Disclaimer: I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. But I own this disclaimer! Does that not count for nothing? No? Ah...alrighty then.
Author's Note: What is this? Two updates in two days? By Scott!
"You want what?"
Caine looked at his brother and sighed again. "I want you to kill me," he repeated.
Sam blinked. "I know what you said. Just…why?" He squeezed his eyes shut again and rapidly opened them. This could be a trick of Caine's. He braced himself to be tossed into the tree a couple feet behind him.
But Caine was still in his same defeated slouch. He glanced away from Sam and looked at the humming white wall of their prison. The boy began his self-pitying rant. "The FAYZ was supposed to be my place, you know? I worked so hard to ready myself for the old world but when the FAYZ happened, I couldn't believe my luck. Like it was meant for my ruling." A rueful tone crept into Caine's words. "Then you and your gung-ho self came along and flipped everything upside down. I suppose if you hadn't, we'd have a lot more to answer for now but still. It was supposed to my town. Not my brother's!"
Sam frowned. "Yeah, but you still haven't answered my question. Why do you want me to kill you?"
Caine looked up at his brother sharply. "The question is, tell me why you want—no, need—to kill me. And don't you dare act like you're the last saint on Earth. There aren't any saints in this hell. Don't deny it. You want to kill me. I know you do. I saw you burn a hole through Drake and the Human Crew because they stood in your way. Well, I'm standing in your way now." Here the boy spread out his arms in a 'come and get me' sort of way with a tired smirk on his face. "You want your town clean and the only way to do that is to get rid of me. I'm the only threat left in Perdido Beach unless you want to go try to find hunger and blast that apart too." He sounded slightly sarcastic.
"I don't have to kill you. Doesn't that seem a littleextreme?" Caine shrugged. Sam gritted his teeth. He had forgotten who he was talking to. Mister Mass Schemer over there with his unrequited love and ego issues. "Caine, you can just move back in Coates Academy—"
"—And be surrounded by traitors the whole time? I think not. Even if I did manage to hold them off, I'd starve to death slowly later. If you killed me it'd just be a painless, swift end." Caine laughed harshly. "Maybe not painless. I still remember Drake's screams after you burnt off his arm. Begging for us to kill him. Would you burn me piece by piece and feel a cold satisfaction or will you do a kind, brotherly act and end it quick?" His tone was clipped and full of sarcasm. "Because that's what we are, you know. Brothers."
Sam shuddered for many reasons. He was fortunate to have been away at the time with Drake loosing a limb via amputating. Also Caine's question made him think. What would he have done? I'm not going to find out. I'm not going to kill him, Sam thought firmly. He tried to negotiate with Caine.
"Well, what if we sent you food every so often as a peace treaty?" The council would not automatically approve but Sam was nearly positive he could pull some strings. He was—with the slight exception of Howard—extremely friendly with everyone on the council. "So long as you promised to leave us alone and offer assistance when needed, we could send rations to you. Killing is not the answer!" Sam half-pleaded. Though he remembered feeling a cool apprehension for going after Zil and Drake, only dread and sadness filled Sam's mind when he thought about slaughtering his own flesh and blood in cold blood murder. He had thought he had been ready to kill Caine. But that was before his brother was eerily pouring his heart out. Needless to say, Sam was very uncomfortable and quite unsure of what to do.
Caine laughed again, a horrible hollow noise that made Sam flinch. "Just imagine if you killed me. The praise you'd get. Big Man, Laser-Hand Sam bringing down his little bro and saving the entire town. You'd be the talk of Perdido Beach for months. Stories on how you fried me, inch by inch, revolving around. How I cried for mercy and finally you granted me it." Caine's eyes were steely and dark. "You'll be even more a hero than that Goose boy. Or Dekka who I heard saved all of those kids from the cliff. Maybe even that Mexican kid who faced off against Drake more times than both of us combined. All of them under Mayor Sam's rule. If you won't kill me, I have an endless amount of people who are willing to." After this last sentence, Caine's voice dropped down lower.
"Caine!" Sam hissed, his voice getting steadily louder. "You don't seem like the kind that gives up. Whatever happened to the Caine Soren we all despise and know from a year ago?" He tried to put a chipper jolt in his question.
The telekinetic stared at him with slightly blank eyes. "That Caine died a long time ago, Sam. He died as soon as the Gaiaphage took control over him."
"But the Gaiaphage! You told me yourself about how it had your hooks in your head. And after we destroyed it, you said you were free. Down there we were all about to die and yet you still kept fighting! You kept fighting until the Darkness was gone. The old Caine was still there." Sam felt very proud of his speech. At several times during that speech he wanted to jump or pump his fists. It was just that inspiring. He smiled weakly at his younger twin.
Caine narrowed his eyes. Apparently he didn't share the same views as Sam. "I wasn't the hero. Goose was. I just did what he said. I was panicking Sam, panicking. Freaking out. Loosing it. Falling to pieces. I didn't care if I lived or died then and I sure don't care now."
