Creatures of the night
Eric didn’t make a single sound. His wide-opened eyes were staring straight at them, his mouth opened for a quiet cry for help.
“I saw you still have something that once belonged to me. After it’s your fault that I have lost my whole collection, allow me to take back the first part.”
Gene wanted to rush forward but the Czar pulled Eric closer.
“Make a move and he goes where he still should belong if I hadn’t recreated him. I’m not here to battle you. Not yet. I just want to have my possessions back.”
The four stood like paralysed. They wanted to help Eric but there was nothing they could do. Then suddenly the Demon stepped closer again.
“Hold it, Czar; I don’t want to attack you. I want to make you an offer. You want something human for hour collection and you want to get rid of us.” He took his talisman off his neck and let it glide down to the floor. “Without me, the team is weakened. Let him go and you can take me with you instead.”
“No, Gene, don’t do that! You can’t let him win!” But the Fox was already pushed forward.
“You go back while he comes to me. But no tricks. I still can gain control over Eric anytime.”
Eric tried to catch Gene’s gaze when he passed him by but he just stared at the Czar.
“Don’t worry”, Paul whispered when the Fox had finally reached the group, “we will find a way to get him out.”
“That might be a bit harder than thought”, Ace said, “I can’t feel anything. It’s like my powers had been sucked out of me.”
The Czar laughed. “Well, it isn’t called Four Who Are One for nothing. The fourth chosen one is missing. With his talisman he has thrown away his powers. The talisman has chosen its owner and won’t give its powers to someone else. You are doomed.”
Gene’s head shot up. What had he done? He had left his friends vulnerable. But before he could do anything he felt the Czar’s hand on his shoulder and the world around him disappeared. Only smoke remained. The three remaining members still stared at the place. Eric picked up the talisman and pressed it against his chest. He knew it wasn’t his fault and that there had been nothing he could have done but he never had felt guiltier before.
“Oh great”, Peter said despaired, “What are we supposed to do now?”
“I don’t know.” Paul shook his head. “I just don’t know.”
~~~***~~~
The three were sitting around in the control centre of the Simmons Foundation, staring at the floor or the ceiling. Eric had wandered off. It was his first time in this building and maybe some exploring would help him to get his head free. He had the talisman hanging around his neck but it was nothing more than a nice looking accessory now, completely useless without the fourth of the Four Who Are One.
At the moment he was looking through a shelf. A book of legends about the Elder caught his gaze. He somehow had the feeling it could be helpful. And if not the reading would at least be a nice distraction.
“I think we should look after Eric”, Paul said.
“Why?” Peter asked, “I don’t think he will damage anything.”
“This is the Simmons Foundation after all. Some things can cause harm if you just look at them. And besides my intuition tells me that there might be trouble ahead.”
~~~***~~~
Gene was slammed against the wall of his prison. He wasn’t in chains like Eric so he could move around more but it also meant that the Czar could move him around like a puppet.. And he had done it often enough within the last few hours.
“What have you thought about letting my prisoners free? It’s not very nice to destroy someone’s precious collection. How would you feel if someone did that to you? I asked you a question, so answer it!”
He was slammed against another wall. Wherever the Czar was, he couldn’t see him, just hear his voice. And he felt his force. Now it wasn’t playing with minds anymore. The Dark Czar was more than just angry although he had no reason for it. The Four Who Are One had lost, one of them was imprisoned, and no one could stop him. Or was he just playing the angry one? A way to heat himself up so that he was able to punish Gene even harder.
“At least you now have your friend back although you didn’t see him for very long. Say thank you to your master.”
He was forced to his knees. Now he could see someone coming closer to his cell. Gene stared at the floor. It was already embarrassing enough to kneel before someone he couldn’t see but did that one really had to come to watch him do so?
“As far as I can remember you only saw the prisons whenever you came here. I have decided to guide you around a bit more so you can see what I made of your Foundation in my universe. Don’t worry; I’ll control every single one of your steps.”
