by Patrick Hatt
“How many realms have you ticked off?”
“Break your fall and get the others out of the way.”
Bazooka thought fast and created a giant mattress beneath him as Trudesile let him go. He landed on it and then jumped toward Max and Lester.
“About time,” Lester mumbled.
“Problems of our own, chaps. Now skedaddle.”
Bazooka pushed them along and the trio scurried away as Trudesile turned into a whale and crushed the Atlantians as she fell. She quickly reverted to her human form and ran to the others.
“Why haven’t you...”
“The water devices don’t work,” Max replied.
“Where were you?” Lester asked.
“Fighting those chaps.” Bazooka pointed to the army of plant creatures coming at them.
“I guess we should have taken Brozen up on his offer. We may end up in a bubble,” Lester said.
“Maybe I can die and go back and get some help.”
“No. We can’t risk any of their lives,” Max stated.
“Then what do we do?” Bazooka asked.
“Stay close and be ready to run,” Max whispered.
The group huddled together as plant creatures grew closer on one side of them and Atlantians reformed on the other side of them.
“Good. She’s here. I can be rid of all three of you,” King Yenny declared.
“Atlantians, this is our fight. Get lost,” Huntle demanded, disgust in his eyes.
“King Yenny, didn’t you say you would wipe out many realms after you beat us, starting with Shangri-La?” Max questioned.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I have nothing against those lowly life forms.”
“I heard you say it. I’d bet me pot of gold on it,” Lester added.
“Huntle, didn’t you want to kill Brozen just for being an Atlantian? I think you said something about their wretched race not being trusted. Who are you going to believe?”
“We made peace with them. We gave them a means to leave their realm. They aren’t going to believe you,” King Yenny declared.
“You gave them what you needed to give them to keep them docile and on your side. That’s how Atlantians work.”
“Destroy them,” King Yenny demanded.
“Eager to do that, wasn’t he? Could the truth hurt?” Lester grinned as Huntle glared at them and then at King Yenny.
“Worthless beings. Sir Dreadvent should have let you rot. We’ll finish this,” King Yenny stated.
“Told you so,” Max added.
“Atlantians! Destroy the Atlantians,” Huntle shouted.
“Go!” Max grabbed Trudesile by the hand and the pair scurried off with Lester and Bazooka following behind.
The Atlantians and the plant creatures fight raged on as they ignored the group, each side destroying the other and then reforming.
“Max, where are we going?” Trudesile asked.
“We’re following Lester.”
“This may not end well,” Bazooka joked.
Lester smiled and ran by them. They kept up with his pace and then paused to rest as he leaned against a tree.
“No time for shade,” Bazooka stated.
“What do you notice about this tree that none of the others have?”
“It’s a tree,” Bazooka replied.
“All that time there and you don’t see it? Such a simple rabbit.”
“It looks like the tree in Eden,” Trudesile stated.
“The leaves are bent in the form of apples,” Max added.
“Well I’ll be.” Bazooka noticed it as well and jumped up, yanking off a leaf. “It has to be one of them.”
“Maybe it’s the whole tree,” Max stated.
“One way to find out.” Trudesile turned into a giant ape and ripped the tree from the ground. She shook it until all the leaves fell off and then the tree vanished.
Trudesile reverted to human form and the group watched the torn page float down from the sky above. Max reached up for it as it neared them. His fingers nearly grasped it when a portal appeared overhead. He could only watch as a rainbow whip of hair came through, wrapping around the page piece and yanking it back through the portal.
“I told you it was futile to fight me.” Adam’s voice echoed from the portal. “And now if you’d touch this and activate it.”
“Never.”
“Love. The hardest act to follow.” Adam sighed and then he started laughing. “Well this is an interesting wrinkle. Turns out I picked right. And you said my plan would fail. See you momentarily.”
The portal closed, and the group waited for him to return them to his made-up fate. They each dreaded it, hating that they had come so close only to lose it. Trudesile nodded to them and they knew it was coming.
“I’m really starting to hate that guy,” Bazooka stated.
“Here we go again,” Lester grumbled.
“We were so close,” Trudesile said.
“We’ll end this.” Max grabbed Trudesile’s hand and then Lester’s. The trio closed their eyes and then opened them to find Dina wrapping her arms around Max in the darkness.
“Max, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
The pair embraced and Trudesile stayed focused on the portal before them, ignoring their kissing.
“Let’s go before we get stuck here,” Trudesile stated.
“Does anyone else find it confusing having two different sets of reality in their head?” Lester questioned, eyeing Dina. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“It was easier before this. But I wouldn’t change meeting my Maxy for the world.”
“And I you.”
“I think he whammied them again,” Lester whispered.
“Let’s just get this done.” Trudesile marched through the portal and the others followed behind her.
The group found themselves back in the courtyard of Momentus and they stared at the Momentiums, searching for any sign of Adam, Oxom, or Bazooka.
“This is making my beard hair stand on end.” Lester grew disturbed over how they never looked their way. He found it even more disturbing when they began humming, giving him the horrible memory of being stuck cleaning in the bottom half of the sandwich.
