I LIVE! Sorry I haven't worked on this in awhile..but sudden flashes of inspiration are great! Now that my Muse has returned, and I'm on spring break, I'll write more. The next time I try to take a full load of credits, please whack me upside the head with a lead pipe.
Joel and Mike continued down the passageway. Neither one of them was keeping track of how long they had been walking. They had not met up with Damien as they had hoped.
Joel broke the silence. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Mike shrugged. All that was on his mind was finding Damien. "What?"
"We've encountered absolutely no resistance since we came in here. You'd think the inside of the fortress would be heavily guarded, but it isn't. That worries me."
Mike began to catch on. "Are you saying this is a trap?""Maybe," Joel replied. "After we got in here, it's been much too easy. I wonder if--"
Joel's words were cut off when there was an explosion in the distance. Several pieces of the ceiling came crashing down. Mike pulled Joel away from a piece that collapsed near them.
"Where's Damien?" Mike asked in a worried voice.
Joel drew his sword. "Come on."
Mike turned on his rod as the two ran down the passageway.
***
The pair reached an anteroom that contained the bodies of many Earthbound Ones. The floor tile in the center of the room was gone, and several pieces of it littered the room.
"What happened here?" Mike wondered aloud.
Joel knelt down and examined the bare spot on the floor. "This was the epicenter of the explosion. Everything just flew out of the center."
"Yeah, but...what happened?" Mike asked again. He looked down at one of the bodies on the floor. Despite the explosion, there were no burn marks or cuts of any kind on the body. "Wait a minute."
"Did you find something?" Joel asked.
Mike knelt down next to the body. It was untouched except for an expression of horror fixed on the figure's face. "I think Damien did this. There's no other explanation for this other than his Shadow magic."
"You're right."
"Huh?!" Startled by the voice, Mike turned to see a figure standing in the passageway. "Who are you?!"
"I see it wasn't a mistake taking you to Guardia Kingdom. After all, you've come this far." The sage Ivanov stepped out of the shadows.
"You brought us here?" Joel asked, confused.
Ivanov nodded. "Staniv ordered me to take you to Guardia Kingdom after you jumped off that building. He sensed that you had the willpower to use magic, and he knew you'd find your way to the End of Time." Ivanov turned to Mike. "You, however, were a special case. I didn't know what that pendant was going to do, so I used my magic to put you in a coma before taking you to Guardia Kingdom."
Joel frowned. That explained his lack of memories between the jump and his arrival in Guardia Kingdom.
"Why did you knock me out?" Mike asked.
Ivanov glared at Mike. "You possess that pendant. I didn't know whether I could trust you. Still, Staniv sensed you had the powers of Wind, so I took you to Guardia Kingdom."
"Why Guardia Kingdom?" Joel asked Ivanov. "Why not the End of Time?"
"Guardia Kingdom is safer for those whose powers haven't awakened yet. Once you were ready, you found your way to the End of Time. Staniv summoned you because he knew you would be able to challenge Pearl and make things right again."
Mike turned to Joel. "Let's go end this."
Joel nodded. "What about Damien?"
"He went on ahead," Ivanov stated. "His powers are almost at their maximum level. There's no other way he would have been able to take out all of those Earthbound Ones. I can understand why he would kill demonically possessed people, but if he reaches his full potential..."
"Then what?" Joel asked.
Ivanov was about to answer when another explosion rocked the fortress. A scream echoed through the passageway.
"Damien!" Joel took off running in the direction of the scream.
"Damien is not to be trusted," Ivanov said to Mike. "Just be aware that once his full power awakens, it may be too dangerous for the three of you."
Mike shook his head. "I don't care. I'm going." With that, he ran in the direction that Joel had earlier.
Ivanov watched Mike disappear into the darkness of the passageway.
"Fool me once, shame on you," Ivanov said to himself. "Fool me twice... it'll be the end for all three of you."
***
At the end of the hallway as a large anteroom that contained a rebuilt Mammon Machine. Pearl stood on top of the machine. She held a gold staff in her left hand. Damien stood a few feet away from the Mammon Machine, staff in hand.
