Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) [COMPLETE]

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trulov
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 12/17 Part 48 pg 17

Post by trulov »

Sadly, the kids are both still sick. They are home from school today and have to miss their holiday parties :(
But thank you for all your well wishes!

And thank you for reading this and for all your feedback. I'm glad your still liking it.

Now - here goes. Anyone who's been waiting for Nasedo to get his - this part's for you.

Chapter 49

Nasedo leaned against the boulder outside the pod chamber, eagerly watching Max's car drive up in the distance. Things had gone exceedingly well - easier than he had ever imagined. As he saw Max exit the car with Tess, and to his surprise Michael and Maria Deluca behind him, a slight unease tickled his brain.

He had expected Max to arrive broken, semi-catatonic after having just witnessed the violent death of Liz Parker. By his calculations, her death would serve to squash the budding emotions within his King. He would shut down, close off from the emotional misery. And ultimately cut himself off from his human inclinations, returning to the strong, unaffected leader he had been before the girl's arrival.

He guessed that Max's stoic stance could be fueled from Michael's account of their disagreement the previous day. He was sure Michael had been all too eager to tell him - but he wasn't worried.

He would ask forgiveness for his misguided attempt to protect them. He would explain he had only had their safety in mind, and he was sure Max would be lenient when he attested to the error of his thinking.

And then they got closer.

And Nasedo saw the pure unadulterated rage on Max's face, the murder in his eyes, and he knew somehow his plan had gone very, very wrong.

Nasedo stepped forward and opened his mouth to greet them, but the power of Max's fist connecting with his jaw closed it before he made a sound.

"Where is she?" Max snarled, pulling the shape shifter up by the shirt and slamming him back against the rock.

Nasedo didn't answer, but turned accusing eyes on Tess, who stood just behind Max, "I never took you for a traitor, Tess."

Her eyes stared back at him in defiance, "I'm not one, that's the point."

Max pummeled Nasedo, holding him immobile with one hand, while the other rained down on him unmercifully, pouring all of his fear, all of his anger into every savage blow. "Tell me where she is - and don't fucking lie!" He screamed, punctuating each word with another strike.

"I don't know where she is." Nasedo answered breathlessly.

"Who took her? Nicolas?" Max asked, shaking with rage.

"Yes, but they didn't tell me where."

"So you couldn't be forced to tell me?" Max asked.

"That's right."

With a yell Max threw Nasedo to the ground and kicked up, hitting his stomach, once, twice. "You set me up!" Max screamed, completely out of control.

Nasedo's head flung back as Max's boot connected with his face. "All this time! That's how Nicloas knew to come to the hospital, and the motel, and the desert!" Max raged, changing his angle, no longer kicking the fallen man, but stomping on his back, his neck and his spine furiously.

"It was you outside Michael's apartment last night. And Langley…" Max seethed, beating him with renewed vigor at the mention of the man he hadn't realized he had respected so much…until he was gone. "It was all because of you, you son of a bitch!"

Then he picked the protector up, so they were nose to nose and he demanded, "How could you do this? How could you betray us like this?"

Nasedo coughed weakly and could barely stand, "I've never betrayed you. Everything I have done has been for you, for Antar."

Max pulled back and punched, and continued to do so, even after Nasedo's face had become unrecognizable - a grotesque mask of broken and bloody flesh.

Only Michael's hand on his arm stopped his movements. Afraid Max would kill him before he had told them all he knew, he said, "Max, we may need him, later."

When the beating halted, Nasedo spoke, blood flying out from his split lips and shattered teeth, "I watched you run my planet into the ground with your spoiled indifference. You were a disgrace. But this time, I got to you early. I raised you, taught you the right way. And you were magnificent. You were a masterpiece. Until that sniveling bitch came …"

Max snapped Nasedo's head back against the rock and growled, "Don't call her that."

"Look at yourself!" Nasedo yelled, splattering blood across Max's face as he did, "You're unfocused, indecisive. You're sloppy. Tess is pregnant and you didn't even know - you couldn't feel it because all of your attention was on the human. I made you a King! And she's turned you into a boy. A weak, frightened little boy."

Max grabbed Nasedo's head and focused all of his power on making him suffer. Nasedo screamed in agony and fell to his knees under the onslaught, as Max hissed, "Do I feel weak to you now?"

Though he had heard the words, though his brain had processed what Nasedo had said about Tess, about a baby, Max didn't acknowledge it. He couldn't - not now. His world was crashing in on him - everything he thought he knew, everything he had counted on his entire life had been wrong. All he could do was file the information away in his mind, to be dealt with later, after he had succeeded in saving Liz, after he'd killed the thing kneeling before him.

On his knees, Nasedo looked up at Max and pleaded, "You don't have to do anything Max. I will take care of this for you - let me. You won't have to lay a finger on her. Just wait. By the end of the day, I will have all the answers we need. The Granolith will be yours, at last."

Max shook his head in disgust, "What makes you think Nicolas won't just take it himself?"

Nasedo breathed hard, pain unlike he had ever known reverberating through him, "He needs the seal to activate it. He needs the four of you, to operate the Granolith to its full potential. He can't do it without us. When we have the Granolith we will defeat our enemies, Nicloas included. The heir secures your thrown, Max. We will return to Antar victorious, and restore her to her former glory. All you have to do is wait. Thousands of Antarians are crying out for you. Can you hear them? She is just one person - one life in the face of thousands. She is insignificant."

Max dragged him back up by the head, sending more torturous power through his hand as he did, making the proud protector shriek and writhe once more. His face just inches away, he said, "She is not insignificant to me!"

His eyes drooping, Nasedo argued, "Everyone matters to someone. Grant Sorrenson mattered to someone. It didn't stop you from killing him."

Seeing the manipulation for what it was, Max slammed Nasedo against the rock again, his head hitting the boulder with a sickening crack before rolling to the side, the body it sat upon too weak to hold it up. "I never meant to kill him! I didn't go there to kill anyone that night. It was an accident!"

Nasedo smiled, reminding Max of a bloody serpent when he said, "That doesn't make him any less dead though, does it?"

Realizing there were no more answers to be found here, and refusing to waste Liz's precious time arguing with the fanatic, Max relinquished his hold and let him drop in a heap to the desert floor. He wiped his hands on his shirt in revulsion and carefully choosing his words, said, "Stay right there. Don't move, don't fucking blink until I come back. If anyone tries to move you, kill them."

Max walked a few steps away and then turned back and swore, "I will find her. And if they hurt her before I do, I'm going to come back here and kill you. I will rip you apart, piece by piece and I promise you will be kept alive to feel every single second of it."

Unapologetic, unrepentant, Nasedo looked up from the ground and said nothing, as his eyes rolled back into his head and passed out from his injuries.

**************************************************************

Back down at the car, Max breathed hard, from his exertion, from terror for Liz. Michael, Maria and Tess got in, but Max just stared at the open topped car, at the steering wheel.

He didn't know where to go. He had no idea how to find her.

Tears stung his eyes - at his own stupidity - at his inability to see the deceiver who had been right in front of him all along.

Max kicked the door of his car, then the front above the tire, anywhere he could reach, all the while screaming, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

And then he was punching the unforgiving steel, over and over, until his hand split open, and bone protruded gruesomely, and he dropped to his knees in the sand.

Michael was at his side, "Max."

"She didn't want to go, Michael." Max said in anguish, "She begged me to stay with her and I told her it would be okay. I promised her she would be alright."

"We'll find her." Michael said with absolute certainty.

Max gave a short bitter laugh, "How?"

Maria was out of the car, standing before him, "You can stay here and beat the hell out of your car all day or you can pick yourself up and start looking."

And then Tess joined her, "We have some time. Nasedo said accessing the scion takes time and power. And I believe him, at least about that. You have to believe you will get there in time…or else she's already dead Max."

Max looked up to Tess' face and asked, "Why are you helping me?" His eyes going unbidden to her stomach.

"Because my mistake helped put us here and I want to fix it. Because I'm starting to see that everything changes... and that maybe it's not such a bad thing after all. Because…" her hand dropped unconsciously to her abdomen, "Because if someone I cared about was in trouble, I hope you would help me."

After a moment Max whispered, "I would…I will."

And then he stood, and healed his hand, and shook the sand from his clothes.

Maria said, "Okay, okay - so where would they take her, to do whatever it is they want to do to her?"

Trying to focus, to not let his emotions cloud his thinking, Max said, "Nicolas doesn't care about being discovered - not anymore. He attacked us in the middle of the street."

He started to pace as he spoke, "But, he wouldn't want to be interrupted. He would want somewhere secluded, so he could work her over without anyone hearing."

"Couldn't he just gag her?" Maria asked, flinching when she did, as they were discussing the torture of her friend.

"No," Max said surely, "He would want to hear her scream."

"Oh, God." Maria said. She was going to lose it. She'd tried to be strong, but she didn't think she could take much more.

"Don't think about it Maria," Michael said softly, trying to comfort her, "Max can heal her when we get there. As long as she's alive when we do."

"So, somewhere remote…secluded, somewhere we wouldn't think to look right away." Max said, thinking aloud.

And then his cell phone rang on the dashboard of the car. And the screen read ALEX WHITMAN.

**************************************************************

Isabel closed the phone with a click, as Alex stared at her intently. He was more than a little confused after having listened to her end of the strange conversation with Max.

"Who's Nicolas?" He asked quickly, "And what do you mean he has Liz?"

Isabel took a breath - it was now or never - and it had to be quick, for Liz's sake. She looked Alex in the eyes and asked, "Do you trust me Alex?"

"What? Yes…yeah of course I do."

"Good, because I need you to trust me right now. I need you to help me and not ask any questions about what you see. When it's over, when we're safe, I'll tell you anything you want to know, I swear. But for right now, I just need you to do what I say. Can you do that?"

"Okay." Alex said, having no idea what he was agreeing to.

"Alright. Liz is inside the factory. She's been…kidnapped and they have her in there. We need to create a diversion. We need to keep them busy - too busy to hurt Liz until Max and Michael get here." Isabel explained.

But Alex was already walking towards the factory door, as Isabel followed him yelling, "What are you doing?"

"Liz is in there? You said she's been kidnapped? I'm not just going to sit out here and wait for your brother, Isabel. And why didn't you call the police?"

Knowing there was no way around it, Isabel said, "You can't go in there. The men who have her…aren't really men at all. They're aliens, Alex. Evil aliens."

Alex wanted to laugh and would have if she didn't look so deathly serious. He said, "Is this…is this a joke?"

Not breaking eye contact, Isabel moved her hand over her clothing, changing the red dress to blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Even her shoes were changed.

Feeling like he was losing his mind, all Alex could manage was, "Wow."

"I know, this is a lot to handle. I know how crazy it sounds, but there's no time. Nicloas has Liz and he is going to kill her unless we can do something to distract him. Will you help me do that?" Isabel asked, pleading in her voice.

Realizing that either he had gone completely insane, or Isabel was actually telling him the truth, Alex decided to go with the latter - just in case. He said, "Okay. I'll help you…I'll help Liz. What…What should we do?"

