Once again, I'll be posting two chapters at once. You'll see why once you reach the end of this one.
Once Joel had helped Mike out of Nigel's clothes, Mike put his regular clothes back on. Chekov tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but may I borrow that pendant? It will only take a second."
"Sure." Mike handed the pendant over to Chekov.
Chekov pressed the jewels of the two pendants together. A large blue portal materialized before them.
"Here you go," Chekov said as he handed Mike's pendant back to him. "Come, now. We must hurry, or we will be too late!"
***
The portal took them to the entrance to the Ocean Palace. Mike and Joel headed forward, but Chekov headed in a different direction.
"Where are you going?" Joel asked him.
"I'm going to try to disable the Mammon Machine using the back route. You two go challenge Pearl. If I'm not there, something happened to me."
Mike nodded. "All right."
Chekov headed off to the left. Mike began to head forward until Joel stopped him.
"Wait! What if something happens to him?!"
"This is the best we can do," Mike told him. "If he came with us, he'd be Pearl's first victim. If we let him go by himself, he might be safe."
"Well, all right..." Joel stammered as he followed Mike into the main hall.
The Ocean Palace was a meretricious use of technology. It was far more ornate and overdone than was necessary. After all, its only purpose was to house the Mammon Machine. Hundreds of Earthbound Ones had died to fulfill Pearl's dream. Both Joel and Mike reflected on that as they walked towards the hall of the Mammon Machine.
Suddenly, they heard Schala scream. They ran into the hall, where the Mammon Machine was going haywire.
"Help me!" Schala screamed. She had fallen to the ground.
Pearl, dressed in gaudy robes, walked over to Schala. She pulled Schala up by her ponytail. "Schala, what are you doing?!" she snapped. "I need your help!"
Mike screamed at the top of his lungs. "PEARL!!"
Pearl whirled around to see where the voice was coming from. She gasped in shock when she saw Joel and Mike.
"Mike Nelson?! I thought I had you killed!" She turned to Joel. "Look who's back from the dead! It looks like I'll have to take care of that."
"No!" Schala yelled.
"SHUT UP!" Pearl screamed at Schala. Frightened at the sudden outburst, Schala cowered on the floor.
"However, you're too late," Pearl continued. "There's no way you can take down the Mammon Machine."
"In that case, we came just in time!" Joel stated. "You see, we're not going to take the Mammon Machine down. We're going to take YOU down!"
Pearl bent over, laughing hysterically. "I don't think so. Here comes the guest of honor!"
The whole palace began to shake, and the Mammon Machine shattered. Everyone had to shield themselves from the flying debris. Lavos rose from the spot where the Mammon Machine once stood. It looked exactly like the image Joel and Mike had seen in the year 2133.
"Lavos, get rid of them!" Pearl pointed at the two.
Lavos sent a very large needle flying across the room. It lodged itself in Mike's leg. Mike cried out in pain as he collapsed. Blood ran down his jeans.
"This should finish you!" Pearl made an arm motion at Lavos. It sent scalding hot lava shooting straight at Mike.
"Mike!" Joel jumped in front of Mike and took the hit. He screamed in agony as the lava burned his skin. He doubled over in pain before hitting the floor.
Pearl laughed merrily. "You're just as stupid as Clayton told me you were."
"Hold it right there!" The Prophet approached Lavos before taking off his robe. The Prophet turned out to be Magus.
"Damien!" Schala stood up and ran into his arms. "You're alive!"
"Oh, look." Pearl raised an eyebrow. "The young lovers are reunited." She paused before throwing her arms up in the air. "It makes me sick! Almighty Lavos, lend me your powers!"
The entire palace shook again as Pearl's body became enveloped in red light. A demonic grin crossed her face as she thrust her arm forward, sending several large needles at Damien and Schala. Damien raised his left arm and blocked the needles with a beam of blue light. The needles fell harmlessly to the floor.
"You stay out of this," Damien told Pearl. "This is between me and Lavos."
