Chapter 13: The Fight

Skips and the guys had split up into two-man teams: Mordecai and Rigby; Muscle Man and High-Five Ghost; Benson and Pops; Gary and Reginald; Thomas and Quips; Death and Skips. So far, everything was going according to plan. As they searched for the pages of the book, they didn't suspect the danger coming closer to them with every step.

Death and Skips were in the darkest part of the woods in the park. Everyone else had split off into different directions across town. The place they had chosen was possibly the most dangerous (right next to the mountain's danger). Neither immortal spoke for some time.

"How far back do you two go?" asked Skips.

"Michelle and I?" asked Death. Skips nodded. "Well, we've known each other for the entirety of her immortal existence. Things only got romantic in more recent years."

"She broke up with you because of what you do, right?"

"That's correct."

"So, why was she with you in the first place?"

"At the time, she had recently gotten off of a bad situation. She felt she could find comfort in me. We had plenty of good times together. I don't really believe there was a genuine love between us, but looking back on it, I become less and less sure with each passing day."

"So?"

"I know we can't get back together. Neither of our hearts would be in it. I chose Angelica because she understood my work and appreciated me. We got married, adopted a child, and that was that."

"Why did you two adopt?"

"We aren't compatible, biologically speaking, to have children." Skips laughed a bit at that. It was more like thanatology than it was biology when it concerned Death. A pause.

"How much further?"

"Not very. I recognize these surroundings. It's a very special place where we're going."

"Why's that?"

"I won't say." Death had a slight smile on his face and glanced at Skips to see his reaction. The innuendo was either lost or not fully understood since Skips said nothing and made no reaction. There was a rustle in the bushes and Death removed his scythe from his back. "Something's here." Skips put up his fists and they both faced the bush. This was, however, a distraction. The real trouble was behind them. One figure jumped and landed on Skips's back while another jumped and landed on Death's back. Skips flipped his over and saw a translucent form of himself. He looked over at Death and saw a similar creature.

"What are you?" asked Skips to his copy.

"I am the personification of all your perfections. I seek to take down you who are imperfect," said the Skips copy.

"Oh, great; they're Imperfectionists, spirits made to destroy anything imperfect," said Death, struggling with his copy as he ran his copy into a rock. Death's copy let go and Death joined Skips in a back-to-back position, the both of them facing their adversaries.

"How do we stop them?" asked Skips.

"They can't be stopped unless we can overlook our imperfections and prove we don't have a problem with them," said Death.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Before anymore could be said, a scream pierced the night. "That's Rigby!"

"Run!" said Death. The two made a break for it and ran off in the direction of the scream. It turned out to have come from the graveyard. When Skips and Death arrived, they saw Mordecai and Rigby fighting with their doubles. "Come on, then, Skips," said Death. They went forward to try to help them.

Meanwhile, the girls had already fallen asleep. This sleep was broken by a scream. Michelle sat bolt upright, as did the others who were light sleepers. Michelle rushed to the window. "The only reason I wake in the middle of the night from sleep is if there's trouble. Come on, girls, our guys are in trouble," she said. The heavy sleepers were woken and they headed off into the night.

Back with the guys, they were all being corralled to the graveyard by their doubles. It didn't take long for them to get surrounded. The 12 men were back to back, facing the seven copies. Numbers would say that the original guys would win, but with how powerful these Imperfectionists were, numbers didn't matter.

"Skips!" came a voice. Skips looked in the direction it came from and saw Michelle running up. She was in a night-dress and her feathers weren't as neat as they were in the day. When she came close and saw the problem, she gasped. "What have I done?" The Skips double had turned around and, upon seeing her, came toward her. Michelle's eyes widened in fear. She ran off in another direction and the double followed. The rest of the girls there had, by this time, caught the attention of the other doubles. Off they ran. The remaining men split off into different directions, following after either their copies or to help.

Michelle knew what the problem was. By her words, she had made an Imperfectionist. "I should have known this would happen. These grounds are deeply immersed in magic. No wonder Skips decided to stay for all those years. Anything that comes from these grounds is a force to reckon with." The Skips double made a leap and Michelle ducked underneath. "What do I do? I've only ever heard of these things. I've never fought one!" She kept running, hoping beyond hope that she didn't get captured.

Gary and Reginald, in the meanwhile, had asked for the pages of the book that they had gathered. They went to the house and into Michelle's room to search for the final page. Perhaps once the book was joined together, the Skips double would go away. If not, at least the book would be together. Yet... there had to be some magical property to it. Why else would Michelle go through such painstaking measures to keep the pages apart?

Mordecai ran after his double. CJ was ahead of the pack, being chased by the double. Normally, CJ would try to take charge in a situation like this, but the look in the double's eyes was a look that made facing him a seemingly impossible task. She only hoped that the real Mordecai would get there in time.

