Max Blizzard and The Scroll of Fate

by Patrick Hatt

  “A replica Scroll of Fate appears in Bazooka’s hand with no power what so ever.” Max remained covered in his cloak while Bazooka banged on it. He sighed as Bazooka stopped and began laughing once again.

  “Shiny is back. Shiny and me. Two as we. Yippee.” Bazooka peeked under Max’s cloak at him. “Want to hear a joke? What do you call a rabbit with no hair?”

  “A hare.” Max rolled his eyes.

  “Shiny, I think he’s heard this one before. That is no fair.”

  Max retracted his cloak while keeping a tight grip on the Scroll of Fate. He smiled as Bazooka floated away, wishing he could take him with, but he knew he would cause too much of a ruckus where he wanted to go. He then scrawled onto the Scroll of Fate and a portal opened once again behind him.

  “Bazooka, I promise to fix this and have you back with your kids soon,” Max whispered.

  He stepped backward into the portal and nearly fell over as he ran into his adopted father.

  “Max? Is it really you? We thought you were dead. Come here.” Jeremiah wrapped his arms around Max. “Honey, he’s home. Max is here.”

  His adopted mother sprinted into the room and threw her arms around him.

  “Guys, can’t breathe.” Max grinned as they backed away.

  “Why haven’t you visited in years? Where were you?”

  “Mom, that is a long story. One I’m going to tell you after I write one more thing and then take a nap.” Max chose his words carefully, whispering them as he wrote. “This fate stays the true fate until I decide otherwise.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Honey, he clearly is exhausted. Let the boy rest.” Jeremiah ushered his wife from the room before turning back to Max. “But I expect you to tell us everything before you leave to another realm again.”

  Max nodded and then flopped down on his bed. He kicked off his shoes and curled up while ensuring the Scroll of Fate stayed tightly in his grasp. He remained determined to keep his promise to Trudesile and longed to see his true friends again, but he feared using the wrong wording and wanted to get it correct the first time. His comfort rose in the safety of his room while he listened to the whispers of his adopted parents. He then drifted off to sleep with only thoughts of how to nudge fate running through his mind.

  Chapter 18

  Nudged

  Max scoured over the papers before him one final time, ensuring that his wording held no loopholes. His fear over making things worse remained on his mind but his adopted parents’ faith in him urged him on. He kept hidden from them that things would be far different for them in the other fate. He knew they would still support him, but he would rather them enjoy the time that they had with each other than to worry.

  “Max, it’s been a week. You can’t put it off any longer. You must save everyone.”

  “I know, Mom.” Max enjoyed her arms around him while thoughts of Evienne doing the same filled his mind.

  “And you can’t say you aren’t rested. So, son, it’s time you crap or get off the pot.” Jeremiah grinned at him. “Other people have to use it you know.”

  “Ever since Earth’s realm got imagination all your father can do is make poop jokes.”

  “But you still love me.” Jeremiah wrapped his arm around his wife and the pair stepped back to the doorway. “Time to go, Max.”

  “Thanks for everything. I love you both.”

  “See you on the other side.” Jeremiah two finger saluted Max and then the pair stepped from the room.

  Max stuck the first paper beside the Scroll of Fate and copied it word for word. He then ripped it to shreds while what he had written sunk into the scroll and vanished. He swiped the shreds from the table with his arms before placing the second paper beside the scroll.

  “Now, it is time I finally wrote something on this thing after a week.” Max took one last look over his wording and then began to write.

  He sighed as he wrote the final word and then clasped the Scroll of Fate in his hand. His body ached all over and he toppled to the floor. He shook uncontrollably as the world around him spun and then he awoke back on Ogerton in the exact spot and time where he had vanished from before.

  “I will have those pieces.” Adam reached out for the four pieces as they slipped from Max’s grasp.

  “Max! Don’t let him have them. Use it.” The being tried to stop Adam from reaching them but failed to do so.

  Adam reverted to his human form and floated above the chaos below him. He swatted the being away and laughed.