“I think he just activated level six.” Trudesile ignored Max’s shunning of her once again and watched in horror as the beings fell to their knees and began cleaning the courtyard floor.
“I’m so not doing this again. If he wants me to just be than he can get his just being butt down here and help. You hear me?” Max shouted to the sky.
“No need to shout, chap.” Bazooka appeared overhead and fell to his feet beside the pair.
“Where did you go?” Lester questioned.
“Only dying about fifty times. This place is huge. But I’ve found him. You all have to go before Adam shows up. He’s not far behind.”
“What about the piece…”
“Go.” Bazooka grabbed Dina and breathed right in her face. He then turned her away and her head erupted in a glow. “Grab onto her. I’ll keep that chap busy while you fix this. It’s only a matter of time before he has us on our knees cleaning again. I can’t take that.”
“You and me both.” Lester grabbed Dina.
“There you are, and you led me straight to them.” Adam grinned, appearing behind the group.
“Mom!” Dina yelled.
“Get out of here, my daughters. You are our only hope.”
“Hope. Such an overused word. Your hope construct has no…” Adam grumbled to himself as the four disappeared. “I am starting to find you more than a mere annoyance, my pet.”
Bazooka smiled and waved to him. He pointed up seconds before a pot of gold crushed him. His energy floated off and Adam quickly followed, keeping a tight grasp on Trinny. He hid his smirk as he continued their chase, remaining prepared to do whatever it took to get to the fourth piece of the Scroll of Fate.
Chapter 11
Rebirth
Oxom
hovered over a control panel that his rainbow light revealed as it shined upon it. He began typing in sequences and smiling as they took hold. He stepped aside so Mr. Lions could see, taking delight in the fear in his eyes. Oxom wanted to strangle him for his betrayal, but restrained himself, determining that this was a far better punishment.
“Oxom, this is insane.” Mr. Lions pleaded with Oxom to stop as he tried to squirm free from the binds holding him to the wall.
“This is how it must be. We must end all life who have seen this. Then we must end all who have escaped and any they have told. I truly don’t want it this way. But we must. I refuse to let my people go back to such a state.”
“You can’t. Olympus will come at us with everything they have. We can’t stop all the realms.”
“Yes we can. If it weren’t for the human and the leprechaun, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. So you have them to thank. No one could leave before they came here and created the exit point. But their exit point will also be their undoing.”
Oxom fiddled with buttons on his holographic machine further. The screen then read level seven had been reached and bars beneath it began to load once again.
“No one can survive that. You’ll kill us all.”
“Not all. Just many. It’s a sad fate, but we can start again. We’ll choose a being that breeds faster next time to raise our numbers quickly. It will be okay, Mr. Lions. Well, maybe not for you. You’ll be the first to be drained for your betrayal.”
Max, Lester, and Trudesile appeared before Oxom while Dina appeared beside Mr. Lions, instantly strapped to the same wall.
“You will not stop me.”
Max, Lester, and Trudesile had no ability to speak. They instantly fell to the floor and began whistling while scrubbing the floor with their bare hands as if they had a rag.
“Fight it. He’s going to cause a war of the realms. He’s going to destroy Olympus.” Mr. Lions struggled even more to break free.
“Mr. Lions, what is this?”
“This is where you, he, and a few others with no potential give your life so the rest of us can survive.” Oxom’s head glowed and then it engulfed his entire body. His eyes glowed even brighter while he peered at each section of the wall in the circular room. He brought forth a citizen of Momentus with each look, every one of them in a docile state and strapped to the wall.
Max eyed Dina, his forced love for her rising with each passing second. He pushed out his cloak and stopped scrubbing but still failed to move. He forced it further, covering Lester and Trudesile. Max inched his hand toward Trudesile’s and their fingers touched. He did the same to Lester and then the group focused their collective imagination.
“I’m not sure we can hold this,” Lester mumbled.
“We have to,” Max replied.
“He’s reached level eight. You have to hurry. He’s going to destroy everything.” Mr. Lions could sense his essence draining as the machine charged to level nine. He looked to Dina, fear filling her eyes, as she gazed toward Max. “You can help them. Free yourself.”
“I can’t. I’m stuck.” Dina’s eyes filled with tears as her body ached.
“You must. Break free.”
“It’s too…” Dina slipped unconscious, lying lifeless against the wall.
“Nice try, Mr. Lions. But none of you, freewill or not, can stop this process once enacted.”
“But I can, chap.” Bazooka appeared overhead and shot lightning from his toes. The bolts hit Oxom and knocked him to the floor. The machine flickered after his head stopped shining and everyone on the wall toppled to the floor.
“Now!” Trudesile rolled out from under the cloak and turned into an ape. She slammed her fist against Oxom and threw him up against the wall.
Lester popped out and flattened him with a pot of gold.
Mr. Lions grabbed Dina and dragged her aside as Max retracted his cloak and hatefully glared at Oxom. He hoped he was dead but then Oxom flung the pot of gold off himself and stood up. Trudesile tried to smash him again but he grabbed her arm, matching her strength. He then grinned and tossed Trudesile across the room.
“You have no idea the lengths I’ll go to secure the future of my race.” Oxom shot a rainbow beam from his head and whacked Lester, knocking him to the ground.