Isabel breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. He seemed to be taking it really well. And then her eyes fell to his car and she had an idea. She turned to Alex and asked, "How attached are you to your car?"

**************************************************************

Inside the factory, Liz was led upstairs to a dimly lit room, a bare light bulb in the center ceiling the only illumination. It reminded her of an interrogation room from some cheesy cop show on cable. She looked around the room, but couldn't see into the corners as they were covered in shadow, and she saw a second door at the far end.

Nicolas closed the door they had just walked through behind him and said, "String her up."

That's when she noticed the rope, one side tied to a spike in the wall, the other looping over a beam in the ceiling and hanging down. The skin tied her wrists with the rope tightly, and her heart started to beat so hard in her chest, she thought it would burst open.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream for Max.

And then she heard Kal say, Easy, take it easy. Deep slow breaths. Keep him talking Liz, throw him off his game.

"So, these husks," She found herself saying, surprised at how calm her voice sounded, "They're like human suits, right?"

"Yeah." Nicloas answered, not knowing where she was going with this.

"Why don't you change yours?" She asked, as the skin began to pull on the rope, raising her off the floor.

She swallowed a gasp as the rope dug into the tender skin of her wrists. She closed her eyes against the piercing burn in her arms and shoulders as her own body weight stretched her joints and ligaments painfully.

"Not that it's any of your business, but the husks contain a biological signature unique to each of us. We are what we came down as. There is no changing." Nicolas answered.

Liz whistled, "And they sent you down as a kid? Someone up there has a sick sense of humor, and you must have pissed him off royally."

"Shut up."

Liz heard the second door behind her open and then close, but she couldn't turn herself to see who had entered the room. So she said, "I mean, it must be hard to maintain your authority. Here I am, your prisoner, but you have to have your lackey tie me up, because…well your just too teeny weeny to get it done."

Liz heard the skin standing behind Nicolas snicker, and with barely controlled fury, he said, "Shut. Up. Or I will rip out your tongue."

Unfazed, Liz rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but to do that, you'd have to have your friend there hold you up to reach me. Oh! Or maybe someone could find you a nice kiddie stool to stand on."

Nicolas's eyes pierced her and his fists clenched. Why the fuck was she talking? Why wasn't she begging him for mercy? She should be scared out of her fucking mind, by now. This was not going the way it was supposed to.

From behind her, Liz heard a deep male laugh, "Girl's got balls, Nick. Ya gotta give her props for that."

Nicolas ignored the comment and said, "You're late. Where is he?"

"Duke'll be here when he's here." Came the clipped response.

Nicolas closed his eyes and fought for composure, "I'm not waiting. I'm starting without him."

A sugary sweet voice came to Liz's ears, again from behind her, "I wouldn't do that, if I was you, Nicky. He won't like it."

"I don't care." Nicolas ground out through clenched teeth.

"You should care. You really, really should." The female voice said.

Liz found herself laughing, almost hysterically, and Nicolas looked at her wondering how he had broken her already, without having touched her yet.

"Of course! I should have known you weren't running this show. So you're waiting for who - your boss?" When her laughter died down, she looked the him over appraisingly and said, "You know, now that I think about it, you do look like you'd be somebody's bitch. He must be so happy with you."

Laughter came from behind her at the comment, but Nicloas just looked at her with deadly eyes, and said, "Lower her."

The skin did what Nicolas ordered, bringing Liz down so she was almost eye level, but still hung high enough that her feet did not reach the ground.

"Do you know what's going to happen to you when I open the scion?" Nicloas asked, his voice low and menacing. "It will pull your brain apart. Literally. The scion will keep you alive, while it happens. It's a fascinating tool really. It will keep you alive for as long as it can - to keep its secret alive. But eventually, I will force it open, and when I do, your brain will split in two. That is, after you become a convulsing, drooling idiot, of course. From the brain damage, from the pain. How do you think that will feel Liz?"

Oh god, oh god. Please come get me Max. Where are you? Please.

Liz thought, but didn't make a sound. She just continued to stare at Nicolas, with what she hoped were brave eyes, her face still devoid of emotion.

"Why so quiet all of a sudden?" He taunted her, "Things don't seem so funny, now, do they?"

When he walked away from her and turned his back, Liz said confidently, "You'll never get that far. Max will be here."

Nicloas laughed, "Max thinks you're dead. He doesn't even know you're here."

He watched as Liz closed her eyes, and then seemed to look even calmer when she opened them and said, "He knows. And he will come. And when he does, I'm pretty sure that's when you get to die. In a particularly painful way, I'd imagine."

As if on cue, an explosion rang out from the outside front of the factory and Liz smiled, "That must be him now."

"You're delusional - he's not coming." Nicolas countered.

"Then why do you look so scared?" Liz challenged him, "Why do you look like you're about to piss your little pants at any second?"

Having taken enough, Nicolas reared back his fist and punched Liz in the face, feeling supremely satisfied when he felt his knuckles crush the bones in her nose and cheek bone.

Her head flung back sharply, and then fell foreword, chin to chest, as she passed out from the pain. Bright red blood poured down from the injury, soaking into her shirt and pooling on the floor below her.

Looking behind where Liz hung, Nicolas said, "You. Meathead. Go see what all that noise is about." And then to the female companion, "And you go find a bucket of water that I can throw at her. It's no fun if they're unconscious."

**************************************************************

Kyle Valenti was not having a good day. Things had started out great, waking with his heart's desire in his arms. But everything since had pretty much sucked.

First he had gotten stuck at the motel, for hours, interviewing several tourists, who had to be on some type of psychiatric medication. All of whom insisted they had heard awful screams in the night, but offered no evidence of who or what may have caused the disturbance, or even what direction they had come from. It had all been a big waste of time.

Then he had been called across town with the report of fireworks going off. What kid got up before eight in the morning to blow up fireworks?

After chasing that goose a while longer, and finding no suspects in the area, he had finally been on his way back home.

Where he had been looking forward to climbing back into bed with a certain blond beauty.

The same beauty he had just seen riding in Max Evans' car, with his step-sister no less, breaking the speed limit three times over. Even if Tess had not been in the car, Kyle would have pulled Evans over for speeding. The fact that she was in the car would just make writing him a ticket and possibly arresting him, so much more fun.

He quickly pulled a u-turn and sped off after them, sirens blaring and lights flashing.

**************************************************************

In the car ahead of Kyle, Max had the pedal down to the floor, the police car screaming behind him not slowing him down in the least.

"It's Kyle." Maria said, from the back seat.

Max made eye contact with her in the rear-view mirror and said, "I'm not stopping."

Michael asked, "What are we going to tell him when we get there?"

"I don't care." Max responded, not seeing the look of worry on Tess' face.

"I'll take care of him" Maria promised, "Just get there Max."

Max nodded and hoping somehow, some way to send her comfort, thought I'm coming Liz. Please hold on, I'm coming for you.
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trulov
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 12/19 Part 49 pg 17

Post by trulov »

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your comments! This part is short - but I'll be back soon with more.

My kids are almost all better! But now school is out for the new year - so they're home.

Thanks for staying with me and reading this. I have had a blast writing it!

And now on with the show.



Chapter 50

Alex watched in complete awe as Isabel pointed her open palm towards his now flaming car, rolling it towards the front door of the factory, apparently with nothing more than the power of her mind.

From their hiding spot on the side of the building they heard the explosion as the flames made contact with the contents of his gas tank. It burst at the precise moment the car had reached the front door, causing the steps of the factory to burn, and anyone inside who had been unlucky enough to be standing in the general area, to scream in agony as they burned as well.

He didn't feel any sympathy for the smoldering beings, though the sounds were hideous to hear. His attention was mainly on Isabel, though, amazed by the few things that she had showed him.

"How…how do you do that?" He asked, "Is it like, you know…" and then he lowered his voice, "the force?"

Isabel rolled her eyes, "No questions Alex. You promised."

"Right, right. Sorry." Then Alex's ears caught the faint sound of a police siren, and he turned his eyes towards the back of the building where he saw Max's car pulling up in a cloud of dust, with a flashing police car not too far behind.

"Looks like the calvary is here. And they brought Kyle. Is he in on this too?"

Isabel started jogging to meet them, worry creasing her brow as she said, "No, he's not."

**************************************************************

Max got out of the car and strode towards the factory, not waiting for anyone to join him. Kyle's car pulled to a stop in front of his, blocking it in and Kyle was out and screaming seconds later.

"Do you see this car? This is a fucking police car! And when you see it behind you, you better damn well pull the fuck over or I swear to God I will shoot you where you…"

His words were cut off as Max walked past him, placing his hand on the back of Kyle's neck as he did - too quick for Kyle to get the gun he had promised to use out of the holster.

The moment Max touched him, Kyle fell down unconscious.

"Kyle!" Tess and Maria yelled simultaneously, the latter running to her step brother's side.

"He's asleep." Max yelled towards her, not pausing his stride towards the factory, towards Liz. "He's just asleep."

Isabel met Max's front as Michael came from the rear and grabbed his arm, "Hold on, Max. Just wait a minute. What are you going to do?"

Max pulled free and said, "She's in there. I'm going to get her. I'm not wasting any time planning a stealthy rescue. I'm going."

"Max, there's at least thirty skins in there. You can't just walk in. Not alone." Isabel explained. "I'm going with you."

"So am I." Michael pledged.

"Me too." Tess said, appearing at Michael's side.

Max looked at each one of them, touched deeply by their allegiance. That they were behind him, that they would follow him, even though he truly felt he no longer deserved it.

"Okay." Max agreed, "Let's get it done."

Tess called to Maria, "Get Kyle into one of the cars. We'll have to leave quickly."

Isabel touched Alex's arm and said, "I have to do this…alone. Help Maria and Kyle, okay?"

Alex nodded, and turned hard eyes on Max, "You bring her back out, you hear me?"

Max nodded, and then wasted no more time in continuing his trek towards the burning front of the soap factory.

They walked together, confidently, determinedly, Tess at Max's side, Michael and Isabel behind them.

They were the Royal Four - at last.

Joined in this life, not by marriage, but by something stronger - loyalty, love and friendship. They were unstoppable.

As they came up to the front, a handful of skins who had gathered outside tried to prevent their progress. But they didn't stand a chance. Working together as a unit, their individual powers complementing each other, the four easily dispatched their weaker enemies.

Some of the other skins, inside who had seen the demonstration of power, ran for their lives, more afraid of this King and the royals than any punishment Nicolas would bestow for their cowardice.

Max used his shield to protect them from the flames as they walked past the burning wreckage. Michael blasted the doorway wide open and they entered the factory. Tess called upon her mental faculties, to create a firestorm, not unlike that day at the school, and the first wave of skins that came at them were reduced to ashes.

Isabel blasted where she could, taking careful aim at those on the landing above them, blasting their legs out from under them, bringing them down so they were helpless to run and too low and wounded to get off an accurate discharge of their own.

In the room above, Nicolas cursed as he heard the shrieks and explosions from below, and he wondered what the hell was going on. Then he stepped out of the room and looked down, and his eyes met those of his King.

