Author's note: This is the last chapter of this story. To all who have read and reviewed----much appreciation. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this as much as I have had writing love! Freedom Forever!
Chapter 23---- End Game
Part 2
Peter Creedy hung the phone up as a large smile appeared on his lips. Sutler had been taken from the underground bunker by his men and was now being held at a safe house just outside London. Creedy looked at his watch-------8:30 it showed. In less than 2 hours, Sutler and that damn bloody terrorist would be gone and he, Peter Creedy, would move into power as Norsefire's new High Chancellor. He picked up the gun from the desk and flipped the cylinder open, spinning it freely, then snapped it shut again. He stood up, the gun sliding smoothly into the shoulder holster, then buttoned his jacket. Grabbing his trench coat, he walked out to meet his destiny.
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Jazlyn stood by Evey, both watching as V disappeared into the darkness.
" Evey," Jazlyn began, " Stay here and wait for V to return. Please, don't ask questions-----just do it, ok? I'll be back as soon as I can."
Evey stared, mouth open as Jazlyn back away a few feet from her, then throwing her arms up, spoke some words she did not recognize, and was engulfed in a bright searing light lasting for a few short seconds. " What the hell.....?" Evey mumbled as Jazlyn reappeared dressed in midnight black robes.
" I'll explain later." Jazlyn smiled at her, " Please, just wait for V." Then she was gone in a wink of an eye.
Evey sat abruptly down on a nearby bench, eyes wide, and waited.
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Andrik Laslo led his legion of human demons from the warehouse and toward Parliament, where, before the masses, he would declare himself Chancellor of England. Everything that Laslo had worked for was nearing its completion, and with Amduscias taking a firm foothold in the world of man, he would become the liaison between demon and humankind.
" You have done well,.." The demon smiled at him, his eyes a brilliant fire red.
" I am yours to command, my lord."
" There will be much to be done, Laslo. You shall have command of a legion a million strong. No one will dare rise against you." Amduscias boasted, his voice echoing of the walls of the buildings.
" I am honored, my lord." He bowed slightly, acknowledging the demon's favor with him.
" Andrik Laslo!" The name thundered across the deserted street.
Laslo stopped as he searched out where his name had come from------------finally, as he looked into the dimly lit street, a group of beings emerged from the shadows, and came to a stop. His eyes searched the crowd before him. Nicholas Flamel(1), Merlin(2), Paracelsus(3)-----------the leaders, Morgan le Fay,(4), Jazlyn, Morgan Sommers, Cassandra and Clarissa Sommers, stood to the side, with more than 40 others behind them.
" What is this?" Amducias snarled as his red eyes blazed, " You dare challenge me?"
" We do not come to challenge you, dark one......" Paracelsus spoke, his voice loud and authoritative. " We have come to send you back to hell."
Amducias' laughter filled the air. " You dream of foolish things."
" We shall see."
" Destroy them!" The command erupted from the Amducias' lips as the first wave of demons attacked, their teeth bared and claws slashing through the air.
Morgan le Fay was the first to let go with a fireball that took out a large number of the lesser demons, while Jazlyn's mother used a 'Firestrike' spell. Jazlyn herself, chanted the components for a 'Hold' spell, while Amducias countered with a ' Lightening' spell wiping out several pagans. Cassandra morphed into Shadow and began mauling her way through several winged demons while Merlin raised his staff and a searing white light erupted into a group blinding them instantaneously, their screams echoing through the night sky.
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V moved cautiously down the tunnel toward Victoria Station, where Creedy and his men waited. After tonight, he would be either dead, or recovering from the last part of the 20 year old vendetta that he held tightly within his grasp. He quietly slipped from the hidden tunnel and appeared amidst the Fingermen. " A penny for the guy."
Creedy spun on his heels as did the Fingermen who quickly surrounded V.
" Have you kept your end of the bargain, Mr. Creedy?" V asked studying the Fingermen encircling him.
" Bring him down." Creedy ordered as two of the men hurried up the stairs, returning a moment later dragging a black-bagged body behind them. They threw it to the ground at Creedy's feet.
" I want to see him." V said as he walked toward Creedy.
The bag was lifted from the head, and Chancellor Adam Sutler stared up into the smiling Fawkesian mask he had seen so many times throughout London
" I have something for you, Chancellor." V paused reaching into his cape, pulling out a blood red rose---a Scarlet Carson. " The last thing you will ever see----"
Sutler's face contorted in utter terror as V placed the rose between the lapels of his Armani suit.
