G66
After the man in the gray hat had left them, Jane and Ray stared at each other. One of the peons immediately responded as instructed to him previously. He looked at Jane and said, "He wants your blood, not the boy’s." The other peon joined in eerily, accompanying the first simultaneously as he said, "Not the boy’s." Ray called out to Jane in protest but he was silenced quickly by the name the peons spoke. "The man in the gray hat says silence Ray." Both versions of the same voice were raised and then fell again, "The man in the gray hat doesn’t ask for much, Ray." Ray struggled without so much as a whimper escaping from his borrowed lungs. The peons turned back to Jane, "Ray will have to die though, if you do not self inflict... giving your blood freely... as a sign of submission." Jane was already so delusional... she was glad to hear any explanation, no matter how untruthful it seemed. "All that the man in the gray hat commands is respect.", they took turns layering the sentence carefully with both voices, and then just one peon finished, "... and you haven’t shown him any of it."
She couldn’t talk and she didn’t want to. She was glad Ray was not speaking too, because any sound she heard from him brought her closer to breaking down. She could sense pain emanating from him like a physical shower. He was worse off than the tapestry of bodies which bothered her so much before.
The man in the gray hat returned. There was a madness in his eyes that wasn’t there before. Perhaps it was the new voice that managed to remain in his head- taunting him, "I’m coming to get you..." "Come to get me", he thought back, "I’d rather you were visible so you can be destroyed." Uncannily enough, a peon entered the room and approached him. "Sir", it said, "Something else is breaching the main entrance." "What is it?", the man in the gray hat asked. "It appears to be a very large man.", the peon replied, "He’s wearing an old fashioned goalie’s mask and carrying a particularly large blade." The peon added, "We do think it’s human- though it smashed at least half of the doorway to pieces just before I left to report to you."
The peon had been just a tad bit descriptive, which struck a chord in it’s master. "Smart ass!", the man in the gray hat thought. He walked over to the wall and picked up a sword. The peon just stared in mild anxiety as his head was sliced off. It was the first kill by his own hand, and Che’ra’s face appeared in his mind as it happened. Something had changed- he knew it. He had lost something.
It was true. When the peons looked at the man in the gray hat they became afraid now. He had lost a hold on things; a hold on them. Rage stirred up inside of him and he grasped for the will to contain it. He was making noises now that he had no control over. Fleeting sporadic screeches escaped from his gut. The peon’s heads twitched along with each screech and a frantic tension of confusion took over the room. Jane and Ray locked stares with each other. "The devil is 6!", yelled the man in the gray hat. The peons stumbled into action, awkwardly raising machetes where Ray struggled. Jane continued her stare. She was trying to do anything at all. She was searching for whatever it was they were afraid of her for.
The peons came down on Ray. He didn’t scream as the blades cut through him. He continued to look at Jane. She picked up the knife in front of her because it was the only thing she could do and as she did so, both peons were struck down. It was the man in the gray hat. The cries of a wild bird filled the room as he ruined his suit. It was splattered with blood and the armpits were soaked in sweat. When he was finished there was a calmness about him. She had picked up the knife, which meant she would draw her own blood- he knew it... and she did. Jane could tell Ray was still alive, even if not for long, there was life in his mangled body. As far as she could tell it was her last choice.
She put the knife against her arm and cut a gash into it. As she did so, the man in the gray hat whispered, "God is 7." The blood spilled out of her wound onto a bar and then dripped down below. "Thank you, Jane.", the man in the gray hat said. "I’d introduce you to Gerald but I’m afraid I have some more pressing business at the moment." Then he looked over at Ray and said, "I’ll send someone in to patch you up, Son." Ray moaned, "Nooo. No. Nooo."
The man in the gray hat left. Peons immediately entered the room and walked over to Ray. He pulled his right hand out of the handcuff. It slipped loose because it was missing a pinky finger. He looked around for anything he could use to fend them off... he didn’t want to live. Ray felt something laying across the bars and grabbed a hold of it. He had picked up his own left arm, which had been severed off earlier. He began to try and beat the peons with it. They took it from him easily and said, "Ray, the man in the gray hat wants you to be quiet and let us carry you off." "Fuck him! Fuck the man in the gray hat! He’s not my father!", Ray screamed. He almost couldn’t believe that he managed to raise his voice. He disobeyed a direct order that was given in the name of the man in the gray hat! But... he had no will to do anything else but let them carry him off. No will to stop them from rebuilding him into what they wanted. He was dying, Ray thought...and death was simply... remaining in Hell.
The Motorcycle Killer
At first there was a large pounding on the main doors of the institution. It echoed powerfully, filling the first corridor and then traveled down the walkways in all directions. Novocaine and Domingo heard it in mid-prayer. They stopped and listened. Everyone stopped and listened... The peons stopped their banging outside the door. "What do you think that is?", Domingo asked. Novocaine said, "I don’t know man, but I hope it’s friendly with us." Novocaine looked at the door and then to Domingo, "They stopped trying the door. You think we should cut the lights in here?" Domingo nodded his head. "Just in case.", said Novocaine. And then the room was dark.
Peons tried to keep the entrance closed but the incredibly large man- thing busted through easily. The Others who were still alive gawked at him with their mouths open. It wore a goalie mask and trounced through the crowd of attackers with the ease of a man amongst children. His big knife reached anyone within 10 feet of him as he made his way toward where he knew he’d find Jane. Jimmy, Jack, Tyrone, and the other Others tried to draw fire from the peons that the big goalie couldn’t reach. He was shot many times but showed no sign of slowing down, although blood began to stain his clothes from the inside out. The big thing instinctively knew which hallway would bring him to Jane, and he was attacked steadily all the way down. The crowd of peons in front of him quickly transformed into a trail of dead.
Novocaine and Domingo heard his arrival grow closer as the silence turned into a massacre. People and walls broke all around him and returned to silence after his passing. They watched the door as the huge shadow steadily walked by. A high pitched screech resounded from further down the corridor. Novocaine and Domingo looked at each other. "I have got to see this!", Domingo whispered. He crawled over to the door of the hallway and after a perplexed look, Novocaine followed. They creaked open the door and looked outside.
Up the hall to where the corridor opened up stood a man wearing a plain gray hat. He was standing perfectly still holding a sword at his side as a much larger man- type thing approached like a stalker. Domingo let out a quiet, "Whoa...", at the sight of it. It turned it’s head and looked back at them for a split second, not slowing it’s pace. The mask was splattered with blood and it concealed the man- thing’s face completely. Novocaine and Domingo shuddered as the head faced forward again. The man in the gray hat commanded it to stop and barked a question at it. He asked, "What are you for?", but the creature didn’t reply. It simply cut him in half and proceeded on without slowing. The hips and legs were flung against a wall and bounced back from the impact. One hand still held the sword, and the face was alive but it held a look of complete shock. The gray hat was still on his head.
Domingo and Novocaine looked again at each other. "I think that’s our Uncle Tom.", Novocaine said, "You see that gray hat on his head?"
"Yeah, man", replied Domingo, "He’s supposed to be one bad dude."
They walked over to where he was lying and stared at both halves. Novocaine was the first to say it, "He’s still alive."
"Yeah... does that mean we gotta kill him?"
"I can’t kill him. I’m a law unto myself... and this man... This man stands for false survival. He would want us to kill him, but to kill him, I would hand him myself..." After a pause Novocaine noticed that the man in the gray hat had stopped bleeding at the waist. "Maybe we should take his legs though.", he said, "Just in case."
G66
It was only a moment after Ray was taken away that the voodoo chanting, echoing through the chamber, began to rise steadily. As the chanting grew louder and more complex, the light below the bars grew brighter and Jane could feel it growing colder below.
She recognized him as he emerged through a corridor. He was hurt, she noticed first... and he was wearing the mask. He paused for a brief second, and then reached down and snapped the handcuffs from the bars. He picked her up, easily cradling her in one arm, then bounded out of the room.
Novocaine and Domingo were each pulling one leg of the man in the gray hat, dragging his lower half down the hallway. Then the man in the gray hat, who had been staring off into space, turned his head until it focused on what was happening. They were taking part of him away.
When Novocaine heard the screech from behind he shouted, "Lets go, lets go!" They started running down the hallway of scattered corpses dragging the hind section behind them. The man in the gray hat propped his torso up with his arms and in a rage, propelled himself forward.
