At last, Adam thought he saw an opening. He maneuvered his sword and jabbed, only to realize that it was part of his doppelganger’s plan. The maniac grabbed Adam’s sword with his bare hand and stabbed at Adam’s neck with his own weapon. Adam let go of his sword and fell to the ground to get away. He landed in the snow and crept back as his double loomed over him. He released Adam’s sword from his bleeding hand and staggered over to Adam, prepared to stab down at him and end the fight. In the distance, Dee and the Creator could only cry out as Adam watched his white-haired double raise his sword up.
Through the howling wind, a hollow sound rung out from above the castle complex. An invisible pulse of energy struck the doppelganger’s exposed chest and pushed him backwards into the snow. Adam’s eyes flickered in shock. He rolled over and looked above to see the silhouette of a caped figure crouching on the roof overlooking the battle. The figure leapt down and landed between Adam and the spectators, who immediately recognized him.
“What are you doing here?” Adam asked.
The Baggins looked over at the writhing form of the doppelganger and then back at Adam. The fractured portion of his mask that revealed the grotesqueness of his true face made Adam cringe.
“I’ve always believed that it’s best to neither be indebted to anyone nor have debt owed to you,” The Baggins remarked. “You saved me in the street, and I’ve saved you now. We’re even.”
Adam didn’t know what to say. He settled on “thank you.” The Baggins turned away from him.
“Like I said,” The Baggins told him, “I don’t expect you to lose to him. Don’t drop your guard.”
Adam turned back and saw that his double had gotten to his feet. His fury hadn’t lessened, and the same vicious attacks would be likely to follow. Adam knew that he would need to end the fight soon or he wouldn’t be able to keep defending himself. He couldn’t rely on The Baggins, nor Dee or the Creator. All of them could only be support for him now. The only one who could win the battle was him.
The monster rushed at Adam once more, intent on tearing his other half to pieces. Adam was ready, and met his angry alter ego without fear. Their swords collided, and Adam’s was pushed away due to the difference in power behind their swings. It was just what Adam wanted, as he used the glint of light from his sword to blind his opponent. As obsessed as he was with killing, the doppelganger wouldn’t remember the tactics that had already been used against him.
While his opponent was blinded, Adam jabbed his sword into his side. The doppelganger cried aloud and fell back before swinging his sword wildly towards Adam. The change in his movements was becoming too erratic to be of benefit now. Whatever strength he had gained from his rage was lost on the fact that he couldn’t even deliver a proper swing of his sword.
Taking advantage of this, Adam ducked around and stuck his sword into the ground. Three spikes shot up around the doppelganger, not to pierce him but keep him pinned in place. Adam rushed forward with his blade pointed at his double. The vision of rage before him struggled to move and roared like a beast. In the state he was in, it was all he could do. Facing the object of his fear head on, Adam shouted and thrust his sword through the center of his angry alter ego’s chest.
The doppelganger spilled a torrent of blood from his mouth as Adam’s sword pierced him and came out through his back. The blood splattered all over Adam’s front and face, but he was undeterred as he gripped his sword and forced it deeper into his double’s chest. The two locked stares for a final time, but there was nothing left in the doppelganger’s eyes. Adam twisted his sword and tore it out, causing more blood to erupt from the doppelganger’s chest. He stumbled back and pressed his sword into the ground for support, struggling to catch his breath. Behind him, he could hear Dee call out to him and he saw her and the Creator approaching through the storm. He smiled through the pain of his injuries. For them to be coming to greet him, then it must be over. The battle was really over.
“Adam, look out!”
Adam whipped his head around to watch his double spring to life again and burst through his earthen restraints. His sword fell to the snow; he didn’t intend on using it anymore. The doppelganger charged at Adam and tackled him to the ground. The ravaged fingertips of the doppelganger began to claw through Adam’s shirt and brutally rip into his chest. Adam shot his right hand up to grab at his double’s throat and hold him back, but the hungry beast’s will was greater and he continued.