Fear held his spine in its icy grip when he saw the wrath in Max's eyes. There would be no escape, there would be no mercy, Nicolas was sure. Not for this.

He had always been wary of the King. Even on Antar when Zan had behaved like a drunken buffoon, Nicolas had respected his powers that far surpassed his own. But facing this King, this insurmountable force that stood before him, demanding retribution, Nicloas could do nothing but turn on his heels and run.

He passed by the door he had come from and ran down the landing towards the back of the factory, hoping to elude the annihilation that had come for him.

Max saw Nicolas flee, and turned to Michael, "Liz is up there. You go after Nicloas." He yelled, his shield still up deflecting the desperate blasts that came at them.

"We shouldn't split up." Michael returned, as he blasted a skin that ran at them to dust.

"We can't let him get away! Not this time." Max countered and Michael was unable to argue.

When the blasts died down, Max lowered his shield and ran up the stairs, two at a time towards the door Nicloas had come from.

Michael, Isabel and Tess moved through the chaos of the lower level, destroying skins as they went, some of whom tried to fight back, and some who were just trying to get away. They traveled towards the back of the factory where Nicloas had gone.

***********************************************************

Max opened the door, and his breath froze in his lungs.

Liz hung, still and soundless, in the center of the room from her wrists. Her head sagged forward, but he could make out the dried blood that covered her face and her shirt. Her skin was white, like marble, her hands deprived of blood from the ropes and her position, held a bluish tint.

He shook his head slightly, his mind railing against the facts that were before him.

The fact that Liz was dead. That he had been too late.
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 12/21 Part 50 pg 18

Post by trulov »

OK - I know - it was very naughty of me to leave it there (and so close to Christmas too!).

But - see? I told you I'd be back quickly!

Thanks for all your comments and interest.

PS - forgot to mention - I borrowed a line in this part, from my favorite movie - The Princess Bride - no infringement intended.

Chapter 51

Outside the soap factory, Maria and Alex lifted Kyle by his arms and legs, and tried to push him into the car. He shook out of their grip, and he was dropped to the ground, suddenly, as he became fully awake.

His confused eyes found Alex's and he said, "What...what's going on?"

Alex shook his head and answered, "Trust me man, you don't want to know. You just gotta go with us on this, Kyle, there's no time to…"

Alex never got to finish his sentence, as a blast hit him from behind, knocking him over Kyle and down into the dirt.

Kyle stood quickly, his gun outstretched in his hand, pointing at the assailant. He didn't know what had just happened, but he knew a threat when he saw one.

"Freeze!" He yelled, as his police training dictated. But the angry looking man kept coming at him. "Stop or I'll shoot." Kyle tried one last time. When the man took another step, he opened fire, hitting him in the chest two, three, four times.

The gunshots caused the man to step back and pause, but then, looking even angrier, he continued on his path towards Kyle. When he reached the stunned officer, he wretched the gun from his grasp, then elbowed Kyle in the chin hard, knocking him down.

Speechless and uncomprehending, Kyle watched the man turn the gun over in his hand, looking at it strangely. Then the man said, "Primitive weapon." He pointed the gun at Kyle and fired, shooting him twice in the stomach, continuing to pull the trigger as it clicked, the chamber emptied. "But very effective."

His attention was then drawn to Maria, when she screamed, beside Kyle. Before he could take a step towards her, Alex threw himself at the skin, tackling him at the waist, bringing him down on his back with Alex on top, punching at his face furiously.

"The back, Alex!" Maria screamed as the two men struggled, "You have to hit him on the back of his neck!"

Then she put her hand over the wounds on Kyle's abdomen, as the blood began to pour out of him.

**************************************************************

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Max screamed inside as he came into the room, picking Liz up and ripping the rope from the wall in one motion. It couldn't end this way, not for her, not like this.

He kneeled on the floor, cradling her in his arms, limp and lifeless. Her head rolled back, revealing her blood blackened face, and the image of Grant Sorrenson's dead bloodied features jumped into his mind.

Had she died the same way? In agony? Begging for a reprieve that would never come?

No, this was wrong. This was not happening. This was just some awful nightmare that he would wake up from any minute, he told himself.

"Liz." He called to her, shaking her by the shoulders, "Liz!" He yelled again, bringing his hand to her face, to her head to heal her, but nothing happened.

"Liz!" Max called a third time. And then he crushed her to him, burying his face in her hair and then against her chest. A sound ripped from him, the sound of an animal in the throws of death, as he moaned unintelligible words of grief and denial.

She felt so cold. He hugged her tighter, clasping her to his body, wanting to warm her.

Max looked at her face, the image blurred by hot, raging tears. He looked at her closed eyes and remembered the first time he had gazed at their brown depths. In the hospital room, when she first opened her eyes, and he had gotten lost in them, even then.

Max thought of that day in the motel room, after their first meeting, when he had touched her hand and he had tasted home for the very first time.

One after another the images came to him…memories…pictures… of Liz.

The night at the motel, when they had fought about Maria, and she had stood in all her strength and stubbornness, unmoved by his show of intimidation.

He could almost hear her sweet laughter when he thought of the night after, during their alcohal-induced game, when he had been unable to get a quarter into the glass.

Max felt his heart shred and bleed when he recalled how she had looked on the dock, wet and enticing, and he closed his eyes as he remembered the feeling of her warm smooth skin against his own, as they had danced in each other's arms.

He remembered the first time she had kissed him, in the desert, in the rain, and how he had been almost knocked to his knees from the passion within her.

Then later, in the cave when she had whispered her love for him, and they had made love and he had known what it meant, at last, to live.

Still more images came, of her, at the carnival, her smile, her touch, on the ferris wheel when she imagined the beautiful life they couldn't have.

He keened in agony when he pictured her, so brave, so unselfish, on what was supposed to have been their last night, when she begged him to live on and to be happy, even if it wouldn't be with her.

"Liz," He choked out, as his tears soaked into her shirt, mixing with her blood.

Then a sound came from downstairs, through the door, sounding like Tess' voice, "Max! Help us! There's too many of them. Max!"

They were dying - his friends, his family - they needed him.

But how could he leave? How could he ever let her go? Max didn't make a move to rise, didn't lessen his grip, but just continued to hold her in his anguish.

Then he heard another voice, this one within his own mind, that whispered, "She's already gone. She's just a shell, a corpse, not really Liz. Liz is at peace. They need you Max. Go to them. Leave her."

He shook his head at the suggestion. He wouldn't. He would not leave her in this cold dark place all alone.

His hold on Liz tightened, as pain suddenly shot through his head, like a vise squeezing his skull.

He heard a voice from behind him, with his own ears,"I can't hold it. He's too strong." And then the slamming of a door.

When he turned at the sound, no one was there, the room empty save for himself and Liz. But then Max's world shifted, turned on its end, as dizziness overtook him and he thought he would fall over. He closed his eyes, fighting against the sensation.

When he opened them, he was no longer kneeling on the floor, with Liz in his arms.

He was back at the doorway, standing, looking at Liz hanging from the ropes in the middle of the room, as if he had never entered it. She hung just as before, but her skin, instead of alabaster white, was tan and pink with life. The blood still stained her shirt, but below it, Max could see the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

She was alive.

He walked into the room, ripping her from the binds and into his arms. His glowing hand healed her nose, her face and in miraculous wonder he saw her inhale deeply.

And then she opened her eyes, and he was once more transfixed by the luminous brown orbs that he loved.

She smiled at him, wide and slow, and whispered, "Max. I knew you would come."

He choked on his tears as he gasped, "Liz." And pulled her into his embrace, squeezing the breath from her, though she didn't care. He stroked her hair, and felt her breath on his face as he said her name again.

Then he was kissing her, her forehead, her cheeks and chin, in sweet, grateful relief. Then his lips were on hers, telling her without words, of his love for her, of his soul shattering pain, when he thought he had lost her.

There was no time to think of what had just happened - of what he had just experienced. All that mattered to him was that she was alive.

The battle noises down below brought Max back to reality and he knew he had to get her out of here. " Can you walk Liz?"

She smiled again at him, and traced his cheek and his soft full lips with her finger, before saying, "You're here. I could fly if you asked me to."

Max stood with her securely at his side, her hand safely in his. And together they walked out of the room, towards the sunlight that filled the outside.

**********************************************************

Michael, Isabel and Tess chased Nicolas to the far back room of the factory. A row of windows ran along the bottom of the wall. He turned and blasted at them, catching Tess in the arm and she went down with a cry of pain.

'Tess!" Isabel yelled, going to her.

"I'm alright!" She called back.

Michael fired blast after angry blast at Nicolas. He was sick of this - of the never ending war, of the danger, of the constant worry for himself and those he loved.

Nicloas dove behind a hulking mass of steel machinery that intercepted the lethal blows. The three royals circled him, preventing him from slipping from their grasp as he had always been able to do in the past.They couldn't see him, the room was dark and he was low, but they knew where he was.

Then his chuckle filled the otherwise quiet room. "Well look at that." Nicloas said, and three sets of eyes turned towards the windows.

Behind the building they could see Kyle down on the ground, unmoving, Maria crying at his side. They took in the sight of Alex, fighting with a skin, doing his best to overtake him, but then being thrown over, so now the skin was above him, with the upper hand. They watched as Maria rose, and bashed the skins' head with a rock, scattering dust all over Alex.

Michael began to smile, until four more skins walked into his view through the window pane, approaching Alex and Maria, and the pride in his chest shriveled to fear.

Nicolas' laugh echoed through the room, "What a predicament. You can stay and play with me some more, but I think your human toys will be broken by then. Decisions, decisions, what to do?"

Without hesitation, three hands rose to the back wall and blasted it out. As Michael and Isabel and Tess walked through the rubble to the outside, Nicolas scurried from his hiding place out another door. Once again, getting away to fight another day.

**************************************************************

Max led Liz out the front of the building, then circled around and ran to the back, where they found their friends engaged with some of the skins who remained.

Tess and Maria were dragging a prone Kyle around the cars, in an attempt to shield him. Blasts flew through the air. Liz could see Alex exchanging punches with a skin, before disintegrating him with a blow to the back of the head. Michael fought with two, while Isabel fired blast after blast.

With his shield to protect them, Max got Liz behind the cars, joining Maria and Tess.

"Max!" Tess yelled when she saw him. He saw the demand in her eyes, the plea and without a thought of denying her, Max called Kyle's name, and put his hand over his wounds.

Max took in the rapid flashes that came from the other man as he healed him.

Kyle throwing a football with his father.

Sadness and tears when his mother abandoned them.

Heart-pounding excitement when a teenage Kyle first saw the new girl, Tess.

Feelings for her, that continued to grow, hidden, without encouragement.

A single, amazing night with her, and the hopes for many more like it.

Max pulled out from the depths of Kyle's mind, and he saw Isabel and Alex and Michael join them, behind the safety of the cars.

Max felt weak from the use of his powers, and looking at the faces of their troop, he knew the others would not be able to fight on much longer either.

He lifted his head beyond the car to look at the factory.

And he saw skins - dozens of skins pouring out from the broken windows, the shattered doorways, like ants fleeing a drowning colony. He fired off several blasts, trying to stem the flow as best he could.

