Sealing Death

by Basil E. Bacorn

  Mayor Sanders fell to the ground as the plant released him and began thrashing around, smacking into Mother Nature. She fell to the ground, hitting her head on a rock. The plants holding everyone retreated and Betty snatched the dagger. “We need to stall her long enough for Cassie to send the dead back, or we are all doomed.” Betty summed up, walking over to Mrs. Spencer, “She’s planning on using this knife made out of her son’s soul to become the most powerful being on Earth, and we can’t let her.”

  “Well, how?” Riley asked, “We know nothing about her!” At this point, they would believe anything.

  “Actually, we do.” Greg Myers admitted, wiping the plant juice from his shirt, “While we were in Death, I worked in the Afterlife Library. It contained the stories of everyone who’s ever died, and the Mother Nature Story was one of the more interesting ones. Her son sacrificed his immortality for a weapon to stop her from destroying the world thousands of years ago. What was strange was that her son’s, Arcane Pandemoni’s, story wasn’t there, which means he hasn’t died yet, even though he is a mortal.”

  “Do you think he’ll be able to stop her?” Mayor Sanders pondered, looking at the unconscious maiden, “It’s not like we can kill her yet anyway, and we don’t know when she’ll go back to the Underworld.”

  “Death.” Paul corrected, earning the signature Sanders Scowl from the mayor.

  “If he is truly more powerful than his mother he could!” Betty cheered, waving the Silver Shadow through the air. A small white cut appeared in the fabric of time, and a bright flash followed. When vision returned to everyone, an auburn-haired boy stood next to Betty.

  “Whoa.” Riley murmured in amazement, not because of his appearance-trick, but because of how good-looking he was. She fixed her brown hair and brushed it away from her hazel eyes. “Hi!” she greeted, holding out her hand, “I’m Riley Alicia.”

  The boy looked at her and shook her hand. “I’m Arcane Pandemoni.” he introduced nervously, “Where, and when, am I?”

  “You are in 2016, in New York City.” Mayor Sanders informed, “Your mother is right there, so you need to stop her so she doesn’t destroy the world.” “WHAT?!” the boy screeched, turning around, “It was, I just, how?!”

  Arcane whipped around and held out his hands. “What do you know about us?!” he demanded to know, his hands sparking with lightning bolts ready to char any foe.

  “All we know is your mother has returned from Death and is about to destroy us all, using the Silver Shadow.” Betty stammered, holding up the blade, “We believe you are the only one who can stop her.”

  “If you had the Silver Shadow, why didn’t you kill her?” Arcane pressed, still ready to defend himself if need be. “The gates of Death have been opened, and no one can die until they are closed.” King Albert began, “We believe someone is about to shut them, but we need someone to hold off your mother until she returns to Death.”

  Arcane lowered his hands, looked at Riley and Betty, “You get that cursed blade as far away from here as you can. I will hold off my mother for as long as I can, and if she gets past me, you are doomed. She can control every aspect of nature on this planet.”

  “So let’s get off this planet.” Betty smirked, “To the portal!”

  Team Cassandra Strikes

  The group walked in the direction of the gates. There was nothing in their way, so there was no point in running; they needed all their energy to figure out how to shut those massive gates.

  Cassie glared at Charlie. She hoped they never saw Electra again; there was absolutely, positively, no way at all she would give that witch the ability to keep making deals, and send the deal breakers to Electra-City! Cassie knew there was no reason for Electra to need to make a deal anymore, since she got what she wanted. Her and her brother are safe from those monsters now. Why keep dealing?

  Earlier that day, Electra was walking through the streets of NYC when she felt it. Oh no. Then came the relief. Someone was calling her. Also known as an excuse to get out of this place as soon as possible. To the amazement of several tourists, Electra whirled her hand and vanished into thin air.

  “What do you want?” Electra asked nervously, seeing she was still in the Realm of the Foretold.

  “I need your help.” Charlie asked, “I need you to send me to the Tartarus, please. I hope it is not too much to ask, but I really need to get to Cassie. I know she’s powerful enough to do it, but I am still worried.”

