Chapter Nine - Revelations

 

 

 Tom and Deacon fought through the afternoon, eventually taking their fight to the roof of the Kethrin Mansion. The sky had turned gray and cloudy, and rain began falling while they dueled.

  

"Tell me where she is!!" Tom demanded.

 "NEVER! She's going to be MINE!"

 Eventually the rain stopped but the fight kept going, Tom continuing to block every blow and parry every strike. He didn't want to seriously injure Deacon because he needed to find out where Annabelle was.

Tom reached forward and punched Deacon's arm, and was rewarded by a punch to the chest. After this, Deacon kicked Tom backwards but he regained his footing and lunged ahead again, this time trying to sweep his own feet under Deacon's to knock him down. Unfortunately, Deacon was smart enough to dodge this strike and kicked Tom square in the chest, knocking him back.

"You're losing this fight, Tommy. I don't know how you managed to heal yourself but it will all be null and void in a few moments: I'm going to kill you, and then Annabelle will have no choice but to join me at my side."

Tom snarled at him, then Deacon delivered the line he shouldn't have.

"Maybe I'll even name one of our kids Tom, to honor the dead. How does that sound, buddy-boy?" 

"NOOOOOOO!!!" Tom jumped up and knocked Deacon back against the edge of the house towards the city. Deacon was blindsided from the attack and he had to balance himself to remain on his two feet. Tom realized he had him cornered then looked him straight in the eyes.

 

 "For the last time: where's Annabelle?" 

  "You don't know? Look at yourself. Kelly is the real investigator here, so I'll give you a nice little clue: look behind me."

Tom did so and saw the shining jewel of Bridgeport, a building recently purchased by Deacon's corporation.  Annabelle had to be there.

 

"Plasma 501." Tom said to himself. Then he said with a sarcastic tone: "Thank you so much for your help."  

 "No problem.... NOW DIE!!!" Deacon lunged forward with a strike, but Tom avoided it and delivered a swift kick to the side of his head.

 The resulting strike knocked Deacon off the ledge of the mansion, sending him plummeting to the hill below. Tom was surprised at his own strength, and his mouth fell open as he watched him fall.

 

 Tom wasn't sure if Deacon was dead or not, but he didn't have time to question it. Annabelle was being held captive at Plasma 501 and he needed to get there ASAP. As he left, he told Kelly to call 911 for Deacon, hoping that if he was still alive he could testify against whoever the Benefactor was.

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Tom made it to the Plasma 501 by nightfall. He ran up the stairs, not risking the Elevator and got to the top floor within five minutes.

 Panting, he saw Annabelle sleeping and trapped, and ran over to her, forgetting the fact that his legs were on fire from the run upstairs.

 "Annabelle?" She was trapped inside a barred off area, asleep on one of the specialized chairs she and Tom had gotten from the hospital to help heal their injuries after the explosion. Deacon mentioned some sort of sleep device the Benefactor used so he figured she was still knocked out from it. He tried to wake her, but the chair she was in was giving off a strange field that seemed to have prevented her from waking.

 "She's safe you know. No harm will come to her. All I need from her is proof that she's here as an alien life form. Strangely enough, it's much harder to get than I thought. I thought when I put her in the hospital three months ago, that a simple blood test would reveal her extraterrestrial nature, but alas it did not. Amazing how far her species goes to conceal their true identity, isn't it Mr. Jameson?"

 "What the... how is this possible?"

 

 "Hello Mr. Jameson. Are we having a fine night? Here to rescue your high-school sweetheart? I suppose I should let you two go but that would interfere with my plans."

"Jack?"

 "How is this possible? I watched you die... that explosion. I don't understand?!" 

 "You saw me enter a building and an explosion happen outside that building. That was why I wanted you to accompany me in the first place, so I had two witnesses who could confirm my death. You saw me die..."

 "...yet in reality, I ran inside the building seconds before the explosion, where I was safe. All I had to do was simply go out the back door where I had a car waiting for me." 

"All it took was to corrupt my idiot foster son." Jack said, scowling. "And if I could go back and do it all again, I'd probably do exactly the same thing." 

 "Why?" Tom asked, "Why are you doing all of this?"

"My vision, dear boy." 

"Vision?"

"If I tell the government that there are aliens among us, they will want to know where the aliens came from. I could give them my teleportation technology and tell them exactly where to go. I will then run for President and win, where I will launch an invasion the planet of Torra Sev and steal the technology.

 "With their technology, I can truly build my glorious city within my lifetime, and I will rule it all. My empire will be the most powerful one in history, and then, I will take over this entire planet, and create the first ever Empire of Earth!"

"So you kidnapped a teenage girl to take over the planet?" 

"Amazing how the greatest things can start with the most miniscule people, isn't it?" 

"Well quite frankly I can't let you do this." 

Jack smiled evilly. "Dear boy, it's not up to you. You are the one thorn in my plans, one who will follow and protect Annabelle until the day you die."

Suddenly a gate lined itself into place, blocking Tom from the exit to the building. "And now, that day will be changed to today!"