“This ends now.”
“You’re right, boy, it does.”
Max began to concentrate and bring forth as many beings as his imagination would allow, but it came to a halt after a first being whacked him in the back of the head.
“Not fair, chap.” Bazooka tried to zap the being, but another rainbow beam grabbed him and slung him against the wall.
“You’ll do just fine.” Oxom grinned at Bazooka and then turned his focus to Mr. Lions. “You should have left when you had the chance. The girl is meaningless.”
“She will stop all you have done. I know it.”
“I’ll erase her and she’ll never know the difference. She’s a strong one though. Maybe I’ll partner with her after this is all over.”
“Never going to happen.” Max stood back up and a huge assortment of beings appeared around the room, resembling many of his friends and foes.
“Such power. If only you had released it sooner.” Oxom glowed brightly and all the first beings slammed against the wall with Bazooka.
Max commanded his creations to attack but they molded with the room as everything began to spin, creating a puddle of goo. It then dispersed, and everything was as it had been before he made them appear.
“But now it is too late. Now you and your friends watch the realms fall into turmoil. You never should have come here.”
Max, Trudesile, and Lester fell to the ground, each bowing at Oxom’s feet, as the screen popped back up and level ten flashed upon it.
“Don’t do it,” Mr. Lions whispered before he, Bazooka, and the rest of the first beings faded from existence.
Adam appeared in the room with Trinny, standing directly in front of the portal. He grinned as the second piece of the Scroll of Fate floated to the ground in the spot where Mr. Lions once stood.
“Clever. That is where you two tried to hide it, up the skirt of an old man.” Adam grabbed it and held the three pieces in his hand.
“Get out of my way or be destroyed.”
“Really? You are threatening me? The one with the same power as the pair who created you?” Adam surveyed the third piece of the scroll, pretending to read it. “Nope. Never wrote a word about you becoming a galactic bad guy. Must have been in you all along. You see, Mr. Blizzard? One domino falls and many more take a different path.”
“Adam, stop him. Stop this foolish quest. If you ever really loved me…”
“I’ve always loved you. Which is why I am doing this and is why I won’t let him destroy your creations willy nilly. Only those who stand in the way of our reunion shall be destroyed. I have no intention of going further like my counterpart. Sir Dreadvent really wasted lots of time gathering an army only to have most for naught. In fact, after that battle, I’m kind of disappointed that you three couldn’t stop Oxom yourselves.” Adam snapped his fingers and the trio stood up, regaining full control of their bodies. “Sorry about that. I can still get lost in thought sometimes.”
“This will not be the end of our race. I will have my…”
“How can you listen to this nonsense day in and day out? Don’t these bad guys get a new line?” Adam kept his hand clasped together, refusing to let Oxom speak any longer.
“You know, if you weren’t such a crazy person, you wouldn’t be half bad,” Lester stated.
“Why don’t you end this? I’m sure Dad is willing to talk things out with you. We don’t have to be enemies,” Trudesile stated.
“We can get the fourth piece, put everything back the way it was, and build a relationship on trust,” Max added.
“Wow. You three have been playing the diplomat for far too long. Haven’t you heard anything I said? God stole the love of my life and he and any
one who sides with him must be dealt with. But I will spare you three if you continue to be of service.”
“Never!” Trudesile stated.
“You already have aided me three times, Miss Marick. I wouldn’t be so adamant if I were you.”
“Time we do this the hard way.” Max brought forth his cloak and then focused on his Sevestie DNA. He tried to sense Sir Dreadvent within, hoping to somehow pull him out.
“Wise move, Mr. Blizzard. But I saw that one coming. We are one. No end or beginning to either of us. All you can sense now is me.” Adam showed no fear of the group as he stood before them.
“Eat this.” Lester made three portals appear, trying to chop Adam to pieces but he only took a step ahead, unharmed by them.
“Have you grown tired of trying to stop the inevitable yet?”
“He can be stopped, kids. He…” Trinny’s hair flew around her mouth and gagged her.
“That will be enough out of you. Wives shouldn’t disobey their husbands.”
“Free her!” Trudesile turned into a snake and slithered around Adam, wrapping around his entire body.
Max and Lester both ran to his side, each making a pair of giant scissors appear to cut the hair. They failed and then Lester made a pot of gold appear. He held it in the air upside down while the coins fell over her hair, releasing it.
“By me pot of gold. Earth’s myth is based on fact. Good thing I was paying attention when Brozen told me that one.”
“Max, he can be beat. We must revert him back into two halves. Only then will you be strong enough to stop him. Seek the C…”
“The what?” Max pleaded as she remained frozen in place. He shook her after she toppled over and then reached out for Trudesile as she came flying toward him. He caught her, and the pair toppled to the ground.
“We know you aren’t invincible. We will stop you,” Max declared.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. But I can’t have such knowledge out there, especially in the hands of such nosey children.” Adam stepped aside and reached out his arm, causing Max, Lester, and Trudesile to fly to the front of the portal and hover there. He then snapped his fingers and freed Oxom from his grasp. “Do as you will. One realm isn’t the end of the world. So to speak.”