His expression had lost all traces of humanity, and he was more like a hungry animal tearing into a kill as if his life depended on it. The veins in his forehead had swollen with blood and pulsed with erratic rhythm during the attack. As Adam looked up at his double’s face, he saw that one of them seemed to be getting larger still. Suddenly the doppelganger stopped moving and his body shook with shock as the vein in his head burst.
The doppelganger flew off of Adam’s body and cried out in horrific agony, rolling on the ground while clutching at his face. Adam slid himself back and found Dee rushing up to lay her hands upon him. The two watched as the doppelganger flopped around while clutching his face. After a few seconds of this he raised his torso up so that all present could see him. With a single swift motion he jabbed his hand into his left eye socket and tore out its contents.
Dee looked away in revulsion as the doppelganger knelt panting in the snow, fresh blood pouring from his burst temple and empty eye. He seemed to choke and showed a final look of panic across his face as he vomited another stream of blood and collapsed. Everyone watched his body for any further sign of movement, but after a minute had passed and the snow began to cover him, it was clear that this time he was really dead.
Adam let out a slow sigh and felt his body slacken in Dee’s arms. The pain in his chest and limbs seemed to fade slowly. He thought that Dee might have been healing him, but he quickly realized that he was losing all feeling in his body. His vision started to fade as well as his eyes started to close on their own. The intense white of the storm and his doppelganger’s body disappeared as his eyes fell shut and Adam slipped into darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Aftermath
December 25th, 2004
Warmth brushed against Adam’s face as he slept. In his half-conscious state, he realized that something wasn’t right. There shouldn’t be any warmth near him; he was lying in the middle of a snowstorm dying in the cold. His fingers twitched, and he found that he could feel them once again. That was not to be expected. The warm feeling against his face seemed to recede, and curious as to its source he slowly opened his eyes again with strained effort.
He wasn’t in the middle of a snowstorm dying in the cold. He was in a bed, covered in blankets, with the clear light of day coming through the window behind him. In front of him he saw Dee leaning closely over him, a sudden look of embarrassment washing over her face when she saw his eyes open. She immediately pulled back to a safer distance and her embarrassment turned into joy. She smiled and looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“You’re awake,” she said. “Good afternoon.”
“Afternoon? How long was I out?” Adam groaned as he tried to lift his head, but Dee held her hands up and told him to rest. Rightly confused about his situation, he asked Dee for an explanation as to what had happened after the battle.
“You were really badly hurt,” she told him. “The Creator said that if you didn’t have my magic helping to heal you along with your own powers that you would have likely died out there. Since the storm was getting worse, we brought you back inside the castle and I started to heal you and Mathias.”
“Is he alright?” Adam asked. “What happened with Gien after we left?”
“He had some pretty bad injuries himself,” Dee explained. “The tendons on his ankles had been cut and he wouldn’t have been able to walk again if I hadn’t have repaired them. He’s fine now, resting with everyone else in the living room.”
“And Gien?”
“He had bee
n injured quite severely and appeared to have died sometime before we got back to him. There was nothing I could do when we discovered him.” Adam wasn’t surprised to hear this and felt uneasy about the man. He may have been an enemy obsessed with revenge, but he had not been without reason. Little separated Friedrich Gien from Mathias Silvos, but at least Mathias had come to terms with his empty quest for revenge.
“Speaking of discovery,” said Adam, “what happened with the castle? There’s no way that with all of the damage we caused that the battle went unnoticed.”
“We have The Baggins of all people to thank for that,” Dee said. “While I was healing you, he used his powers to reconstruct the damages to the castle and remove all the signs that we were there at all.”
The Baggins. Adam remembered now that he had appeared during the fight to save his life. For someone who was supposedly at war with their group, he had been very helpful to Adam.
“What happened to Cody then? If The Baggins was still alive, does that mean that Cody lost?”