A sharp whistle pierced the air, and all eight looked up into the sky to see what used to be Alex Whitman's car, still aflame, flying through the air. It had been lifted from the front, and was now falling to the ground with the force of an atomic bomb.

They ducked their heads for cover, and the ground shook as the twisted metal landed just a few feet from them.

"What the fuck was that Maxwell?" Michael yelled.

Max had no idea who or what had the power to propel the steel remains in such a way. But he did know they were about to be overrun, so he ordered, "We need to go. Now!"

Michael nodded his agreement and said, "The silver mine! Me, Maria, Tess and Kyle'll take his car. You, Liz, Isabel and Alex in yours."

"Aim for their cars on the way out!" Max returned, "So they can't follow right away!"

The eight scrambled in to the cars, those who could returned the blasts that still came at them from all directions. Those who couldn't kept their heads low, trying to keep them from getting blown off.

As Tess helped a still dazed Kyle into the car, he asked her, "Tess, what was that? What the hell is going on?"

Tess answered honestly, "We have to talk Kyle. There's things I need to tell you. I'm not…I'm not like other girls."

As Michael drove away at a furious pace, Kyle in the backseat beside Tess, asked, "You're not…you weren't like, once a guy…were you?"

In spite of all they had just been through, Kyle still had the power to make Tess laugh.

And she did, as she said, "No…not a guy."
Last edited by trulov on Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 12/22 Part 51 pg 19

Post by trulov »

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the extended absence - but the kiddies are all better at last. And the holidays - as nice as they were - are finally over!

Hope you all had a great holiday and very happy new year!

And now the part most of you have been waiting for! Dun Dun Dun!


Chapter 52

The eight people who stumbled into the old silver mine looked like they had just been through a war, and in many ways, they had. Their bodies were exhausted, their minds overwhelmed. Their emotions ran the entire human spectrum from horror at what they had seen, to relief that they had all gotten out alive, to fear of a tomorrow where anything could happen - and they had no idea what would.

Max fell onto the worn couch, his hand still entwined with Liz's, unable to stop touching her, or to let her far from his side. The image of her lifeless body still tormenting him - haunting him, as it would for the rest of his life.

Isabel brought Alex to him, to heal his cuts and budding bruises. Alex could only shake his head, amazed as the injuries were wiped away, as if they had never been.

Next, Tess offered Max her arm, which was healed as well, beneath Kyle's suspicious stare. The sheriff’s mind was still reeling from the all too brief answers Tess had given him in the car. And although he knew there was no other explanation for the things he had seen, he still couldn't bring himself to quite believe it.

Aliens. In Roswell. And the girl he had pined almost his whole life for, was one of them. He sat in silence as he attempted to sort it out in his mind, to make sense of it all.

Michael sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Maria came and sat between his open outstretched legs, resting her back against his chest, a momentary truce formed between them. "What now Max?"

Deep in troubled thought, Max didn't answer.

"I say we go back and question Nasedo. He's got to know something. Something more than what he's told us. Like where the hell all those skins came from." Tess suggested.

"This must have been it for them," Isabel offered, Michael having told her of Nasedo's deception. "If Nicolas thought he'd be getting the Granolith by the end of the day, he must have called them all here. Thinking his deal with Nasedo would get them home."

"We can't go back to the pod chamber now." Michael said, in reference to Tess' suggestion. "Nasedo's probably gathered them there. They can't move him, but they can wait there for us to show up. It'll be an ambush."

"We can't go home either." Isabel said, "They know where we live. If we separate, they'll pick us off one by one."

“Then we leave.” Michael said with finality. "We get out of dodge now, while we can. We lay low - somewhere they can't find us, then later, when things have calmed down, we back track here. And keep looking for the Granolith."

"We can't just leave." Isabel argued, "Nicolas will burn the town to the ground looking for us before he believes we‘re gone."

" I can live with that." Michael said indifferently.

"Well I can't!" Isabel came back with fire in her eyes. "Everyone you care about may be in this room, but our parents are out there. All of them. Maria's, Alex's, Kyle's, we can't just leave them. It would be a slaughter."

"Well, I'd love to hear another idea, Isabel, cause I'm fresh out." Michael said. And then, when Max had still yet to utter a word, "Feel free to jump in here anytime, Maxwell."

Max looked up, and looked each of them in the eyes, then said, "We're missing something."

"What do you mean, Max?" Tess asked.

"Nicolas is working with someone." He said with certainty.

"Yeah, Nasedo." Michael said bitterly.

"No. Someone else." Max explained. "When I first went in that room, where Liz was. I saw her…she was dead. And then, she wasn't."

Isabel's brow wrinkled in confusion, trying to make sense of her brother's claim, "Maybe it was just your imagination. From the stress of it all. Maybe you were just scared and you thought she was dead."

Max shook his head, "Her skin was cold, Iz. She was dead." Max looked down at their joined hands, rubbing his thumb against Liz’s, just to reassure himself that it hadn’t been real. That she was here with him, and indeed alive.

His eyes met Liz's warm supportive gaze, as he said. "I was holding onto her, and then, the whole room tilted and there was this pain in my head. And I closed my eyes. When I opened them I was back at the door - like I hadn't gone in at all. But it felt like I had."

"Max," Tess said, suddenly understanding what he was describing, "That sounds like a…"

"A mind warp." He finished, "I know."

"And that blast." Michael said, catching on to how Max was thinking, "The one that lifted Alex's car from the front of the factory. Have you ever seen a skin, any skin, with that kind of power? Cause I haven't."

Then another thought occurred to Max suddenly, "And I had a dream, a few nights back. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I just thought it was my own…fears and…guilt. But it was different. It started out as my dream, my…fantasy. And then it was like someone else was there with me, controlling it. Like a…"

"Dreamwalk." Isabel said.

"Yeah."

"So, you think Nicolas is working with someone who can mimic your powers?" Liz asked.

Max scratched behind his ear, "Yeah, maybe."

"Do you think its Kivar?" Isabel wondered, "I mean, do you think he's come here, on earth. For the Granolith - for us?"

"I don't know." Max said, "I just know that Nicolas has someone behind him, someone strong. And I don't want any of us caught looking the other way. We can't let our guard down. Especially not now."

"Well, we don't have a whole lot of options, then." Michael cried in frustration, "We can't stay here forever. It's only a matter of time before they find this place. We can't go back into town, but we can't leave either. The skins have us outnumbered four to one, easy, and now Nicolas has some super alien working with him that we know nothing about. We've got no back-up Max, and no where to go. What the hell are we supposed to do?"

But Max wasn't listening to Michael anymore. His eyes had focused on Liz half way through his speech. "Liz," Max whispered "There's a mark on your forehead. And… its glowing."

All eyes turned to Liz as her hand came up automatically to her forehead. She didn't feel anything, there was no sensation, no pain.

But there was indeed a bluish-silver mark, glowing on her brow. And then the glow traveled down and reached her eyes, lighting them the same silvery-blue from within.

Liz's eyes snapped shut. Her back arched and her head jerked back as if to convulse. Max reached for her and called her name - but she couldn't hear him.

Behind Liz's closed eyelids, the memories came, as the scion, at last, opened.

**************************************************************

Liz,
LIZ! You have to look at me.
You have to look at me.


So when you healed me you risked all of this getting out, didn't you?
Yea.
Why?
It was you.


I'll just have an Alien Blast.
Me, too.
Excuse me?


Um...that day that you saved me, I felt something that I just had to put into words...so years from now, if anyone ever...if anyone ever touches me the way that you did, I'll know what it's supposed to feel like.


I better go.
Why?
Cuz if I don't go right now, things are gonna change.
Change, how?
I'm gonna have to touch your hair...cuz it's so soft...and I'd have to tell you that...no matter what we go through, it's all worthwhile for me because we're together.
And then?
And then...I'd have to do this...


Ok, let me see yours.
"Ask a girl to dance with you."
Is that really what it says?
It depends on your answer.
Yes.
Then that's really what it says.


Let's just keep running, you and me, away from here, away from everything. I see everything so clearly now. We'll go someplace where no one knows us. As long as we're together, nothing else matters. You're my dream girl, Liz.
And what if I believe you tonight?
Then we live happily ever after.
This can never be normal, Max.
What's so great about normal?


Wait. Please? Listen. Please? The main thing is...I didn't just see what you saw. I felt...what you felt...when you saw me. And I never thought anyone could really...ever feel that way about me


I'm glowing everywhere...my toes, my heart. You can't see it. It's on the inside


Right this minute...I can't...not touch you.
Let's just lie down.
Are you scared?
Well, I know I'm supposed to be, but...I'm just gonna put myself in your hands.


Ok. Fine. If you know so much, then tell me, Max...what's my destiny?
I only know the part I'm hoping for.


No, that was the day my life began. Liz, when I was in that room, and they did what they did to me. You're what kept me alive. The thought of you. The way your eyes look into mine. Your smile. The touch of your skin. Your lips. Knowing you has made me…human. Whether I die tomorrow or fifty years from now, my destiny is the same: it's you. I want to be with you, Liz. I love you.
I love you.


Max, you do have a destiny. You just heard it. I can't stand in the way of it.
But you mean everything to me.
Goodbye, Max.


I...I understand. Listen, Liz, I...I know how strange everything got before you left. But I think it's ok. No aliens have attacked. Nasedo is putting an end to the special unit as we speak. I think all of this could finally be over.
Oh, I really hope that's true...for all of you.
And I just want you to know about the whole Tess situation...
Oh, Max. You don't...you don't have to.
It's just that it's definitely over. I don't have feelings for her. I've told her that...and she understands. I know it's probably irrelevant at this point, but...just for the record.
Right. Yeah. I just want to get a fresh start. I've decided...


I felt that...and I know you did, too, and I know you think that...that I need to let you go...for the sake of Michael, and Isabel, and my race...But she can't be you. Tess can never be you.


Max, we have to stop this. We have to. I am telling you that we have to.
Go out with me on Friday. There's a Gomez concert in Santa Fe. I have tickets.
No. No, Max. I can't go out with you ever again. Please stop doing this.
I can't.


What are you doing here?
You wouldn't come to the concert, so I brought the concert to you.
Max.
Dance with me, Liz.


I'm just…me. I can’t be what you need.
You…are all I have ever needed. Everything I ever will. I love you Liz. Please don't give up on me…on us.


God, Liz, tell me. Tell me you want this as much as I do…please.
I do. I always have. I love you Max, I never stopped.
Liz.
Max.


Tess is gone.
It doesn't matter.
But what if…
It's good that she left. Maybe now she’ll be able to find the person she's supposed to be with -like we have.


Max Evans will you marry me?
There’s nothing I want more. But I don't want you giving up your life for me, your dreams. We're still so young.
Romeo and Juliet were even younger.
And look how well that turned out.
Do you love me?
Yes.
Do you want forever with me?
Yes.
Then why wait?


I Liz Parker, take thee Max Evans…
I Max Evans, take thee Liz Parker…
Congratulations kids.