  “I cannot make any deals because of your stupid girlfriend!” Electra shouted angrily, as she didn’t have time for this, “Why would I help you?!”

  “Cassie will destroy the contract if you help me!” Charlie panicked. Uh-oh. Electra perked up. “Do you promise?” she asked, hopefully. Her life depended on it. Charlie nodded, and Electra smiled. She waved her hand, and Charlie vanished. She was saved!

  Cassie was brought out from her angry rant by a familiar voice. It was her own.

  “Hello Cassie!” Reflection Cassandra greeted, “Remember me?” “How could I forget?” Cassie growled, “Seriously, I tried.”

  Reflection Cassandra simply smiled. “It’s always nice to know someone is thinking about you.” she cooed, “Too bad it wasn’t Charlie, though.” Cassie picked up her reflection and threw her backwards. “Don’t test me!” she warned, creating a fireball in her hand. “Don’t bother, dear.” said an unfriendly voice. Cassie turned and saw, a rather flat, Alice Harper. “You should exercise more,” Cassie began, holding back laughter, “because you seem very out of shape!”

  Alice scowled. Well, she might have scowled. She was really distorted.

  “You always did enjoy a bad joke, didn’t you?” she recalled, “So annoying, then and now. I can’t wait to eliminate you!” “How do you two expect a reflection and Flat Alice to be able to beat us?” Charlie asked, amused.

  “The answer is, we aren’t alone!” Reflection Cassandra revealed, “I picked up a few friends to help us along the way.”

  The Death Realm became darker than it already was, and everyone looked up. The entire sky was blackened by millions of birds. “That’s right!” a voice squawked, “Mr. Angla is here to join the party!” The birdman landed behind James and pecked his back, knocking him out cold. “I never liked him.”

  “Dad!” Cassie yelled. She raised her hand and stammered a quick spell.

  To protect loved ones from the danger,

  Send them far away, maybe to a manger?

  Through the realms, as Betty did.

  Send my family back home, and- away from Sid!

  “How’d you know I was here?” Saxton questioned as Susan, James, and the twins disappeared. “You smell.” Cassie replied, smirking, “I suppose Reflectra over there thawed you.” “I like that name!” Reflection Cassandra chimed in, “I think I’ll keep it!”

  “Why aren’t you frightened?” Saxton asked, strutting over to Cassie’s side. “I’ve dealt with so many people today. Four of them just aren’t that scary.”

  “What about five?” an eerily familiar woman’s voice asked, “I heard what you said about refusing to destroy the contract, so now I will destroy it. Even if I destroy you with it!” Electra formed a blue fireball and shot it at the distraught Cassie, flinging her several yards away.

  Electra appeared above Cassie. “I’ve been practicing magic for literally thousands of years.” she warned, brushing the dirt off of her light blue uniform, “You barely have a year! Your magic can’t beat me. I thought I would be content with having saved my brother, but there’s a bigger problem now, and I need to make deals to fix it. Now destroy the contract, or be destroyed.”

  “Electra.” Cassie grunted, “Stop this, or we all will be destroyed.”

  Electra cackled. “You mean the Scarrcedenhogg!” Electra bellowed, “That is simple! To destroy the destroyer of Reality, you send it out of Reality, so it can’t destroy. All we need to do, is cast a spell to do just that. No one has to return to the Death Realm, and Reality is saved! Bette
r yet, the ‘bad guys’ will be the heroes, and you and your sidekicks will become the number one hated group in existence for trying to stop us! Your living, feeling, remains will be scattered amongst the realms, so everyone gets a piece to torture! It will be an amazing marketing opportunity; I’ll be rich, and able to deal all I want!”

  “A spell that powerful could destroy us all!” Cassie gasped, sitting up. “You think I don’t know the risks?” Electra snorted, “Thousands of years, remember? And I still have the complexion of a child!”

  “No.” Cassie asserted, “If you are evil enough to even make a threat like that, you deserve what you are running from!” Cassie threw out her arm and blasted Electra back. Electra caught her footing and screamed, “I AM NOT EVIL!!!!!!!!”