Dee shook her head. “Cody’s fine. Well, he was pretty beat up, but I was able to get him back to his normal self pretty quickly. You were really the one that was the most trouble to heal.”
“Sorry about that,” Adam said with a laugh.
“Dummy,” Dee replied. “You really had me worried for a while.”
“Really? I hope you weren’t losing faith in me.”
“I have a right to worry!” she said, giving him a light tap on his shoulder. “It was scary to watch.”
The room fell quiet as both of their thoughts turned back to the face of the doppelganger, twisted in agony and rage. Adam shifted his head to the right. His eyes fell on something he hadn’t seen in the room before, an object wrapped in a white cloth. Before he could get a better look at it, he heard the sounds of footsteps racing towards the door, followed by it flying open.
Ayumi stood in the doorway, overjoyed to see that Adam was finally awake. “What are you still doing lying in bed? Don’t you know we’re all waiting for you?”
“Waiting? What are you talking about?” Adam asked. Ayumi put her hands on her hips and scowled.
“Don’t tell me you forgot about the party I had planned for when you got back!” she said. “I had everything all ready to go last night and we had to put it off because you were still recovering. Everybody’s been waiting, so you should let them know you’re okay.”
“Ayumi, he’s still needs time to rest,” Dee said. Adam seemed to have other ideas, as he had already lifted himself up and sat upright in the bed. “Hey, wait a second!” Dee shouted. “You shouldn’t be getting up just yet. You were really injured.”
“I’m just a little sore now, and probably dehydrated,” Adam explained. “My own regenerative powers have been at work, they’re just slower because I was being hurt by another Legend. I think I can warrant walking around and visiting with everyone.”
Dee sighed and conceded while Ayumi raised her fist in the air. “That’s the spirit, Adam! Now come on, we’ve been waiting for you to play all night!”
Ayumi ran back towards the living room while Adam was left confused in the bed. “Play? What does she mean by that?”
“It’s part of the party,” Dee said. She stood up and offered him her hand. “Shall we go? I’ll help you walk.”
Adam smiled, taking Dee’s hand as support. His legs were still shaky, but overall he was a lot better off than he had been. Dee helped him over to the dresser where he kept his personal belongings. The object wrapped in cloth sat there as well, but he decided not to deal with it for now. Taking his glasses, he walked with Dee out of the room to join everyone else.
As the two reached the doorway to the living room, a stream of confetti flew at them as Ayumi and the others cracked party favors and cheered. Adam was taken by surprise and nearly fell backwards, but Dee supported him and smiled.
Adam looked over the room, which was set up differently than it had been all week. The furniture was moved against the walls so that there was a large central area for everyone to move around in. The biggest change was the setup of a microphone, drum set, and guitars at the far end of the room. Sitting among them were three Japanese boys that Adam had never seen before looking tired and bored. Ayumi ran over to them, telling them something in Japanese. Each of them gave a look at Adam, and then moved over to take their places at the instruments.
“What’s going on?” Adam asked.
“Ayumi got her band to come and play for the victory party,” Dee explained. “They were getting a little restless though, since they’ve been here since last night. They seem like nice people, even if I couldn’t really understand a word they say.”
Ayumi jumped up to the microphone and addressed the small group in the living room. “Hello everyone! It’s been a long wait, but it was worth it because now everyone is here safely. You’ve all worked hard to protect this city, so here’s our way of showing our appreciation. We are Aoi-ya, and this is Tomorrow!”
She nodded to the drummer to count the band off. The guitarist delivered the opening part of the song, and Ayumi shortly joined in on vocals. The upbeat melody filled the room and caught Adam by surprise. He had no idea that someone like her would have such a lovely singing voice.
“She’s quite good, isn’t she?” the Creator asked. Adam turned his head and saw that the Creator had snuck over to his side without him noticing. “Dee, would you mind getting Iilil-ja and I a drink?”
