Queen of the Sandworms

Chapter 19: The Final Battle

...

Beetlejuice and Lydia found the Sandworms and told them the plan. The storm clouds overhead swirled above them. Thunder boomed and lightning crackled across the stormy sky, causing the Sandworms to flinch every time, but they didn't flee. Their striped bodies huddled close to each other, creating a shifting, hypnotic pattern, making Beetlejuice feel dizzy. Lydia didn't seem bothered by it and told them the plan in Sandworm talk. When everything was set, they were ready to destroy all the perolayx.

Lydia and Beetlejuice walked along the littered streets of the city, searching for the alien leech like creatures. Beetlejuice hovered next to Lydia. Beetlejuice winced from the pain that stayed in his foot. His suit was tattered and covered in dirt.

Lydia's Sandworm corpse that acted as her disguise was starting to come apart. The corpse of course was decaying once Lydia found it, but it looked worse then before. Green goo was dripping out of the dull red eyes. A couple teeth were missing from the mouth, and the tattered ends were starting to curl up. The whole thing reeked like a years worth of old garbage, but Beetlejuice found the smell to be quite pleasant as they made their way along the cracked sidewalk.

"Where do you think they will be? The Perolayx," Beetlejuice asked. Lydia had taken her hood off, so he was able to see her big dark brown eyes. Her eyes read that she was scared, and nervous, but then changed back to the cold hard ones he had seen one too many times the past couple of weeks.

"They are looking for food. That's all they care about. As long as there is food here, they will stay...but once the food here diminishes...they will spread out and make their way to all four corners of the Neitherworld and eat everything in sight until there is nothing left..."

Beetlejuice cringed at the thought..."I hope your plan works." Lydia nodded. "It better..." she said. Beetlejuice nodded and looked down at his shoes. Just then, a strange, ear splitting sound shattered the silence between the two in the destroyed city. Beetlejuice turned his head up and Lydia narrowed her eyes, going into alert mode.

Suddenly, to their left, from behind the debris of a fallen building, came a wave of perolayx. Their black bodies squirming around inside the massive, juggernaut tsunami in a color of black. Their sharp multiple rows of needle like teeth snapping and scraping against each other. The sound made Beetlejuice cringe.

Lydia grabbed his hand. "When I say now, you know what to do," Beetlejuice gulped, squeezing her hand back. "Yeah..." he said to her. The leech creatures hissed, their bodies glowing. Empty and hungry.

"Ready?" Lydia asked as the wave of perolayx came closer. Beetlejuice nodded. Lifting his arm up. The perolayx wave loomed over them, blocking out the sky, then came raining down like arrows.

"Now!" Lydia screamed.

Beetlejuice moved his arm outward. Instantly the earth started to shake and a huge crack ran along the ground and toward the perolayx. The creatures screeched in shock once the ground opened before them and began to swallow them whole. The perolayx wave thrashed and swayed uncontrollably as the gap ate them up. Lydia's grip tightened around Beetlejuice's hand. "Come on! we don't have much time till they get out!" she said as they ran.

The perolayx lashed out like a black, clawed hand toward them. Lydia screamed when she was sent backwards. Beetlejuice quickly turned around and held her arm. Lydia screamed as Beetlejuice and the perolayx played tug-o-war with her; but then, Beetlejuice's grasp wasn't strong enough and she slipped out of his grasp.

"Lydia!" He screamed and ran toward her. Lydia screamed as she fell backwards onto her back into a pile of charcoal colored rubble. The black began to consume around her. Beetlejuice came up to her, but not too close. He saw that she was still ok, but the perolayx were eating her suit.

"Lydia! get out of the Sandworm body!" he screamed over her screams. "They are eating me alive!" she screamed, tucking her arms inside the suit as the leeches went around her. Beetlejuice saw the opportunity and grabbed her legs. He pulled as he walked backwards, pulling Lydia out of the suit. Lydia screamed and thrashed as she clawed the air in front of her face.

Beetlejuice helped her up and wrapped his arms around her shaking body. Lydia froze up. Her eyes wide in terror as she trembled without her Sandworm corpse around her. Feeling exposed to the world. Her hands shook in front of her chest. Her real attire, ruby red spider-webbed poncho flapped around her in the cold winds. Tattered and ripped. The rain suddenly came down, drenching her to the bone. Beetlejuice scooped her up in his arms and limped away. He tried floating, but it was only for a short distance.

