🚀 go-pugleaf

[Continued From Part Six]

     As Trashman fought beside Amiga's superguys, ignoring the pain of the
perfect human body pushed to perform beyond human limits, he spared a
moment to appraise their tactics and cooperation. Amiga had been an
excellent choice; even though schooled in naval combat, his controlling
mind had an excellent grasp of large unit tactics. Realising that the
battle was now in the hands of the rested and refreshed, the Grimy Knight
withdrew from the central knot of fighting and began running interference
for those heroes who were being carried from the field of battle, too
wounded to move. There were far, far too many, but Trashman concentrated
only on his self appointed duty. Contemplation was for another day.
***
        The man wiped blood and sweat from his eyes; he needed to be able
to see clearly to focus his powers. He sighted a pseudo-demon, and
concentrated. A six-foot-long, 8-inch tall, 6-inch wide piece of tempered
steel with an I-shaped cross-section shot out of his right eye and hurtled
at a hundred or so miles an hour straight at the pseudo-demon, snapping its
spine. The girder continued on its flight a ways further, clipping the wing
of yet another, sending it tumbling to the ground.
        He'd lost track of the number of pseudo-demons he'd killed, but
their corpses littered the area, as did the bodies of the group he'd been
with when the attack started.
        The woman named Detritus had been the first to fall, which was a
pity; her powers would be very handy now, since there was plenty of debris
around now. Since there hadn't been when the battle had begun, though, it
had been relatively easy for a pseudo-demon to plunge its hand into her
chest. The man had tried to save her, but had been unable to do anything
but avenge her.
        Another girder shot out, taking the head off a pseudo-demon who'd
been approaching him.
        A boy whose name he thought was Gnat had gone next, although he had
managed to take a couple of the pseudo-demons out with his power, which
seemed to be the power to buzz around their heads and annoy them. He'd
managed to steer a couple of them towards each other, where they ripped
each other to shreds. Another had got the drop on the poor kid, though, and
torn his throat out with its fangs.
        Another girder. Another pseudo-demon.
        Insignifico, the Unimportant Man, had worn a look of great surprise
as he died; he'd thought his power to be disregarded as totally worthless
would protect him, apparently. Since the pseudo-demons thought all of
humanity was insignificant, they'd killed him anyway.
        Girder. Pseudo-demon.
        He couldn't even remember the name of the next one to die, or what
he'd looked like, or what his powers were. The Indefinite Man had died as
he had lived, a poorly-defined caricature of a person.
        Whoosh. Snap.
        Tosser, Castoff, and Throwaway had all gone quickly after that, and
then the man was all alone. One of the pseudo-demons had snuck up behind
him, and clawed open part of his scalp, but the man had managed to use his
strength to snap its neck.
        He was getting tired. He'd been fighting for what seemed like
hours, and he knew he couldn't keep it up much longer. There were just too
many of them, and his strength was waning. He was going to die, and knew
it, but he didn't care anymore. All he cared about was killing as many
pseudo-demons as he could before they finally got him.
        The man who called himself I-Beam loosed another three
hundred-pound piece of steel from his eye, and prepared for the end of the
world.
***
     There was little that the Tribe of Behn and Grey Leopard could think
to do, other than obey Gggthsxth's command. He raised his majestically
hideous hand to the group, power crackling about it.
     "For being such worthy opponents," spoke Gggthsxth from on high, "You
have earned a singular honour. I will be so kind as to destroy you utterly
with the smallest touch of Unreality. I have no desire to see you skirt
death as your kind so often does."
     Before any of the group could reply, or make the obvious joke as a
last act of futile defiance, the pure unadulterated antithesis to reality
leapt from Gggthsxth's hand towards the group. Reacting the fastest, Grey
Leopard threw himself at the rest of the heroes, knocking the whole away
from the blast. There was the angry scream of reality neatly collapsing
behind the group - and then a much more human scream which was recognised
immediately.
     "Liz!" cried Dickens and Grey Leopard simultaneously, looking in
horror at their teammate, who had been knocked aside but not far enough.
Her left leg had simply dissolved into nothingness where it had caught the
obliterating shot of unreality. As Gaskell was comforted by her comrades,
Aphra realised that it was time to make the sacrifice for which good epic
fiction called.
     "Gggthsxth!" she called, stepping forward, in front of the group. "Let
the others go!"
     Gggthsxth sneered down at Aphra, lines of unreality playing across his
hand to emphasis the power which he wielded. "Why ever would I do that,
Aphra?" he asked.
     "Because..." she began, taking a deep breath. "I challenge you to
single combat."
     There was a moment of stunned silence, broken at the same time by both
Aphra's group and Gggthsxth, as the former gasped and the later threw back
his head and laughed.
