A/N: almost up to chapter 20. Sweeeeet. I've almost got as many chapters as reviews right now^^ thanks by the way, for all my reviewers. For those that were curious, my tattoo is one I drew myself, of barbed wire stuck through strawberries, curling from the back of my calf down to the top of my foot, ending in a dripping strawberry. It hurt…but in a good way, and looks awesome. It was my birthday present from my mom.
The small party stepped hesitantly into the Tower, and the door closed, locking them in darkness. It was thick, almost choking, and utterly complete. They couldn't see anything until DG held up her hand, a small ball of light appearing and twinkling in her palm. They huddled around it, holding onto each other lest they get separated and lost.
Cain ached to grip his pistol. Unfortunately, one was gone, the other, empty and not of much use. In its place, he held Glitch's hand, unconsciously squeezing until Glitch hissed in pain and jerked away. "Sorry," he mumbled, loosening his grip and lightly rubbing his thumb over Glitch's knuckles. The four kids stayed surrounded by their parents, peering vainly into the dark around them.
A laugh sliced through the dark, making them all shiver and look around in fright. Light flooded the room in a blinding wash, leaving them blinking. An ornately carved stone dais sat before them. Five steps led to a bejeweled, ebony throne, upon which lounged the Witch. She wasn't the haggard crone of years before. Her flawless skin glowed like she'd swallowed the moon, and her full lips were cherry red. She'd decorated her eyes with kohl, and styled her pitch black hair in an elaborate up-do, with ringlets trailing down. She wore an outfit reminiscent of when she'd possessed Az, all tight leather and metal, cinched waist and overemphasizing her ample bosom. She smiled at them, tracing random patterns on the arm of her throne with the finger tip of her shiny leather encased arm.
"Someone's been taking fashion tips from bondage'r'us," DG muttered under her breath. "Well you didn't expect me to maintain my true form did you? I find this one so much more attractive," the Witch idly twirled a ringlet around her finger. "She protested naturally. She didn't want to be possessed, no matter the benefits." DG paled, she was still taking over innocent people? "You didn't give me much choice, after evicting me from your precious sister's body and banishing me." They all gaped upon realizing the Witch had answered them, but none of them had spoken aloud. Oh yes. I can do that and so much more.
Her voice slithered and caressed in their minds. Each one she reminded of something else, locking them in their own private personal hells.
DG relived the moment she left her sister for the Witch over and over, each time getting successively worse, feeling the betrayal cut deeper and deeper.
Raw saw himself running from his tribe, watching them left alone and defenseless, being taken by the Witch and used for her evil purposes. Saw Lylo die, and Kalm abused.
Cain was locked once more in the tin suit, watching Adora and Jeb taken by Zero. Then it shifted, and he saw Zero abduct Glitch, what became of his sweet headcase at his hands, saw his son and niece in chains, underfed and beaten. Saw Adora's grave superimposed over it all and was reminded that he hadn't been there for her.
Glitch shivered uncontrollably as he was strapped down on the operating table and the scalpel bit into his skull and blood started to drip sluggishly down his face. Tears ran down his cheeks until he mercifully passed out from pain and blood loss. But it wasn't over, no, then he lived once again through the fresh pain of the zipper, the running around the woods, lost, until his "career" in the Underground, the humiliation and degradation. He too was once more thrown into a dungeon and treated badly by Zero, and had to watch Wes and Wren snatched away. Had to feel the disappointment of Wyatt when he snuck out and betrayed them to Tony.
Each of them trembled and fell as they experienced their mistakes, the worst things they'd ever went through in their whole lives. Cackling maliciously, the Witch backed off, and delightedly watched them lay in quivering, sobbing heaps. Slowly, moving stiffly like everything hurt, they uncurled and got shakily to their feet. Cain fought the urge to aim his empty pistol at her, and instead helped Glitch to his feet. Light flashed in DG's hands as they flexed next to her; it was obvious she wanted so badly to take aim at the Witch and fry her where she sat. "Ah ah ah Princess. None of that. Not when we're just getting started. You haven't even met my friends yet," the Witch raised her arms to the ceiling, and power rippled outward, spreading through the tower.
A call echoed around them, chittering, shrieking, baying, sending chills down the spine of all but the Witch. Creatures poured from the darkness behind and above her, some they recognized as being native from the OZ, others that appeared a mish-mash of the creatures from this side, and others that should have never seen the light of day, that looked like something from Dante's Inferno. Wren screamed and flung herself backwards, scrambling across the floor. She hid behind Wes, eyes closed, her screams dying down to whimpers. The nightmares stopped just short of the band of fighters, closing in a circle around them. The energy around them was almost tangible, a quivering wave of potential devastation. All that kept them back was the Witch's whim.