After the perolayx were done eating the baby Sandworm corpse/disguise, they hissed and went after Beetlejuice and Lydia, acting as one, slithering toward them at inhuman speed like a black viper. Beetlejuice could sense them coming. Their plan was starting to fail, he needed more time.

Beetlejuice turned to his left and noticed the building next to him was looming over him, so close to wanting to get it over with and fall to the ashy ground. Beetlejuice turned around to look behind him and saw the dark chaos coming. Lydia clung to his suit like a scared child. Tears streamed down her face.

Beetlejuice quickly reacted, turning back around and continuing forward, out of the way where the building would collapse, then he turned around, ignoring the pain in his leg as he watched the creatures slither forward.

Once they were in position, he lifted his hand up at the leaning building and let his hand go down, as if commanding the building to fall. As if it had a mind of its own, the building obeyed and fell forward, on top of the perolayx. The perolayx screeched angrily as the heavy weight came down upon them. The building folded in on itself. Wood splintering, beams buckling and breaking. Windows shattering and possessions being crushed. Chunks of the debris went everywhere.

The dust blew into Beetlejuice's face, teasing his dirty blonde hair as he watched the inside and outside of the building fall over and over on itself till it was done. That would give him some time to go to where the Sandworms were.

Lydia kept her face buried him Beetlejuice's chest. Her tears staining his shirt, but he didn't mind, as long as he felt her rapid heart beating, telling him that she was alive, he was allright. He wanted to end the perolayx existence once and for all.

He met up with the remaining Sandworms, who waited. He stopped before them, still holding the trembling Lydia in his arms. "Come on Lydia, I need you to focus right now. You need to snap out of this," he told her. Lydia continued to shake. "M-my skin...my skin..." she stuttered as he hands flickered and fingers moved in front of her, as if feeling for something that was lost. Her eyes were wide, but the tears continued to come down her face.

Beetlejuice held her tightly. "That wasn't your skin, that was just a Sandworm corpse, you are not a Sandworm-" "My skin...it's gone...gone..." her voice now barely a whisper. Beetlejuice felt his legs beginnging to shake as the rain continued to pour down on him and Lydia.

One of the Sandworms went down and nudged its head against Beetlejuice, keeping him from falling. Beetlejuice thanked it and slowly slid down to the ground and on his knees. He was freezing cold, and his legs were hurting so much. Lydia had lost it and he couldn't talk to the Sandworms without Lydia to translate for him.

The Sandworms huddled close to each other again, making Beetlejuice feel dizzy again. He looked away and sighed, trying to think of what he knew about the perolayx. They were The Ones Who Feast, they eat everything in sight, they relied on smell and sight-Beetlejuice groaned when he saw the shifting Sandworms move again, makng him dizzy.

"Would you Sandworms stop that?! Its hard for me to concentrate if you are all moving together and making it hard for me to think or move or do anything because you are making me-" he stopped and realized what he was saying. "Dizzy..." he finished. The Sandworms didn't seem to understand the striped clad ghost. One minute he was yelling at them, the next, he was smiling.

"That's it! Stay there and move on the spot!" he said putting his hand up. The Sandworms exchanged confused glances, but then just assumed what they were doing made him happy. The old plan couldn't go on without Lydia...so possibly a plan B was created.

Beetlejuice placed Lydia down against a slab of rock that was tilted at an angle. She bunched her legs up and shook where she sat. Beetlejuice hugged her. "Its ok, Lydia. Its ok. It will all be over soon...don't worry," he told her.

The rain spattered against her pale face. Her body shook from the cold. Beetlejuice took off his striped coat and placed it over her, He tried drying it, but it would only become more wet. Finally, he used his powers to conjure up an umbrella. The black umbrella floated over Lydia. Beetlejuice wrung out his coat, and flicked it open. It instantly was dry as he placed it over Lydia's shaking body. She mumbled things, but Beetlejuice was unable to understand.

"Its ok, Lydia. Just rest here," he told her.

Just then, a series of ear shattering screeches were heard. The mixed sound of nails on a chalk board with a bit of metal rubbing against metal. A sound that shot up each Sandworm's spines as they huddled close to each other, whimpering like scared children. Beetlejuice got up from where he was and stood behind them as he watched through the deserted city and raindrops for any sight of the perolayx.