Mordecai was able to tackle his double and they rolled around on the ground, struggling. CJ took refuge behind a tree. She looked around for something she could use, anything to help him. She looked at her feet and noticed a rock. Perfect, she thought. As soon as she had a clear shot, she threw the rock at the double. This only made the double turn its head and look angrily at her. Uh oh, she thought. The double got up, but Mordecai tripped him.

"Get away from her!" he said.

"Why should I? You're a freaking jinx, dude," said the double, getting on top of Mordecai.

"Am not!"

"Oh, really? Why does all this stuff keep happening around you then? Why didn't you finish college? Why is it always that whenever trouble happens, you do nothing to stop it?"

"Do you think I go into situations looking for trouble?" Mordecai knocked his double off of him. The two stood and faced each other. "Look, I might not be the perfect guy, and yeah, I do get into trouble a lot, but that's just a piece of who I am." The double vanished in a bright flash of light, screaming until he vanished. CJ went up to Mordecai and kissed his cheek. The two embraced and began making their way back to the park house, hand in hand.

Rigby wasn't faring any better. He chased after Eileen, trying to protect her from his double. When he caught up to her, he gave her a boost into a tree to be safe. It was just in time for the double to come his way. The double tilted its head at Rigby, as if intrigued.

"Go away!" said Rigby.

"No! I'm not going away until you admit that you're the cause of trouble and that you're lazy!" said the double.

"I'm not lazy, I just take really long breaks!" He got shoved by his double into the tree.

"The more you deny your flaws, the stronger I become."

Rigby struggled under the grip of his double. It was true, he was strong. "Okay, fine! You win! I take too many breaks and I get everyone I care about into trouble. I'm an infection, I cause trouble with everyone I touch!" Rigby panted. "But I don't care about that. I'm lazy because I just want attention and I don't want to do work because I think it's lame. I get into trouble partly because I'm curious, but also because I do things just to do things: to see what happens. I don't care about that. I am who I am." The double backed up and vanished, screaming all the way. Rigby panted from the stress. He put his arms up and helped Eileen down. "Let's go." They both headed back, holding each other close.

Muscle Man's double was scary. Wherever Starla ran, the double punched through. Trees fell and anything else in the way was trampled. Muscle Man followed his double and was eventually able to get close enough to tackle him. "Get away from my girl, bro!" said Muscle Man.

"No way! You're a selfish slob," said the double.

"Hey! Starla digs the slob part of me and as for the selfish part, I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, yeah? How many times have you ditched your girl for something else?" A pause. "Exactly."

"All right, maybe I go into overkill sometimes, but that's just a part of who I am." The double vanished, same as the others before him. Muscle Man got up and said to his girl, "Now, where was I?"

"Right here," replied Starla, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. He began kissing back and from there, grossness ensued.

The rest of the guys had similar experiences: their double would chase their girl, they'd take down their doubles, and admit their inner selves. Everyone had faults. High-Five Ghost could never be in a true relationship with Celia; Benson had major anger issues; Death held onto those who had left him; and while Skips had attachments to friends of the past, his bigger problem was his pride. It's fine for a man to be proud of himself, but it gets to be too much sometimes... and it can hurt.

They all re-joined inside. The book was together, everyone was safe, and the doubles were gone. They all lounged in the living room, getting a breath after the experience. Skips sat beside Michelle on the couch. She had her knees hugged to her chest with a sad expression on her face. There was definitely something wrong here. They all thought the fight was over, but it was far from it.

"Why do I even bother?" asked Michelle, her voice choked up. She got up and headed upstairs. Skips and Renae followed her. Everyone else stayed downstairs and chatted among themselves.

Michelle got a suitcase from the closet and began packing. Skips came in and grabbed her hands, "Whoa, whoa, hey, what are you doing?" he asked.

Michelle jerked around, trying to get free, but Skips was too strong. "I'm guilting you into this and I don't like it. I'd rather have something genuine, preferably something where I can stop worrying about whether I'll be safe... whether you'll be safe," she said. Skips let go slowly. "You can admit it freely, Skips, you don't love me in the same way that I love you." She paused and avoided his eyes. "That is why I've decided to leave."

"Well, if you're going, I'm going too," said Renae.

"No, Renae, you don't get it. I'm an infectious disease, infecting everyone I'm near. If I go alone, you all have a better chance of surviving, of living," said Michelle. Her eyes were shining with the unshed tears threatening to fall at any moment.

"Michelle...?" asked Skips. He was standing in front of a chest and looking in at the cane that Michelle had lent him to use in the fight against the black magic band.

"What, Skips?" Michelle's voice was harsh and impatient. She thought she was doing this for their good.

Skips removed the cane from the chest and walked over to Michelle. She gasped. This was the first time in a long time she had seen him walk anywhere. "I want you to help me remember you," he said.

"I can't," said Michelle, turning her back to him.

"Why won't you let me in? What are you protecting me from?"