Domingo and Novocaine heard the screeching get louder. When Domingo turned his head to glance back he yelled, "Oh shit!" The man in the gray hat was leaping from his arms to his torso, but right behind him was the big hockey player carrying someone in his arm. "Drop it!", Domingo yelled, "Get out of the hallway!"
Novocaine and Domingo crashed through the hallway doors just missing the one man stampede. When they looked back in the hallway they saw the man in the gray hat laying face down. Under his hat was just a mush of blood where his skull had been.
The Others had the main entrance secured when Domingo and Novocaine made it back. Parts of peons were scattered around from the attack of the big goalie, and the rest of them were just watching from a distance. "Did something big and insane run through here carrying a girl and a big knife?", Novocaine shouted, "Cause I’m pretty sure that’s our girl, ya’ll." Jack ran out the door toward the woods and soon after everyone followed. The creature left a good sized path which even the gators were avoiding at that point.
G66
A hand the size of a small child took grip on a few bars of the spiral, and in one swift motion spread them apart like butter. It then raised itself up through the hole it created, first arms and then legs, placing itself perfectly on the spiral floor. It was a massive thing, white as paper and stocky like a weightlifter who used way to many steroids- and he stood 20 feet in the air. You could tell it was a he because of it’s genitalia, not it’s face. The head was bald and the features seemed exaggerated, perhaps simply by the muscles that controlled it. There was an intelligence attached to the eyes that surveyed the room. He listened to the chanting that continued to echo throughout. It was familiar to him; all too familiar.
The creature couldn’t tell where the chanters were, but he spoke aloud just the same in a sinisterly obnoxious tone, "You guys suck... A lingering impenetrable lifeless drone... and there’s 33 of ya." The chanting stopped, but that didn’t make him any less upset. He stomped off through the corridor sneering, "I’d kill you if I gave a damn."
The big creature didn’t have any hair on it’s massive white body. He looked like an oversized man and although he was as wide as a bus he wasn’t fat. It was strange to see blue eyes and a dimple in the chin of such a creature.
He instinctively walked through the right door to a computer screen bearing his name. It read simply, "Gerald". He pushed the oversized button even though he already knew what his purpose there was for. He had to go to some warehouse and kill everybody, starting with some girl who should have been waiting for him, handcuffed to the spiral chamber. After he was done with that he’d pretty much rule Earth Reality ‘cause he’d be the most powerful immortal there. ‘It’s the same old bullshit’, thought Gerald. He rolled his eyes, "... And of course, no surprise, the girl’s not here. Anybody named Jane here?", he called out loud in frustration. He knew she wasn’t there- he would’ve felt her.
Yep, the same old bullshit. Somebody was using him to get what they wanted, so he’d use them back to get what he wanted- until he got bored. Then he’d return to his own hole in the universe. It was stupid as hell and he was bored to death, but at least now he’d have a little more territory to roam around in for eternity. Of course, eternity was a joke in itself. The truth was- he didn’t have any control. He never really did... but he couldn’t figure out who’s thumb he was under. It’s not like he ever met anyone stronger or more powerful than he was. He was the cheese... and that was it. The sad fucking truth.
After getting an address he didn’t need, Gerald pushed his way through the wall of bodies. That felt good. The rage and it’s release always felt good. He glided down the hallway and noticed a familiar face. Well, it was more like half a familiar face at that point, but it was slowly reconstructing. Gerald noticed that he was still wearing that stupid gray hat. ‘They all wore that.’, he thought. ‘That guy’s such a program.’
"Gerald...", the upper half of the destroyed man raised himself on one arm, "My legs..." "Go Gerald yourself!", snapped the creature. He seemed honestly irritated as he quickened his pace, "I’m busy picking up after you morons!" Gerald sprinted the rest of the way. Instead of leaving via the entrance way, he bounded through the main wall, screaming as he did so. ‘Feels good’, he thought, ‘But it’s nothing like living matter.’ Gerald turned back to the building and then he looked down at himself. He was naked. Turning back through the hole in the wall, he pulled a drape down from one window and tied it around his waist. For a moment he considered slaughtering everyone in the building, but it occurred to him that he was on his way to do that anyway.
Gerald took off on a bee line to the warehouse. He could sense it’s exact location and the distance to it. There was no need for roads because he could smash his way through a forest faster than a car could drive. Yet, where others may have found some excitement, Gerald sped toward his target with the dull ache of nothingness riding him all the way.
Reunited
There was a motorcycle waiting for Jane and the creature when they reached the road. It was a huge, black one with various dents from prior activity. The creature mounted it and took off with Jane secured under his arm.
As they drove down the road, Jane felt the cool moisture of her friend’s blood all over her body. She noticed golf ball sized holes through the jacket he was wearing, and she looked up to see holes in his mask also. She reached as well as she could to hold him, although she wasn’t sure he would feel it. He did though... and perhaps for the first time ever he felt an emotion. Something pulled at him from the inside, replacing the pain of embedded bullets. Jane didn’t notice the new substance dripping off of her savior’s mask because the tears landed on her hair, which was already caked in blood.
The motorcycle pulled to a stop outside of the main warehouse. After a few steps towards the door, the motorcycle killer collapsed, and fell back on his knees to protect Jane. She crawled over beside his huge chest knowing he was just about to die. He stopped her from taking the mask off, but she broke down crying and he felt weakness numb his body. They were both in tears as she lifted off his mask. Mangled by bullet holes, there was more blood than skin. As she kissed him, blood filled her mouth. "I came back for you...", he managed to gurgle between breaths. Then he pointed towards the door and said, "Now stay alive." At "alive" he died, leaving her to scramble to the door alone. Jane could feel the old medium stirring up. Something bad was going to happen. Something real bad.
Inside the Main Warehouse
I saw her walk through the door and I just about flipped.
The warehouse was mine! I didn’t have to exert any force at all to obtain it because everyone was already leaving. They were scared shitless of an attack on the place. I couldn’t believe it, I mean, some peons had told them that soldiers were coming! What a joke! Well, my men and I already had our stockpile set up, so whoever was coming would have a nasty surprise waiting for them.
So there was a knock at the door. I had one of my men open it as we took aim... and she walked in... all by herself. I couldn’t believe how pale she looked, behind all the blood on her face. Her eyes were wet and red but the expression on her face wasn’t sad... it was focused. "Sir Jane?", I said, feeling distant and ashamed at the same time. When she looked at me I could tell that she knew how I had changed. It wasn’t in her expression- that was a vacant ghost. It was in my head. Everything she knew about me just appeared in my head and I froze, lost, staring at myself from within.
She looked right through me and to us all said, "Something bad is going to happen..." She wasn’t looking at anybody; nobody that was there. It’s like she chose not to know me anymore. She started to stagger toward where a few stragglers were leaving via the sewer exit. "It’s coming soon...", she managed- and then she left.
I let her go. I didn’t know what else to do. All I could think about was that dull sting of a lost self who wouldn’t look me in the eyes because it couldn’t. I could see that everyone around me looked scared, but it wasn’t the usual fear. It was a deep fear, an unknown fear. I could feel the worm in my belly. It was eating me alive and all these men beside me would be eaten too. Distant voices approached me asking for orders. ‘Orders to do what?’, I thought. "Kill", I said. It’s all I ever said in these dark times. I called out, "Bring me a mirror!" The personal mission appeared to me. "Bring me a mirror now!", I screamed.
Somebody announced that the satellite picked up an approaching force. "Taking account of the size and speed picked up by radar, we imagined it was a helicopter!", then they said, "We should go- they’re gonna bomb us!" A second later somebody yelled, "No, it’s not a plane. It’s on the ground." "That’s impossible!", somebody said. "Nothing on the ground could move through a swamp that fast!"
Men started lining up around me, aiming their weapons at the north wall of the warehouse. I felt someone hand me a mirror. It was almost a full sized mirror and I thought, ‘Well, it’s almost perfect.’ It was quiet in the room except for some nervous breathing, but I wasn’t really with them anymore. I brought my mirror over to the corner and sat down, trying to see if the worm made it’s way to my eyes. "It’s here!", someone screamed! Silence...