Soon, the glow of purple was seen. A whole cluster of purple and millions of glowing red eyes as they came by the endless millions. Regrouping, spawning new recruits for their army. Beetlejuice bit his lower lip as he stared out at the sea of leeches in the distance. Soon they will smell the Sandworms and his scent and be upon them in minutes.

"I hope this plan works...long enough for them to be distracted, and for me to use up the rest of my powers to stop them and destroy them..." he said to himself in a low voice. The Sandworms stayed up near him. Their bodies up high in the sky, exposing their striped flesh.

They trembled, causing their bodies to move and make the dizzy pattern. Like prey in the wild, it was their defense mechanism. A way to confuse the predator, in this case the perolayx, to not know which Sandworm started and which one ended. Usually the perolayx kept the group from happening and would attack by forcing one away from the group and attacking it that way.

The rain continued to come down in sheets as Beetlejuice watched the perolayx move over the uneven ground as they came closer. Soon they were within throwing reach. Beetlejuice bit his red fingertip's nervously. Praying in his mind that the new plan would work.

The perolayx got closer and closer. The Sandworms stayed where they were, and continued to shift and move in their spot. Suddenly, the perolayx slowed to a stop in their tracks when they saw the confusing moving stripes before them. Beetlejuice stopped biting his fingers and grinned happily. "It worked!" he said to himself excitedly. He jumped up into the air and floated.

He raised his arms toward the perolayx, then a couple sparks and a electric blue beam of light came out of his fingertips toward them. The dizzy and confused perolayx screeched and writhed in pain as they were burned alive. Beetlejuice tried giving it more juice, but he was still a bit weak. One by one the leeches began to shrivel up and disappear where they were.

Beetlejuice smiled, then glanced over to the Sandworms. They too seemed pleased to what was happening. Their distraction was helping kill off their enemies! Beetlejuice turned back. He noticed the beam of power was starting to grow thin and weak. The rain was not helping much in his concentration, nor was the pain in his foot.

To make matters worse, the perolayx were starting to move away from the small beam and coming closer towards them.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder boomed loud and heavy, with lightning flashing blindly all around the city. The Sandworms screamed in terror and quickly scattered away. "No!" Beetlejuice screamed through the sheets of rain and thunder as the Sandworms left, becoming easy targets for the perolayx.

"Come back! Don't run away!" Beetlejuice screamed after the Sandworms, but they continued to slither away. Beetlejuice watched as the leeches chased after the Sandworms and began to spread across the ground like oil.

Beetlejuice gasped in horror when they started to squirm toward Lydia. "Lydia!" he screamed as the rain came down hard. Lydia shivered when the umbrella blew away and the rain began to pour down on her. The leech creatures saw her with Beetlejuice's coat draped over her. To them, she looked like a lost baby Sandworm, scared and looking for its mommy. Easy hunt.

Beetlejuice screamed in terror as they got close to her and revealed their sharp, needle like teeth, glistening in the rain. They began to bite down and sink their teeth into her flesh-"Noooooo!" Beetlejuice screamed. Suddenly, something strange happened. The storm itself began to swirl around the city counterclock wise. Starting off slow, then faster and faster, like a hurricane.

Debris and pieces from the city began to lift up from the ground and join in the hurricane. Beetlejuice's dirty blonde hair flapped wildly around him as he rose higher and higher in the middle of the chaos as it swirled around him.

The perolayx screamed as they were lifted up into the sky as well and joined into the phenomenon. Lydia's shaking body came up as well, but stayed in the eye of the raging fury of the swirling storm. Trees were uprooted, boulders were lifted and joined in on the party. The storm got bigger and bigger. Lightning crackled inside and thunder boomed. The rain sprayed everywhere as it circled with everything else.

Beetlejuice had his arms extended out from his sides as he slowly lifted his head upwards to where the opening of the hurricane like storm was. He screamed loudly. Feeling the rush. All the power. The power that stayed hidden, trapped, locked inside him, finally came rushing out of him, like a monster from a cage. He didn't know what it was that triggered it to finally come out, maybe the sight of seeing Lydia being eaten alive by the horrible perolayx, the evil monsters that didn't deserve to live. Whatever it was, the rage was out, and had taken over his body. The loud sounds ripped inside the ever growing funnel of debris and perolayx.