  “I can now restore the mind of my one true love and you will never again have her.” Adam snapped his fingers and a gigantic lightning bolt hit the being, causing him to revert to his alien form. His focus turned to Max. “I told you it was futile to defy me. I’ve seen every ending and I know how everything plays out. Take solace in the fact that very soon you won’t remember any of this though because soon nothing will exist but Eve, Dina and I. I might allow my pet to live for kicks.”

  “You’ll…” Max pretended to want to threaten him as he disappeared. He stayed on the ground a few seconds longer and then made a cheetah appear. Max jumped on its back and it ran him to Lester’s pot.

  “Lester. Trudesile. We have to go.” Max climbed the stairs and grabbed them as their hands reached out from under the gold.

  “Go where? He has the pieces. Everything is lost,” the being mumbled.

  “That’s what you think. Crazy Bazooka gave me an idea.” Max pointed to the Cup. “Lester, if you would.”

  Lester created a portal beneath the Cup and it appeared out of another above them. Max caught it and then pointed to the inside.

  “Get in. We haven’t time.” Max waited while the being went back inside.

  “I trust you know what you are doing,” the being whispered.

  “Not yet. But I will.” Max pulled Trudesile from the pot and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her and then smiled over the stunned response across her face.

  “Am I still…”

  “I know where I’m going now. Thank your other self for that.” Max kept his arms around Trudesile while she tried to figure out what he had planned.

  “Did you break your lovey dovey spell?” Lester asked.

  “Nope. I never did a thing. At least that is what I thought until I repeated what Trudesile and I did last week. You were right. I just needed to give a nudge. Turns out, even bad memories play a part.”

  “Is anyone else lost?” Lester questioned.

  “Max, they are coming!” Trudesile pointed over his shoulder to an army of first beings approaching.

  “Don’t let go.” Max held her tighter and eyed Lester. “To Olympus, if you would. The base of the mountain to be precise.”

  “What’s there?”

  “Everyone.”

  Lester shrugged and opened a portal beneath them. It sucked them in and they now stood at the base of the towering mountain on Olympus with many of the freed beings they had saved lingering around them.

  “What can these guys do, Max? And not that I mind, but why aren’t you letting go of me?” Trudesile questioned.

  “Lester, take one step forward.”

  Lester hesitantly did as instructed and then his eyes widened. “By me pot of gold. We saved them all. Wow.”

  Max spun Trudesile around and then let her go as he neared Lester. His memories stayed at the forefront of his mind while Lester’s continued to come back and Trudesile only stared at all of their family and friends before them.

  “Scallywag, you’ve got some nerve leaving me and those youngins there while saving everyone else.”

  “Mom.” Max ran to Evienne and wrapped his arms around her.

  “What is this for?”

  “You died. It took me forever to fix it.” Max hugged her tighter while everyone crowded around them.

  “Died? Max, Mommy has been here all along,” Mimi insisted.

  “Yes, to you she has, short stuff.” Max hugged Mimi and then turned to face e
veryone.

  “Max, where’s Dad?” Trudesile asked. “What is going on?”

  “I think that’s a question we’d all like answered. Lester?” Brozen knew from his grinning that Lester had an idea.

  “We did it.” Max pulled the folded-up Scroll of Fate from his pocket and showed it to everyone. “We completed the Scroll of Fate and once we finish Adam, we are going to destroy it for good.”

  “Max, my boy, I haven’t the foggiest how you did it without God, but we need to destroy that now.”

  “No, Dad. We may need it to nudge things along.” Max placed it back in his pocket, ready to attack any ruler who thought otherwise. “All except for Davy and the kids died when Adam attacked Camelot. I know it seems fake, but you did.”

  “Even me?”

  “No, Brozen, you were with us.” Lester rolled his eyes.

  “Thanks to Trudesile’s urging I found another way. Lester increased his portal ability. I released my hold over myself and used my past. He then created a portal beneath every one of you and I created duplicates at the exact same moment. For all Adam knew, and any of us, you all still died there. I wiped my memory as soon as I wrote it and had it so it would only come back to me when my want to kiss Trudesile overtook me.” Max blushed while Mimi giggled at him.