" For everything you have done, for everything you are doing, and for everything you may have done in the future." Fawkes' mask moved close to the terrified face. " Mr. Creedy...." V backed away.
Creedy took aim with his revolver and pulled the trigger. " Disgusting!" He watched as V moved back to where he had been standing before. " Now that's done with, it's time to have a look at your face. Take off your mask."
" No."
The one word stuck in Creedy's gut, and he motioned to three of the fingermen nearest V. They moved cautiously as the mask watched them. The one to V's right reached out to push the mask from his face. In seconds, all three were dead, laying in a red-tinted puddle of water at V's feet.
" Defiant till the end, huh? You won't cry like him, will you. You're not afraid of death-------you're like me." Creedy said, a half smile on his lips.
" The only thing you and I have in common, Mr. Creedy, is that we are both about to die." V answered measuring the position each man occupied-----analyzing the arch of each knife that would have to be made to take each fingerman out.
" How do you imagine that's gonna' happen?" Creedy smirked.
" With my hands around your neck." V finished making his calculations-----
" Bollocks! What are ya gonna do? We've swept this place----you've got nothing-----nothing but your bloody knives and your fancy karate gimmicks. We have guns....."
V interrupted him mid-sentence. " No, what you have are bullets and the hope that when your guns are empty, I'm no longer standing, " V paused, " because if I am, you'll all be dead before you've reloaded."
" That's impossible!" Creedy exclaimed angrily, " Kill him!"
The hail of bullets ripped into V's body staggering him backwards, but he remained on his feet. He felt every bullet as it ripped into his arms and thighs, along with the sudden impact from the breastplate he wore as each bullet smashed into his chest. It was over in a matter of seconds, and V almost fell to his knees as he fought to regain control of his body. Raising to his full height, he looked at Creedy. " My turn."
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Andrik Laslo spotted Jazlyn, and smiled slyly as he began moving toward her. He had only time to get one ' Ice' spell off before Jazlyn's mother spotted him. Raising her hand, a ball of brilliant light appeared, and she sent it racing toward Laslo and the demons that were beside him. Immediately six of the evil ones disappeared, and Laslo found himself being propelled some 20 feet into a nearby wall. Pulling himself up from the pavement, he glared at her. " You bitch!" Closing his eyes, he summoned forth a weapon made from hell itself, and let it fly from his hands--------striking Morgan Sommers in the chest, the black crystal stone blade exiting her back.
" Mother!" Jazlyn screamed as Morgan fell to the pavement.
" Jazlyn!" Clarissa cried as she saw her granddaughter turn toward Laslo." No!"
It seemed time had stilled for Jazlyn as her mind exploded into a huge ball of fury. Her green eyes turning a solid black, her body surrounded by a dark red hue as power radiated from her.. " You have almost cost me everything I have ever loved, Laslo------" She paused, casting her gaze upon him. " You will no more......" Holding out her hands before her, a flaming sword appeared. " You.....will..... no....more!" The glowing steel came across Laslo's neck without warning, and separated his head from his shoulders, the blade cauterizing the wound as it cut.
Nicholas Flamel watched as Jazlyn stood with sword in hand, a figure he recognized from long ago----The Warrior Goddess-----once again, returned to earth. That day in chambers when he had told her that her request had been granted, he had felt something about this young woman---- a power laying dormant, waiting to be awaken...... Her abilities had remained intact after her return to the mortal world---how he had known, he wasn't sure----he had just sensed it, and now, here she was in all her magnificent glory, forever changing this world and herself.
Jazlyn whirled upon the dark lord, her eyes blazing as heat poured from her body. " Amduscias---Duke of Hell!" Her powerful voice could be heard above all else. " Be gone from this world! Leave this place now, never to return! "
Amduscias laughed again as he shimmered into his demon form-----his torso, that of a man, his head, of a horse. " You think you can destroy me?!" He spat, his clawed hands raising in anger, while his clawed feet dug into the pavement, anchoring himself against the coming battle.
" No, I cannot destroy, you....." Jazlyn paused, lowering the sword to her side, " but I can send you back from where you came!" The sword struck the road in front of her, and an abyss appeared, spidering in the legion's direction until it encompassed the ground under each and every one, including the demon lord himself. " I command you, unholiest of unholy, be gone!" The voice that ripped from Jazlyn's throat was booming, commanding and forceful. Raising the sword in both hands, a light shot from the blade and into each demon standing, the ground opening up and swallowing them as screams of anger filled the air. She stared into Amduscias' glowing eyes as she approached the levitating figure, the sword spinning in her hand, as if a toy.