The creature ripped through the west wall like it was kindling. I looked up for a moment to see it... I recognized it. I saw it pick up my first commander and bite his head off, then it threw his body against a wall like a tomato. I looked back at my mirror. My reflection was telling me what was going to happen next. Sure enough, the huge man/creature destroyed everyone in the warehouse except for me- just like my reflection said. It walked over to me and I looked up. "Gerald", I said matter of factly. Then I got down on my knees before his 20 foot frame and said, "End my suffering."
"You arrogant son of a bitch!", Gerald scoffed, "What do you think you are Translator, a God?" He grabbed me, his hands crushing every bone in my body. I fell like a lump to the floor, feeling the worst pain in my life attack from a thousand angles. I couldn’t speak or even think, but I could see and hear. Gerald said, "Welcome to your suffering... know-it-all." Then he turned and ripped a hole in the floor where the sewer ran.
Jane heard it when it broke into the warehouse. She hadn’t made it far enough. The screams were only the equivalent of a couple blocks away. There was no one running down the sewer corridors anymore... she was lost. The dirty little bulbs lining the walkway went out for a second, then came back on, but only flickering. From farther off Jane heard the floor to the warehouse rip open and the sound of something large moving through the sewer quickly. She began to run but a voice called out, "Ma’am, please come with me!"
It was a guy in a black coat and what looked like a Batman mask. She held her hand out when he motioned for it but instead, he picked her up over his shoulder and started running. The distant roar was getting closer fast. It would only be a moment more... The man in the Batman mask was yelling his thoughts as he ran through the blackness of the sewer, "30 yards... 30 yards more..." As he got closer he started screaming, "Fish!! Fish!!", but the thing behind them had caught up.
When Gerald reached 20 feet behind, he spit at them. Both Jane and the Batman toppled over and rolled to a stop, narrowly missing a fall into the waste below. Gerald walked up to them with an arrogant stride through the sewer water. To Jane he said more than asked, "You’re the demon whore?" He was repulsed by her. "You’re a scrawny little piece of garbage!", he snapped harshly, "You gotta be kidding me!" Jane looked back at the creature and was struck by how completely irritated it seemed. His body language clearly showed that he was let down and quite upset about it. Gerald recovered though. He was just about to finish his disappointing venture, but the fish got him... or rather they stopped him.
Over 300 spores shot out of the muck below, entering the great creature from any orifice available. Gerald, caught off guard, fell into the sewage and began thrashing about. Only his lower half was submerged, but the muskies took advantage any way they could. Many shot spores into his anus and others tried to chew off any reachable flesh!
Gerald felt the strange sensation of them entering his body and it disgusted him. He tried to pulverize them but he had lost control of some parts of his body. His legs were frozen and when he thrashed his arms they’d only extend part way. It didn’t take long for him to change the tide though; it never took Gerald long. He pulled his lower half out of the sewage and extended his body so it was as straight as possible. "Lobe Finned Fish!", he grunted and then vomited a few all over himself. "You’re a bunch of minnows!", he chided, "You wanna know what I think of minnows!?" Gerald focused all of his strength on his innards, using them like bowels to squeeze out the fish. His grunting could be heard throughout miles of sewer, but bits of fish started to fall out of his orifices. After a moment, a mush of sardines passed through his colon as he vomited chunks back into the sewer water. After a few minutes his body was clear of them, but the so called demon whore had moved on. The fish stopped attacking Gerald when re-entry became impossible– he knew them now!
The Lobe Finned Fish were confused. ‘What the hell was that thing?’, one exclaimed. ‘And how did it know our species?’, returned another.
As soon as the fish had begun their attack against Gerald, the man in the Batman mask took off again with Jane over his shoulder. "Just around the corner is another fish- stop!", he stated seriously, "Hold on." When they got to the corner, he called for the fish again and then jumped off the sewer walkway. Instead of falling into sewage, they landed on the backs of many large fish. The fish had formed a make shift raft out of themselves, allowing them to move quickly in a uniform motion.
Jane climbed off of the Batman’s shoulder and sat down on the fish. Their thick texture felt so alive beneath her feet; energy radiated through her like a battery on a re-charger. She thought about the motorcycle killer, she thought about me, she thought about Gerald. Her mind wasn’t worrying about how to deal with us, it was considering us... that’s all. She wondered about us, and let herself feel us as she thought. The motor cycle killer was dead. She knew that I was going to die... and she needed something from me... something... or she was going to die.
The Batman character was making unearthly sounds at the fish, and then listening to their silences pensively. "Do you know a Darkwing?", he asked Jane. "No.", she said. "Well... the fish are bringing us to him.", returned the Batman. "They’ve been tracking this Darkwing’s movements for over a day. They say he’s important and you have to meet him now." The Batman turned to look at her, " They say you’re important... and I... you..." He stared deeply at her and then pulled his head away. "I trust the fish- they’re a law unto themselves. You’ll make it.", he finished. The fish pulled to a stop and Batman motioned for Jane to follow him. He climbed up to remove a sewer cap, and then they were both above ground. It was less than a minute before the shadow of Darkwing loomed overhead.
Darkwing
A full moon. The trees and buildings were outlined embers of reflected light. The visual environment almost calmed him down enough to stop shaking, but he was still a nervous wreck. She had been following ... the whole time. Darkwing didn’t know what she was planning to do, or whether he was putting everyone’s lives in jeopardy by leading her to them, but somehow he felt like he had to continue. For as long as he had been flying he only saw her twice. Both times she was just a glowing green fleck in the distance maneuvering through the air like a flying saucer.
He was tired... he was so tired... but the show had to go on. He knew it. Across the horizon Darkwing noticed a sunrise beginning and it was gonna be a pretty one. His instinct told him to fly 300 yards southwest, and his gut pinpointed her location. In the street by the parking lot were 2 figures- one he knew was Jane. The other surprised him a bit. It looked like somebody dressed up like, Batman? The Batman character started waving to him as he descended towards them.
Miles behind Darkwing, she watched. She saw him descend towards 2 people. A thrill of excitement started working it’s way through her. She would enjoy these people!
Just as Darkwing reached them, the ground opened up violently. A 20 foot mammoth of a man climbed out of the crater and made a beeline for Jane. Darkwing threw himself between them and grappled for the creature’s head. Gerald was livid! He grabbed Darkwing’s head and crushed it like a tomato, then he hurled the body against a building. There was only debris of blood and bone embedded in the wall. Gerald turned to see Jane and the Batman running. He leapt forward only to fall on his face. Cursing, he noticed that his legs were bound by tree roots and stone. He tried to pull a leg out but it didn’t budge. "What the crap?", he said out loud. The roots started winding around more of his legs and up his torso, tightening and merging with earth and stone that piled up from below. Gerald was in awe, "How did this happen?", he asked himself. Then he saw her...
She was by the building where Darkwing was obliterated, hunched down where his remains were puddled. She ripped out the part of the wall that Darkwing was smeared on and let it topple to the ground. Then she turned around and squatted. A stream of flourescent green liquid saturated the area below her. The moist area had what seemed like a halo of light emanating from it. Gerald just stood there bound and watched.
The remains of Darkwing began to shift. Fragments of bone formed to complete bones, and then pulled together as a skeleton. Skin, tissue, and organs pulled themselves into the skeleton and reformed to become operable. The mold of Darkwing’s face started out like jelly and proceeded to bake itself into true flesh. The big black wings extended themselves undamaged. The demon whore watched until the white balls of his eyes rolled over to pupils, and then dilated from the incoming flash of life. Darkwing was alive.
She faced Gerald as he broke through the remaining holds of wood and stone. Before he had a chance to pull his legs out, she hunched over on all fours and charged... smiling. She was faster than Gerald had expected and ran right through him, tearing a huge hole through his mid section!
Gerald was in shock and appalled at himself for letting her run through him. He reached around and felt his inner organs hanging from the outside of his back. Quickly, he focused on a gravity center within, which began to draw his guts back inside.
She stood and faced him with a huge smile on her face. It was a mischievous smile, like a cat showing off a kill to it’s human parent. Pride beamed out of her eyes! Before Gerald even finished healing, he insulted her, "You’re about the ugliest thing I’ve seen in this place. Are you going to smile about that too?" She nodded her head and then reached under his cloth and grabbed his penis. It immediately became erect, and Gerald hauled back and smacked her across the street. No one had ever been so brainless to him before... so crude! In his new rage he easily broke through his binds. Shaking himself off, he complained out loud for just himself to hear. "That was disgusting...", then in her direction he raised his voice, "and you’re disgusting!" Gerald was fuming when he looked over at the hole in the building where she was thrown and yelled, "I hope you’re dead!"