"I was there! Okay?!" Silence.

"Where, Michelle?"

Michelle let out a sob noise and said, "I was there at the dance... at your dance. I wanted to see you up closer than I had been seeing you. I wanted... I don't know. I made myself immortal so that I could watch over you. If everything went all right with Desdemona, I'd watch you until the end of your days, like a guardian angel. I figured she already had your heart... and she had. Then, I had to go and ruin everything.

"While at the dance, I got too close. You recognized me from before as a friend. I hadn't used the mind wipe on you yet. I had the option to do so since I was given it by the Guardians, but I wasn't sure I wanted to. I wanted to be remembered... I wanted to be remembered by you.

"While at the dance... during your battle with Klorgbane, there was another force at work there. As you know, Adam is Fear. He has been ever since his initiation... on that day." Michelle shivered and continued, "So, when Klorgbane began terrorizing the whole school, he found himself a seat there. It was he who helped Klorgbane with the design for that weapon... and brought down the ceiling on Desdemona. I mean, the thing hit the wall, how can that possibly ripple all the way to the ceiling without a little help? I tried to help. I got on top of Desdemona as the ceiling fell. I underestimated what would happen.

"The ceiling that fell on us had a sharp piece of wood that went straight through the both of us. It didn't matter that I was a shield for her. If I hadn't been immortal, we both would have been dead.

"After the fight was over, I came out of the rubble. The hole in my middle didn't hurt so much as the looks I was getting. I had Desdemona's necklace in my hand. I saw your heartbroken look. I gave it to the Guardians and Gary sped my healing. You came up to us and asked what the meaning of it all was. You seemed to blame me. I had to remedy that. I used the mind wipe on you and Gary replaced the memory with a similar one. He made it as if I were never there. It's my fault she died. It's my fault you couldn't lead a normal life. It's my fault you remember nothing."

"Then give me back the memory," said Skips.

"Skips, I-" said Michelle.

"Please, Evangeline. I need to see it for myself," said Skips.

"Very well." She waved the cane around and pointed the end at his head. The end glowed and, while it was bright for a moment, it soon cleared. "There. You are now free to hate me." Michelle went back to packing.

"Evangeline, wait..."

"What now, Skips?"

"It's not your fault. You did what you could and I'm grateful for it."

"But?"

"Actually, it's more of an 'and.' "

"Very well. And?"

"And you've done so much for me throughout my life, been there for me. It's unfair that you won't let me be there for you."

"I've never really loved any of the men I've been with. I've always felt an emptiness. Since you never left my heart or mind, I thought you were the one... but I'm scared, Skips. I'm scared that if we get together... more... that I'll feel the same emptiness with you. Then, once we're together, it'll be harder to stay safe."

"Not necessarily..." Skips smiled.

"What did you have in mind?" Skips's reply was to kiss her. It wasn't a long kiss and it wasn't a short kiss. It wasn't too simple nor too heated. It was just what Michelle needed. "All right, maybe I could get used to that," she said when they parted. Skips's smile widened.

"Why don't we go back downstairs? I have something I need to talk to you about in front of everyone." Michelle smiled and her eyes shone in that simple, almost coy way.

Once downstairs, he sat her down and Renae sat beside her. Michelle pushed Renae off the couch and onto the floor. The raccoon leaned against the couch on the floor, close enough to touch Michelle, but far enough away that it wasn't a problem. Michelle gave Renae the "Don't you dare come any closer" look before looking at Skips. He had picked up the book from the table and Michelle gasped.

"My Perfect Wedding! I planned that thing for so long, changing it every now and then due to changing wedding trends. I was planning it for... the one. How did you find out about it, much less put it together?" Michelle was breathless and amazed.

"You talk about 'true love' and 'the one' like they're attainable things and they're not," said Renae.

"I don't know, there are plenty of people who wound up pretty happy together," said Michelle.

"Yeah, and plenty that wound up divorced," Renae muttered.

"Evangeline?" asked Skips softly.

Michelle turned to him, "Yes, Skips?"

"Well, Evangeline... I found out about this from a scrap of paper that had slipped from your pocket at my house." Michelle looked thoughtful a moment before nodding her remembrance.

"I didn't think it was still in my pocket, but that was a good catch."

"I thought about it and now, especially since I've had my thoughts confirmed by remembering what happened, I'd like to ask you if we could try it... together."

Michelle felt the blood leave her face. Is he asking what I think he's asking? "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Michelle..." he walked over and got down on one knee in front of her. "Will you marry me?"

"Skips, I'm scared," she said. There were tears of happiness and fear in her eyes.

"I'll be right beside you the whole way, I promise."

Michelle's tears didn't subside as she said, "I can't. I just can't. I'm sorry." She ran up the stairs to her room and they all heard the door slam. It felt like a valve had been pulled from Skips's heart and the rest of the room was no better... except for one who was smiling slightly at this turn of events.

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