iCarly: iMeet the Relatives, Chapter 16: Catastrophe

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I don't own iCarly.

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Chapter 16: Catastrophe

Carly sought out Sam and explained the matter to her. "So, Jillian will be 'observing' us. That's her cover story, anyway."

"What about Spencer? He's got the hots for her, you know."

"She was supposed to break it off with him, tell him she couldn't hang out with him anymore." Carly sighed. "I'm…not sure how that's going to work out, with her being here on a regular basis.

"I'm just gonna have to tell him and Freddie the truth about Grif, and Jillian." Another sigh. "How successful I'll be at that, I don't know yet. I had a hard time convincing you, and you know me almost better than I know myself, Sam."

Sam thought. In truth, she still had her doubts about this whole "angel" thing…but she had to admit, the evidence was convincing. But the others? "So…you're gonna tell Spencer first? I mean, he's probably gonna be the hardest to convince."

"I know. And there's no time like the present…"

Spencer came home shortly after that. Both Sam and Carly thought he looked disconsolate; well, they could both sorta understand that. Here, he thought he'd found someone with whom he could connect, and she basically gave him the brush-off. "Spencer? There's something we need to talk about."

"Can't it wait?"

"I don't think so. How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"How'd things go with Jillian?"

He scowled. "She doesn't want to see me anymore. I guess I should've expected this. I just didn't expect it so soon."

"Spence….come over here and sit." Carly indicated a place beside her on the couch. Sam sat beside him, a serious expression on her face. "I've some things to tell you, things I've been meaning to tell you for some time now, but just never found the right time. But now's the right time. I think…it'll help you get over Jillian. I've already told Sam, and she can corroborate with what I'm about to say."

He sat. "I'm all ears." Neither one of them had ever seen him this down before.

"Spence…and this is gonna be kinda unbelievable, I know, but…." And she told him about Griffin, or Gryphon, as he was really called, being an angel, who'd accepted the assignment of being Earth's guardian angel, one dedicated to the protection of the planet as a whole. She didn't get into Jillian's true identity just yet, sensing that she'd already dumped too much on him for one evening.

After she finished, he just sat there, sitting forward, hands clasped between his knees, his face unreadable. Finally, he spoke up. "You know, I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago, Carly. Was this fantasy supposed to make me feel better?"

"It's no fantasy, Spencer," said Sam, quietly, from the other side. "I thought it was a big windy myself, at first, but now I'm convinced."

He snorted. "So the guy who stole my bike is an angel? I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Spencer, do you think I'd lie to you? Especially about something like this?"

"Well, I didn't use to. But now…."

"I felt the same way, when Grif first told me. I thought for sure he was lying to me, to, to break up with me. But he wasn't. Now. Do you think I'm lying to you?"

But he was shaking his head. "I dunno, Carly, maybe it's some form of hypnosis or something…"

"Look, there's only one way to go from here." And Sam pulled out her Pear phone and speed-dialed Grif. "Grif? Sam here. Would you mind zapping over here? We gotta situation."

Spencer jumped as the electric tornado appeared almost right in front of him. When it had subsided, Grif stood there, holding the remains of a sandwich he'd been eating. "Grif, we're trying to explain to Spencer about….things. And we're running into the same problems Carly had with me. So do your thing, would'ja?"

Grif looked squarely at Spencer. "Spencer, I'm sorry to have had to deceive you all this time, but I and my people are supposed to keep our presence here a secret. The reason I stole your bike was solely because that action fit in with the disguise I had adopted on this world. But what they have been telling you is the truth: I am an angel, in charge of Earth's guardian Host. I know that isn't an easy thing to accept, but it is true."

Spencer's mouth was hanging open. "You…you just appeared….how'd you do that?"

"Part of my essential nature. And, speaking of my nature, it isn't my nature to lie to you. I can do it, but it…it's painful for me. So what I am telling you is the truth."

Spencer leaned forward and put his face in his hands. "Carly. You're just now telling me this? You told Sam first? I'm your brother. Why?"

Carly rubbed her hand over his back in what was intended to be a consoling gesture. "Spence, this whole thing has been a 'learn as you go' sort of deal. Maybe I should've told you first. But I'm telling you now."

Spencer felt numb. Too many shocks in one sitting… "But what's this got to do with Jillian?"