The lights in Sam's palms went out. After letting it cool for a moment, the boy ran his hand through his cropped brown hair. "Caine, I refuse to kill you. And I won't let anyone else either. Jesus Christ, you're my brother! My younger brother!" He added as if that made a difference. "If I have to, I'll drag your butt back down to Perdido Beach and keep you locked up there."
"Thanks, but no thanks. The kids there probably still hate me for crushing the power plant and the Thanksgiving Day Battle. I'd be murdered the moment I step into town—though that would get the job done albeit very messy. As far as I can tell, the only option I have is for you to burn a hole through my head. Incinerate me. Do what you do."
Sam nodded regretfully. "Yeah, as you can imagine, they still are a little mad about that. Kids are monsters without their lights and TVs." He tactfully avoided Caine's other comments.
"I can imagine," Caine said. He looked down at his hands and sighed. "I suppose there is no way for me to get what I want." Sam shook his head. "You know what that means then, don't you?"
"Erm, you go back to Coates and we call this a day?" Sam asked, somehow getting the feeling this wasn't the right answer.
"No," Caine's eyes flashed dangerously. "We fight and you'll have to kill me in self-defense." Instead of using his powers as Sam expected, Caine struck Sam in the nose with a flying fist. Sam stumbled back and blinked tears away. He was shocked his thin brother could muster up enough strength to move that fast. Against his will, Sam's palms flared up and burned brightly—bright enough to reflect off of Caine's thin face. The younger twin grinned and held up his hands as well.
"I always get what I want, brother."
"I am not Mexican!" Edilio hissed underneath his breath. Usually the Honduran didn't get so worked up over the ethnicity mess-up except now he needed something to vent his tension through. The last bit about heroes was all Edilio was able to catch before Caine dropped out of his hearing. Honestly he was pretty honored to be almost praised by the psycho. Even if he didn't know what it exactly meant.
"Shh," whispered Astrid softly. She was too wrapped up in the clearly heated discussion between Sam and Caine to really hear the mumbling but she was worried the twins would hear them. All she could hear was Sam's part of the conversation for Caine talked too weak now, but she could piece together the basic idea. It was interesting. Usually Caine was the one who talked passionately and had the plans of grandeur but Sam it seemed was doing the majority of the speaking.
Brianna the 'Breeze' nodded glumly beside Edilio. "Yeah, and I so helped out the kids at the cliff! If it weren't for me, Astrid, you'd be a splatter on the sand. You and some other kid…who I think sprung a leak on me when I caught him." She made a disgusted face.
Dekka swatted at Brianna and hid a smile. "You saved two, Breeze. I saved a lot more. Now shut up."
Brianna turned to ask Dekka a question, something she had thought she heard at the town plaza, when a gasp from Astrid caused her to snap back to the action. With her super speed, she turned just in time to see Caine lunge towards Sam. With a loud crack, Brianna heard Caine's fist connect with Sam's nose. "What just happened?" she asked in a loud voice. She watched as Sam stumbled back and his palms ignite. "We gotta go help out Sam!"
Dekka winced. "Apparently Caine wants to fight. And not yet. We don't want to be seen."
"But why use his fists? Why not powers?" Edilio asked. He hadn't worked up as much of the conversation as Astrid did but he too sensed something was different.
Astrid shrugged. "Now, I'm not altogether positive so don't go holding me to this, but I think that Caine is trying to lose. Like, really lose."
"Y'think?" Quinn asked for the first time, eyes locked onto his best friend. He had watched in pure terror the entire time, remembering Caine and what he could do. He was waiting for the part where Caine would get beaten and run off. Now the gloves were off, literally, and Sam's hands were glowing brightly. Quinn smiled. "Trying to fight Sam so close is suicide. Look, the rat dropped his hands again!"
Astrid pursed her lips together. She was going to say more before fedora-boy had interrupted her. Despite Quinn's close friendship with Sam, the blond genius still hadn't forgotten Quinn's betrayal to Sam. Hardly anyone on the council—least of all Quinn—had forgotten about it.
Edilio pointed to the nearest thing that Caine could use which was the dead tree the five were hiding behind. "That's the only thing that Caine can pick up other than sand and L.P." He glanced back at the two fighters who were watching one another. "Caine has no ammo."
Astrid nodded. "You're right." She watched the two again. Caine had lowered his hands and stared fiercely at Sam while the other looked a bit green and had his arms outstretched with palms aglow. The brilliant lights that flared off of Sam's palms also made his face seem pale and green as well. Astrid wondered whether their face color was from the lights or something else. "He's waiting," she whispered. "But for what…?"