Gerald knew she wouldn’t be dead. He had her figured out already. Simply put, she was one half of the same entity. The supernatural half, or if so preferred, the demon half. All he had to do was kill the little human part, and then dismantle the demon- No sweat! He had done it before many times... and lo and behold, just 6 blocks away, stood that delicate half. The poor little idiot was staring right at him. He took off at a pace which would leave her dead in 3 seconds.
As he bounded off toward Jane, her other half emerged from the hole in the wall and glanced over at her. Their eyes met and immediately the 2 became one... Far beyond the simple law of entanglement, when 2 conscious parts of the same thing become aware of each other an irresistible attraction binds them instantly.
Gerald noticed, a split second before he pummeled her, that the girl instantly became much taller and wider. On impact, she was thrown 3 blocks and landed in the middle of the road next to a sewer cap. Sir Jane felt her body twisted in ways it hadn’t been before. Flourescent metallic fluid swirled all over her as she felt bones bend back into place. Although she reconstructed quickly she could smell death all around her. Her body felt powerful but she was completely unfamiliar with it. It was as if she could only move in forward or reverse... and Gerald was walking up to her with a vicious swagger. She managed to pull off the sewer cap before he arrived.
Gerald looked down at her like a neighborhood bully, "You’re pretty lucky for being a real idiot." He said flatly and then got to the point. "Death’s not so bad. Maybe you’ll be cuter on the other side." Gerald glanced at the sewer cap in her hands, rolled his eyes, and then lifted his foot to smash her. He stumped it down and missed... nothing!
Sir Jane had dropped into the sewer hole. She shot through the filthy water like a torpedo lighting up the corridors with her flourescent glow but Gerald smashed into the sewer also– before a human could finish sneezing. He was on her trail instantly, trying to catch up with the glow in the distance.
Gerald almost felt amused at her escape. He really miscalculated that one... but usually idiot demons just stood there and got pummeled. A pre-god for 30 seconds and she had the know how to stop drop and roll– better than the last infinite number of brainless losers. He decided he’d kill her quick... when he caught up.
The Author
Darkwing walked up to me, a lump of flesh in pain, and said, "You can still be good for something. I know you’re hurting but she needs you."
Even after seeing Sir Jane rejoined he knew she didn’t have a chance, so he searched the warehouse for me. Something about me was necessary... He found me broken and bleeding in the corner, and I really just wanted to die. In fact, that was the first thing I said when I noticed he was there.
"I wanna die."
"You can’t die yet, man."
"Why not?"
"Sir Jane needs you."
"I’m in pain... horrible pain."
"Only for awhile... You’ll have a chance to die, but first you have to step up, man."
"Step up?"
I noticed that he had wings at that point. It didn’t surprise me. I sort of knew it without knowing it, if you know what I mean. It dawned on me though, right at that moment, that my heart and eyes might be of some value.
"Does she need my heart and eyes?", I asked.
I noticed a tear stream out of one of his eyes and it really confused me. "You can care?", I murmured, "for me?" It was a strange idea. I felt vacant... but when he nodded in agreement I felt something well up inside of me. Somewhere lost in this physical pain was my humanity... and well, Darkwing, he damn near found it. Although I didn’t have any emotion left I knew it was somewhere inside of me- and with that knowledge I asked him to pick me up.
Even the gentle cradle of his arms filled me with such intense pain I wished out loud for death.
Godheads
As Sir Jane sped through the murk of piss and shit with Gerald on her tail, she tried to get a grip on herself. A strong part of her wanted to fuck and fight, although she knew she’d be destroyed if she didn’t keep up her pace. She couldn’t tell which parts of her were stronger than others, or whether she was actually possessed by something else. It took all of her concentration just to keep moving.
Gerald had gained. He was just a few yards behind her and tension took her over. The tunnel ahead began to fade. Everything started to go dark as both of her eyes closed... but then she could still see! Sir Jane shot out of the water, grabbing his penis in the process and then she used it’s leverage to swing him into a sewer wall. Before Gerald had a chance to scream, she flew up through a sewer cap up onto the street. From there she listened for him... nothing, but she had to get away! Not taking any chances, she flew off towards a tall building for a better view.
Gerald surfaced. He surfaced before she arrived. Effortlessly, he picked up a sewer cap and threw it hundreds of yards aiming for her neck. A direct hit! Before Sir Jane reached the roof top her head was sliced clean off- then the cap and her head fell to the ground.
Gerald walked over to the head. It was key.. But before he approached the head of Sir Jane, he stopped at it’s body and said, "Consider this a favor. Maybe you’ll be luckier next time... with the looks I mean." He kind of chuckled to himself and that caught him off guard. He had no memory of doing that before. "What are you looking at?", someone cried out. Gerald looked around and saw noone. "I’m looking at you asshole!", he sneered, "I’ll get you too, you flipping baby... you coward!" He walked over and then leaned down to smash her head when a 1000 voices filled his head screaming, "Nooo!"
Then they all screamed something different from another, so his head was packed with noise. ‘What the hell is going on?’, he thought. "Get outta my head!", he screamed, "What the hell kinda place is this? Are you all animals on an Idiot Farm?! Shut up or I’ll kill you slowly!" The voices didn’t shut up and to make matters worse he looked down to find the head was gone. He turned to see a girl in a wheel chair carrying it in her lap towards the body. Gerald lunged, but tripped over something! When he turned around he saw Novocaine and Domingo picking themselves up off the ground.
For a moment he was stunned. ‘How stupid do they make these little people?’, he thought. Gerald was so upset that he couldn’t think. He also found it hard to think because of the stupid little voices roaming around inside his head. He hated it, he hated it all... and it was about time all of this nonsense came to an end.
Annie wheeled up to the body with Sir Jane’s head. Jimmy and Jack were waiting. They quickly grabbed it by the hair and neck then positioned it on the shoulders– the eyes rolled to life. Gerald’s 30 second battle with Domingo and Novocaine proved useful but it had a cost! At first he couldn’t connect, so he roared as he swung his fists. The sheer force of his voice threw them off balance as he swatted them both at the same time. Domingo took most of the impact as he and Novocaine flew across the street. Anybody else would have been dead, but Domingo was lucky only his hip was crushed. Neither he nor Novocaine remained conscious.
Darkwing descended with me in his arms when he saw Sir Jane come to. The first thing she did was scream... then Gerald rounded the corner of the building and went for her. He was focused and expressionless, ready to end the nightmare he was stuck in. Darkwing laid me down and flew over to her.
Gerald looked from Sir Jane to the Others around her then back to her. "You all have a lot of spirit.", he chided, "For something out of a Hitler comic book!" Sir Jane just stood there and let him take a shot at her. She was afraid anything she’d do would harm one of us and she really didn’t know what else to do. As she was hit, Darkwing flew at Gerald’s head. He would have missed if it wasn’t for Tyrone focusing voices into it. Then Gerald fell. If only for an instant- Gerald fell.
Sir Jane’s body flew down the street on impact and dragged my body with it as we collided. She had a hole in her mid section from where Gerald’s fist connected, but immediately after we stopped rolling she leaned over me. I was a head attached to a bag of blood and crushed bone. The pain was unbearable! I didn’t feel human anymore, just pain. By the time we stopped I was 96.7% dead... but I had enough strength to say it. "Take my eyes and heart.", I managed. There was look in her eyes just before she clawed into my chest– it was more than I could grasp.
She didn’t take my eyes. I knew this because I could still see... and thank God I felt no pain. The pain was gone.
Sir Jane looked different. She could have been taller and thicker, but what was most apparent was the color of her face and body. Black. She looked like she was carved out of graphite, until she opened her eyes. They were bright red.
A shutter ran through the last seconds of my consciousness when I noticed that Gerald was standing right over me. He was facing her and for the first time I saw it in his face... Fear.
To be continued.................
Thanks for reading Sir Jane an the Replacement System. I hope to make the website thereplacementsystem.com better so that the music and novel can fit together. Right now I’m working on the audio book and waiting for the collapse. I hope it doesn’t come.
The sequel isn’t even close to being finished. Tell me what you think about it if you dare, otherwise just enjoy it. Personally, I never have the guts to correspond with people. I kinda feel like an Other... the semi social kind.