" This is not finished-------before warned!" The demon sneered at her, " We will meet again......"
He bellowed his anger into the night sky before disappearing into the pit of hell.
Jazlyn hurried to her mother's side, kneeling beside her. " Mother....?"
Morgan's eyes slowly opened, and looked at her daughter. " Is it finished?"
" Yes, Mother.......Laslo is truly dead, and Amduscias has been sent back to hell, " she paused, raising Morgan's head into her lap, " Don't talk......"
" No, it's too late, Jazlyn. My time is finished. I go to the God and Goddess' waiting arms. I will serve them both for the rest of eternity. " She smiled weakly, " Tell....tell V that I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to know him better....."
" No.....Mother? Mother!?" Jazlyn cried, " No-o-o-o-o-o.......!"
" Mistress?" Shadow's voice broke into her thoughts.
" Leave me!" Jazlyn cried as she held her mother tightly in her arms. " Jazlyn....." Her name was in a different voice now as a hand gently lay upon her shoulder. She looked up into her Grandmother's eyes.
" There is nothing that you can do, she is gone my love." Clarissa spoke softly as Merlin and Nicholas Flamel came to stand by her.
" I will return her to our realm for the burial ritual. " Nicholas spoke gently as Merlin gathered Morgan's body in his arms, the spear having disappeared. " She will be honored."
Jazlyn rose with the help of her grandmother. " I cannot return with you......"
Clarissa smiled at her. " I know. Go."
Jazlyn hugged her neck tightly as she and Shadow stepped back, and disappeared in a blinding flash of light.
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V stood, staring at Creedy as he raised his gun, taking dead aim at his chest and fired.
V stumbled momentarily, then moved toward him.
Creedy watched, his eyes wide in disbelief. " Why won't you die!?" He screamed as he pumped three more bullets into his chest.
V stopped. " Because Mr. Creedy, under this mask is an idea........and ideas are bulletproof!" His hands closed around Creedy's neck as he lifted him, his back to the gate, the sound of breaking bones silently felt as he let the body slide to the ground. Turning away from the last piece of his vendetta, V reached under his jacket and pulled the breast plate away, letting it drop to the ground. His chest felt like hamburger meat, and his whole body ached from the trauma he had endured; he was bleeding profusely, leaving a trail of blood both on the ground and against the wall he had staggered into trying to regain his balance. He had to make it back to the station..........he had to say his last goodbyes.
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Jazlyn and Shadow hurried toward the train car where Evey waited for V's return. " Dear Goddess, please don't let him be dead........."
" Jazlyn?" She heard Evey's voice as she hurried to where she stood by the bench.
" V......where is he?" Jazlyn asked hoarsely, her eyes darting around.
" He hasn't returned." Evey said just as V turned the corner and staggered toward them.
" V!" Jazlyn cried as she hurried to catch him as he collapsed.
" V!" Evey's hands moved across his chest,turning red. " We've got to get your bleeding stopped."
" No....no, I'm done for, and glad of it." His voice was a whisper.
Jazlyn's control completely broke. " You listen to me, damn it! You are not going to die, do you hear me!! I will not let you!"
V's hand grabbed hers, " Let me go, Jazlyn......I'm tired.........please......" His breath came in gasps.
Tears rolled down Jazlyn's cheeks as she held his hand in his. " No.....don't do this to me, V.....I can't survive without you."
He tilted the mask slowly toward her. " You and Evey can survive........together........" He paused, taking a ragged breath, " You must......for the new world........don't let all my work be in vain..........this new world must not …...die....."
" No......" She sobbed, " I can't....."
" Jazlyn...." V whispered as he brought his other hand to her face, " I have loved no one .....as..much as I have.....loved you......" He fought to speak." I will always.......my love......" His hand slipped from her cheek, and he was gone. Jazlyn collapsed atop his chest as tears rolled down Evey's face for the only man she had ever loved.
Wiping tears from her face and eyes with her hands, Jazlyn looked up after a few moments" Can you help me load him onto the train? " She asked Evey.
" Of course." She answered, rising to her feet.
" I think it's only fitting that V be there when the greatest moment in our history happens." Jazlyn said softly, looking at Evey.