"What do you think of them?" The Witch asked, her voice sickly sweet, like candy coated in arsenic. None of them knew how to answer, what would keep them relatively safe, and what would enrage her. Their silence chose for them, and her eyes narrowed to slits. "I asked you a question!" she hissed, and the creatures nearest snapped jaws full of fangs at the would be heroes. "They're horrible!" Wes yelled desperately. "You think so?" she smiled, almost indulgently. "Yes! They're…they're perversions of nature! They're terrifying! Is that what you wanted to hear?" The Witch's smile widened into that of a cat that's eaten the canary. Wes cringed, staring down at the ground. Look at me, she whispered in his mind. He shook his head. Yessss, she wrapped him in her power, squeezing tight. Wes gasped, trying to breath past the sudden leaden weight in his chest; he couldn't breathe, couldn't even try to draw breath. He jerked his neck up and met her eyes.
DG saw what was happening, it was a gentler version of what the Witch had done to Az. "Wesley!" she lunged at him, trying to break his eye contact. Her pant leg was caught in the grip of a burly looking mobat and she hit the ground hard. Blake kicked at the thing, but it darted back, baring its teeth. Wes slowly stopped moving, just swaying as they tried to break him free. But he didn't hear them, or feel them; his eyes had gone wide and glassy and a soft smile turned up his lips. Why should they be fighting? The Witch just wanted to make everything better, she was so kind hearted, so gentle. If they just stopped fighting her…Wes got slowly to his feet, his movements stiff and wooden, bringing to mind the image of a marionette puppet. Yes Wesley, good, come to me, the Witch murmured in his head, urging him forward.
Glitch jerked him back, and Wes landed on his butt, staring up at his father with no recognition in his eyes. His expression shifted to anger, no hatred, which burned along Glitch's skin and made him recoil. For a split second, it hadn't been his son's face, it was more like the Witch's face when she was a hag swimming above his like a transparent mask. Wes rolled to his feet so he could meet his father's gaze, the rage darkening his eyes. "You've always been jealous of me father," he spat. "You've always treated me like a child, holding me back. No more. You are the child father," Wes's gaze flicked to Wyatt, "you both are, living in your sick relationship. You are the perversions of nature, and I'll no longer be a part of that."
Wyatt watched his son march to the Witch's side, kneeling before her then taking post next to her throne. She trailed her fingers down his jaw, petting him like one would a dog. The expression on his face was beatific, as though he'd rather be nowhere else. He didn't know what he would have done though, as Glitch was suddenly making a charge for her, snarling. "You bitch!" The Witch raised an eyebrow and snapped her fingers. Glitch was stopped mid-motion, held immobile. "You let him go now or so help me…'' "I hardly think you're in a position to be making demands of me Ambrose. From here, I could take out your brain once more, turn you into that sniveling, pathetic excuse for an advisor and leave you to wander about my wasteland." Glitch paled, if that was possible for the pale skinned man. "But I need you, just as I need your son," she released her metaphysical leash on her beasts, who ran after DG, Blake, Cain and the children, but didn't attack. They merely herded them to the door. Naturally, Cain fought, and threaded his way through trying to get to Glitch, who was attempting to reach him as well, to no avail.
Cain shoved aside the scaly, furry, coarse bodies that tried to move him. He had to reach Glitch and Wes, he had to. He could see Glitch trying to fight against the invisible bonds that the Witch held him in, his brown eyes pleading. He stumbled and almost fell, gaining an inch then losing three feet. He was almost there, could almost touch him; Glitch was calling to him but he couldn't hear over his blood pounding in his ears. Something hit him over the head, hard enough that his vision swam in streamers of grey. He took a blow to the stomach next, and doubled over, coughing harshly. The last thing he saw was Glitch's eyes wide in fear and faintly his name being called before the darkness claimed him.
Glitch sagged as much as the bonds allowed, tears streaming down his face. He watched as Wyatt's limp body was dragged out the door and tossed outside like garbage. Please let him still be alive, please, please, please! "He's still alive," the Witch answered his thoughts almost idly, as though she didn't care one way or the other. "I couldn't let him die now. He's so strong and handsome. I want to break him, I want him to see you die first, then your son, I want to see him suffer and beg for death before I grant it," she threw back her head and cackled. "Why?" Glitch asked miserably. "Why what?" "Why did you do all this? Why do you need Wesley and me?" She tapped one perfectly manicured crimson nail against her lips, thinking.
"He's the power supply, you're the brains." Glitch frowned, puzzlement and suspicion written plainly across his face. "You'll finish my machine, and he'll power it," she explained slowly. "What machine?" he asked petulantly. "It's quite lovely really. I shall in effect, erase this world, and coincidentally the OZ. Then I shall remake it in my image. Though I may keep aspects of this world, it's so thick with corruption and evil." "Won't erasing here erase you as well?" Glitch asked. Maybe if he could keep her talking, he could get her to reveal something, like how to reverse the machine. "Not in this Tower. I'm sure you felt the power of it? This Tower, and all in it, shall be safe. Everything else, not so much." "What about my son and I?" "I'll keep you to build my empire. Your son won't survive the erasing process. So sorry," she said, sounding anything but. "Now, I'll show you to your room."
Glitch found himself tugged up stairs behind her by the invisible bonds. Wes paced at her side like a loyal pet, and his heart ached to see it. Maybe he could delay the building of the machine, or reverse it, anything to keep Wes and all of them alive. "Here we are," the Witch interrupted his train of thought and yanked him into a cavernous room at the top of the Tower. The machine itself was like nothing he'd ever seen before. The great circular base sat in the center of the room, taller than he was. Jutting out at an angle was what looked to be the muzzle of a cannon or something, though much more sinister in appearance, with wires and the like running down the length of it. When in operation, it would tilt to point skyward, out a panel carved in the ceiling. It was clearly unfinished though, with exposed wires and half the frame still missing. "You'll sleep there," she gestured to a cot along the wall, "and work day and night until my machine is done. And don't even think about trying to stop it, because your son doesn't have to be in perfect condition to power it. I can also pick off your companions one by one until only the handsome one is left to see you die." With that she left, Wes following at her heels.
He collapsed onto the cot, sobs rising in his throat to spill past his lips. He shivered uncontrollably, arms wrapped almost painfully tight around himself. He choked and sobbed until his eyes burned and his head throbbed and he was a complete mess. How was he supposed to get out of this? How? He didn't have Wyatt, or DG, or anyone to help him. And if he disobeyed, Wes and the rest would suffer. Not that they already weren't, he thought bitterly. He still stung from the awful words Wes had aimed at him. He wanted to believe it was the Witch putting words in his mouth, but what if it wasn't? What if he had been jealous of his son, who was so smart, could be smarter than him? No, no that was silly. He loved Wes, he encouraged his learning. But hadn't he and Wyatt treated him like a child before, not telling him about the risk to the OZ, or letting him accompany them? Wasn't it possible that was how Wes really felt, and the Witch was merely allowing him to say it for the first time? Tears gathered in Glitch's eyes once more, balancing precariously on his eyelashes before spilling over to slide down his cheeks.
His eyelids felt as though they weighed 100 pounds each. He couldn't lift them, but he wanted to. He wanted desperately to see where he was. Slowly, with a great effort, Cain opened his eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't. Light assaulted him and made his head feel as though someone were poking into his soft vulnerable brain with a pickaxe. A low moan escaped his lips and he rolled over to wretch and heave until his head ached worse and felt like it was going to explode. "Wyatt?" a soft voice, seemingly from far away. Familiar blue eyes slid into view, and suddenly he could see DG's concerned face. "Hey kid," he greeted her. "You've got to stop with the near death experience," she said, helping him sit up. "It's not like I plan them, they just happen," he retorted.
Once he was sitting upright, the world shifted and he clutched the ground in an effort not to fall or vomit again. "What happened?" "The Witch hit you with powerful stuff, we didn't even see it. By then we were pretty much out the door. All we saw was you being tossed out and the door slamming shut," DG answered. "Glitch? Wes?" "Still in there. We were waiting for you to wake before planning a way in." At this point Cain was recovered somewhat, due in part to DG laying her hand against his head and soothing coolness coursing through him. He looked around at the rest of them gathered in a circle. They looked like absolute hell, though he doubted he looked much better.
Wren was huddled apart from them, her eyes red from crying. She wasn't looking at him, or anyone for that matter. "Wren?" She flinched at Cain saying her name. She slowly turned to face him. "Y-yes?" she had to clear her throat a few times to make herself heard. Cain motioned her over. After a moment's hesitation, Wren scrambled over to sit closer to him. "Listen Wren, I know you're upset, we all are, we're all furious that she'd dare to take Glitch and Wes from us, but you have to hang in there for us ok? We're going to need you." "What can I do? I should've helped him, and I didn't. I froze up, I was so scared. I just had to watch him say those hurtful things, then skip off to her like a puppy. And Uncle Glitch…I don't think I can help," she finished in a small voice. "Oh, but I think you can," Cain said assuredly. "How?" Wren asked skeptically. "Just leave it to me."
A/N: dun dun dun! Cliffhanger of sorts. Sorry the chapter's so short, but I didn't want to go too far into it. I've also got to plan more on where I'm taking this. And man, I've been just terrible to Glitch and Cain recently, haven't I? I'll try and lay off a bit. But I do love the drama. Oh well.