After the man in the gray hat had left them, Jane and Ray stared at each other. One of the peons immediately responded as instructed to him previously. He looked at Jane and said, "He wants your blood, not the boy’s." The other peon joined in eerily, accompanying the first simultaneously as he said, "Not the boy’s." Ray called out to Jane in protest but he was silenced quickly by the name the peons spoke. "The man in the gray hat says silence Ray." Both versions of the same voice were raised and then fell again, "The man in the gray hat doesn’t ask for much, Ray." Ray struggled without so much as a whimper escaping from his borrowed lungs. The peons turned back to Jane, "Ray will have to die though, if you do not self inflict... giving your blood freely... as a sign of submission." Jane was already so delusional... she was glad to hear any explanation, no matter how untruthful it seemed. "All that the man in the gray hat commands is respect.", they took turns layering the sentence carefully with both voices, and then just one peon finished, "... and you haven’t shown him any of it."
She couldn’t talk and she didn’t want to. She was glad Ray was not speaking too, because any sound she heard from him brought her closer to breaking down. She could sense pain emanating from him like a physical shower. He was worse off than the tapestry of bodies which bothered her so much before.
The man in the gray hat returned. There was a madness in his eyes that wasn’t there before. Perhaps it was the new voice that managed to remain in his head- taunting him, "I’m coming to get you..." "Come to get me", he thought back, "I’d rather you were visible so you can be destroyed." Uncannily enough, a peon entered the room and approached him. "Sir", it said, "Something else is breaching the main entrance." "What is it?", the man in the gray hat asked. "It appears to be a very large man.", the peon replied, "He’s wearing an old fashioned goalie’s mask and carrying a particularly large blade." The peon added, "We do think it’s human- though it smashed at least half of the doorway to pieces just before I left to report to you."
The peon had been just a tad bit descriptive, which struck a chord in it’s master. "Smart ass!", the man in the gray hat thought. He walked over to the wall and picked up a sword. The peon just stared in mild anxiety as his head was sliced off. It was the first kill by his own hand, and Che’ra’s face appeared in his mind as it happened. Something had changed- he knew it. He had lost something.
It was true. When the peons looked at the man in the gray hat they became afraid now. He had lost a hold on things; a hold on them. Rage stirred up inside of him and he grasped for the will to contain it. He was making noises now that he had no control over. Fleeting sporadic screeches escaped from his gut. The peon’s heads twitched along with each screech and a frantic tension of confusion took over the room. Jane and Ray locked stares with each other. "The devil is 6!", yelled the man in the gray hat. The peons stumbled into action, awkwardly raising machetes where Ray struggled. Jane continued her stare. She was trying to do anything at all. She was searching for whatever it was they were afraid of her for.
The peons came down on Ray. He didn’t scream as the blades cut through him. He continued to look at Jane. She picked up the knife in front of her because it was the only thing she could do and as she did so, both peons were struck down. It was the man in the gray hat. The cries of a wild bird filled the room as he ruined his suit. It was splattered with blood and the armpits were soaked in sweat. When he was finished there was a calmness about him. She had picked up the knife, which meant she would draw her own blood- he knew it... and she did. Jane could tell Ray was still alive, even if not for long, there was life in his mangled body. As far as she could tell it was her last choice.
She put the knife against her arm and cut a gash into it. As she did so, the man in the gray hat whispered, "God is 7." The blood spilled out of her wound onto a bar and then dripped down below. "Thank you, Jane.", the man in the gray hat said. "I’d introduce you to Gerald but I’m afraid I have some more pressing business at the moment." Then he looked over at Ray and said, "I’ll send someone in to patch you up, Son." Ray moaned, "Nooo. No. Nooo."
The man in the gray hat left. Peons immediately entered the room and walked over to Ray. He pulled his right hand out of the handcuff. It slipped loose because it was missing a pinky finger. He looked around for anything he could use to fend them off... he didn’t want to live. Ray felt something laying across the bars and grabbed a hold of it. He had picked up his own left arm, which had been severed off earlier. He began to try and beat the peons with it. They took it from him easily and said, "Ray, the man in the gray hat wants you to be quiet and let us carry you off." "Fuck him! Fuck the man in the gray hat! He’s not my father!", Ray screamed. He almost couldn’t believe that he managed to raise his voice. He disobeyed a direct order that was given in the name of the man in the gray hat! But... he had no will to do anything else but let them carry him off. No will to stop them from rebuilding him into what they wanted. He was dying, Ray thought...and death was simply... remaining in Hell.
The Motorcycle Killer
At first there was a large pounding on the main doors of the institution. It echoed powerfully, filling the first corridor and then traveled down the walkways in all directions. Novocaine and Domingo heard it in mid-prayer. They stopped and listened. Everyone stopped and listened... The peons stopped their banging outside the door. "What do you think that is?", Domingo asked. Novocaine said, "I don’t know man, but I hope it’s friendly with us." Novocaine looked at the door and then to Domingo, "They stopped trying the door. You think we should cut the lights in here?" Domingo nodded his head. "Just in case.", said Novocaine. And then the room was dark.
Peons tried to keep the entrance closed but the incredibly large man- thing busted through easily. The Others who were still alive gawked at him with their mouths open. It wore a goalie mask and trounced through the crowd of attackers with the ease of a man amongst children. His big knife reached anyone within 10 feet of him as he made his way toward where he knew he’d find Jane. Jimmy, Jack, Tyrone, and the other Others tried to draw fire from the peons that the big goalie couldn’t reach. He was shot many times but showed no sign of slowing down, although blood began to stain his clothes from the inside out. The big thing instinctively knew which hallway would bring him to Jane, and he was attacked steadily all the way down. The crowd of peons in front of him quickly transformed into a trail of dead.
Novocaine and Domingo heard his arrival grow closer as the silence turned into a massacre. People and walls broke all around him and returned to silence after his passing. They watched the door as the huge shadow steadily walked by. A high pitched screech resounded from further down the corridor. Novocaine and Domingo looked at each other. "I have got to see this!", Domingo whispered. He crawled over to the door of the hallway and after a perplexed look, Novocaine followed. They creaked open the door and looked outside.
Up the hall to where the corridor opened up stood a man wearing a plain gray hat. He was standing perfectly still holding a sword at his side as a much larger man- type thing approached like a stalker. Domingo let out a quiet, "Whoa...", at the sight of it. It turned it’s head and looked back at them for a split second, not slowing it’s pace. The mask was splattered with blood and it concealed the man- thing’s face completely. Novocaine and Domingo shuddered as the head faced forward again. The man in the gray hat commanded it to stop and barked a question at it. He asked, "What are you for?", but the creature didn’t reply. It simply cut him in half and proceeded on without slowing. The hips and legs were flung against a wall and bounced back from the impact. One hand still held the sword, and the face was alive but it held a look of complete shock. The gray hat was still on his head.
Domingo and Novocaine looked again at each other. "I think that’s our Uncle Tom.", Novocaine said, "You see that gray hat on his head?"
"Yeah, man", replied Domingo, "He’s supposed to be one bad dude."
They walked over to where he was lying and stared at both halves. Novocaine was the first to say it, "He’s still alive."
"Yeah... does that mean we gotta kill him?"
"I can’t kill him. I’m a law unto myself... and this man... This man stands for false survival. He would want us to kill him, but to kill him, I would hand him myself..." After a pause Novocaine noticed that the man in the gray hat had stopped bleeding at the waist. "Maybe we should take his legs though.", he said, "Just in case."
G66
It was only a moment after Ray was taken away that the voodoo chanting, echoing through the chamber, began to rise steadily. As the chanting grew louder and more complex, the light below the bars grew brighter and Jane could feel it growing colder below.
She recognized him as he emerged through a corridor. He was hurt, she noticed first... and he was wearing the mask. He paused for a brief second, and then reached down and snapped the handcuffs from the bars. He picked her up, easily cradling her in one arm, then bounded out of the room.
Novocaine and Domingo were each pulling one leg of the man in the gray hat, dragging his lower half down the hallway. Then the man in the gray hat, who had been staring off into space, turned his head until it focused on what was happening. They were taking part of him away.
When Novocaine heard the screech from behind he shouted, "Lets go, lets go!" They started running down the hallway of scattered corpses dragging the hind section behind them. The man in the gray hat propped his torso up with his arms and in a rage, propelled himself forward.