“Certainly,” Dee said, leaving the two alone. Adam narrowed his eyes, his focus falling on the Creator’s face. There was a bandage affixed to his right cheek.
“Congratulations on your success, Iilil-ja,” the Creator said. “I’m very proud of you. You worked very hard these last few weeks, although obviously you weren’t alone in that effort.”
Adam took the Creator’s bait. “You did your own fair share as well. You and Cody, I should say.” Adam looked over to find Cody in the opposite corner of the room watching Ayumi sing. He was very much surprised, too, to see who Cody was standing with.
“What’s he doing here?” Adam asked, referring to Master M. “How did he find out about this?”
“Peter has more ties to this situation than you’re aware of, Iilil-ja,” the Creator replied. “I’m sure shortly you’ll learn all about them. Before you do, however, I’m going to have to ask that you don’t mention The Baggins again to Cody, nor bring up what happened towards the end of your fight.”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
“One of Cody’s conditions for coming to Kyoto was that I guarantee the death of The Baggins,” the Creator clarified. “As you know, that was not what happened.”
“And what did happen?”
“I restored the original seal on him so that his powers would be restricted once again and control of his body would be returned to New Baggins at sunrise this morning. I also made it so that he would be returned to Magid at that time, where he shall remain.”
In confessing The Baggins’ fate, the Creator had neglected to tell Adam the details of his final conversation with the exile. As Cody and Adam were being healed by Dee’s magic, the Creator and The Baggins stood alone in the storm. It was there that the decision was made to hide The Baggins’ existence in Magid once again and his powers were sealed for the sake of restoring the proper order of things, as the Creator put it. It was there that The Baggins spoke freely.
“What good do you think it will do?” he asked. “You can send me away, lock me in darkness for an eternity, but it won’t change the truth about you. You’re afraid of what I represent.”
“And what is that?” the Creator asked.
“I represent those who are willing to think for themselves,” The Baggins answered. “Those who are willing to look beyond your lies and understand the truth about who you are and what you’re doing. That scar on your face is proof enough. You’re not a god, you’re not benevolent or loving. You’re a self-serving cretin whose only purpos
e is to deceive the masses to keep yourself above them all. You are the lowest form of life.”
The Creator stood amidst the storm for a moment, his eyes narrowing to an arrogant stare. “The victors are the ones who shape history, The Baggins. So what if I am what you say I am? What are you going to do about it? What will anyone? The answer is nothing at all.”
“Maybe now,” The Baggins persisted. “But it won’t last. You had better believe it won’t last. For all your treachery in the name of divinity, there will be due recompense. There will come a day when all of the love they have for you washes away, and those who are closest will turn their backs on you. You will become abandoned, hopeless, and miserable and fall broken and weeping on your knees. That day will come, and when it does, I will be there.”
The last chord of the band’s song broke the Creator out of his thoughts. He noticed that Adam was looking strangely at him and flashed a smile. “Don’t worry, Iilil-ja. Everything has been resolved.”
“That’s not true,” Adam said. “There’s still a large matter that I want to get to the bottom of. Someone set my anger free in Magid, and someone got him here and gave him subordinates. Whoever they are, they’re still out there somewhere.”
“I may be able to shed a little light on that,” said the Creator. “Before we left the castle yesterday, I had an opportunity to collect some of the documentation left behind by your other half and the others. They seemed to belong to a group called Oracle. Heard of them?”
“Can’t say that I have,” Adam said.
“Neither have I, which means it’s likely they’re based here on Earth rather than in the Other Universe. From the papers I found, it looks like their original reason for coming here was an assassination. Not yours, but the Prime Minister of Japan. The plan was to be carried out today.”
“Were there any reasons stated as to why?”
“No, but I can surmise that it was meant to cause political turmoil. For the past week, incidents around Kyoto were scaring the public into thinking the city was under terrorist attack. For the Prime Minister to be killed as well would lead to repercussions.”
The Kyoto Ordeal (Tales of the Other Universe Book 1) Page 32
