : Yeah, it was in Chapter 10, wasn't it?
TT : SHUT UP! YOU'RE GIVING THEM IDEAS! (slaps PotatoPuff)
FF : Geesh you guys! It is bad marketing fighting and telling people about plotholes! My friend told me so.
PP : Well, you obviously didn't listen very well if you told them about the plothole anyways!
TT : (slaps PotatoPuff again) Mind your manners! Now apologize!
PP : You think that you can boss me around! I'M the boss around here, thank you very much! Please, just don't hurt me agin. I'm.. sorry..., FrenchFry.
FF : That's ok. I have your teddy PotatoPuff... and a torch! evil grin
PP : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Wait a second. How did you get my teddy? ...TaterTot?
TT : Heehee, I've gotta go. (runs away)
PP : TATERTOT! (runs after TT)
FF They are gone, yes! Now I can let Martin out of the room.
(unlocks door and an unconscious Martin falls out)
FF : Oops! Until next time!
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RAN : Once again, I'm sorry for this wait, along with the wait in between this update and my next one, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get to the ending that I have planned out already. Basically, I have half a chapter that I can't think of anything for.
VERYIMPORTANT,PLEASEREAD,VERYIMPORTANT,PLEASEREAD,VERYIMPORTANT,PLEASEREAD,VERYIMPORTANT,PLEASEREAD
Ok, hopefully you understood that, and are now reading this, even if you weren't before. At this point, I only have two more chapters until I split into my endings. You see, I'm doing three different endings, the sad ending, happy ending, and complete and total surprise ending! What your job as the reader is, is to tell me, for now, which ending you want me to write first! I know, you haven't seen how I'm ending the fic before the endings, but I'd like to know what you think now, if you would be so kind. I listed the options above, but just as a refresher your choices are : 1: Sad Ending, 2: Happy Ending, & 3: Surprise Ending. The first two are self-explanatory, but the third one will remain a secret until you read it. Well, please vote for what you think I should write first BEFORE MY NEXT UPDATE. That's when I close the poll for the first ending, because I could start writing it right after I post the next chapter, depends on the timing. By the way, if no one votes, I'll put the sad ending up first, k? So, if you don't want that to happen, VOTE! Well, I've gone on long enough, so, please vote and review!