Gene was still staring at the floor.
“And look at me when I’m standing in front of you and talk to you.”
The demon now finally lifted up his head.
“Kiss my perfumed Jewish ass”, he hissed.
He was dragged against the cell door. His face was just prevented from being slammed against the lattice bars because he had quickly crossed his arms in front of it.
“I tell you something”, the Czar whispered. Now the anger in his voice was real for sure. “I won’t kill you but you can prepare for a life of pain. You will move your ass out of here, perfumed or not and while we’re on our way I’ll let you bleed, physically and mentally and you will wish I had left you dead in your cell.”
~~~***~~~
Eric was sitting in the middle of a circle made of burning candles. Four tarot cards were lying in front of him, a dagger beside him. Blood was dripping from his wrist into a receptacle. The book of Elder had mentioned a golden goblet but he hoped a coffee cup would do the same job.
“I call to the north, in the name of the Starbearer, prince of hearts, he who drinks deep from the twin wells of spirit and emotion. I call to the west, in the name of the Beast King, lord of the hunt, protector of all nature’s pride. I call to the east, in the name of the Celestial, scion of the cosmos, keeper of universal balance. I call to the south, in the name of the Demon, lord of the wastelands, black-hearted bringer of doom and destruction. I am ready. The circle is closed. The sigil sealed in blood. I call upon the gods of the Elder, the Four Who Are One.” He didn’t say “the dark gods of the Elder” although the book told him to do so but it just sounded wrong when he thought about his friends. And he also didn’t want to summon any dark forces. Just something to bring the Four Who Are One back to life, something to help Gene. He felt pain in his face as if his Fox warpaint was burned into his skin, every single muscle of his body was strained but he tried not to cry out in pain. He just repeated one thing in his head now. “I want to help Gene.”
“Do you feel that as well?” Ace asked.
They were still walking through the corridors and looked for Eric.
“My strength is returning”, the Beast King growled. “I have the urgent need to bite someone’s head off and that one is better calling himself Dark Czar.”
“But how can that be possible?” Paul said. “We’re still just … Eric!”
He turned around and started running. “I saw what he’s doing. We need to stop him before he can do harm to himself.”
“Wait, I know a better way than running curly.”
When they teleported into the room Eric was already gone.
“How did he manage to get out of here? Only one of us should be able to teleport”, Peter said.
“Because he was typically Eric”, the Starchild explained, “I mean he was nice. Even his thoughts might have been nicer than nice. People who aren’t chosen and call the Elder make the mistake that they want to control them. You can’t control a god and your try will only make them angry. But I guess Eric didn’t even think about controlling them a single second. He called them to be led by them and they also helped him. I think he’s now where Gene and the Czar are but he will need some more help if he wants to stay alive. We have no tunnel to this alternative universe so far. Ace, do you think you could teleport us there?”
“I already teleported myself to another sun system. An universe that’s lying directly above ours shouldn’t be a problem.”
“If you can really do that I’m wondering why we always needed that stupid tunnel to switch between the worlds”, the Beast King growled.
~~~***~~~
I can’t say that I really like it. All those balconies on the way up make this room look like a theatre and what is that giant chandelier doing there? I’m not philistine but I liked the Foundation more with all the electronics.”
Maybe Gene wasn’t allowed to move around without being controlled all of the time but he still could speak and he also used that remaining ability as often as he could, if the Czar liked his sassbacks or not.
A bruised body and bleeding lips were the clear signs how much the Czar had really appreciated them.
A shadow raced through the hallways. The Elder had given him the speed and the claws and brought him here, the rest he had to do alone. They also would have given him a bow as weapon but Eric never had used one and now it wasn’t the time to learn how to handle it. His feet nearly were flying over the stone floor. He just had one try. The Czar heard him and turned around. A leap and Eric slammed himself against the Czar, snatched him from Gene and tried to dig his claws into the other’s chest. A blast hit him, sent him flying a few meters high. He could just grab the edge of one of the balustrades before he could fall down again and climbed up. Eric was just standing on top of the balustrade when the Czar appeared on the balcony as well.