Evey nodded her head as tears continued to run freely down her cheeks. " He was the most important thing in my life, and I didn't even know anything about him." She looked at Jazlyn.
Jazlyn smiled gently. " I have a book for you to read sometime in the future-----it will help you understand the man, and not the idea."
Cassandra morphed back into her human form as she stood beside the body. " I am so sorry, Mistress." She hugged Jazlyn tightly. " He will surely be missed by all."
" Yes.." Evey replied looking at them both., ' I shall never forget you, my love.' she added quietly to herself.
" Roses......we have to have his roses..........he would like that." Jazlyn looked at her two friends who she would need dearly over the next few days. " Cassandra, could you go to the gallery and bring some back?"
" I would be honored, Mistress." She bowed her head, then walked away.
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Eric Finch hurried down the deserted track toward the sound of gunfire he had heard. His gun drawn, he came upon the grisly scene in a matter of minutes. Bodies lay everywhere, blood covering the ground in massive pools. He found the Chancellor, a hole in his head, lying in a puddle of red water, while Creedy's body lay next to a chained entrance gate into Victoria Station, his head laying at an ungodly angle. He looked around the crime scene, his eyes locking onto a trail of blood leading from the station. His cop instincts kicked into gear as he began to follow it. There was absolutely no way anyone could have walked away from this.......unless.........he hurried his pace.
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Evey and Jazlyn carefully laid V's body out on the makeshift brier centered in the middle of the train, His hands rested across his chest, his hat on his waist while the cape covered his body like a black robe. Cassandra laid the last red rose at the side of his head as she then stepped from the train.
" Let's do this." Jazlyn looked at Evey as their hands together touched the engineer's control lever to set the train in motion.
" Hold it right there." A voice interrupted them.
Jazlyn and Evey turned to find Finch standing by Cassandra, his gun pointed at her.
" Stand back from there." He ordered.
" No." Evey replied. " He was right. There is something terrible wrong with this country.....we need something more than a building to hold onto to."
" I won't let his death be in vain." Jazlyn replied as Finch looked at the body laying in state.
" Is that him?" He asked." It's over then?"
" If you're going to shoot us, do it, or lower that bloody thing." Evey snapped at him.
Finch hesitated for a moment, then lowered the gun to his side.
Evey looked to Jazlyn as they pushed the lever into the power position, and exited the train, watching as the doors closed, and the train pulled away.
" Do you like music, Mr. Finch?" Evey asked as she linked her arm through his.
" Yeah, I guess so." He answered looking at her.
" Jazlyn, are you and Cassandra coming?" Evey asked as they turned to walk away.
" No....." Jazlyn replied, smiling softly.
" Cassandra?"
The dark haired woman looked to Jazlyn.
" I'll be fine......." She smiled.
" Are you sure, Mistress?"
" I'll be fine, Cassandra."
Cassandra looked at her for a moment before joining Finch and Evey, a concerned look on her nodded her head, and watched as they walked around the corner and disappeared from sight. Only then, did she drop her defensives and fall to the platform, huge sobs racking her body as she cried for her past, her present and future.
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The figure looked down at the body lying in state, and picked up one of the roses that were carefully arranged around it. Lifting it to the robe shielded face, an intake of breath could be heard. Morgan Sommers wiped a tear from her eye as she realized what pain her daughter was going through at this moment, for the man that lay before her. She laid a small hand on the cold chest, and smiled.
" Awake, my son." She bid him as a mist left her hand and disappeared into V's still chest. A soft moan escaping mask covered lips seconds later, while a gloved hand covered hers. The mask turned toward her.
She smiled down at him. " I cannot give you back all your life force, but I gave you the strength to heal yourself, and return to the people that love you."
V tried to sit up, but Morgan kept her hand on his chest. " Rest for a moment, and regain some of your strength. The train is not going anywhere."
V looked out the nearby window----it had appeared to be stopped in both time and space. "I......I don't understand....."
Morgan shook her head slowly, " And you never will....." She grinned softly at him as she helped him sit up. " You will remember nothing of this."
" Why?" He asked, " I wanted to die, to be finally able to rest." His voice was harsh toward her.
" And give up the life you have dreamed about, but never thought you could have.?" Morgan questioned, tilting her head toward him.
V looked at her, his eyes locking with hers. " I...." He sighed heavily, turning his head away from her.