"I guess I underestimated you," Pearl said as Joel and Mike rushed into the room. "But that's all right. It means I don't have to hold back."
The Mammon Machine rumbled as Pearl raised her staff. A wall of red light rushed towards the three.
Damien raised his staff. "Dark Matter!" Gray light shot out of the staff in every direction. Several beams of light struck Joel and Mike, knocking them over. The entire anteroom began to shake.
Damien and Pearl aimed their staffs at one another. The beams of red and gray light struck one another head on, sending several smaller beams of light all across the room.
Mike wiped away the blood trickling down his forehead. "Maybe Ivanov was right."
Joel pushed himself up into a seated position. "I guess Lavos doesn't have all the power Pearl thought it did."
"How do you know that?" asked Mike.
"She's channeling the Mammon Machine," Joel explained. "Pearl and Lavos are now a codependent lifeform, but Pearl's using the Mammon Machine to attack. If she has to rely on the machine, she can't be as powerful as we thought."
"Let me guess," Mike said. "You've got an idea."
Joel nodded. "The Mammon Machine isn't as powerful now as it used to be. I should be able to disable it. If you and Damien keep Pearl distracted, I can cut off her power."
Mike watched Pearl and Damien for a few moments. The two were in a stalemate.
"You go do that," Mike told Joel. "I've got an idea of my own."
Joel and Mike stood up and took off running in opposite directions. Pearl noticed and sent a beam of red light at them.
"Oh no, you don't," Mike said as he raised his rod. "Rolling Thunder!"
Several bolts of lightning sprung out of the tip of the rod. The lightning collided with the red beam of light. Both disappeared in a surge of electricity.
"Is that all you've got?!" Mike taunted Pearl. "Can't you even use your own strength instead of the Mammon Machine?"
A devious grin crossed Pearl's face. "Thanks for the idea."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Damien snapped.
Pearl raised her staff and disappeared. A few seconds later, red light began to radiate from the Mammon Machine.
"Nice going," Damien snarled. "She's absorbed herself into the Mammon Machine." Damien scowled when he noticed the smile on Mike's face. "What the hell's so funny?!"
Mike just smiled. This was what he had wanted.
The Mammon Machine began to rumble. A red ball of light began floating above the machine. It grew bigger every second.
"Now I'm going to do what I should have done to you the first time!" Pearl shouted. "Goodbye, children!"
Damien and Mike raised their weapons. All of a sudden, the red ball of light disappeared.
"What's happening?!" Pearl cried in alarm.
Joel climbed on top of the Mammon Machine. He threw a circuit breaker onto the floor.
"What did you just do?!" Pearl demanded.
"You're not as smart as I used to think you were," Joel stated. "You've just made it really easy for us."
"What?!" Pearl cried in shock.
"You've absorbed yourself into the Mammon Machine," Joel explained. "The fact that you were using it to attack us tells me that you don't have enough power to get yourself back out."
Pearl gasped in horror as she realized her mistake.
Joel grinned. "Now...what do you suppose will happen when I take out the main circuit?" he asked coyly.
"No!" Pearl screamed in horror. "Don't!"
Joel climbed down from the top of the Mammon Machine and reached into the opening he had carved in the back. He grabbed the main circuit breaker and yanked it out.
"NOOOOOO!!!" Pearl cried as the machine shook violently.
"Joel!" Mike shouted. "Get out of there!"
Joel ran out from behind the machine and joined Damien and Mike. Sparks flew out of the Mammon Machine.
"Run!" Damien yelled. "It's gonna blow!"
The three took off running. None of them looked back, even when the Mammon Machine exploded and burst into flames. The entire fortress began to shake.
Damien extended his hand to Mike. "We don't have much time. Give me your pendant."
Mike took the pendant out of his pocket and gave it to Damien. Damien pressed Mike's pendant against the one he was wearing. A blue portal materialized in front of him.
"Let's go!" Damien jumped into the portal. Mike and Joel went in after him. The portal vanished behind the three just seconds before the once mighty fortress exploded in flames.