The leech creatures screamed as they were ripped apart from the rapid motion and the inability to breathe as they felt their insides being pulled apart, and finally torn to bits. One by one the perolayx were destroyed. Some were crushed under the intense impact of the passing debris, others were killed by the sudden rapid motion, either way, their shiny black bodies were disintegrated into nothingness.

The sounds of the perolayx cries rang in Beetlejuice's pointy ears. He grinned. Their cries were music to his ears. Their sounds of agony and mercy...that was what he liked. Hearing them finally get what they deserved. ASfter killing off the many lives of the Sandworms, the very creatures he finally befriended...thanks to Lydia. The girl who was taken in place of him to endure his punishment.

Beetlejuice felt himself falter a couple inches where he floated. His heart continued to hurt, knowing it was he who should have been punished, not her...but that was what got him to wake up...to realize what he was doing. Her suffering for his wrong-doings, was his punishment.

Lydia's bitten body floated a good distance from him inside the eye, the motionless part of the storm. Light droplets of rain spattered across her face. Her ruby red tattered poncho flickered from the small stray wind currents that blew through the storm. She was badly bruised and had bite marks all over her. In sone areas she was bleeding, she looked more pale then usual.

Soon, all of the perolayx were killed. No more screams were heard around him, only the deep, rumbling booms of thunder and the forked yellow tongues from the lighting. Beetlejuice started to feel very tired, and his arms started to feel heavy like lead. They dropped at his sides, and his head lolled. Pain ran through him as if he was hit by a fraight train. His powers had run out, and he had lost consciousness...

...

Beetlejuice couldn't remember what happened next. One moment he was up in the sky, above all else, then he was on the ground, with pain running over every inch of his body. He couldn't feel his arms or legs, but knew they were still there. He groaned. His hair matted and disheveled worse then usual.

He forced his eyes open to see where he landed. His vision was blurry and out of focus. He blinked a couple of times till it became sharp and clear. His eyes widened at the first thing he saw:

Lydia laid in her tattered red poncho, surrounded by a darker red. Her face was scratched. Her raven black hair surrounding her body. Splayed out, hurt and most likely broken in a couple places. Beetlejuice groaned where he laid a good distance away from her. He slowly reached out to her. "L-Lydia..." he said in a weak, raspy voice.

Lydia didn't answer. The silence made Beetlejuice's heart feel as if it were disintegrating inside his stomach. Lydia couldn't be dead...she...she just couldn't! Beetlejuice's eyes filled up with stinging tears. The pain spread through his body like wildfire. He ignored it as his body tensed up and he cried. "Lydia..!" he screamed. He angrily pounded the earth with his fists causing more pain to himself.

The raging dark hurricane he created had disappeared overhead. The debris from it laid all around the two. The storm clouds were back to their original form.

Thunder boomed over head, with lightning striking across the sky. Beetlejuice felt the heavy rains pour down on him, but kept his wide eyes on Lydia. The young girl didn't move at all. Beetlejuice felt the tears fall down his face.

It was all his fault. He started this whole mess! He wished he could go back and stop himself from being so stupid! Now she was dead! She was so young...

Just then, Lydia stirred, it was small, barely noticeable. Beetlejuice wiped the tears from his face, hoping that it wasn't his imagination. "L-Lydia?" he asked again with hope, his voice raspy and sore from screaming. Lydia didn't answer him. Her head lolled to one side. Her eyes were squeezed shut, as if she were in a nightmare.

Beetlejuice felt his whole body relax a bit. She was alive...but very weak. She needed to get to a hospital fast! But there were no people around to help her. No one to take her and care for her. He was too weak himself to take her.

Lydia began to gently rock her head back and forth. Beetlejuice watched her, as if keeping his eyes on her would somewhat help her. His body ached as well as his insides as they burned and pulsed rapidly from the intense power that was too much for his body to handle.

Lydia mumbled something as she slowly rocked her head back and forth "B-Beetlejuice...Beetle...juice...Beetle...Beetlejuice," then she disappeared. Beetlejuice's eyes stayed glued to the area where Lydia once laid. She was gone...back to Earth?

Beetlejuice didn't know. His mind began to hurt and everything started to not make any sense. The striped clad ghost's mind went hazy. He closed his eyes and blacked out...