  Electra was gone. No, she was next to Reflectra. “Eliminate them.” she ordered. “YOU HEARD THE WOMAN!” Reflectra screamed into the air, “ATTACK!!!”

  The birds flew around faster, and a giant one soared out of the mix. “That’s not a bird!” Chrissy stuttered, reaching for her bow and arrow. “It’s The Dragon!” Arthur shouted, “Find shelter!”

  The group ran as Stella waved her hand, producing an arrow. “Can you run and shoot, Chrissy?” she asked, looking over. Chrissy nodded as she shot her last arrow into the air. Stella tossed the arrow to Chrissy, who promptly shot it at the dragon. The ice hit the beast and froze its snout.

  Jason shook his head, shattering the ice. “More arrows Stella!” Chrissy yelped, holding out her hand. About twenty arrows landed in it. Chrissy smiled and shot a steady stream at the dragon.

  Cassie looked back and saw the frozen dragon fall to the ground, shattering into billions of pieces on contact with the ground. Dragon down, but the birds were coming. Cassie scanned the horizon and saw the castle-towers. She shut her eyes, and ran smack into a wall.

  “A little warning next time would be nice!” Charlie grouched, rubbing his nose. They were inside the tower of the building and could see the mist they left behind. The birds returned to the sky, and Cassie could see the villains arguing as they walked over the dragon pieces. Electra waved her hand in an offhand way, as if she was mocking Cassie, and The Dragon reformed.

  “We can’t beat them.” Cassie acknowledged, depressingly, “As long as Electra is on their side, we can’t beat them. We have to destroy the contract.”

  “I have a better idea.” Stella smiled, reaching in her purse, “I might have snatched this up in the Realm of the Untold. It’s a spell book. I was reading through it after Sisilla gave me my power and I found something.” Stella handed the book to Cassie and pointed at the page.

  “A curse?” Cassie questioned. “The Curse of Fire and Ice!” Stella cheered, “WE can do it together! It freezes the whole realm, and everyone in it, except those who we don’t want to cover in a layer of ice. The ingredients are even perfect!”

  Cassie read the list, “Ice of a royal, fire from the dark, and the worst version of a hero? This is so creepy! It is like it was written for this moment!” “Maybe it was, but are we gonna do it or not!” Cassie smiled and snapped her fingers. “That was a protection spell on this room.” Cassie explained, “DO NOT LEAVE THIS ROOM UNTIL WE SAY IT IS SAFE.”

  Having warned her friends, Cassie vanished with Stella and the book.

  The Curse Of Fire And Ice

  “I told you we should have subdued her powers first!” Saxton yelled at the others. “A lot of good it did you!” Mr. Angla shot back, “We should have sent my brothers to peck out their eyes before that overgrown flying salamander!”

  “It would take me only five seconds to swallow you whole, Birdie.” Jason snarled, leaning in close, “I bet you taste just like an overgrown chicken.”

  “Stop arguing, you fools!” Reflectra ordered, “I gathered you all because I thought you could handle this task!”

  “Enough!” Electra snapped, “You were all too busy bickering to realize that the enemy is right behind us!” The six villains whirled around and saw Cassie and Stella, smiling.

  Without speaking, the two exchanged a glance and cast their arms towards Reflectra. Stella’s ice and Cassie’s fire combined together, forming a blue stream of light, hitting Reflectra in the chest. “What are you doing?!” she screamed, looking at the beam, “Help me! I can’t move! Help!” Reflectra looked down and saw she was vanishing. "HELP!!!” she wailed as she began to turn into dust. The wind blew, and Reflectra was whisked away in the form of fine blue crystals that drifted up into the sky. The crystals exploded in the air, and when Stella and Cassie looked down, Everything, and everyone, was covered in a thick layer of blueish ice and frozen solid.

  “We did it! Oh yeah! We did it!” Stella boasted, “You bet your MAMA that we did it!” Stella began firing icicles into the air as she twirled around the icy plain until Cassie set her hand on her shoulder. “Death is still open.” she reminded, “So we didn’t do it yet. Now we have to go pick up the others and close the gates before our friends thaw out.” Cassie waved her hand, transporting her and Stella back to the castle-tower room.