Domingo and Novocaine heard the screeching get louder. When Domingo turned his head to glance back he yelled, "Oh shit!" The man in the gray hat was leaping from his arms to his torso, but right behind him was the big hockey player carrying someone in his arm. "Drop it!", Domingo yelled, "Get out of the hallway!"
Novocaine and Domingo crashed through the hallway doors just missing the one man stampede. When they looked back in the hallway they saw the man in the gray hat laying face down. Under his hat was just a mush of blood where his skull had been.
The Others had the main entrance secured when Domingo and Novocaine made it back. Parts of peons were scattered around from the attack of the big goalie, and the rest of them were just watching from a distance. "Did something big and insane run through here carrying a girl and a big knife?", Novocaine shouted, "Cause I’m pretty sure that’s our girl, ya’ll." Jack ran out the door toward the woods and soon after everyone followed. The creature left a good sized path which even the gators were avoiding at that point.
G66
A hand the size of a small child took grip on a few bars of the spiral, and in one swift motion spread them apart like butter. It then raised itself up through the hole it created, first arms and then legs, placing itself perfectly on the spiral floor. It was a massive thing, white as paper and stocky like a weightlifter who used way to many steroids- and he stood 20 feet in the air. You could tell it was a he because of it’s genitalia, not it’s face. The head was bald and the features seemed exaggerated, perhaps simply by the muscles that controlled it. There was an intelligence attached to the eyes that surveyed the room. He listened to the chanting that continued to echo throughout. It was familiar to him; all too familiar.
The creature couldn’t tell where the chanters were, but he spoke aloud just the same in a sinisterly obnoxious tone, "You guys suck... A lingering impenetrable lifeless drone... and there’s 33 of ya." The chanting stopped, but that didn’t make him any less upset. He stomped off through the corridor sneering, "I’d kill you if I gave a damn."
The big creature didn’t have any hair on it’s massive white body. He looked like an oversized man and although he was as wide as a bus he wasn’t fat. It was strange to see blue eyes and a dimple in the chin of such a creature.
He instinctively walked through the right door to a computer screen bearing his name. It read simply, "Gerald". He pushed the oversized button even though he already knew what his purpose there was for. He had to go to some warehouse and kill everybody, starting with some girl who should have been waiting for him, handcuffed to the spiral chamber. After he was done with that he’d pretty much rule Earth Reality ‘cause he’d be the most powerful immortal there. ‘It’s the same old bullshit’, thought Gerald. He rolled his eyes, "... And of course, no surprise, the girl’s not here. Anybody named Jane here?", he called out loud in frustration. He knew she wasn’t there- he would’ve felt her.
Yep, the same old bullshit. Somebody was using him to get what they wanted, so he’d use them back to get what he wanted- until he got bored. Then he’d return to his own hole in the universe. It was stupid as hell and he was bored to death, but at least now he’d have a little more territory to roam around in for eternity. Of course, eternity was a joke in itself. The truth was- he didn’t have any control. He never really did... but he couldn’t figure out who’s thumb he was under. It’s not like he ever met anyone stronger or more powerful than he was. He was the cheese... and that was it. The sad fucking truth.
After getting an address he didn’t need, Gerald pushed his way through the wall of bodies. That felt good. The rage and it’s release always felt good. He glided down the hallway and noticed a familiar face. Well, it was more like half a familiar face at that point, but it was slowly reconstructing. Gerald noticed that he was still wearing that stupid gray hat. ‘They all wore that.’, he thought. ‘That guy’s such a program.’
"Gerald...", the upper half of the destroyed man raised himself on one arm, "My legs..." "Go Gerald yourself!", snapped the creature. He seemed honestly irritated as he quickened his pace, "I’m busy picking up after you morons!" Gerald sprinted the rest of the way. Instead of leaving via the entrance way, he bounded through the main wall, screaming as he did so. ‘Feels good’, he thought, ‘But it’s nothing like living matter.’ Gerald turned back to the building and then he looked down at himself. He was naked. Turning back through the hole in the wall, he pulled a drape down from one window and tied it around his waist. For a moment he considered slaughtering everyone in the building, but it occurred to him that he was on his way to do that anyway.
Gerald took off on a bee line to the warehouse. He could sense it’s exact location and the distance to it. There was no need for roads because he could smash his way through a forest faster than a car could drive. Yet, where others may have found some excitement, Gerald sped toward his target with the dull ache of nothingness riding him all the way.
Reunited
There was a motorcycle waiting for Jane and the creature when they reached the road. It was a huge, black one with various dents from prior activity. The creature mounted it and took off with Jane secured under his arm.
As they drove down the road, Jane felt the cool moisture of her friend’s blood all over her body. She noticed golf ball sized holes through the jacket he was wearing, and she looked up to see holes in his mask also. She reached as well as she could to hold him, although she wasn’t sure he would feel it. He did though... and perhaps for the first time ever he felt an emotion. Something pulled at him from the inside, replacing the pain of embedded bullets. Jane didn’t notice the new substance dripping off of her savior’s mask because the tears landed on her hair, which was already caked in blood.
The motorcycle pulled to a stop outside of the main warehouse. After a few steps towards the door, the motorcycle killer collapsed, and fell back on his knees to protect Jane. She crawled over beside his huge chest knowing he was just about to die. He stopped her from taking the mask off, but she broke down crying and he felt weakness numb his body. They were both in tears as she lifted off his mask. Mangled by bullet holes, there was more blood than skin. As she kissed him, blood filled her mouth. "I came back for you...", he managed to gurgle between breaths. Then he pointed towards the door and said, "Now stay alive." At "alive" he died, leaving her to scramble to the door alone. Jane could feel the old medium stirring up. Something bad was going to happen. Something real bad.
Inside the Main Warehouse
I saw her walk through the door and I just about flipped.
The warehouse was mine! I didn’t have to exert any force at all to obtain it because everyone was already leaving. They were scared shitless of an attack on the place. I couldn’t believe it, I mean, some peons had told them that soldiers were coming! What a joke! Well, my men and I already had our stockpile set up, so whoever was coming would have a nasty surprise waiting for them.
So there was a knock at the door. I had one of my men open it as we took aim... and she walked in... all by herself. I couldn’t believe how pale she looked, behind all the blood on her face. Her eyes were wet and red but the expression on her face wasn’t sad... it was focused. "Sir Jane?", I said, feeling distant and ashamed at the same time. When she looked at me I could tell that she knew how I had changed. It wasn’t in her expression- that was a vacant ghost. It was in my head. Everything she knew about me just appeared in my head and I froze, lost, staring at myself from within.
She looked right through me and to us all said, "Something bad is going to happen..." She wasn’t looking at anybody; nobody that was there. It’s like she chose not to know me anymore. She started to stagger toward where a few stragglers were leaving via the sewer exit. "It’s coming soon...", she managed- and then she left.
I let her go. I didn’t know what else to do. All I could think about was that dull sting of a lost self who wouldn’t look me in the eyes because it couldn’t. I could see that everyone around me looked scared, but it wasn’t the usual fear. It was a deep fear, an unknown fear. I could feel the worm in my belly. It was eating me alive and all these men beside me would be eaten too. Distant voices approached me asking for orders. ‘Orders to do what?’, I thought. "Kill", I said. It’s all I ever said in these dark times. I called out, "Bring me a mirror!" The personal mission appeared to me. "Bring me a mirror now!", I screamed.
Somebody announced that the satellite picked up an approaching force. "Taking account of the size and speed picked up by radar, we imagined it was a helicopter!", then they said, "We should go- they’re gonna bomb us!" A second later somebody yelled, "No, it’s not a plane. It’s on the ground." "That’s impossible!", somebody said. "Nothing on the ground could move through a swamp that fast!"
Men started lining up around me, aiming their weapons at the north wall of the warehouse. I felt someone hand me a mirror. It was almost a full sized mirror and I thought, ‘Well, it’s almost perfect.’ It was quiet in the room except for some nervous breathing, but I wasn’t really with them anymore. I brought my mirror over to the corner and sat down, trying to see if the worm made it’s way to my eyes. "It’s here!", someone screamed! Silence...