     "You challenge _me_ to a combat?" he asked, nearly choked with
laughter. "For amusement's sake... nothing more... I accept. Dismiss your
troops, they'll die soon enough on Earth."
     "Aphra..." hissed Milton in concern, as he moved to his wife's side,
"You can't do this. I can open a portal and get us all out of here before
he..."
     "I'm not running away," said Aphra, with a preternatural calmness.
"This is the moment that I knew might come when I started heroing and when
I agreed to lead. And when I accepted this mission. We have to stop
Gggthsxth here and now. I can do it."
     "No you _can't_," insisted Milton, "He's a god, you're a woman!"
     Aphra turned to look at Milton, her gaze severe. "Open your portal.
That's _not_ a request. That's an order. Evacuate everyone _but_ your
leader. Do you understand me?"
     Milton looked back, blinking and nearly in shock. Finally, he nodded
slightly. "I understand you."
     "Good," replied Aphra, then dropping her voice, "I love you, John.
I'll be with you always."
     Milton nodded slightly, barely able to acknowlege the order. The two
kissed briefly and then Milton turned back to his duty while Gggthsxth
observed with almost smug amusement. Aphra looked up at her opponent,
trying to decide how to make her death meaningful.
     Gaskell lay on the ground, shivering, as Grey Leopard and Dickens
tried to make her comfortable. Her leg didn't hurt in the least, but still
she shook uncontrollably. Possibly some of the unreality had backwashed
into her system, she thought. It was getting hard to think and she felt a
creeping sensation trickle through her, spreading about her body. Gaskell's
head began to heat up, blazing with a sudden fever. She sweated and gasped
as her body seemed to be fighting off the effects of a virus. Gaskell
couldn't think as the pain and aching was becoming too acute... she'd only
felt like this twice before and...
     Suddenly, Gaskell's mind burst through the haze of pain and anguish. A
clarity beyond any she'd ever before known settled upon the woman.
Painfully turning her head, she looked at Elk. "E-elk!" she cried through
troubled lips, "I n-need you t-to remove... remove my cure..."
     Elk blinked and looked confused, which was of course, his natural
state. "LIZ, why would YOU want ME to do THAT?" he asked, his over-emphasis
grating on the woman's nerves.
     "Just DO IT!" she cried through the pain, closing her eyes tightly.
Elk was startled by the force of Gaskell's demand but shrugged. Women, he
thought. With a wave of his hand, the hero's cure was nullified.
     And Gaskell's world exploded.
     She had experienced Unreality in her system once before. Gaskell had
absorbed it, bonded briefly with it and used it to fuel her illusion
casting powers, turning the shadowy corners of her subconscious into the
stuff of reality.
     Unreality now burned within Gaskell.
     A very few days earlier, through the mistake of the Grey Lupine, a
Reality had been made absolute within Gaskell. Which one, it did not
matter. It was utter, total and the antithesis of the Unreality which had
flooded her body.
     Without her cure, that Reality was now restored to her.
     Somewhere in the tiny corner of Gaskell's conscious mind which was not
blinded by the pain which flowed through her, she realised that she was
somehow more than simply a spinner of fiction and and maker of illusory
fantasy. Tangetally, her powers brushed against both Reality and Unreality,
bringing that which did not exist into uncertain existence for a brief
time. Both powers now coursed through Gaskell, seeking the others' demise.
     And Gaskell's body mediated between them. Provided a middle ground.
Gave them a buffer. Allowed for a truce. The pain vanished.
     "Wh-what happened?" asked Gaskell, propping herself up on one arm.
Grey Leopard tried to hush her.
     "Shh, Liz, save your strength. We're going home."
     "Home?" asked Gaskell, almost in a whisper, "But... Gggthsxth!"
     "Aphra's going to take care of him," soothed Dickens, with a calm that
he did not feel, "Just be still. We'll get you home."
     "She's going to face him... _alone_?" gasped Gaskell, her eyes wide as
she looked at Gggthsxth and Aphra, facing one another, waiting for the
troops to return to Earth. "But... she's wrong! She's the wrong one, don't
you see? She's not the one!"
     "Not the... what are you talking about?" asked Grey Leopard, confused.
Gaskell shook her head frantically.
     "You don't understand, she doesn't have the right powers to beat him!
She'll lose, oh no you can't see it you can't see reality as it is...
damn!"
     "She's delirious," whispered Dickens to Grey Leopard, who nodded in
sad agreement. Gaskell let out a frustrated sigh.
     "I am _not_!" she called, staring one in the eye, then the other. She
focused on Grey Leopard, "Cory... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout, it's
just... things have gotten a lot clearer to me. I understand who I am...
what I was born for... what my power really is."
     "Liz?" asked Grey Leopard, looking at Gaskell in concern, "What do you
mean? I thought you'd figured all of that out already..."
