25(S2E12)-Destiny

 

25

(Season 2, Episode 12)

Destiny

“Why?!” Mel screamed at Degato, his rage bubbling over at the sight of his dead father pinned to the podium.  “Why did you let that happen?!”

“Silly little mage.  Do you think I care about any of this?” Vince asked the question rhetorically.  “I have been alive since the Crusades.  I have seen and experienced almost everything the world has to offer.”

He raised his eyebrow with a wry grin.  “But this is at least interesting.”

“What if he destroys the world?  The universe?!” Zachariah cut in, pulling himself to his feet.

Degato seemed to consider this.  “I wonder if I will finally die, or will I just float through the endless nothingness that is the void?”

“You’re a mad man.”  Mel spoke under his breath.

Degato shrugged.  “A millennium of life will do that to you.  I will give you this… it’s time to fulfill your destiny.”

Mel’s face broke from anger and turned to fear.  “What do you know of my destiny?”

Vince seemed frustrated.  “Silly nex.  I’m the oldest living vampire.  What don’t I know about destiny?”

Mel couldn’t hold his gaze and shrunk away.  “I can’t.  It would destroy the city.”

Vince seemed bored.  “Eh, suit yourself.  Cling to the old ways.  It worked out so well for these guys.”

Vince motioned toward Drum and Aodan then turned and began to walk away.

“Where in the hell are you going?!”  Zach chimed in, the rage audible in his voice.  “You’re just going to walk away?!”

Vince shook his head.  “Of course not, I’m going to find a good seat to watch.  Whatever happens next it will be the most interesting thing I’ve seen in a good, long time.”

Zachariah balled his fist but a new voice stopped him.  “Let him go, it’s not worth it.”

The words were Seamus’.  They had been so focused on the vampire that they had never seen his entrance.  He was staring down at his dead father.  Every vein in his body was bulging in a quiet and freighting rage.

“We have work to do.”  He looked up and strode toward the group.

“Seamus, I’m sorry about your-” Mel began but the large druid cut him off.

“Don’t.”  He stopped and looked down at the nex.  “You know what you have to do.”

Seamus turned toward Mary and surprised everyone.  “You’re with me, succubus.  We will give the nex time.”

 Mary looked confused.  “We will?”

“To do what?”  Zachariah broke in, feeling outside the loop.

“To destroy the chamber and close the crack before the side-stepper can get to it.” Seamus stated clearly.

“You can’t!” Stintelrep yelled, coming out from under the prosecutors table where he had been hiding.  “The city will fall!”

Seamus’ eyes looked to Mel’s and finally Mel nodded.  “Alright, but take Kahn with you.”

“The ninja?!  Never!” Seamus bellowed back.

Mel stepped up.  “Not negotiable!  She’s working for me now and every body counts!”

“Damn straight!” Zachariah stepped up into the circle.  “Let’s go get us a side-stepper!”

Silence fell over the room and everyone stared at Zachariah.  He became scared.  “What?”

****

“You can’t do this!” Zachariah yelled.  He was now firmly tied to one of the podiums and struggling to get free.  “This is bullshit!”

“We can’t let you go,” Mel said, feeling bad.  “We have no idea what the effect the other Zachariah may have on you.”

Zachariah frowned at him and Mary spoke up.  “Not to mention, you are just a man.  He could kill you.”

“You would be in the way.”  Seamus stated, ready to get on with it.

Kahn raised her eyebrow.  “For once, I agree with the druid.”

“Fuck a whole lot of that!” Zachariah countered.  “I killed a wyvern!  Have any of you killed a wyvern?!  Didn’t think so!”

“It choked on you.”  Mel retorted.

Zachariah scowled.  “You’re missing the point.  It’s dead, I’m not!”

They decided to begin ignoring him.  Mel turned toward Stintelrep.  “Call the strongest nexes in the field of levitation and place them around the city as fast as you can.  I will find a spot and begin the todesstrahl.”

Stintelrep looked horrified.  “You know that spell?  It’s forbidden?”

Mel raised an eyebrow.  “Do you know of a spell that can destroy the chamber that is not forbidden?  Now go!”

Stintelrep ran out of the room to get to his duties.

Mel turned to Seamus.  “Good luck - and I am sorry about your father.”

Seamus nodded.  “He did it to himself, but thank you.”

Seamus turned and began up the stairs and Kahn followed.  Mary turned to Zachariah.  “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Zachariah shrugged.  “That’s kinda how this stuff works…  Don’t do this.”

Mary shrugged.  “I’m lost in this world.  I’m lost with all this information.  The last two days have felt like a dream, some kind of nightmare, but I’m here, and until I wake up I have to just go with it.”

She ran off, up the stairs and left Zachariah screaming after her.

****

The side-stepper had taken his time.

Time to reflect what it had taken to bring him to this place.  He reached the final step and opened another large wooden door that opened into the top of the tower.  It was a large cylinder shaped stone room with a peaked wooden roof, just like out of a fairy tale.

At the opposite end of the room was a door-less archway and beyond was another smaller cylinder shaped room.  From within, the light in the center glowed the chamber.

He crossed the room, his resolve was steel.  He had told her he would follow her, he had told her he would rip the universe to shreds to get her back, and that was exactly what he had done.

He stopped in front of the entrance.  The shimmer of the ancient and powerful curse was so strong it thickened the air in front of him.

Once he passed through, it would be over.  No one could follow him.