Grif was sitting on the arm of the couch where the other three were. "First things first. Do you believe I'm an angel?"

"Yeah…no…oh, I don't know what I believe anymore."

"Well, I am. And one reason I'm here is to investigate something we call the Darkness. That's a place….there's no real describing it. It's a place where reality itself…unravels, I guess you could say. Sometimes souls—human souls—get trapped in the Darkness. If somebody doesn't rescue them, they cease to be."

Spencer suddenly looked up. "Prove you're an angel."

"How would you like me to prove it?"

"I, I don't know. What do angels do, throw lightning bolts? Just do something." There was an undercurrent in his voice almost of desperation. He was torn between wanting to believe, believing and not believing, and he didn't know which to choose.

"Throwing lightning in this confined space wouldn't be wise. But what I can do…" He looked thoughtful for a moment, "What I can do is allow you to see a portion of my essence, to see me the way I really am, at least in part."

"You can?" Carly looked surprised. He'd never mentioned that before.

"Wait," Sam held up a cautionary hand. "I've read stories about…seeing supernatural beings in their true state. Is this safe?"

"It is if I don't go overboard." He put his sandwich down and moved to the center of the room. "Ready?"

"Uh, sure," said Carly. "Lay it on us." Never a dull moment…

And Grif began to glow.

At first, it was a mild illumination, as if an overhead light had focused on him. But it grew stronger, and, in its brilliance, it almost seemed as though he were clad in a suit of golden armor. And still the brightness increased…

The trio found they couldn't at nor look away from the incredible light. Light that intense ought to sear the optic nerve, but on some level each of them realized they weren't seeing with just their eyes anymore.

"This is me, Spencer. At least, the most of me that I can show you without causing you harm. This is what I am, Carly, Sam." The awesome glow began to fade, and soon Grif stood before them once again, wearing his usual jeans and jacket, just as they'd seen him before.

Spencer was looking shell-shocked. "Dude, you….you're…you're really an…." And then he abruptly sat down on the couch, his expression almost frighteningly blank. Carly and Sam took turns jiggling him, trying to get some reaction out of him, but, for all intents and purposes, it was as though he was unconscious, except that his eyes were open, staring straight ahead.

Carly turned to Grif, angrily. "What'd you do to him, anyway? I thought you said it wasn't dangerous!"

"It's not." He moved over to Spencer. "What he's experiencing is what's called the impact of the Numinous. He's just been confronted, point blank, with a reality, the reality of the supernatural, that he never gave much thought to before, and that he wasn't ready to face, like a lot of humans. It affects different people in different ways. He'll recover; it'll just take him a little time to process what he's just seen—on more than one level."

Carly turned to Spencer. "C'mon, Spence. If Sam and I could take it…"

"You and Sam had some forewarning. And, as I said, it affects different people different ways."

"Angel…." Muttered Spencer. "A real freakin' angel. How…"

At that exact moment, there was a knock on the door. Sam crossed over the room and let Freddie in. "Hey, did you guys ever decide on a script for that western scene?" He looked at Spencer. "What's wrong with him?"

"Uh, not now, Freddie. Spencer's…uhm, well, I guess you could say he…uhm, I, I don't quite know how to put it…"

"He's not having a seizure, is he?" Freddie went over to Spencer, who was still staring straight ahead, his mouth hanging open. Freddie pried one of Spencer's eyelids open a bit farther. "Pupils are dilated…."

"Freddie, maybe it's a good thing you're here. Spencer just got some…news that sorta shocked him…."

Freddie's face blanched. "Oh, god. Please tell me he didn't get Jillian pregnant or something."

"No, no, nothing like that! It's just…" Carly sat back down by Spencer, while Sam moved to sit with Freddie. Two astral KO's in one night would strain both their abilities. Carly took a deep breath. Grif waited calmly, still eating the rest of his sandwich. "Freddie. Grif…is an angel. A real one. Like the kind that flies, you know. And, and Spencer….when we told him…." She gestured towards her brother, still sitting on the couch, shell-shocked.

Freddie, sitting beside Spencer, looked up at Grif. "You mean, you're not an alien?"

"No. I'm an angel."

Freddie leaned back in the couch, closing his eyes. "Crap. I was hoping you were an alien."