     "Not really," replied Gaskell, her voice low, "Almost not at all. I'll
explain to you. One day. That's a promise. Here's another, Cory: I'm not
leaving you. It might look like it... but have faith. Things change, the
universe changes, and promises like these can come true after a cold, long
winter of doubt."
     "You're not making sense any more, Liz," replied Grey Leopard, softly.
     "She was before?" asked Dickens.
     "Shhh," replied Grey Leopard. He turned back to Gaskell. "We have to
get you to a doctor."
     "No doctor," replied Gaskell, as her missing leg slowly faded back
into existence, "Nothing like that. Cory?"
     "Yes?" asked Grey Leopard automatically, staring at Gaskell's whole,
unblemished leg in shock.
     Gaskell smiled softly, "When we met again, I said that you were so
young... but so am I. Remember me, please." With that, she reached up and
kissed Grey Leopard gently, tenderly, before pulling away. "This is turning
into a habit," she said with a small smile, before jumping up and racing
towards Aphra and Gggthsxth.
     "The heck(sm)?" exclaimed Dickens, blinking at the scene.
     "Um..." replied Grey Leopard, struggling to get his mind back on-line.
Try as he might, however, he couldn't quite get a 'C>' prompt.
     "Of course," sighed Dickens, "She confuses the devil out of us, fixes
her leg and then incapacitates one of us. Was anyone expecting anything
else?"
     "John!" cried Aphra, her gaze locked on Gggthsxth, "Get everyone out NOW!"
     Milton hesitated, then nodded, speaking his word and forcing open a
portal that led back to Earth. "Move out!" he cried, turning to take a last
look at Aphra.
      Elk and Spenser took advantage of Grey Leopard's momentary confusion
and pulled him along with them as they leapt into the void.  Liz allowed
herself only a brief farewell glance.
     "Aphra," said Gaskell, jogging up to her. Aphra turned her gaze on the
woman, shaking her head slightly.
     "Get out of here, Liz," she said quietly. Gggthsxth laughed.
     "Dissension in the ranks, play-champion?" he boomed, "I'd be happy to
destroy you both, if you'd like. Extra effort for me, but I'm always
willing to go that extra mile for a good execution."
     "Aphra, get out yourself," commanded Gaskell, narrowing her eyes at
Gggthsxth, "If you stay here, you'll die."
     "I might, but the universe..."
     "Will die right along with you!" cried Gaskell, pushing Aphra towards
the portal with a sudden fury, "I know our potential and I know that you
haven't reached _your's_ yet!" Bodily, with a strength that she had never
before known or shown, Gaskell slammed a chop at the side of Aphra's head,
knocking the woman unconscious. She stared down at her leader, and sighed,
"Die on your own time, Aphra. You've still got some left."
     Milton rushed up, having watched the scene, and scooped up Aphra in
his arms, "Liz..." he began, looking at the woman in confusion. She shook
her head, gesturing towards the portal, "Go, John. _Now_."
     Milton sighed. Today was certainly his day for obeying orders given by
suicidal women. He raced towards his portal and dove through it, carrying
Aphra along as he went. Gaskell watched as they left, then turned back to
Gggthsxth.
     "I've been more than patient," rumbled the beast, clenching a fist.
"Are you the one to whom the honour of dying by my hand goes?"
     "Of course I am," replied Gaskell, feeling no fear at all. "Don't you
recognise me?"
     Gggthsxth paused; for a moment, it was as though the god was confused.
Then he chuckled humourlessly. "I didn't expect anyone to recognise me,
Liz. But you have, which makes me doubly sure that I have to kill you now."
     "What happened to you?" asked Gaskell, looking at Gggthsxth with
compassion, "How did you fall?"
     "I _didn't_ fall, childling!" roared Gggthsxth, angrily, "I ascended!"
     "It's a circle," replied Gaskell, "You say one, I say the other and in
the end they mean the same thing, don't they?"
     "It's a circle more than you think, Liz," replied Gggthsxth with a
sneer, "You recognised me, old friend and comrade. Don't you recognise the
world on which you stand? The air that you breath, changed though it is?"
Gggthsxth drew nearer, leaning down. "The demons that you _fight_?"
     Gaskell looked around with her now-clear vision and stopped, cold.
"E-earth?" she asked in a small voice, filled with horrified realisation.
Gggthsxth nodded, chuckling at the woman's discomfort.
     "Earth. Not an alternate Earth, not a divergent timeline, not even a
pocket reality of your world. But a side-real Earth, waiting for the spark
of possibility to make it your Earth. My Earth. The only Earth."
     "You want to make this cinder into our world?" cried Gaskell,
horrified. "Why?"