And I shall believe…
And I shall believe…
I shall believe…


Oh Max, look! Isn't she beautiful?
Don't even think about it.
What?
Liz, your dad still says my name like I'm some kind of disease that you caught. If I impregnate you before we have steady jobs…before we can afford a house, I don't think I'll be walking away with my manhood intact.
I'm just thinking.
Someday…soon, I promise…I'll give you more babies than you know what to do
with. Until then, I think we should practice. Lots and lots of practice.


Liz, come on!
What's happening?
We need to go. Don't let go of my hand. Don't look back.


If anything happens, if we get separated, I want you to come here.
But we don't even know what it does, Max. We don't know how it works.
I know. But here…at least I know you'll be protected.


This is Serena. She’s one of the survivors. I think she can help us.


I love you Liz.
I love you Max.
Liz.
Max.



One after another, the images, and words came to her. And the feelings…sweet innocence and all encompassing passion and perfect unbreakable love. A lifetime of memories...of their life…together.

When it was over, Liz opened her eyes and found Max staring worriedly at her. "Are you alright?" He asked, "What was that?"

Liz smiled, seeing him in a new way - who he was now and who he had been then - making her love for him grow even deeper. She reassured him, "Just a memory."

"Of what?"

She cupped his cheek tenderly as she said, "Of you."

And then Liz was overcome with excitement as she remembered one moment, during the darker times. Of a place that that Max had shown his Liz, in the hopes of keeping her safe. "Max, I know what to do. I know somewhere we can go."
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 01/02 Part 52 pg 20

Post by trulov »

Hey everyone - thanks for your comments and for reading!

Avalon Rose - the scion opened because, as Michael said, they (or more to the point, Liz) have no where else to turn. Liz is in danger, their enemies will eventually overtake them, and they have no backup coming. They are out of option. So - future Max gave her the scion - the information of the previous timeline, and a place of safety and power for her to go, when there is no place else. You're right - all the clues are there and now the final players in this story will start to reveal themselves. I warn you though - it won't be pretty.

PML - thank you.

Natalie36 - thank you and thank you.

roswell4life - here are some answers you were looking for!

mirae01 - thank you. i hope to update every other day or so from now till this is finished :D

nitpick23 - the scion opened because they are out of options. Future Max put the info of the other timeline and a place of power and safety in Liz's mind, to access only when she had no place else to turn. The ultimate plan will definately come into question - but first they have a few other things to deal with.

Addicted2Ambereyes - thank you.


Chapter 53

Liz finished drawing the map as best she could from the images she had seen. She handed it to Kyle and absentmindedly placed the pen in her pocket. He was going to follow them in his car, with Michael, Maria and Tess, but Max wanted them to have a way to get to their destination on their own, in case they were attacked and separated.

Once they were all in the cars, Max drove where Liz directed, past the pod chamber in the opposite direction from where they had picnicked just days before, though it seemed like a lifetime ago.

It was strange, after all that had happened, that the afternoon should be filled with bright sunlight, the sky a perfect blue, as if it was any other ordinary day. It was anything but ordinary for them - every one looking and waiting for the moment their enemies could appear.

But they never did.

As he pulled off the road and drove through the unchartered desert, Max began to feel a pull from his stomach, as if something was reeling him in. His skin began to tingle, and his heart began to beat faster, as if a shot of adrenaline had been pushed into his blood stream. Every nerve in his body seemed to hum with energy.

"Isabel?" He asked as he parked the car behind a boulder, trying to shield it as best he could, "Do you feel that?"

Isabel looked at her brother, noticing how he fidgeted in the seat, as if he couldn't sit still, "Feel what?"

Max searched for the right words to describe it, "It's like an energy…a…power?" It was the best way he could describe it. Isabel shook her head, she didn't feel anything.

As they exited the cars, she saw that Michael and Tess didn't seem effected either, that whatever Max was experiencing, it was focused on him alone.

Max followed behind Liz, but with each step he could feel the surge growing, as if a jet engine were coming alive under the sand beneath his feet. It seemed to him like the very air around them crackled with the force of it, as the pull grew even stronger.

And then Liz stopped on the side of a rock formation the size of a mountain. She looked at Max with exhilaration in her eyes and a smile on her face, knowing that this was the place they were supposed to be.

Before she could tell him, Max waved his hand in front of the rock, and a glowing hand print appeared. He put his hand upon it and a doorway slid open revealing a dark, hollow cavern within.

They walked in together, Michael bringing up the rear, checking behind them, making sure the door closed after they entered.

As they entered the room housed within, no one made a sound. For a moment, not one of them could find any words. Because deep within the bowels of the mountain, in the center of a gigantic room covered from floor to ceiling in shining silver steel, stood an awe inspiring site.

The Granolith.

At the base sat a glowing crystal pyramid, the point of which touched the tip of a triangular cone coming down from the ceiling. The inverted cone swirled with black, as if space itself was captured within it.

While the others continued to stare, Max walked up to the cone, and then, calling on a memory he didn't know he had, he crouched down in front of the massive relic and put his hand on the floor. A square shaped door cut away from the metal, and opened. He reached his hand in and came out with a clear crystal in his grasp.

As the others gawked open mouthed, Max put the crystal against the base, and again the seamless steel responded to it with the opening of a circular hole. Max slid the crystal into it and stepped back.

They all jumped as a whirling sound filled the cave and the Granolith surged to life. Colors of every hue, blues and greens and purples swirled within where the blackness had been, lighting the room with its prism.

It was beautiful…breathtaking.

It was what Max Evans had searched his entire life for.

This tool, this instrument was supposed to be his connection to his home, to the place where he would finally belong. It was supposed to have all the answers, solve all of his problems, make him…complete. But as he gazed at the machine, he didn't feel any of those things. He felt its energy, yes, and its power - its unlimited power. But the metal and crystal contraption gave him no comfort, no assurances, not even a little satisfaction at having at last been found. It was just a thing, Max realized. A thing that would bring him to another world, a place where in his heart he no longer had the desire to see or know.

Still, he knew he owed them - the people who had given him new life, sent him here, entrusted him with this awesome responsibility. He could not turn away from them. He would not fail them.

And so it was at the moment of his greatest triumph, that Max's stomach twisted painfully with disappointment, because he had finally found the device that could end his life on earth.

A life he had only recently come to value, a life he knew with shocking certainty that he wanted…desperately.

"On my…" Liz trailed off, unable to find the words.

"Wow." Alex said, thinking he had said that word more in the last few hours than in his entire life.

"It kind of looks like a lava lamp, don't you think?" Maria asked, though her tone was quiet, as one would speak in a church. The sheer presence of the alien power demanding reverence.

The whirling sound died down to a low hum, and on the far wall behind the Granolith, a circle appeared, the whirlwind symbol in the center, with twelve dots surrounding it. One dot, the first one, was already alight. It was a clock - a countdown - to when the tool would be fully functional.

"It's charging." Max said, "We've got…twelve hours."

"Till what?" Isabel asked, slightly panicked. Everything just seemed to be happening so fast - too fast.

"Until it's ready." Max said.

"Liz, did you see? Do you know what it can do?" Isabel asked.

Liz shook her head, "They didn't know how to use it. I think…I think after it's charged, it will need the four of you, at least initially, to operate. They didn't have Tess, so they couldn't use it when Kivar came."

"But Max used it to travel back in time." Michael said.

Liz nodded, "There was a woman named Serena, a physicist, someone Liz worked with." She didn't notice that she was referring to herself in the third person. Although she had felt what that Liz had felt, and now knew much of what she had known, they were far from the same person. She had the memories, but it wasn't her who had created them, so she knew of no other way to refer to that girl, that other version of herself whose life she was supposed to have had.

"When everything happened, they told her who they were. She was able to help them modify it - harness the energy of the Granolith to bend time. But it was just extracting the power, it wasn't really using it for what it was meant for - they didn't know how to use it to defeat the skins."

"But now, we will." Max offered, taking Liz's hand in his. "We have the four of us, so we'll have the Granolith to help us fight …to win. At least, once it's ready."

Tess blew out a large breath, "Well, we should be safe here, for the time being. Nicolas doesn't know where this place is, and I doubt he'd be able to open the door even if he did."

"Right. So, we wait. I mean we've waited this long, what's twelve more hours?" Isabel asked to no one in particular.

"Anyone have a deck of cards?" Kyle asked, staring at the monstrous mass of crystal and metal. He was sure now that he had suffered some kind of psychotic breakdown. There was no way this could be real. He wasn't even really here, he thought. He was probably strapped down in a padded room somewhere, and all of this was just a very detailed creation of his warped psyche.

Kyle really didn't believe that, but it was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it at the moment. That, and his twisted sense of humor.

"You think this thing could spit out some food?" Michael asked. "Some of us haven't eaten in…like hours."

"Hey, maybe it's like the computer on Star Trek." Alex said excitedly, "Not the old one, The New Generation, you know? They just said, 'Computer, cheeseburger with fries' and wham - there it was - order up. You think it works like that?"

"Shhh, Alex, your geekiness is showing again." Maria admonished.

"I have some food, in my trunk, from the other night." Max said, giving Liz's hand a squeeze. "It's a day old, but it's been in the cooler. I'm sure some of it kept. Everyone else, get comfortable, looks like we're going to be here a while."

As he turned to go outside, still holding to Liz, Maria came up and pulled Liz into her arms, with tears in her eyes. "Oh, chica. I didn't get to say it before, but I'm so sorry about Kal. I can't believe he's…I just can't believe it."

Liz's eyes made contact with Max's, telling him that she would be okay for the moment, as she fell into Maria's comforting embrace. He nodded slightly and left her to accept her friend's condolences as he walked out the cavern door to his car.

********************************************************

Song - Without You by Hinder

While Max walked to his car, Tess slipped out the door unnoticed, as Kyle and Alex talked with Maria and Liz and the others. Max was on guard, his senses heightened, so although she approached him quietly, he knew she was there before she spoke.

"Max?"

"Hey Tess."

I just wanna be alone tonight
I just wanna take a little breather
Cause lately all we do is fight
And every time it cuts me deeper


He hoisted the cooler out of the trunk, resting it on the bumper as he slammed the trunk closed. He looked at Tess, waiting for her to speak.

She cleared her throat nervously and began, "I wanted to thank you, for what you did for Kyle. I know you don't like to. I know, a few weeks ago, you wouldn't have, so it means a lot to me that you did."

Max searched the landscape around them as he spoke - looking for any sign of the skins as he said, "He's a good man, Tess. You two have gotten…close, huh?"

Tess heard no judgment in his tone, saw no condemnation in his eyes, so she said, "We have. It's…new. It's…different." She looked longingly back at the mountain that housed the Granolith, where Kyle was. "Being with Kyle, I never knew things could be that way. That someone could feel so much…for me."

She found it strange that there was no awkwardness, no discomfort over speaking to this man with whom she had lived with and loved for years, about her new love interest. The fact that they could discuss it, without pain or embarrassment meant something - didn't it?

Cause something's changed
You've been acting so strange
And its taken its toll on me
Its safe to say that I'm ready to let you leave


Regret washed over Max, because he knew he was the reason she hadn't known that someone could ever care for her like Kyle obviously did. He started to apologize again, but she cut him off.