  “Did it work?” Charlie asked when they appeared. “The window is frosted over, Char-Char.” Stella sassed, “What do you think?” Cassie smirked and waved her hands. “I’m going to send us as close to the gates as I can.” Cassie revealed as they transformed into smoke and blew out into the sky, drifting through the air and to the gates. The group materialized several yards away from the target.

  “Whoa!” Charlie yelped, falling to the ground, “You couldn’t leave a few ice-free spots!” Charlie stood up and Cassie walked over. “We wouldn’t have had to do this curse in the first place if it wasn’t for you promising Electra I would destroy the contract!” she snapped, “Next time, think before you act! Ugh!”

  Will walked over to the exit and looked around. The seven locks rested on the ground, dirt thrown about, and a blue sliver cracking out from underneath one. The only question now was how they were going to get seven gigantic locks back on the Gates of Death.

  Kingdom Plantae Part Two

  Betty, Riley, King Albert, and Miss Teacher raced through the still-growing jungle, trying to figure out where the portal was. “WAIT!” Riley shouted, “Do I smell strudel?”

  Sure enough, a purple mist set in, smelling strongly of the German pastry. When it cleared, Susan, the twins, and an unconscious James were with them. “Susan?” Betty questioned, squinting her eyes, “How? Why are you here?”

  “Cassie sent us!” Vanessa chirped, “Bad guys were at the Death Realm, so she poofed us away!” Susan nodded and ran to her husband. “We need to find a doctor!” she cried, looking around, “Where the heck are we?!”

  “New York City, probably around your apartment somewhere.” Betty summed up, “Long story short, plants are back alive, so is Mother Nature. She wants to use the Silver Shadow here to destroy us all. Her son, the mayor, Charlie’s parents, my husband, and Charlotte’s husband are trying to slow her down so we can get this dagger as far away as possible. We are in danger as long as we are on this planet, so we need to get this knife out of the realm A.S.A.P.!” Betty took a breath; she usually didn’t talk that much.

  Susan’s mouth hung wide open, distracting her long enough for a tree to sprout under James and lift him up into the sky. “JAMES!!” she howled, but it was too late. He was out of sight.

  “Susan!” Betty called, “You have to hope Cassie can seal Death and send everyone, and everything back. We have to keep moving!”

  Susan reluctantly took Vander and Vanessa and ran in the way they thought the portal should be, vowing she’d be back for James.

  The group hurried through the forest, until they heard a sound similar to that of a vacuum cleaner. “The portal!!!” Susan shouted, “Vander, Vanessa? Can you clear a path?”

  The twins looked in the direction of where the noise was coming from, but didn’t do anything. They didn’t have too. The wind picked up, and the trees were uprooted and sucked in the crack. A great big, blue cyclone now
whirled where the portal had been.

  “All of the returning souls must have destabilized the portal, turning it into a blue hole!” King Albert yelled.

  In reality, that was only half the case. The other part was that the Scarrcedenhogg recently paid a visit to the next realm through the crack, and swallowed it whole. The blue hole now was leading straight into the digestive track of the giant beast, and would continue feeding it until it returns to Death.

  Mother Nature regained her consciousness and began to get up. “What?!” she screeched, struggling against the tight vines, “Who did this?!” “I did, mother.” Arcane confessed, walking out of the brush, “I can’t let you try this again.”

  “Why do you care about these humans so much?” Arcanala asked, still trying to free herself. “Because it is the right thing to do, and whether or not you like it, I am going to want to marry someone someday, and you can bet my future wife will not be something that can’t talk!”

  Arcane flew back as a tree slammed into him. “I can enchant a deer so she can talk if you want!” Arcanala offered, standing up, “I’m disappointed that you thought you could beat me again, Arcane. Now give me the Silver Shadow!”

  Arcane smiled as his mother was hit over the head with a tire iron. “Good job Mayor.” Arcane congratulated as she fell to the ground. He waved his hands and more plants encircled her. “Now what?” Paul asked, coming out from where he was hiding.