     "Your world offended me," Gggthsxth replied, "More to the point... it
defeated me. I couldn't bear that kind of humiliation. Your universe had to
be subjected to my will... and then humiliated and punished until the last
grain of sand of eternity ran out. So, I decided to make your universe...
my universe."
     Gaskell looked at Gggthsxth for a long time, focusing on him. Finally,
she spoke. "You weren't always who you are now... who you were, who I know,
were you?"
     "Quite right," replied Gggthsxth, nodding his massive head. "My
genesis has and will have changed, as will that of our respective
altiverses... made one."
     "I know why," said Gaskell quietly, "But how?" Gggthsxth pondered for
a moment.
     "You're no threat to me," he rumbled, "I can kill you at any time. So
I'll permit you to hear what I've done. For old time's sake, Liz.
     "The power of Unreality which I've stolen from the idiots who didn't
know how to use it gave me limitless powers when combined with my own. I
could do more than simply shape or destroy a limited amount of reality... I
could cut through it, annihilate it and rebuild it to my liking. Our
universes are now Mobius-looped by possibility, Liz. The end of yours leads
to the beginning of mine and the end of mine leads to the beginning of
yours. I've cheated time, fate and Entropy and created a universe that
cannot end, and one in which _I_ will rule supreme."
     "It hasn't come into being yet, has it?" asked Gaskell, wondering from
where the knowledge came. She felt so very in touch with the universe
around her, and struggled not to focus on it, but to remain in the here and
now. Gggthsxth laughed.
     "In a sense, no, not yet," rumbled Gggthsxth, "As the Mobiusverse
writhes through time like a snake eating its own tail, the two universes
will slowly mix together, fusing into one seamless whole. You see the final
result... here. As you've noted, I was not always who I was and who I am.
I've blended as well, mixing with someone from your universe, but my
awesome will has kept me from forgetting that I am Gggthsxth, once and
always! Your people will mix as well... becoming those pseudo-demons which
you fight with such gusto. I do believe I remember the one that you become,
Liz. Why, as a matter of fact, I believe that she died in battle on your
home Earth. Killed by... hmm... Mr Morbid, was it? Shall I kill you again,
here, and make a full day of it?"
     "This is insane! Twisted! Wrong!"
     "Genius," corrected Gggthsxth flatly, "And you've run out of time,
Liz," he finished, holding up his tiny amulet, "I certainly hope that you
can enjoy the real Hell(tm). After all, you've already sampled this one."
     Pure Unreality streaked from the amulet to Gaskell, trying to tear her
asunder. Had she been fully Real or fully Unreal, then she would have had
little choice but to die at its insistence. She was not.
     "I'm... not... going... to let... you... take... our universe...
Gggthsxth!" she cried, as the Unreality washed over, about and through her,
draining into an already overtaxed body. With a cry, she absorbed the
whole, clutching her chest in pain for a moment before straightening. "And
I'm not going to let one more person die who doesn't have to. Release
Travelling Man, Gggthsxth."
     "The other worm who's still crawling through my paradise?" sneered
Gggthsxth, "I'll have my demons bring him along. Pity... they were just
about to start having their fun with him."
     Gaskell watched as two pseudo-demons carried an exhausted Travelling
Man between them, dumping him unceremoniously on the ground. "Send him
back," she demanded. Gggthsxth waved his hand dismissively.
     "You do it," he said, "It doesn't matter to me, one way or the other.
Prove that you're worthy to be killed by me, Liz. Send him back yourself."
     "All right... I will," replied Gaskell, hoping that she wouldn't make
a liar out of herself. No matter how absurd it sounded, she did not want to
lose face in front of this deity. Carefully, she called upon her so
recently discovered powers of illusion, creating the image of a portal to
Earth. Then she added More to it. It was strangely easy, she had done this
subconsciously when she had been infected with Unreality months ago. Now it
was just a matter of willpower and thought which brought the corridor
between time and probability into being. Reality... Unreality... both
flowed into the portal, giving it Existence. Unable to speak because of
exhaustion, Travelling Man stumbled through the portal, back to Earth.
Gaskell turned back to Gggthsxth.
     "You see that I've got the power," she said.
     "It's not enough," he replied.
     "I'm not giving you my universe."
     "You don't need to give. I'll take."
     "I'll take it back."
     "You can't. You haven't enough power to undo what I've done."
     "I don't, but the amulet does. I have enough power to take that from you."
     "I doubt that."
     "I don't. Which is why I'll win."
     "You'll die."
     "You won't."
     "I will."
     "The part of you that I care about won't. It'll never become you."
     "And you'll be dead for good."
     "It'll be worth it."
     "You don't honestly believe that."
     "I do."
     "Hah."
     "C'mon John. Let's dance."
***

[Continued In Part Eight]