"That's not really what I wanted to talk to you about, though."

Without you, I live it up a little more everyday
Without you, I'm seeing myself so differently
I didn't wanna believe it then
But it all worked out in the end
When I watched you walk away
Well I'd never thought I'd say
I'm fine
Without you


"I need to know how you feel…about the baby. What you're going to do after this…after all this is over?" In all the times she had dreamt of being pregnant, of carrying a life within that she and Max had made together, she had never imagined how strongly the emotions would hit her. She didn't know it would be like this - this overwhelming.

Her son, the child she had just learned about hours before, had already completely taken precedence in her life, consuming all of her thoughts. He was all that mattered to her now. She would do anything to make sure he grew up protected and cared for and loved.

Max started to shake his head, "I can't think that far ahead, Tess. After the Granolith is ready, we need to deal with Nicolas and Nasedo. That's all we should be focusing on right now."

"I know. I understand that. But, we have the Granolith Max. That means, eventually, we're going back. I need to know if he'll be safe there."

"He will be." Max promised, "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure of it."

Called you up cause its been long enough
And you said that you were so much better
We have done a lot of growing up
We were never meant to be together


"Will you?" Tess asked, still unsure if he knew what she was asking of him, " I won't take any chances with him, Max. I need to know what kind of life he'll have. They see you and I as a King and Queen, and I'm carrying a child that's not…He may need you to claim him, to acknowledge him as yours - your heir. He may need that protection because…I don't know if they'll be able to tell that… he's not. Yours I mean. And I don't know what they'll want to do about it. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Guiltily relief flooded Max as Tess confirmed what he had already thought he knew. He had felt no connection to the life Tess carried, even after he knew of its existence, and after seeing what he had from Kyle, he had been almost positive. But he had needed to know if his suspicions were based in fact, or just his own selfish desire not to be tied to Tess for the rest of his life in that way.

"Listen," He assured her, "We don't know what's going to happen up there, Tess. We can't know what we'll be walking into - what will be expected of us. We can't trust anything Nasedo told us because we don't know what's true and what he just wanted us to believe for his own purposes. But I would never let any harm come to your child - any child. He's innocent. He's the only innocent one in all of this. If I have to, I'll claim his as mine."

Cause something's changed
You were acting so strange
And its taken its toll on me
Its safe to say that I'm ready to let you leave


Tess nodded and sighed with relief.

"Are you going to tell him?" Max asked.

"No."

"Do you think that's really the right thing to do?" Max asked, surprised.

"I don't know if it is or not." Tess admitted, "But, we're leaving the planet, Max. I just don't see the point in telling him he has a child. A child he'll never see, never know. I think…I think it would be cruel."

Max thought for a moment and said, "It's your decision Tess. I'll support you, whatever you choose. But a man like Kyle…he would want to know. I think he has the right to know. Just, think about it, okay? We have some time yet. Talk to him."

"I will." Tess promised.

Max looked at her with concern. She'd always wanted a child and he was happy that, at the least, she had that - something he wasn't sure he would have ever been able to bring himself to give her. At the same time, the entire situation was just so screwed up - that this discovery, that should have brought such joy, came at a time of such uncertainty.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked her.

Without you, I live it up a little more everyday
Without you, I'm seeing myself so differently
I didn't wanna believe it then
But it all worked out in the end
When I watched you walk away
Well I'd never thought I'd say
I'm fine
Without you


Tess looked at him and smiled, the pain of wanting him so desperately, for so long, fading quickly in the face of her impending motherhood, and her growing feelings for her child's father. "I never thought I would be, you know - without you? But, yeah, I think whatever happens, I'm going to be fine. That is, assuming, we all survive."

Max chuckled at the nonchalant comment, all of them needing to make light of the dark situation. Then he asked, "And…us? We're okay too?"

Cause something's changed
You were acting so strange
And its taken its toll on me
Its safe to say that I'm ready to let you leave


Max needed to know that their relationship would survive. He was sorry for the things he'd done, the things he hadn't. And though they both knew that aspect of their relationship was over, he wanted her to know the affection and love he felt for her - a dear friendly kind of love - would still be there - forever. And he hoped she felt the same.

"You know the sad thing, Max?" She asked softly, knowing they had been through too much together to throw it all away, now that she had finally realized it was never meant to be, "I think you and I? I thing we're better now than we ever have been."

Without you, I live it up a little more everyday
Without you, I'm seeing myself so differently
I didn't wanna believe it then
But it all worked out in the end
When I watched you walk away
Well I'd never thought I'd say
I'm fine
Without you


Max smiled, understanding exactly what she was saying, "Yeah. I do too." As he said it, Max pulled Tess into his arms, into an embrace that promised comfort and a fresh beginning.

Without you

From the cavern door, Liz watched the two wrapped in one another's arms. She couldn't hear what they were saying. She could only watch, frozen, as they held each other. And as she did, a piece of her heart died, because she was once again reminded that, despite everything, Max was not now, and wouldn't ever be, hers.

Without you
Without you


None of the them noticed the car parked in the distance, watching their every move. None of them realized that the four occupants were sitting patiently…waiting for the right time, that was soon approaching.

The perfect time, for them to strike.

I just wanna be alone tonight
I just wanna take a little breather.
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 01/05 Part 53 pg 20

Post by trulov »

Hey everyone!

Can't thank you enough for all your great comments! Thank you for still reading.

mary mary - welcome and thank you!

And now the next part - this chapter really just ties up some loose ends.


Chapter 54

Once back inside the Granolith chamber, Max passed out what remained of his and Liz's midnight picnic. They sat in a circle next to the humming machine and devoured an assortment of nuts, shriveled fruit, popcorn, and bottled water, as if it was a gourmet meal. They ate in silence, each consumed with their own thoughts, their own demons and predictions of what would happen eleven hours from then.

After the food was eaten, Kyle broke the silence when he said, "I just have to throw this out there. Does anyone else feel like their trapped in some weird version of The Breakfast Club?"

Laughter echoed through the room, sleep deprivation and anxiety making them all a bit silly. "I'd be the jock of course." Kyle stated.

"I'll be the brain." Alex volunteered, raising his hand.

"Maria would be the basket case - no contest there." Kyle said, smiling, and then ducking to avoid the kernels Maria hurled at his head.

"Isabel and Liz could be the rich-popular girl combo." Alex continued.

"Ooohh," Isabel joined in with a smirk, "And Max can be the teacher - the serious one who tells everyone else what to do."

Six voices continued to giggle at her comment and Max smiled as he said, "Ha Ha. All this time and I never knew you were funny, Isabel." Then he added, "Michael's got to be the criminal then."

Michael looked at the ceiling as if considering the idea, and said, "Accused, but never convicted."

The nervous laughter settled into quiet smiles, and Alex spoke, "So, in the movie, there was that line, remember? 'Will we be friends on Monday, if we're friends now that is.' I guess what I'm wondering is…what happens tomorrow? I mean, do we just all go our separate ways? Like none of this ever happened - like we never knew you at all?"

It was a question weighing on every mind in the room, but it was Max, serious once more who answered, "We can't make any real plans yet. We need to see what the Granolith can do first. But if we can, the first thing we'll do is contact Antar.

"Antar?" Alex asked.

"That's our…that's where we came from - originally." Isabel explained, glad that she had the next eleven hours to tell Alex all she could, wondering why in the world she had ever been so scared to tell him before.

Alex nodded his head and said incredulously, "And assuming you can, you're just going to call this other planet up? As in contacting alien life on another planet - in another galaxy?"

Max nodded, and Kyle said, "Goodbye Breakfast Club. Hello X-files."

Max looked at the people around him, some of whom only a few hours earlier, he barely knew, but who he now looked at as friends and family - to be trusted and counted on. He wasn't surprised how easy it was for him to accept Kyle and Alex, though he should have been. Just a few weeks earlier, he would have done anything to keep the secret from them.

But he was different now. Everything was different now.

And he knew they were a part of this - as much as he and Isabel and Tess and Michael were. As much as Liz was. They needed to be a part of this. He felt that, deep in his soul. He felt the rightness of it - again - of these people - this group. They would all play a part in the fight, and the victory. Somehow, he was sure, it was the only way any of them would live to see another day.

Max tried to think of something stirring, something inspirational to say, but the exhaustion and turmoil of the last day was finally catching up with him, and his thoughts were muddled.

All he could come up with was, "I know you're all scared and …uncertain about what's coming. Honestly, so am I. But we're here…together. We've made it this far, and I have to believe…we'll make it - all of us - to the end. Wherever the end is. The important thing, is that we have each other -we're in this together. I know how corny that sounds, but it's the best I can do. I believe in this."

He gestured around the room to all of them, his eyes falling lastly on Liz and holding there, "In us. And I know that as long as we're together, there is nothing we can't do. Nothing we can't accomplish, or defeat. I can feel that and I hope to God, you can too."

His eyes left Liz's then and returned to the group. "But, to say we've got a big day coming is an understatement. And, as stressed as we all are, I think we all need to try and get some rest…some sleep if we can. Agreed?"

They all nodded in agreement and wordlessly broke up into groups of two. The cavern was enormous, allowing them each some semblance of privacy as they found their own corners with their significant others.

************************************************************

Maria sat beside Michael and opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it. "Can we…not talk right now?"

Maria's mouth closed quickly and hurt crept into her eyes until he clarified, "I'm not trying to be an ass. It's just that, when we talk I seem to get you mad at me. And I really need you not to be mad at me right now."

He paused, but Maria had heard the pleading in his voice - the desperate need - for her. "I just want to feel you. I need to know that you're really here. I just want to be… with you. Can we do that?"

Maria took him wordlessly into her arms, his embrace so tight for a moment she couldn't breathe. And then his arms relaxed slightly, and she felt his kiss on her forehead, as they settled against one another and tried to sleep.

************************************************************

As the others walked away, Max moved to pull Liz against him, but she backed away. Confused, he said, "Liz?"

Her eyes falling on Tess in answer, Liz said, "Max, we shouldn't."

His eyes followed where her gaze had landed, and Max explained, "No, it's alright. We talked. She's okay with this."

Liz mistook his words to mean that Tess was allowing him to have this short time with her, this day alone, before he went back to his life with his fiancée. Even reading his statement as she did, Liz let his arms fall around her and she put her head on his chest. She was pathetic, she knew. But she just needed him so much…too much to let her pride keep them apart.

"How are you doing?" Max asked, wanting to ask her about what had happened while Nicolas had her - if he had hurt her in more ways than Max had seen when he healed her at the factory.

"I don't know how I am. Everything's just happening so fast. It's like I don't even have time to feel any of it, you know? But, I'm holding it together, so I guess that's something, right?" Liz answered sadly.

"I'm here now Liz," Max said, pulling her even closer against his body, "You don't have to hold it together around me. You can let it out. I want to be here for you."

Liz smiled against his chest, "You are here for me. But if I let go, Max, I'm afraid I'll just fall apart. And I can't do that right now. There's too much we don't know, and we need to be ready for anything."