The nano-machines that flooded his blood became restless, all firing in order to warn their master.  A blade formed out of his hand and he brought it up just in time to block Kahn’s sword.

She and the blade had materialized out of the shadows like a true ninja.  Any normal man would have been cleaved in two.  Zachariah, this Zachariah, was no normal man.

The bear’s roar echoed through the room and Zachariah’s doppelganger was not quick enough to stop the druid’s super strong arms, wrapping him in a restricting bear hug.  “I have you now, murderer!”

The side stepper frowned.  “I will not be stopped!”

The druid screamed in pain and released the dark Zachariah.  He was cut and bleeding in hundreds of pin prick spots.  The evil Zachariah had thousands of one inch blades protruding from him.

The side stepper’s blades retracted and the upper half of his pin stripe suit fell away, torn to shreds, “You wish to begin again?”

Kahn accepted the invitation

She leapt into action, hurling three ninja stars aimed for the side steppers head. The dark Zachariah turned and swiped his hand through the air.  A metal blade appeared and knocked the projectiles to the side.

Kahn was a half second behind her stars. The side stepper remained a step ahead parrying the next three quick and precise sword slashes.  He then formed another blade with his left hand and drove it down into the top of Kahn’s foot with precision.

She gritted her teeth and forced herself not to scream.  The dimension hopping Zachariah pulled the blade out and placed a brutal front kick to her chest, sending her flying backward through the air.

The bear roared again as Seamus came in from the dark Zachariah’s blindside and brought his massive mist into the side-stepper’s abdomen before he could defend the blow. This sent the side stepper spinning through the air and crashing back first into the hard stone wall.

Seamus rushed forward, cocking his fist back and launching it forward to end it once and for all.  The side-stepper was ready this time and ducked, letting Seamus’ fist hit and crater the wall.

He rolled forward and came to his feet behind Seamus.  In one fluid movement he spun and launched a blade from his hand at Seamus.

Seamus brought up his arm and the blade pierced his forearm and appeared on the other side.  The druid howled in pain.

Kahn pulled herself back to her feet and rushed the side-stepper.  She threw herself into the barrage, attacking with all the speed she had.  He went on the defensive, blocking each quick and well placed stroke but only just barely. Her speed was pushing him to his limit which was interesting to the side stepper. He waited for the opening he knew would come.

She stepped in and took a big backhand swing and the side stepper found his opening sinking his blade deep into her chest. Her body went ridged with the blow and the dark Zachariah smiled.

Suddenly the ninja was not there anymore and he had his blade sunk deep in what seemed to be a log which dropped to the floor with a thud.

The side-stepper’s eyes went wide as he spun all too late.  Kahn’s illusion had worked and her blade impaled the side-stepper with little resistance.

****

Zachariah had begun to wiggle.

At first it was violent and uncontrolled but then he noticed the podium was actually loose.  He had begun a rhythmic movement back and forth.  If he could overturn the podium, he could free himself.

At least that was the idea.

He had no idea what he would do after he got free but he could not be left out of this.  He had to participate, had to find out what was going on.  He couldn’t let Mary face this alone, regardless of her powers.

Not to mention, he felt responsible.  After all, the bad guy had been him in the end.  Even though Zachariah was not the killer, he was, given the right circumstances, apparently very capable of it.

Suddenly the podium tipped forward sending Zachariah crashing face first into the floor.  The podium followed and broke.

It hurt, but he was free…

****

Mary had such high hopes.  She had planned to help, to put off dealing with the waves of emotions and revelations that had been hitting her non-stop for two days.  This proved too difficult for her.

She had gotten to the top of the stairs and frozen as she watched some twisted evil version of her lover battle a ninja and a druid for the sake of the universe.  It just became too much.  What was she supposed to do?

Even worse, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that everything Mel had told her was true.  Not just the succubus part but the changing mind part as well.  She had already begun to feel the slip.  Whatever had happened to bring her back from the dead only minutes ago had taken a lot of energy.  She was already becoming someone new.  Soon the person she was would cease to exist and would be replaced.

Her love of Zachariah was fading.

She also knew his never would, like her tortured husband.  If she continued, Zachariah would end up being another mindless follower.  So, what now?

How could she help?

Suddenly, Kahn’s blade struck true and it appeared to be over.  The ninja had done it. The side-stepper stumbled as if to fall.

Mary couldn’t help the tears from forming, in a twisted way she was watching Zachariah die.

Then his legs strengthened and he smiled.  He looked up at Kahn and the sword disintegrated.  The hilt fell to the floor with a clang and even the ninja’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“Apparently you were not listening earlier,” He explained.  “The machines constantly repair my body.  They also repel attackers.  I am immortal.”

A blade stabbed out from his hand and through the ninja’s shoulder.  She howled.  “You however, are not.”

Mary’s mind suddenly cleared.  As the side-stepper formed another sword to finish the ninja off, Mary began to walk forward.  Her problems, and Zachariah’s problems, she could solve them once and for all.

The side-stepper noticed her and turned, raising an eyebrow as she strode to him.   “And what is it you think you are doing?”

“Breaking up with you,” she said, and then stepped in and kissed the side-stepper.

Quick thinking from the confused succubus, using her kiss to attack the side-stepper, but will it work and put an end to his reign of terror?  Sources say, probably not… but here’s hoping!

Next time!

Stranger Things; Zachariah’s Trial

TO BE CONTINUED…