Sam stared at him, goggled-eyed. "You mean, you…believe it? Just like that?"

"Well, yeah. No way that router was human tech. So." He looked up at Grif. "Angel, huh? That's cool. Better than being a time traveler or something. This way you don't have to worry about the grandfather paradox."

"The which?" This from Sam.

"Paradoxes created by time traveling." He waved her questions away. "Tell you about it sometime. But…yeah. Angel. That's cool." He looked back at Spencer. "So…what did you say was wrong with Spencer?"

…..

Across town, in the Worldcorp building, Devlin Bendarian sensed Grif's actions. What is that fool angel up to now? Since time immemorial, both sides had adopted a policy of secrecy from the humans who thought they ruled the third planet from the sun. He knew the angels didn't want to be revered as gods…and demons had their own reasons for keeping secrets.

But now it seemed like the silly creature was advertising his presence to the world in general. What was he thinking?

He probed a bit. Oh, yes, that little vixen of a demon had already worked her own particular kind of magic on the girl's brother, and been required to cease and desist. Naturally, the brother was hurt by what he perceived as rejection. So the idea had been to reveal the truth about both Gryphon and Jillian's nature to their whole group, in the hopes that it would assuage Spencer's hurt feelings. And, Devlin could tell, Sam was with them, observing the entire display. Just the usual Jillian Adara Screw Up.

Devlin muttered an epithet in a language that had been ancient when the first light from the Big Bang had barely begun to make its way across what was rapidly turning into time and space. The shock waves from the "sound" of it reverberated across the entire building, causing the humans who worked there to wonder about earthquakes.

Now he had no choice. Not if Sam was to be safe.

…..

Drs. Phillips and Weston were both tied to their respective lab chairs, as the strange humanoids who'd captured them rifled through their files. Encrypted files or no, it didn't seem to matter. The security detail, previously thought to be adequate, was just down the hallway, similarly bound. Weston hoped that none of them had been harmed; something about these strange, red-garbed figures told him they wouldn't have a problem with taking a human life.

"Hm." Said the leader, "You really haven't found out very much, have you? Tsk. Apparently our foray into your dimension was for naught….unless there's some information to be gathered at the site itself." He turned to the two scientists. "You possess no information that is all that useful to you, nor, judging by your primitive techniques, are you likely to acquire such. So now the question becomes, what to do with you?"

"I don't suppose," said Dr. Phillips, "that we could convince you since we've seen nothing, and know nothing, that you could just let us go?"

The leader nodded. "You might. But you have seen something, even if you didn't know what it was. Perhaps I had best confer with my superiors before making any," an unnerving smile, "decisions of a permanent nature."

Sam had agreed to meet with Devlin in the coffee shop they'd come to frequent, even as Spencer was still recuperating from his "shock treatment" in learning that Grif was an angel. She shook her head. She was debating on whether or not to share that factoid with Dev, see what he thought of it.

He was already there when she arrived. "Ah, Sam. I took the liberty of ordering your favorite: cappuccino and a Danish."

She took the seat opposite him. "Thanks, Dev." In a universe where everything seemed to be going crazy, Devlin was like an anchor to her.

They chatted a bit. "So what have you heard about Carly's father?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing concrete. He's supposed to be in the process of being discharged from sub duty. Nobody's said anything about any new assignment, but I don't think he's retiring."

"How is this affecting you?"

"How? How do you suppose? I mean, it's like you said: the old gang is breaking up. I…I'm still having some problems with that." She looked down at her cappuccino. "I guess….I'm holding up. But I'm ashamed."

"Ashamed?"

"Yeah. I mean, this is what Carly's been waiting for, for them to get together as a real family again." She scowled down into her cup. "The problem's me."

Devlin consulted his future selves. But none of them had been in this exact predicament before. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained…and she had to know sooner or later. "Sam, I have something to tell you, about myself. It's very important."

"Oh?" She was mystified. Something he had to tell her about himself? Was he maybe being transferred to some other branch of WorldCorp, maybe halfway across the country? Would they ever see each other again? Instinctively, she tensed, readying herself for bad news…..

And just at that very moment, an intense shuddering went throughout the entire region, and the sun disappeared.