 

 Jack lunged forward and tried to kick Tom in the head, but the hero quickly dodged the strike and delivered one of his own. Their fight began.

 Jack fell back against the bars of Annabelle's cell, and the vibrations shut off the chair. The following sounds of battle woke Annabelle from her sleep, where she leaned forward in her chair. She smiled when she saw that Tom was here, and became thankful that he had come to save her.

 

 Her smile faded, however, when she saw that Jack was the Benefactor this whole time. She couldn't believe how betrayed she felt. Then she remembered something that Jack had told her three months before:

"My grandparents helped to keep this city going, and when they died the duty fell upon my parents, and finally since they are no longer here in this town they passed the funds off to me."

Someone who provides funds to a service is: a Benefactor. Annabelle mentally kicked herself for not realizing it in the first place.  

"Tom! Get me out of this cage! I want to fight!"

"But you're injured! Please don't!" Tom protested. "I can't lose you again!"

"You won't! I'm stronger than I was. I'm stronger than I can ever be! Let me out! NOW!!"

 

  Suddenly Annabelle felt an energy around her, and when she turned around to see what it was...

  ...she was enveloped into a white light that the two combatants didn't notice due to their fight.

 Annabelle found herself in a brilliant white room with two strange figures standing in front of her. It took a few adjustments of her eyes but she saw that it was two aliens just like her, wearing a similar black and color theme in their clothing.

"We have been watching you since we sent you to Earth, making sure you were safe." The male said. "Hoping that if you chose to return to Torra Sev, you would do so a strong woman." 

"Your determination to help your friends prove to us that you are ready to come home."

"But I don't want to." Annabelle said. "I want to help Tom, I want to help everyone!"

"Please know this, A'zhanie, if you do not return to Torra Sev right now, it will be quite some time before you can return again."

"I... I..."

"AHH!!!" Annabelle heard Tom grunt from a kick to the face. This sealed her determination. 

"I am needed there! Please send me home!"
The female hid her face to not let Annabelle know that she was about to cry, then said. "We understand. Before we send you, we must tell you something A'jhanie, if you concentrate on what you truly care for, you can transcend space itself. Remember this." 

 

 

 Jack gained the upper hand in the fight, and pushed Tom closer to the flames of the trap. When he was but one kick away, Jack paused and snarled. 

 "This is your final moment, Tom. Prepare to see your parents in the afterlife. Prepare to DIE!"

 

 Just before he kicked Tom into the flames, Annabelle teleported on her own volition into the room beside Tom.  Jack became distracted because he could see her for what she truly was without his VEV device.

 "No, this is impossible!" Jack said, as he saw Annabelle fully healed from her injuries like Tom was.

 Tom, who had stopped the fight momentarily, looked over at Annabelle then back to Jack. "Nice getup." He said to her, noting that her outfit had changed since teleporting a few moments before.

"Nice hat."

"Really?"

"Yes, in fact I would say I'm green with envy for it."

"Nice one."

  "What are you two talking about?!" Jack said, infuriated, "Why can I see you as green?!"

"I guess trusting you doesn't matter anymore, Jack." 

  "Hey, while you're distracted, let me show you a trick your foster son taught me: watch my hands!" 

 Tom pulled back his fists and released them, knocking Jack five feet off the ground and onto the floor a few feet away.

 Unfortunately for Jack, he had set up a trap just where he landed. He stood up, then heard the tell-tale sound of a fire jet burst out from beneath his feet.

Jack jumped but the fire caught him, and he was set aflame. He ran across the room, putting it out, but by the time the flame had receded his trenchcoat was but ashes and smoke. 

 "Hey Annabelle, would you call him a 'Jack-O-Lantern now? It is close to Halloween."

"Tom, you really know what to say to BURN people... believe me I know."

 "You stupid brats! I'll get you for this!"

"Oh no," Tom sarcastically said, "The Major Ashhole is threatening us!"

"Heh, I see what you did there." 

 Jack vanished into a bright light, and seconds later another light emerged shone down the room. What came out of this was a distinct looking device that made an even more distinct beeping sound.

"Crap." Tom said.

 "Hold on to me, Tom." Annabelle said. "I care for you, and I comprehend what I need to do. Let's get out of here."

 "Annabelle I don't see how this will WHOA!"

The two vanished into a teleportation light seconds before the bomb went off.

 Beep.

 

 Tom and Annabelle found themselves on their roof as the Plasma 501's upper levels violently exploded. Tom was still holding onto her arm as he tried to recover from the sudden change of location.

 Meanwhile, Elliot and Mei had returned home from their extended trip to China and the first thing they saw was the explosion at Plasma 501.

"Tom and Annabelle?" Elliot asked.

"Who else?"

"I want to move back to Sunset Valley."

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Meanwhile in his underground lair, Jack stood against a red healing light to help recover from his injuries, fuming over what had happened. 

 "Stupid kids. I'll get them. I'll make them pay. When I return to form, Tom and Annabelle are going to pay for insulting me like this. No one humiliates the Benefactor! I'll kill them both!"

 "That's not gonna happen." A voice said. "No one touches the green girl."

"Who just said that??!"

"Take a guess."