Max closed his eyes against the guilt, against the knowledge of what knowing him had cost her. And she was so strong, taking everything his life had thrown at her, without complaint, without casting blame. "I love you Liz," Max choked out, "Don't ever forget that. When you were gone, I didn't know…I couldn't…God I was so scared."

"It's alright." Liz said soothingly, "I'm here now, with you." And then she thought of something she had seen from the scion, something the other Max had said to his Liz. "When I was there, Max, and they did what they did to me. You're what kept me alive. The thought of you. The way your eyes look into mine. Your smile. The touch of your skin. I knew you would come, that you would never let them hurt me."

Tears came to his eyes at her words, at her unwavering trust in him. And he decided then and there to stop being a coward. He decided that Liz deserved to know the man she was in love with - all of him - not just the parts he felt safe showing her.

"Liz, there's things I want to tell you. About my past…things that I've done. I was afraid for you to know before. That's why the scion wouldn't open for me - because I was holding back. But I need you to know those things now."

Liz pulled back from him and looked into his eyes, letting him see her love and acceptance. "You can tell me anything Max. Nothing you could say will ever change how I feel about you."

Max was not so sure. But he owed her this. The bare truth was all he had left to give …he had taken everything else away from her.

And so, with fear in his heart, Max began his confession. For the next hour, he told her about Grant Sorrenson, about all the hurtful things he had ever done, about the person, the alien, he had been before - before she had come into his life.

**************************************************************

On the other side of the room two separate but similar conversations were taking place. Alex and Isabel leaned against the surprisingly warm steel wall, side by side, close but not touching. Alex turned to face her and said, "So Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do."

Isabel chuckled and said, "I don't even know where to start."

********************************************************

Kyle looked at Tess and answered, "The beginning is always a good place."

Tess smiled, "The beginning - right. Well, once upon a time there was a planet called Antar, in the Whirlwind Galaxy. It was ruled by a King, a young King and his bride…"

****************************************************

"…and the Princess' name was Vilondra. We don't know much about that life - none of us remember, really. We only know what Nasedo told us." Isabel explained, "But the point of it is…"

*****************************************************

"We died." Tess told Kyle, "We were killed by a power hungry aristocrat named Kivar. And the Queen Mother, in her grief, ordered…"

*************************************************

"…that we were to be cloned. Mixed with human DNA and sent here, where we would be safe. Until…"

*************************************************

"Until one day, we could return, using the Granolith, and free our people of Kivar's rule."

***********************************************

"We came out of our pods early - we don't know why."

********************************************************

"When I came out, Nasedo was there…but the others were already gone."

******************************************************

"We knew right away to hide what we could do - who we were."

******************************************************

"We finally found them when we were about fourteen. Everything was supposed to be different then…once we found the others."

*****************************************************

"There's things we can all do, but each of us have a unique power also."

*****************************************************

"I don't like to mind warp. It can be dangerous if I push too hard, or if the person is already weak. It can kill…it has killed, and I'll never forgive myself for it.

****************************************************

"That's how I knew you were different. The things you dreamed about - about me, weren't like the fantasies of the other boys I knew. You were special to me - even then.

***************************************************

For hours Isabel and Tess told Alex and Kyle the story of their lives - who they were, where they came from, what they had done, what they could do.

They left nothing out, hoping with every word they spoke, that when they were finished, the young men's feelings for them would remain unchanged.

***********************************************************

Max waited, staring at the silver floor, unable to look Liz in the eyes, knowing he couldn't bear it if there was disgust or hatred there. He heard her sigh, and felt her warm hands on his face as she bent down to meet his eyes.

And there was no revulsion in their deep brown depths. There was sadness and sympathy, but still the love that had always been there when she looked at him, and understanding. "Max, you were a young boy. You didn't know what your powers could do. You were just learning how to control them."

"Don't do that. Don't tell me that makes it okay, because it doesn't. It doesn't change the fact that I killed him, Liz. That he is dead because of me." Max closed his eyes, blocking out the comfort she offered that he did not deserve. "And I felt…nothing. I didn't even feel bad about it. The others, they tortured themselves for years and I just shrugged it off, like a mistake…like spilling a glass of milk that you just clean up and forget about afterwards. Like it never even happened."

"You couldn't feel bad about it. You didn't have the ability, or the luxury to regret your decisions." Liz explained firmly, needing to make him understand. "And I'm not saying that it makes it okay, but it explains it. Did you go there intending to kill that man?"

"No."

"And if you knew then, what you know now, would you have gone into that house? Even if you knew the answers you needed were there?"

"No." Max said with certainty.

"Then you're not a killer Max. You're not the cold blooded monster you think you are. It was an accident. An awful tragedy." Liz insisted.

"So that's it? I'm just supposed to forget it. Just walk away, free - like I didn't do it." Max asked.

"No. You don't. You'll never really be free of it. You'll feel the guilt and sorrow you feel right now for the rest of your life. And you'll never be able to forget it. But you can try and make up for it. You took a life Max. You didn't mean to, you'd change it if you could, but you did. So now, you owe the universe or God or whatever you believe in, a life. You owe them yours. You need to spend your life, after this is over, trying to make it right. To give back to the world what you took. Make your life worth it - make it count. Everyday, you should try to be a man worthy of the sacrifice Grant Sorrenson made. There are other people out there who need saving, Max, and I don't mean just with your powers. You have the ability and the talent to make a difference in people's lives. To save someone, who would otherwise die without you. That will be your penance. And with time, the regret will get a little easier to bear each day."

Max looked at Liz and knew he didn't deserve her. With her words, with her love, she had saved him once again, as sure as he had saved her life that day in the hospital. She had eased his mind and put him on the path to salvation - again.

"Thank you." He whispered and kissed her lips tenderly, pulling her close.

*************************************************************

And so it went, for the next eleven hours. The group of eight talked, at times all together, but mostly in pairs.

They laughed and shed more then a few tears. They kissed and caressed and held onto one another. Some of them slept for a little while. Some of them couldn't bear to close their eyes, knowing the time they had with the one they loved most was quickly running out.

At some point, Kyle had made his way over to Max and shook his hand, thanking him for saving his life.

Then, before they knew it, faster than any of them had thought possible, all of the lights on the Granolith's countdown were alight, and it was time.

The Granolith was ready. And so were they.
Last edited by trulov on Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 01/09 Part 55 pg 7

Post by trulov »

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. I'm so thrilled you're enjoying this.

Thanks again!



Chapter 55

The Granolith's hum remained low in volume, but the pitch went up two octaves, as its full power was now contained within its swirling center.

They stood before it, all of them, waiting.

Four symbols appeared on the floor around the powerful relic. The first was a V-constellation, the royal symbol of Antar, the mark of its leader. Without hesitation, Max walked forward and stood upon it. The second symbol, to his right was a stone pillar, representing unyielding strength and authority. Michael took his place there. The next symbol, to Max's left was an eye, the viewer of the world and window to the mind. Tess squeezed Kyle's hand as it held hers, before releasing it and standing where she was needed. The final symbol was of a mist, representing dreams, the most unguarded, naked plain of thought. Isabel breathed deep and walked there, completing the square around the mammoth instrument.

When they were each in place, Liz watched transfixed as a glowing green mark appeared on each of the alien's foreheads. The light traveled down to their eyes, illuminating them with the same green radiance. Then their eyes closed and their backs arched, as each of their own scions opened and the memories of the lives they had never known, flashed through their minds.

******************************************************

It had been the Queen Mother's command to place the scions within the hybrids. She had always been fascinated by the human race, by its boldness and passion. Its ability to be moved by the needs, dreams, and desires of not just themselves, but their brethren as well. It was why earth had been chosen in the first place, why their DNA had been joined with this race in particular.

The Queen Mother had loved her children dearly, but she held no illusions about their character. Her son had been selfish, her daughter spoiled, and she had taken the blame upon herself for these and their many other flaws. She had not been the mother she should have been, the mother they had deserved.

And so she'd had the scions placed, so that her children could grow amongst the humans without the burden of their previous lives upon them. Without the true understanding of who they had been. She had hoped that as they grew, the human ability to feel would grow with them. And only when they were ready to return home together, self sufficient and strong, with the Granolith in their grasp would they learn of what kind of men and women they had been before. By then, the failings in their previous lives would be seen as mistakes, to be corrected, learned from and avoided.

Her one error had been her absolute faith in the protectors. She could have never predicted the deaths of two, the abandonment of the third, and the crazed loathing of all things human by the last. The shape shifters were supposed to have nurtured her children and their mates, guided them in their new lives, to their new destinies. They were to teach them about their planet and who they had been, but being informed of one's actions in the past would not have the same impact on their development as actually remembering it.

She had also never anticipated her son's inability to bond with the humans. A circumstance that ironically, would not have been a factor, had that same son not come back through time to remove the one person from his life who his soul would have bonded to.

The unforeseen had happened, and the unimaginable had come to pass, but like all mothers, she had done the best she could for her children and had prayed it would be enough.

*******************************************************

Max opened his eyes and gazed at Michael and Isabel and Tess. Seeing them now, not just as they were, but who they had been. He felt sullied and polluted, by the knowledge of just what a poor excuse for a person, let alone a prince, he had been.

His eyes fell on Tess, a sympathetic and dependable friend, and he remembered, with distaste, their union for what it had been. Two miserable beings, taking pleasure in making the other even more so. There had been sex between them, for a short time, until that had quickly grown tiresome and they had both moved on to others.

And then he looked at Isabel, his sister who he could now say he loved, who he would give his life for. And he remembered the jealous paranoia with which he had once viewed her, because through her spouse she had the ability to supplant him. So he had always sought to push her, not aside, but down. To show anyone who would watch, from his parents to his subjects, that he was more than her in every way - more competent, more beloved, more gifted. He had helped greatly in shaping her to be the traitor she had become.

Finally, Max saw Michael, his brother, his advisor, his confidant. And he recalled the blood thirsty war monger he had been. Soulless, compassionless, caring only for the next victory, the next battle to be waged. He had been a restless man, unable to keep even his own company, and he had tried to use his influence on the King to supply his own need for conflict. But he had never had the desire to rule, only to fight.

Max was awoken from his reverie by Tess' shocked voice, "I remember…everything. Do you? Do you all remember?"

Michael nodded his head, looking pale and unsteady, like he was ready to collapse at any moment. Isabel nodded, feeling like she was about to vomit, looking like she would.

"Oh, God." Tess said, her hand covering her mouth, "I was awful. I was a terrible person."

Isabel stepped next to Tess and put her hand on her shoulder as she said softly, "We all were."

Max found Liz looking at him, and he wanted to fall to the ground at her feet. If he had felt unworthy of her before, his newly acquired memories threatened to make him shrink from her in shame.

But he stopped himself. He would not let himself pull away. He was not that careless, callous man and he never would be. Liz loved him, despite his past, despite his faults, and he wouldn't let these memories come between them.

The uncertainty he saw in her eyes had Max walking to her, and taking her hand in his, his side flush against hers. She continued to stare at him, when she asked, "Are you alright?"

Max forced himself to smile, to reassure her and said, "Yeah. It's okay. We're all alright. I know what to do now."