  “Smart thinking. That way nothing besides maybe talking on our clones’ part changed.” Dregg nodded in approval as he thought it over.

  “Trudesile, your father had to be taken for it to work. He, Dina, Eve, and Bazooka are all in Adam’s grasp at the Observer Realm. It would only mess things up to try and save them like the others. But now, thanks to possessed Bandaid, we are going to end him together. Actually, I have a far worse fate planned.”

  “Max, if he is in the Observer Realm, then how come he can’t see us?” Brozen questioned.

  “This fate device that surrounds you has an invisible barrier that prevents you all from leaving until I arrive and prevents anyone, anywhere from seeing inside. Even someone as powerful as Adam.”

  “Scallywag, you really thought this through. I’m not even going to pretend to grasp it, but you’re off the hook for leaving me there.” Davy Jones patted Max on the back. “Just don’t do it again, land lubber.”

  “I know you are here. Trick me, will you.” Adam’s voice echoed across Olympus, rattling the entire surface.

  “He’s here. Max, write him out of existence,” King Arthur declared.

  “No. That never ends well. Trust me. This is one fight we are going to win together. And I mean, together.” Max held the Cup of Kings to his mouth and whispered to it. He then threw it into the air and it hovered over everyone. Max then grabbed Bandaid and covered him while the Cup sucked every other ruler and being beneath it inside of it.

  “Max, what did you do, dearie?”

  “Have you gone nuts?” Lester asked.

  “I said I had a plan from possessed Bandaid.” Max grinned. “Now the being in the Cup has the power of everyone. It may not be enough to beat Adam, but it’s enough to distract him and beat Sir Dreadvent.”

  “What?” Trudesile asked.

  “Lester, you and Trudesile go to the Observer Realm and rescue Dina, Bazooka, Eve, and God. Bring God back here and Bandaid and I will do the rest. Cup, do your thing.”

  “But I can’t get there. No one can,” Lester stated.

  “No one. But maybe two or three.” Max made a hammer appear above the fate device and then pointed to a portal opening while it hovered there.

  “Chicken legs, this better be good.” Tru smiled as she and her family stepped through.

  “Sorry about this.” Max smirked while Tru and Morris were sucked into the Cup of Kings. “That completes everything.”

  “What did you do to Mom?” Carter demanded answers.

  “She’s fine. But we need your help. Lester, fill them in. It’s time. Let’s end this once and for all.” Max allowed the hammer to fall and smash the fate device.

  “There you are. I want the scroll pieces. Give them to me.”

  Duncan zipped around and grabbed everyone besides Max and Bandaid.

  “I trust you have a plan, dearie.”

  “Just wait.” Max positioned himself in front of Bandaid while Adam lunged toward them. His body grew tense as Adam swung at him and then it quickly faded when Adam bounced off him.

  “So you used it. No matter. It will wear off sometime and I will kill everyone you care about until…” Adam’s eyes bulged as Max held the complete Scroll of Fate up to him. “It can’t be. This isn’t possible. I have seen every fate. This wasn’t one of them.”

  “You didn’t see my fake pieces and you didn’t see me with this. I guess you didn’t see every fate. And how about this. Beings of all the realms, take him.” Max waved to the Cup and it engulfed itself in a huge golden glow. The glow burst from it across Olympus and a golden titan formed, towering over Adam.

  “Haven’t we already done this dance?” Adam sighed as the titan stomped on him. He then hatefully glared up at it as black fluid wept from his body while he lay in a crater. He sucked it back within himself and took the form he had on Ogerton, growing to match the height of the titan.

  “Time we split you up,” the being whispered, concentrating its combined power on Adam.

  “Not a chance. My power has surpassed that. Shows how weak you still are in comparison.”

  “Just what I thought,” Max whispered.

  “Dearie, what exactly do you need me to do?” Bandaid asked.