"What do you think you can do?" There was a hint of rising interest in Pearl's voice.
Damien extended his left arm. A large staff with two scythes on the end materialized before him. He snatched the staff from midair and stepped into an offensive position.
"I've been waiting a long time for this! Now, I must challenge you!"
He held the staff behind him as he ran towards Lavos. When he was close to the shell, he swept his arm forward. The staff sent an arc of purple light at Lavos. However, it had no effect.
"What?!" Damien cried. "How could this be?!"
Red light swirled around Pearl as she vanished. She materialized on top of Lavos' shell. "You fool. Did you really think you stood a chance?" She thrust her arm forward, and a beam of blue light came forth from Lavos. It struck Damien head on, sending him flying across the room.
Pearl eyed Joel and Mike, who were lying injured on the floor. "It appears you two aren't dead yet. I'll take care of that."
"Please, no!" Schala cried as she stood up.Pearl scoffed. "Well, if you're going to be such a baby about it, fine. Now that Lavos has awakened, you have outlived your usefulness. I'll kill you first." Pearl chanted a voodoo-like incantation. A vacuum of light began to drag Schala towards Lavos' core.
"Lavos hasn't eaten in centuries," Pearl continued. "I think it would be happy to have a light snack."
Damien extended his throbbing arm towards Schala. He was powerless to stop the execution.
Mike pulled at the needle impaling his leg. It wouldn't budge. Joel casually glanced down at his arm. His skin was covered with burns.
"Joel, can you move?" Mike asked. "Schala needs help."
"No," Schala said. "You three get out while you can. This is all my fault. I assisted Pearl in her diabolical stratagem; and I placed the world in danger. Therefore, I am fully deserving of my divine punishment."
"That can't be true!" Joel objected. "Nobody deserves to die!"
"Oh, really?" Pearl inquired smugly. "Not even those stupid Earthbound Ones? They were just stepping stones to my ultimate goal. Who cares if they live or die?"
"Damn you!" Joel felt wrath coursing throughout his being. He forced himself to stand, then drew his sword. With trembling legs, he staggered over to Schala and Lavos.
Pearl laughed again, enraging Joel even further. Her laugh had become a siren's call to him. She grinned demonically as red light encompassed her and Lavos.
"This is from me to you!" she yelled. "Now you can join the despicable Earthbound Ones!"
"Joel!" Mike cried. "Get away from there!"
Joel took two steps back before a large blast of energy emanated from Lavos. Joel stared at it like a deer at oncoming headlights before it struck him.
Extreme pain coursed throughout Joel's body, which caused him to drop his sword. The blast absorbed itself into Joel's body. Everyone thought he was fine until the blast inside exploded, leaving nothing left of Joel Robinson except for a pile of ash.
"JOEL!!" Mike choked back his tears. "NOOOO!!"
The Ocean Palace began to crumble. Water began cascading in through newly formed cracks.
"Is this it?" Damien asked. "Will we remain at the bottom of the sea forever?"
"No!"
Damien and Mike looked up to see Schala. Her pendant shone wanly.
"The last of my pendant's power will lead you two to safety."
"No!" Damien pulled Schala close. "You can't do this!"
"I only have enough power to save two of us. It's better me than either one of you. After all, this was my fault." Schala began chanting a spell. Mike disappeared, but Damien levitated for some time.
Tears were forming in Schala's eyes. "Goodbye, Damien. I'll always love you." With the end of her incantation, she sent Damien away.
Lavos vanished. Schala presumed it had headed back to from whence it came.
Suddenly, the remaining pieces of the Mammon Machine began to shine. Soon afterwards, the Ocean Palace was destroyed in a massive explosion. The force from the explosion caused a tidal wave, sweeping much of the land away. The red rocks sent beams of red light into the Kingdom of Zeal, annihilating every denizen. The beams also caused the rocks to crumble until the once great Kingdom of Zeal sank to the bottom of the sea.
***