The creature ripped through the west wall like it was kindling. I looked up for a moment to see it... I recognized it. I saw it pick up my first commander and bite his head off, then it threw his body against a wall like a tomato. I looked back at my mirror. My reflection was telling me what was going to happen next. Sure enough, the huge man/creature destroyed everyone in the warehouse except for me- just like my reflection said. It walked over to me and I looked up. "Gerald", I said matter of factly. Then I got down on my knees before his 20 foot frame and said, "End my suffering."
"You arrogant son of a bitch!", Gerald scoffed, "What do you think you are Translator, a God?" He grabbed me, his hands crushing every bone in my body. I fell like a lump to the floor, feeling the worst pain in my life attack from a thousand angles. I couldn’t speak or even think, but I could see and hear. Gerald said, "Welcome to your suffering... know-it-all." Then he turned and ripped a hole in the floor where the sewer ran.
Jane heard it when it broke into the warehouse. She hadn’t made it far enough. The screams were only the equivalent of a couple blocks away. There was no one running down the sewer corridors anymore... she was lost. The dirty little bulbs lining the walkway went out for a second, then came back on, but only flickering. From farther off Jane heard the floor to the warehouse rip open and the sound of something large moving through the sewer quickly. She began to run but a voice called out, "Ma’am, please come with me!"
It was a guy in a black coat and what looked like a Batman mask. She held her hand out when he motioned for it but instead, he picked her up over his shoulder and started running. The distant roar was getting closer fast. It would only be a moment more... The man in the Batman mask was yelling his thoughts as he ran through the blackness of the sewer, "30 yards... 30 yards more..." As he got closer he started screaming, "Fish!! Fish!!", but the thing behind them had caught up.
When Gerald reached 20 feet behind, he spit at them. Both Jane and the Batman toppled over and rolled to a stop, narrowly missing a fall into the waste below. Gerald walked up to them with an arrogant stride through the sewer water. To Jane he said more than asked, "You’re the demon whore?" He was repulsed by her. "You’re a scrawny little piece of garbage!", he snapped harshly, "You gotta be kidding me!" Jane looked back at the creature and was struck by how completely irritated it seemed. His body language clearly showed that he was let down and quite upset about it. Gerald recovered though. He was just about to finish his disappointing venture, but the fish got him... or rather they stopped him.
Over 300 spores shot out of the muck below, entering the great creature from any orifice available. Gerald, caught off guard, fell into the sewage and began thrashing about. Only his lower half was submerged, but the muskies took advantage any way they could. Many shot spores into his anus and others tried to chew off any reachable flesh!
Gerald felt the strange sensation of them entering his body and it disgusted him. He tried to pulverize them but he had lost control of some parts of his body. His legs were frozen and when he thrashed his arms they’d only extend part way. It didn’t take long for him to change the tide though; it never took Gerald long. He pulled his lower half out of the sewage and extended his body so it was as straight as possible. "Lobe Finned Fish!", he grunted and then vomited a few all over himself. "You’re a bunch of minnows!", he chided, "You wanna know what I think of minnows!?" Gerald focused all of his strength on his innards, using them like bowels to squeeze out the fish. His grunting could be heard throughout miles of sewer, but bits of fish started to fall out of his orifices. After a moment, a mush of sardines passed through his colon as he vomited chunks back into the sewer water. After a few minutes his body was clear of them, but the so called demon whore had moved on. The fish stopped attacking Gerald when re-entry became impossible– he knew them now!
The Lobe Finned Fish were confused. ‘What the hell was that thing?’, one exclaimed. ‘And how did it know our species?’, returned another.
As soon as the fish had begun their attack against Gerald, the man in the Batman mask took off again with Jane over his shoulder. "Just around the corner is another fish- stop!", he stated seriously, "Hold on." When they got to the corner, he called for the fish again and then jumped off the sewer walkway. Instead of falling into sewage, they landed on the backs of many large fish. The fish had formed a make shift raft out of themselves, allowing them to move quickly in a uniform motion.
Jane climbed off of the Batman’s shoulder and sat down on the fish. Their thick texture felt so alive beneath her feet; energy radiated through her like a battery on a re-charger. She thought about the motorcycle killer, she thought about me, she thought about Gerald. Her mind wasn’t worrying about how to deal with us, it was considering us... that’s all. She wondered about us, and let herself feel us as she thought. The motor cycle killer was dead. She knew that I was going to die... and she needed something from me... something... or she was going to die.
The Batman character was making unearthly sounds at the fish, and then listening to their silences pensively. "Do you know a Darkwing?", he asked Jane. "No.", she said. "Well... the fish are bringing us to him.", returned the Batman. "They’ve been tracking this Darkwing’s movements for over a day. They say he’s important and you have to meet him now." The Batman turned to look at her, " They say you’re important... and I... you..." He stared deeply at her and then pulled his head away. "I trust the fish- they’re a law unto themselves. You’ll make it.", he finished. The fish pulled to a stop and Batman motioned for Jane to follow him. He climbed up to remove a sewer cap, and then they were both above ground. It was less than a minute before the shadow of Darkwing loomed overhead.
Darkwing
A full moon. The trees and buildings were outlined embers of reflected light. The visual environment almost calmed him down enough to stop shaking, but he was still a nervous wreck. She had been following ... the whole time. Darkwing didn’t know what she was planning to do, or whether he was putting everyone’s lives in jeopardy by leading her to them, but somehow he felt like he had to continue. For as long as he had been flying he only saw her twice. Both times she was just a glowing green fleck in the distance maneuvering through the air like a flying saucer.
He was tired... he was so tired... but the show had to go on. He knew it. Across the horizon Darkwing noticed a sunrise beginning and it was gonna be a pretty one. His instinct told him to fly 300 yards southwest, and his gut pinpointed her location. In the street by the parking lot were 2 figures- one he knew was Jane. The other surprised him a bit. It looked like somebody dressed up like, Batman? The Batman character started waving to him as he descended towards them.
Miles behind Darkwing, she watched. She saw him descend towards 2 people. A thrill of excitement started working it’s way through her. She would enjoy these people!
Just as Darkwing reached them, the ground opened up violently. A 20 foot mammoth of a man climbed out of the crater and made a beeline for Jane. Darkwing threw himself between them and grappled for the creature’s head. Gerald was livid! He grabbed Darkwing’s head and crushed it like a tomato, then he hurled the body against a building. There was only debris of blood and bone embedded in the wall. Gerald turned to see Jane and the Batman running. He leapt forward only to fall on his face. Cursing, he noticed that his legs were bound by tree roots and stone. He tried to pull a leg out but it didn’t budge. "What the crap?", he said out loud. The roots started winding around more of his legs and up his torso, tightening and merging with earth and stone that piled up from below. Gerald was in awe, "How did this happen?", he asked himself. Then he saw her...
She was by the building where Darkwing was obliterated, hunched down where his remains were puddled. She ripped out the part of the wall that Darkwing was smeared on and let it topple to the ground. Then she turned around and squatted. A stream of flourescent green liquid saturated the area below her. The moist area had what seemed like a halo of light emanating from it. Gerald just stood there bound and watched.
The remains of Darkwing began to shift. Fragments of bone formed to complete bones, and then pulled together as a skeleton. Skin, tissue, and organs pulled themselves into the skeleton and reformed to become operable. The mold of Darkwing’s face started out like jelly and proceeded to bake itself into true flesh. The big black wings extended themselves undamaged. The demon whore watched until the white balls of his eyes rolled over to pupils, and then dilated from the incoming flash of life. Darkwing was alive.
She faced Gerald as he broke through the remaining holds of wood and stone. Before he had a chance to pull his legs out, she hunched over on all fours and charged... smiling. She was faster than Gerald had expected and ran right through him, tearing a huge hole through his mid section!
Gerald was in shock and appalled at himself for letting her run through him. He reached around and felt his inner organs hanging from the outside of his back. Quickly, he focused on a gravity center within, which began to draw his guts back inside.
She stood and faced him with a huge smile on her face. It was a mischievous smile, like a cat showing off a kill to it’s human parent. Pride beamed out of her eyes! Before Gerald even finished healing, he insulted her, "You’re about the ugliest thing I’ve seen in this place. Are you going to smile about that too?" She nodded her head and then reached under his cloth and grabbed his penis. It immediately became erect, and Gerald hauled back and smacked her across the street. No one had ever been so brainless to him before... so crude! In his new rage he easily broke through his binds. Shaking himself off, he complained out loud for just himself to hear. "That was disgusting...", then in her direction he raised his voice, "and you’re disgusting!" Gerald was fuming when he looked over at the hole in the building where she was thrown and yelled, "I hope you’re dead!"