  “We’re going to do what we did before, and we are going to do it right on the first try this time.” Max scooped Bandaid up in his arms and then made a dragon appear. He hopped on its back and it flew them into the sky as Adam and the being’s blows shook all of Olympus.

  “There they go,” Allison pointed.

  “Forget, Max. He has a plan and we have to trust him,” Trudesile stated. “Allison, grab Lester and think of this place.” Trudesile brought forth a portrait of the Observer Realm from her mind. “Mary, you grab them both and project yourself there. That just may be what we need to open a portal. Sarah, be ready for whatever they throw at us when we step through. Carter, Duncan, and I will take out whatever Adam has waiting for us. And above all, be careful. I don’t want to get on your mother’s bad side.”

  “Got that right.” Lester snickered.

  Everyone did as instructed and, after much concentration, a portal opened before them. Sarah marched through with the others closely behind her. Trudesile turned into a gorilla at first sight of a dozen first beings guarding her caged family. The group huddled behind her and Sarah while each of the first beings took the form of the most menacing beings they could think of.

  “Duncan, kill Bazooka.” Trudesile tossed him a knife.

  Duncan shrugged and sped toward him while she and Sarah tried to fend off the first beings. Lester dropped pots of gold in front of many of them to slow them down. Mary projected herself around the room to confuse them. Allison kept hopping through portals to avoid them while Carter flew around the room, getting his hits in where he could.

  “Do it, chap,” Bazooka mumbled.

  Duncan waited for the air to finish being sucked from his cage and then as it rushed in through a hole he shoved the knife through. The knife stabbed Bazooka in the chest and he burst into energy. He quickly reformed within Dina’s cage and fried the inside with electricity from every appendage.

  “Thanks,” Dina’s raspy voice whispered. She then stood up and glared at the other first beings. “Get off my sister.” Rainbow beams stretched from her bald head and yanked the few beings away from Trudesile.

  “And don’t forget your sister’s kids.” Lester tried not to laugh as Dina stared at him in confusion. “Hey, it’s kinda true.”

  “This may hurt, Dad.” Trudesile turned into a rhino and rammed the cage holding God. She pushed against it with all of her might but failed to break it.

  “I am really starting to hate that guy.” Bazooka s
ighed and moved before Trudesile, allowing her to stomp him. He appeared in God’s cage and let loose another round of electricity, busting it from the inside.

  “Trudesile, you can’t complete the scroll without…”

  “Max has already done it. Beats me how though.” Trudesile grabbed God and helped him to his feet. “Should we free, Mom? She looks like Eve, but I think Trinny is inside of her.”

  “She is whole and can end this. If her mind hasn’t been too corrupted that is.” God wrestled over freeing her as many first beings neared him.

  “Gramps, get down.” Carter flew over him and whacked a tentacle away that neared God.

  “Gramps?”

  “Another long story, Dad.”

  “For all knowing, you are sure out of the loop. By me pot of…” Lester tried to laugh but Allison grabbed him and yanked him through a portal.

  “Don’t get cocky,” Allison scolded.

  “One more time, chaps?” Bazooka asked.

  “Not this time, rabbit. You aren’t getting all the glory.” Lester nodded to Allison and they both made a portal appear on either side of Eve’s cage, causing the ends to vanish.

  “I’m free. Finally I can end all of those that oppose me.” Eve cackled as she swung her golden hair to the side and her menacing smile glowed almost as bright.

  “Great,” Lester mumbled.

  Eve then snapped her fingers and every first being froze in place. “I never said you were the ones opposing me.” She bent down and hugged Dina and Trudesile. “My girls.”

  “I think we’re the odd two out, chap,” Bazooka whispered.

  “Aging due to time differences, splitting in two, reforming in two, some still split in two, grandkids from one older split in two. One big family reunion me and me pot of gold are glad to avoid. Gives a leprechaun a headache.” Lester laughed while God and Eve had their moment with their family.

  “Dad, Max wanted you. He has a plan for Adam. We have to go back,” Trudesile stated.

  “Let’s go.” Allison grabbed Lester and then Mary followed her sister’s lead.