Morgan took his hand in hers. " The future is a frightening place, V. There will be changes, and even though your vendetta is finished, there still remains reptilian heads that are bound to the old government. You will be needed to help lead this world-----Jazlyn and Evey will need you."
" Jazlyn...." He spoke the name in a low whisper.
" She mourns for you even now. Go to her, my son. Take this life that has been given to you, and live it to the fullest." Morgan stood up, moving toward the door. " You have only a few minutes before the train will once again begin its trip------ make your decision now, either to live.........or die."
V watched as she disappeared in front of him. He rose from the makeshift table, roses falling onto the floor around his feet------his decision made, he waited for the train to begin its run once again.
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Epilogue
Jazlyn sat atop the parapet watching the people wander into Trafalgar Square for the dedication of the memorial to V. She listened as Evey took the podium to the roar of applause. It had been a year tonight since the fall of the Norsefire government with the destruction of Parliament, and V's death.
" Remember, remember the fifth of November. The gunpowder treason and plot........." Evey began.
Jaslyn smiled beneath Raven's mask as her friend's strong voice carried over the speakers. " Ready to go my love?" She asked the huge panther who sat contentedly beside her as she scratched Shadow's ears.
" If you are, Mistress." Shadow's purr-like voice answered. " Will Evey be joining us tonight?"
Jazlyn laughed, " She hasn't missed a dinner with us yet since she moved into the faux gallery."
Shadow rose and stretched her long body before following Jazlyn across the rooftops into the wet London night, and back to the Shadow Gallery.
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Before long, they both found themselves in the safety of the gallery's main room. Jazlyn pulled the mask from her head and the black tresses that had been stuffed inside the leather cascaded over her shoulders and mid-way down her back. She threw the mask on the piano top and followed Shadow into the kitchen.
" What smells so damn good?" She asked as the cook turned around.
"Good evening, my love. I take it you had a safe night?" V asked as he stood before her dressed in a dark pair of jeans and black silk shirt, covered by the most ungodly apron she had ever seen.
" A new one?" She asked before moving into his arms.
" I went shopping for Andrew today, and could not pass it up." He grinned at her as his lips caught hers in a soft kiss.
" Speaking of Andrew, where is he?" She asked.
" Asleep, as is normal for a three month old." V grinned, " You know, I have been reading up about fatherhood." He looked into her eyes.
" And your verdict?" She smiled up at him.
" It is truly wonderful." He held her tightly.
" Now, aren't you glad we adopted?"
" I have never regretted it for a moment."
" You missed a wonderful gathering at the memorial dedication tonight." She whispered to him. " Evey was great."
" As I knew she would be." He replied. " I finished the new mask today. I do hope it will pass the scrutiny I am about to come under."
" V, you are going to do wonderfully as Eric's assistant. " Jazlyn tried to reassure him.
" The job I am about to undertake is one of high importance to the country as well as Prime Minister Finch. "
" V, quit worrying----you're going to be great! Even Eric has no idea that it will be you. And besides, this is where we really need you, right next to him, as Eric's sounding board." Jazlyn replied hugging him tightly.
" Ah, Jazlyn, you are my rock to lean on------I just hope I can live up to the exceptions everyone has of me." He sighed softly.
" I have a lot of faith in you. I love you so much." She whispered in his ear. " And so does your son."
" Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.(5)" V whispered softly as he nuzzled her neck.
" I have got to go get out of this leather, it's itching like crazy." Jazlyn grinned as she stepped away from him. " I'll check on our son, then meet you back here. Better set another plate for Evey. She'll probably be starved after tonight." She paused turning around, " And you better put Fawkes on."
V chuckled, " I always do, love. I always do."
Jazlyn blew him a kiss as she walked toward their bedroom, stopping briefly by the small alter dedicated to her mother. She closed her eyes. " Thank you, Mother for bringing him back to me." She spoke softly, lighting one of the small candles as she had done the past year, and would continue to do for the rest of her life.
Nicholas Flamel (1330-1418)----a brilliant alchemist who searched for the Philisopher's Stone
of Harry Potter fame. In my story, I have used him as one of the most powerful warlocks residing in Morgan Sommers relm. Imagine my surprise when I found out this was a real person!
Merlin---One of the most famous wizards in literature----helped and guided King Authur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Paracelsus (1493-1541) Alchemist, physician,astrologer and occultest
Morgan le Fay-- is, Arthur's half sister, the daughter of Arthur's mother Igraine and her first husband, the Duke of Cornwall
Quote from "Love Quotes' web page