Gerald knew she wouldn’t be dead. He had her figured out already. Simply put, she was one half of the same entity. The supernatural half, or if so preferred, the demon half. All he had to do was kill the little human part, and then dismantle the demon- No sweat! He had done it before many times... and lo and behold, just 6 blocks away, stood that delicate half. The poor little idiot was staring right at him. He took off at a pace which would leave her dead in 3 seconds.
As he bounded off toward Jane, her other half emerged from the hole in the wall and glanced over at her. Their eyes met and immediately the 2 became one... Far beyond the simple law of entanglement, when 2 conscious parts of the same thing become aware of each other an irresistible attraction binds them instantly.
Gerald noticed, a split second before he pummeled her, that the girl instantly became much taller and wider. On impact, she was thrown 3 blocks and landed in the middle of the road next to a sewer cap. Sir Jane felt her body twisted in ways it hadn’t been before. Flourescent metallic fluid swirled all over her as she felt bones bend back into place. Although she reconstructed quickly she could smell death all around her. Her body felt powerful but she was completely unfamiliar with it. It was as if she could only move in forward or reverse... and Gerald was walking up to her with a vicious swagger. She managed to pull off the sewer cap before he arrived.
Gerald looked down at her like a neighborhood bully, "You’re pretty lucky for being a real idiot." He said flatly and then got to the point. "Death’s not so bad. Maybe you’ll be cuter on the other side." Gerald glanced at the sewer cap in her hands, rolled his eyes, and then lifted his foot to smash her. He stumped it down and missed... nothing!
Sir Jane had dropped into the sewer hole. She shot through the filthy water like a torpedo lighting up the corridors with her flourescent glow but Gerald smashed into the sewer also– before a human could finish sneezing. He was on her trail instantly, trying to catch up with the glow in the distance.
Gerald almost felt amused at her escape. He really miscalculated that one... but usually idiot demons just stood there and got pummeled. A pre-god for 30 seconds and she had the know how to stop drop and roll– better than the last infinite number of brainless losers. He decided he’d kill her quick... when he caught up.
The Author
Darkwing walked up to me, a lump of flesh in pain, and said, "You can still be good for something. I know you’re hurting but she needs you."
Even after seeing Sir Jane rejoined he knew she didn’t have a chance, so he searched the warehouse for me. Something about me was necessary... He found me broken and bleeding in the corner, and I really just wanted to die. In fact, that was the first thing I said when I noticed he was there.
"I wanna die."
"You can’t die yet, man."
"Why not?"
"Sir Jane needs you."
"I’m in pain... horrible pain."
"Only for awhile... You’ll have a chance to die, but first you have to step up, man."
"Step up?"
I noticed that he had wings at that point. It didn’t surprise me. I sort of knew it without knowing it, if you know what I mean. It dawned on me though, right at that moment, that my heart and eyes might be of some value.
"Does she need my heart and eyes?", I asked.
I noticed a tear stream out of one of his eyes and it really confused me. "You can care?", I murmured, "for me?" It was a strange idea. I felt vacant... but when he nodded in agreement I felt something well up inside of me. Somewhere lost in this physical pain was my humanity... and well, Darkwing, he damn near found it. Although I didn’t have any emotion left I knew it was somewhere inside of me- and with that knowledge I asked him to pick me up.
Even the gentle cradle of his arms filled me with such intense pain I wished out loud for death.
Godheads
As Sir Jane sped through the murk of piss and shit with Gerald on her tail, she tried to get a grip on herself. A strong part of her wanted to fuck and fight, although she knew she’d be destroyed if she didn’t keep up her pace. She couldn’t tell which parts of her were stronger than others, or whether she was actually possessed by something else. It took all of her concentration just to keep moving.
Gerald had gained. He was just a few yards behind her and tension took her over. The tunnel ahead began to fade. Everything started to go dark as both of her eyes closed... but then she could still see! Sir Jane shot out of the water, grabbing his penis in the process and then she used it’s leverage to swing him into a sewer wall. Before Gerald had a chance to scream, she flew up through a sewer cap up onto the street. From there she listened for him... nothing, but she had to get away! Not taking any chances, she flew off towards a tall building for a better view.
Gerald surfaced. He surfaced before she arrived. Effortlessly, he picked up a sewer cap and threw it hundreds of yards aiming for her neck. A direct hit! Before Sir Jane reached the roof top her head was sliced clean off- then the cap and her head fell to the ground.
Gerald walked over to the head. It was key.. But before he approached the head of Sir Jane, he stopped at it’s body and said, "Consider this a favor. Maybe you’ll be luckier next time... with the looks I mean." He kind of chuckled to himself and that caught him off guard. He had no memory of doing that before. "What are you looking at?", someone cried out. Gerald looked around and saw noone. "I’m looking at you asshole!", he sneered, "I’ll get you too, you flipping baby... you coward!" He walked over and then leaned down to smash her head when a 1000 voices filled his head screaming, "Nooo!"
Then they all screamed something different from another, so his head was packed with noise. ‘What the hell is going on?’, he thought. "Get outta my head!", he screamed, "What the hell kinda place is this? Are you all animals on an Idiot Farm?! Shut up or I’ll kill you slowly!" The voices didn’t shut up and to make matters worse he looked down to find the head was gone. He turned to see a girl in a wheel chair carrying it in her lap towards the body. Gerald lunged, but tripped over something! When he turned around he saw Novocaine and Domingo picking themselves up off the ground.
For a moment he was stunned. ‘How stupid do they make these little people?’, he thought. Gerald was so upset that he couldn’t think. He also found it hard to think because of the stupid little voices roaming around inside his head. He hated it, he hated it all... and it was about time all of this nonsense came to an end.
Annie wheeled up to the body with Sir Jane’s head. Jimmy and Jack were waiting. They quickly grabbed it by the hair and neck then positioned it on the shoulders– the eyes rolled to life. Gerald’s 30 second battle with Domingo and Novocaine proved useful but it had a cost! At first he couldn’t connect, so he roared as he swung his fists. The sheer force of his voice threw them off balance as he swatted them both at the same time. Domingo took most of the impact as he and Novocaine flew across the street. Anybody else would have been dead, but Domingo was lucky only his hip was crushed. Neither he nor Novocaine remained conscious.
Darkwing descended with me in his arms when he saw Sir Jane come to. The first thing she did was scream... then Gerald rounded the corner of the building and went for her. He was focused and expressionless, ready to end the nightmare he was stuck in. Darkwing laid me down and flew over to her.
Gerald looked from Sir Jane to the Others around her then back to her. "You all have a lot of spirit.", he chided, "For something out of a Hitler comic book!" Sir Jane just stood there and let him take a shot at her. She was afraid anything she’d do would harm one of us and she really didn’t know what else to do. As she was hit, Darkwing flew at Gerald’s head. He would have missed if it wasn’t for Tyrone focusing voices into it. Then Gerald fell. If only for an instant- Gerald fell.
Sir Jane’s body flew down the street on impact and dragged my body with it as we collided. She had a hole in her mid section from where Gerald’s fist connected, but immediately after we stopped rolling she leaned over me. I was a head attached to a bag of blood and crushed bone. The pain was unbearable! I didn’t feel human anymore, just pain. By the time we stopped I was 96.7% dead... but I had enough strength to say it. "Take my eyes and heart.", I managed. There was look in her eyes just before she clawed into my chest– it was more than I could grasp.
She didn’t take my eyes. I knew this because I could still see... and thank God I felt no pain. The pain was gone.
Sir Jane looked different. She could have been taller and thicker, but what was most apparent was the color of her face and body. Black. She looked like she was carved out of graphite, until she opened her eyes. They were bright red.
A shutter ran through the last seconds of my consciousness when I noticed that Gerald was standing right over me. He was facing her and for the first time I saw it in his face... Fear.
To be continued.................
Thanks for reading Sir Jane an the Replacement System. I hope to make the website thereplacementsystem.com better so that the music and novel can fit together. Right now I’m working on the audio book and waiting for the collapse. I hope it doesn’t come.
The sequel isn’t even close to being finished. Tell me what you think about it if you dare, otherwise just enjoy it. Personally, I never have the guts to correspond with people. I kinda feel like an Other... the semi social kind.
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