“Nice try but now you’re doomed. Your only way to escape is leading down. Very far down. Or do you want to attack me again?”
The Fox looked back. Behind him there was the chandelier. It only had to be wide enough… He jumped. His fingers missed it by just a few centimetres. Claws came from above, dug into his shoulders and dragged him up.
“Sorry”, he heard Peter’s voice, “But I had no other chance.”
Eric now was kneeling on top of the chandelier, breathing heavily. His shoulders were bleeding but that was nothing compared to the other option.
“It’s … it’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Did you really think we could let someone completely inexperienced walk into this fight alone?”
The Czar wasn’t following. He now was busier with Starchild and Ace.
“They can’t attack him too much. It’s still Vinnie’s body. They should stop”, Eric called.
“Let me explain … wow, I never talked that much without letting the beast inside of me getting the upper hand again. Maybe I can still manage to be fully human one day. Alright, Paul thought that our combined powers can rip Vinnie and the Czar apart. But we still need our fire elemental back. Without the life power of his new body he will be vulnerable to our attacks.”
“I need to get down and give Gene his talisman back. Ace!”
They teleported beside Gene who had gotten out of the way as good as possible and now just could watch the fight.
“Eric! Oh I can’t tell how happy I am to see you again.”
“We don’t have much time. Here, take this back.” He handed over the talisman and quickly tried to explain what Peter had told him.
When Gene finally held his dragon sign in his hands the wonderful feeling of power was rushing through his veins again. Even his wounds were starting to heal. The Demon was back.
“Starchild, Beast King, wherever you are, combine your powers. Same counts for you, Ace, and I don’t think it will be wrong if you help as well, Eric.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Then just stay back.”
The Dark Czar was hit by the force of the elements. A scream of rage was heard. For some seconds it looked like his body doubled then the armour of one disappeared and Vinnie fell to the ground. A blinding light filled the area and when it was gone the Czar had vanished as well.
“I hope this was really the end and he is gone forever now”, Gene said.
Paul knelt beside Vinnie. “His pulse is weak but I think he will be able to recover. We should take him to a hospital. I don’t think he will remember too much.”
“And what should we tell him?” Eric asked. “I mean the Czar had him under his control for such a long time. He will want to have an explanation what happened to him and why he lost months, years when wakes up.”
“Don’t know”, the Starchild meant, “Maybe an accident or…”
“No”, Gene said, “We tell the truth.”
~~~***~~~
Several journalists had gathered in the room waiting for the announcement Kiss wanted to make.
“You know that everything between us still has to stay a secret?” Gene asked shortly before he wanted to go out.
“I’m aware of that and it’s still okay as long as I don’t have to hide myself anymore”, Eric said, “You have decided to do that quite fast.”
“Well, the right time has come quicker than I thought.”
The Demon never had felt so nervous before a public speech. Eric squeezed his hand to comfort him.
“Don’t worry. They will believe you.”
His nervousness was gone when Gene was finally standing in front of the microphone.
“By now you all should know that the Four Who Are One are back and maybe you also know about the latest attacks of the Dark Czar. He should finally be gone now but what I wanted to say was that he had kept some people imprisoned. People from different times and worlds. Amongst them there also was someone we knew very well. He once was a member of the family. I don’t know if he ever wants to play for us again or stay a roadie. That’s something he and Peter would have to arrange among themselves. But for now say welcome back to our former drummer Eric Carr.”
With the last words Eric came out of the backstage area as well. Gene saw the camera flashlights, heard the buzzing voices. Maybe the people would need some time to digest the information now but then he caught Eric’s gaze and knew: it had been the right step. He now was alive for real.