Her question was answered instantly. Suddenly Caine slammed his hands through the air roughly. Astrid gasped; expecting to see Sam launched hundreds of feet through the air. She watched with a dropped jaw; Sam was only barely pushed back as Caine's hands hit his shoulders. The older boy stumbled backwards and landed with a grunt on his back. Does Caine even still have his powers?Astrid wondered. She shook her head, remembering Petey. She looked around frantically and noticed her younger brother was sagged against the ground with no idea what was going on. He looked as fine as the boy could look. Astrid snapped back to the action. Sam was already up and glanced warily at Caine who was now several yards away. Caine muttered something incoherent to his brother which Sam replied with a frantic 'Stop!' Caine laughed and raised his hands. Suddenly Astrid felt someone suddenly jumping to their feet. It took less than a second. She groaned, already knowing who it would be.
"Hey Caine! Haven't seen your ugly face for a while." Brianna shouted, appearing in a blur from behind the dead tree. Caine lazily turned towards her and grinned maliciously.
Sam's eyes widened. "Breeze! Get back to the plaza!" His voice seemed panicked as if something was off.
Brianna didn't hear him. She just adjusted her red pigtails and balled her fists up. "Caine! If you value your life, get away from us and never come back!" She shouted at the thinner boy. He laughed harshly which caused Sam and the others to wince. Caine simply lifted a finger and sand flew towards the Breeze in a fitful sandstorm.
The sand was fast—but the Breeze was faster. In a flash of color and motion, Brianna appeared on the other side of Caine. The sand fell weakly against more sand. Not even taking time to look behind him, Caine pushed his hands backwards catching the proud speedster off guard. The girl squawked in less than a second before being buried in sand. Caine brushed off his pants and glanced at the tree. Sam turned towards the tree as well, feeling a pit in his stomach. If Brianna was there, then certainly Dekka was. If Dekka was, then Edilio and Quinn were sure to be there. And he was now positive Astrid would be there too. If Sam squinted he was sure that he could see four pairs of eyes looking through various cracks in the dead tree.
Dekka watched as Brianna was attacked by the sand storm. Losing her sense of reality, the gravity-defying girl jumped up and shouted "Brianna!" With outstretched hands, Dekka lifted the sand and a dazed Brianna off the ground. Then suddenly she realized her mistake. She turned towards Sam. "I'm sorry Sam," she said softly. She let Brianna settle gently on the ground and watched concernedly as the girl tried to get her bearings.
Sam bit the inside of his cheek and spun around to see Caine lifting the dead log that Astrid, Quinn, and Edilio were still hiding behind. He cursed under his breath to see the three there but felt strangely relieved. If Caine had no real murderous plans, maybe they would be safe. They could help convince his younger brother to come back to Perdido Beach. Instead of throwing the log off into kingdom come like Sam thought he would, Caine set it gently aside. Caine's eyes landed briefly on Astrid and a wicked grin crossed his face. Sam felt his entire stomach drop. Something was about to go terribly wrong.
Paint didn't know quite what he was doing. All he knew was what had happened in the past two days. Everything about his past life had been a sort of runny blur. Like paint, he thought with a smirk. I supposed snorting paint and killing brain cells does that to people. The boy froze in his tracks. First of all, he had never realized he had a sense of humor. Second, how could he not have remembered anything that had happened since leaving the island? He could vaguely remember Caine telling he and the other 'dumb muscle' about his plan to reach the island but that was about as clear as he could get. He remembered that sometime while sitting in the boat with Tyrell the fog lifted and that was when he felt better than he ever felt. He had felt alive and smart and electrified but he could not for the life of him remember what had happened before. And third, he was still trying to get rid of the red stain around his mouth with no avail.
The boy kept walking and clicked his tongue angrily in his mouth. He didn't want to think about how much this sounded like a soap opera. Like one of those episodes where a person wakes up from a violent coma, completely healed with no memory on what happened. He wasn't sure but he figured the entire circumstance of the FAYZ was some long epic movie. "Now showing in a theater near you," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He tried to think about his past and all he got was a foggy black mist. For all he knew, he could be sleeping or this could be one long nightmare from Penny. He stopped walking again. It was weird. This wasn't very scary. If it was something of Penny's, he was sure there would be spiders or half dead monsters. Not a fuzzy brain and a one way ticket to Perdido Beach. It was infuriating but he couldn't do anything about it. Even with his new, clearer brain, he couldn't come up with any explanation.
Paint sighed and headed towards Perdido Beach. There wasn't much he could do about things now but at least he was back on the mainland. The least he could do was go down to the town and beg whoever was in charge for a job. He didn't mind cabbages that much. As he went, the boy tried to summon up possible names of people he might've known. He only got about five before giving up with a frustrated kick at a nearby rock.
Who doesn't just adore Paint? I love 'em and sadly I don't think he'll appear in PLAGUE D:
JokerGrace - Great new username! I didn't recognize you at first. Thank you for your review! And sorry about Jeffery...I didn't know what else to do with him D: