The story of how Helen carried Andy over her shoulder, again, through the town of Mayberry to the city waste treatment begins with her waiting until dusk. This gave her enough light to see where she was going, and yet enough shadow to duck into when she feared being spotted. There w""as a lot of hiding in shadow. Andy could have cried out at any time, but she had promised him a quick death if he did. As the evening grew darker, the green aura radiating from the waste pond became more pronounced. Helen gently set Andy down by the pond. The stench was incredible.

She knelt by the pond and waved her hand in the muck, "It's beatiful, isn't it?"

Andy grimaced, "It's shit."

She laughed, "To you it probably is. But this magnificent element is going to fix everything."

"It's going to fix what?"

"Us," Helen said. "It's going to fix us."

She walked behind Andy, "I will show you." He was scooped up beneath his shoulders and resisted, "What are you doing, Helen? You're not putting me in that are you?"

"Don't be afraid, Andrew. You will see," he kicked at the ground with his one good leg, trying to slow the advance to the pool. She assured him, "You will be glad for this. I will show you."

He clawed at her grip with his one good hand, "Stop Helen! Stop!"

In a single toss he went in and under. The black slime slowly filled his impact spot, finalizing with a single bubble that burped upward. Helen crossed her arms and watched where Andy had went under. She imagined him holding his breath, struggling in panic, and healing: his broken leg snapping back into place and the bone mending, and then going past the mend, becoming stronger than before. She imagined him rising from the gunk and being one with her, understanding that they were made for one another. But he had not risen, and a line of worry etched across Helen's forehead. "Andy?" There could be a possiblity that, "no, don't die. Not now. I need you." She began to wade into the sludge, "You have to see Andy. You have to come up and see."

Andy's head popped up from the foul goo and he gasped for air. Helen clapped her hands in short, rapid clappings, "Oh, there you are," she smiled, her eyes lit with joy. She waded in a bit more and reached out, "Grab my hand, Andy dear. Grab my hand." Andy sloshed his arm upward and took her hand; she pulled him out of the pool. Andy glowed wildly with the green hue; he observed his body, that he felt strong and perfect, that his pains were gone, his broken bones healed. He whispered in a low gutteral voice, it cracked almost as if two voices were speaking from him, "Outstanding."

Helen cheered, "Yes! Yes, see I told you. It's incredible."

Andy observed his hand as he flexed it, the broken thumb now healed. He spoke with the same low and plural voice, "Yes, it is."

She carressed his forearm, "We can have anything, Andy. Anything that we want."

He still admired himself, "Anything is possible. I feel the power."

He reached out and grabbed her throat, squeezing, and forcing her to her knees. She slammed her fists and pushed on the gripping arm, "You..." she choked, "...bastard." With all of her strength she pulled his hand from her throat, grabbed his feet and threw him to his back. Coughing and gasping, she crawled away from him and stood, "You bastard. You are not killing me again."

Andy rose and said, "This time I will do it right, and you will stay dead."

The two abominations ran at one another head on, a fury of swinging fists and grappling ensued. Andy grabbed her arm and swung her into the air, and like an agile cat she landed lightly on her feet, "Not if I kill you first." Again they hit head to head, and this time it resulted with Andy grabbing her from behind, his arm crooked around her kneck. He squeezed, "You should have killed me when you had a chance."

Helen flipped him over back and he sailed several feet before crashing to the ground. Helen touched her now busted lip that oozed the dark black slime; she wiped the excess away, "I still have plenty of opportunity."

Andy rushed her and she placed a foot into his thorax; he doubled over. She brought a knee up into his face and he flipped backward slamming onto a large granite stone planted firmly in the ground. He discovered he could still pain, and he cried out. Helen ran and lept high into the air; she was poised to bring her hair squarely on his head where it would splatter against the stone. With fast response, Andy rolled from her path, and her heel planted into the stone, cracking it in half. She too howled in pain and stumbled back on the bad foot. Andy took advantage of her injury and pushed her to the ground. He lifted half of the busted granite, raising it high above his head, and bringing it down onto her chest with a loud sickening crack. The half stone rolled off of her; she gurgled for air.

Andy could see his shimmering glow was fading away, his voice had returned to normal. He heaved, exauhsted, "I think the power is fading."

Helen simply nodded and whispered with a rasp, "The more you... use it... the less you have..."

He grabbed her blouse and lifted her, not as easily as before, but easily enough to slam her into the ground again. "I have more than enough left."

She screamed when she hit the ground, clutching her chest. She glanced up and saw Andy approaching, "No no," she gurgled. And then, out of the corner of her view, she saw with some effort that she was not all too far from the pond of crud. "Not over," she muttered and rolled over to a crawl. As fast as she could, she was on her way to pond on all fours. Andy kept the same steady pace and laughed, he brought his foot down into her spine. It cracked and she dropped to her abdomen. She sobbed, her legs would not move.

Andy said, "Oh, it's over all right."

Tears filled her eyes and she reached out for the pond, it was less than a foot away, mere inches, but she could not move towards it.

"You stupid bitch. I mean how dumb do you have to be? You literally gave me the strength to destroy you after I had already killed you once."

Her fingers trembled as she reached for the pond, but was no closer.

Andy dropped to one knee and grabbed a handful of her head, pulling her head, causing her mouth to open wide as she shook from crying. "You could have just let me go and left the town. Look what you brought on yourself Helen."

The pond could not be reached, but what was this. There was glob of the gunk very close to her. It not much more than a handful, barely enough to rub on two or three of her ribs; not enough to rub all over her and gift her with the strength to take Andy down. She knew this. She knew it with all certainty.

Andy degraded her more, "And you're a school teacher. No wonder kids are so fucking stupid these days."

She could not take her eyes off of the goo. She looked at the pond again, and then over to the small pile near her. She reached one more time for the pond, and still found it was impossible. The pile, "Not enough..." she whispered. "Not enough," and that was true. It was not enough, unless, maybe, perhaps...

Helen grabbed the handful of grime and shoved it in her mouth. She coud barely gulp it down. Andy smashed her face into the gound and pulled it back up, "Stupid bitch," he slammed her face again, "stupid," and again, "stupid," and again, "bitch!"

He pulled her head back for the last time; she opened her eyes and they glowed like green fire. Smirking broadly she pushed up from the ground with so much force, the breeze she created blew Andy backward onto his butt. She turned to Andy and spoke with the voice of several angry women, "I am a teacher, and school is in." She grabbed Andy and threw him high into the air and kicked him firmly with her heel on his way back down. He shot through the air and landed, rolling to a stop, completely defeated.

He stood briefly and fell back to the ground, "Helen, please don't."

She laughed, the glow in her eyes even more intense. When she opened her mouth the glow even spilled from there.

"I can love you, Helen. I understand now. You're right. We can be together. We can do anything."

Her laughter was mostly maniacle now. She brushed her hair back over head and wiped her busted lip, but what she saw stopped her in her tracks. It was not slime that she had wiped from lip, it was bright red blood. She peered at it keenly, no longer laughing, and placed her palm on her forehead. The green glow died from her eyes, and her natural voice returned, "What am I doing?"

Andy begged more, "We can run away together. Anywhere you want to go."

She touched her lip again for another sample of the blood, "No."

"Yes we can. We are unstoppable now."

"No. No we can't. I don't want to go anywhere with you. I don't want you."

"What's that?" Andy asked.

"I don't want you, Andy. You are a liar and a killer. We are not the same. I am Helen Crump... I am know who I am."

She stood over Andy and he whined, "What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing, Andy. I am not a killer. But you do need to go back to sleep." Helen thumped him on the forehead with a single finger; it sounded like the shot from a rifle. He instantly fell over, his conciousness gone.

Larry, the thin and frail white orderly, stood trembling in the doorway of room three nineteen in Mayberry General Hospital. Harold, his long time work companion, could be heard coming down the hall, "I'm surprised the police are finished investigating this room. After Andy disappeared like that, I would think it would be marked for a crime scene for some time."

Harold stepped into the room, as always, completely focussed on his clipboard, "But I'm also glad to get back to normal. So, chart says we are to get this room ready for Miss Fester. She'll be in later today to have her..."

At the end of Harold's sentence Larry had been tapping him on the shoulder, frustrated Harold chirped, "What is it, Larry?"

Larry pointed across the room. Harold looked and jumped backward, dropping the clipboard, "Auuugh. Holy shit!"

Andy was back in his hospital bed, deep in a coma.

Harold raised his nose and sniffed; his nose drew up into a wrinkle, "Oh hell no!" He stepped to other side of the bed, noticing the window was open on the way, and saw a glowing pile of shit on the floor. He drew back, repulsed, "Gawddamn! I told you this is some strange ass shit."