In her apartment: Jillian was totally miserable. It had been good, seeing Roger at the bowling alley, but now she was stuck babysitting an angel, of all things. If the Black Throne had been trying to totally humiliate her, they couldn't have done a better job.

And…and, yes, she found herself missing Spencer. They'd had some fun together. In Jillian's world, "fun" wasn't very commonplace. Avarice ruled, and advancement was all there was.

Completely out of character for her, she found herself sorry she'd had to break up with him. Usually, emotions were food to her, both positive and negative. But Spencer's negative emotions—his dejection—had actually hurt her.

Oh, well. Probably just a freak accident. Had to be. She was a demon; demons don't get hurt.

Suddenly, a feeling, an intuition, sprang into her mind: Spencer was in danger. Like, really bad danger. Not a mugging or anything, but something far worse. She jumped up off the sofa she'd been resting on, watching "The Big Bang Theory," and let her shadowcloak spring back to full length, even as she grabbed her trident, activating it. To home with her promises; if Spence was in danger, she was there.

And then it seemed like the world dropped down about thirty feet or so.

Carly's apartment: Grif was just leaving when he felt the first upheaval. Instinctively, he formed a force-field around the apartment, but that didn't mask the effects of whatever was happening. It was like an earthquake, and yet, it wasn't.

"Grif! What's going on?"

"I don't know, Carly! Hang on—I'll contact Uncle Jemiah and Adriel…."

At the coffee shop: when he felt the first tremors, Devlin had immediately extruded his shadowcloak, and extended it around Sam. Anything—beam or material object-striking the outside of the shadowcloak would be instantly teleported far away. As the tremors subsided, the first thing he noticed was the complete lack of sunlight.

This was unheard of. Even as Sam was crouched within his shadowcloak (and wondering what the bleep was going on), he endeavored to contact his Uncle BenDarian.

And couldn't.

….

Grif noticed the lack of sunlight at the same time he discovered he couldn't contact Jemiah or the other members of the Host. What is going on? "Carly, where are the others?" It had been just the two of them in the apartment when the whatever-it-was had happened.

"I, I don't know! Sam said she had to, to meet someone, and I don't know where Spencer is! Grif! Where did the sun go?"

"I don't know, Carly, but let's just stay calm, okay? We'll find out what's going on, I promise." But even as he said it, he wondered: Why couldn't he contact the other angels? This was unprecedented.

Unless….

He embraced her, pulling her close, his simple presence calming her. "Carly. It's vital that we find the others. Think. Where were they going?"

Spencer was sitting, an almost visible cloud of gloom hanging over his head, at the bar at the Groovie Smoothie, downing one raspberry banana delight after another, trying to see if he could "drown his sorrows" in something nonalcoholic. So far, it wasn't working. And Spencer didn't drink.

So. Griffin was an angel. And Carly hadn't seen fit to tell him until just now. He didn't see how this was supposed to make up for Jillian's dumping him. Though I guess I ought to be used to it by now. With that thought, he handed his cup back to the attendant. "Another banana delight, please?"

The shockwave caught him totally unprepared, and he found himself dumped out of his chair onto the floor. The counter, which was supposed to have been bolted to the floor, somehow ripped out of its moorings and fell on top of him, causing him to gasp. Fortunately, it didn't fall right on top of him, but enough of it rested on him to pin him to the thing was heavy! He was trying to get some leverage to shift it off of him, or squeeze himself out…with no success.

"Here. Let me." A very familiar voice told him, causing him to gasp again.

"Jillian? How'd you get here?"

"Never mind. Just hold still…." His eyes widened as she easily picked up the heavy counter and tossed it aside. "Wow. You must work out."

"Sorta. Now come on. We can't stay here." She offered him her hand to help him stand, even as she looked around. For the first time, he noticed the darkness outside. It was as though nighttime had fallen suddenly.

…..And….he couldn't see anybody else around, except for Jillian. The attendant behind the counter had disappeared, and there was nobody on the streets.

Grif was standing at the big picture window, looking out over the darkened city. The nighttime lights began to come on, but even as they did, some flickered and went out. It seemed to him as though only half of the street and business lights were actually blazing. He could only sense a handful of souls in the entire city. Why?

He looked up. No stars. Objects blacker than black moving through a sky of unbroken dark. "Carly….don't panic, now, but I think Seattle, or a part of it, has just been transported into the Darkness."