Liz nodded and said, "Okay." Though in truth, she felt no better. Max now remembered his other life, on Antar. The life where he was a King and had been married to Tess. She wondered how he felt about that, and more, if it changed how he felt about her.

**************************************************************

With Liz still by his side, Max stepped up to the Granolith once more. He placed his hand on the lower crystal pyramid, and the drone of the powerful machine rose to a fevered pitch. He said, "I am the rightful King of Antar. I carry the seal. Know me."

At his words a light shot out from the crystal to Max's forehead. He couldn't see the symbol, coming from his skull, floating in the air behind him - the same marking that he had stood upon on the floor - but the others could.

"Wow." Alex said.

"Hol-eeee crap." Maria whispered.

"What is it doing?" Liz asked, concerned if the machine was hurting him.

"It's identifying me as the King." Max answered with confidence, feeling no discomfort as the Granolith confirmed that he did indeed carry the seal, and the memories of the true King.

If Max's scion had not opened, the device would not have recognized his authority. Because before the scion opened, he had been only Max Evans, with no conscious evidence in his mind that he was, in fact, the rightful ruler.

Although he was still Max Evans, he now had all the knowledge, all the memories of the man he had been before, the being the Granolith had known and deferred to. And the alien instrument saw those memories, and responded to them, to him, with reverence.

It was now completely in Max's control. It had been waiting for him, because despite his death, the seal had never passed to another, but remained with him all along. The Granolith recognized him as its sovereign, and called to him for instructions.

"How is it doing that?" Alex asked.

Max half smiled, finally having the answers he'd always wanted. "It's ancient. As old as Antar itself. It's been passed down, from monarch to monarch for tens of thousands of years. The legend says that the fathers of Antar tunneled deep into the planet and excavated the energy from its very core. That's what powers it."

Max breathed deep and felt Liz's hand on his lower back, her touch comforting and supporting. He knew exactly who to reach out to. The one person on Antar, he knew without question, he would always be able to trust. He just hoped he was still alive. Max said to the machine, "Show me Larek."

The colors in the upper cone swirled into a cyclone, a dark green taking over as the predominant shade. And then, in the center an image appeared. The image of a man, tall and fit, who looked to be about forty human years of age. He was in a military uniform with strange pins and badges dressing his chest, proving his high rank. He was speaking to a small band of officers, while a red river flowed behind him.

"Contact him." Max ordered and the image churned and changed. Suddenly, just the face of the man appeared within the cone. His hair was blond and flowed to his shoulders. His face was handsome and human looking, only his electric blue eyes, a color not found on earth, gave away that he was not.

On Antar, Larek stood much as he had just before. But now his eyes were closed, the Granolith communicating with him through his mind. Behind his lowered lids, he was seeing all that was around the Granolith on earth - the caved room and everyone within it.

The officers Larek had been speaking to, stood watching their commanding officer, shocked but unafraid. They knew well the process with which the revered instrument would use to contact one of their own. But after all of these decades without a word or sign, they hadn't expected it.

Larek looked around the chamber, at the shocked faces, and his eyes widened with wonder when he saw Max. In a hushed voice he said, "Thank the gods."

Max smiled, a genuine smile filled with warmth as he took in the visage of his boyhood friend. Larek was the only person who had tried to slap him from his irresponsible ways, and make him see the danger closing in on him. Despite his best attempt to save his friend, the young King had been too lost to heed the warnings.

Still, recalling better, happier times Max said, "Hello Larek. You look well old friend."

Larek smiled in return, "Old being the operative word. But you...you look more striking than you were in our youth, I fear. The universe truly is an unfair place." And then he sighed and said, "I can't tell you how good it is to see you my friend - healthy and alive. I have prayed for this day for half a century. You have been sorely missed, Zan."

Max nodded his head, touched by the sincerity in Larek's tone. He wasted no more time on niceties however and asked, "How has Antar fared?"

Larek sighed again, this time wearily. "The struggle has been long and hard. More so than any of us could have imagined. There have been many losses - great losses. Your mother perished some time ago. I am sorry."

The words brought forth to Max the image of a beautiful woman, with a sweet voice and gentle smile. Beyond that, there was nothing - no meaningful reminiscences. The truth was, he knew precious little about the woman who had once given birth to him. She had always been too busy with her duties and responsibilities to leave any time for either of her children. It was difficult to grieve for someone you had never really known. Max glanced at Isabel and knew she felt the same.

"But finally," Larek continued, "The gods have smiled down on us. We have the traitorous dog cornered in the capital city. I will take him tonight."

"You've won?" Max asked. He had prepared for this war his whole life, and now that he had the ability to join it, he was being told that it was all but over. The news caught him off guard, but he was far from disappointed.

"We have." Larek confirmed, "But now that you have found your way back to us, with the Granolith, the victory will be that much sweeter. When can we expect your return?"

Max felt Liz tense beside him, and his smile faltered. "There are…matters… I must see to here on earth first."

Larek nodded, "We were unable to stop Kivar from dispatching the skins to earth, to follow you. I am sure that Nicolas has made himself known."

Max's eyes darkened, "I will take care of Nicolas shortly." And then he asked, "Larek, did Kivar send anyone else with Nicolas, besides the skins? Anyone more powerful?"

"No. Only the skins. They went to earth shortly after your departure, and to my knowledge, no further reinforcements have been sent." Max nodded thoughtfully while Larek then said, "I must return to my men. Contact me with details of your return when your…affairs… are resolved."

Max said softly, "Thank you Larek…for everything. I will be forever in your debt for all you have done for me…for my family…and for Antar. You are a true friend - a good and honorable man."

Larek bowed his head, touched by such praise from a man he had always thought of as a friend, but who was still royalty - still a King, "The privilege has been mine, Zan. To serve you…to serve Antar. And now, to see her restored…to see you sit once more upon the throne - that will be all the thanks I will ever need."

Max smiled, "I will be in touch soon. Be well old friend."

"And you." Larek returned, before his image faded away, leaving only the swirl of colors once more behind.

**************************************************************

The chamber was silent after the image had dispersed, all of them dazed at having just seen their first full blooded alien. They were not taken aback by how different he had been, but more by how similar to them he had seemed.

Max then placed his hand on the Granolith once more and said, "Show me the protector, who calls himself Nasedo."

Vengeance was now churning in Max's heart in time with the colors of the machine he touched. The day of reckoning was here for those who had harmed them, harmed Liz. And Max had the ultimate weapon at his command, which he fully intended to use to make them suffer the ultimate price.

But when the image came through the Granolith's cone, all he could do was stare at it in confusion…and unease. Where he had expected to see an injured shape shifter huddled outside the wall of the pod chamber, there lay only clothes. They were Nasedo's clothes, covered in dust and sand, blowing in the desert wind.

Michael stepped forward and peered closer, "What is that?"

"He's dead." Liz answered before Max could. Her voice was emotionless as she remembered how she had come to know what she did. "That's what happens when shape shifters die - they turn to dust. Nasedo is dead."

"How?" Michael asked, his worried eyes meeting Max's, "Who?"

"I don't know." Max answered, wondering the same, "Larek said there wasn't anyone else. Kivar is on Antar. I don't…I don't know who Nicolas could be aligned with. But it won't matter for long." It was time to take Nicolas and his army of skins out of the equation.

"Show me Nicolas." He commanded and the massive machine complied.

The leader of the skins was in a barren room, three of his followers on their knees before him, as he appeared to berate them for their failure and cowardice. Max knew he should wait. He knew the smart thing to do would be to watch Nicolas from the safety of where they were, to see if he made contact with his ally.

But then he thought of Liz, strung up by her hands in the middle of a dark room, with blood on her face. Blood Nicolas had spilt. And he thought of Langley. Though Nicolas may not have done the deed himself, Max still held him ultimately responsible for the protector's murder - for Liz's devastating loss, her tears, her pain.

With those thoughts in his mind, his emotions overwhelmed him and strategy took second seat to revenge. Max commanded, "Granolith, remove Nicolas' husk. Remove all of the husks of every skin on earth. Now."

Before their eyes, the skins in the image opened their mouths, howling in terrified horror as their husks melted away, like acid eating through paper. They could not survive the exposure to the earth's temperature.

The shaft of the Granolith swirled red and black and the screech of what seemed like a thousand beings pierced the air. As the colors turned more rapidly, it appeared as if the skins' very souls, which they did not possess, were being sucked into the funnel and shredded.

Seconds later, the Granolith's colors returned to normal, and the shrieking was gone, leaving the room silent except for the comforting hum of the alien relic.

Isabel broke the stillness as she threw her arms around her brother in relief.

As she did, Liz was inadvertently pushed aside, her hand slipping from Max's grasp.

"You did it Max!" Isabel said, "I can't believe…it's over. We're safe. It's finally over." And she hugged him close.

Before any of the others could enjoy the respite Isabel was feeling, the chamber door opened. All eight heads turned at the sound.

And stared. As four beings, with intimately known faces, stalked into the room.

Their leader said, "Well, I wouldn't say ova' exactly."
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 01/09 Part 55 pg 7

Post by trulov »

Thanks to you all for reading and for your comments.

nitpick23 - excellent point regarding Max how he ruled. Though Max was an inept ruler, shall we say, indifferent to the needs of his people, he wasn't a dictator. Kivar crushes the people of Antar under his boot, where as Max would have just walked by them. Larek looks forward to Max's return because he is a loyalist - he sees Max as the true ruler and Kivar as the traitor who took a position he was not entitled to. Larek also, because he was max's friend, saw the potential he had to be a good King - a good leader. I think he's hoping Max's rebirth and new expreiences will make him now reach that potential. Either way, Antar would be better served by a leader like Max - then Kivar, who actively seeks to punish and push down his subjects. Hope that explains it sufficently.

As many of you have already guessed - its the dupes! But I do want to warn you - these are not the dupes we all know from the show. You'll see what I mean and why after you read the next part.

Thanks again.

WARNING - Child abuse and rape implied and described in the next part.


Chapter 56

The term sociopath is defined by Websters as a person, whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience. It is not a mental disorder per se, but more a type of personality. In addition to the behavioral characteristics, is the inability to experience emotions as the general population does. These people can mimic, or act like they are feeling in the appropriate manner. They may be able to bring forth tears, for example at a funeral, without feeling any real sorrow.

The consensus among the medical community is that sociopaths are not made, they are born. The causes are unknown, though theories vary. The only fact truly agreed upon is that the condition is congenital.

The four alien hybrids that walked into the Granolith's cavern that day, however, were the exception to the rule. They were true sociopaths of that there can be no doubt. They felt nothing, experienced nothing through their heart or in their soul. The only feeling they really understood was one of superiority.

But Zan, Ava, Lonnie and Rath were not born that way. They were created.

They emerged from their pods innocent - in the same impressionable state as Max, Tess, Isabel and Michael. They had the same potential to develop human feelings…to be humane.

But their circumstances brought them into contact with people, well, with monsters really, whose actions crushed that potential, irrevocably.

They could not be reached, saved, or healed. The violent and traumatic experiences they suffered had made that an absolute certainty. As did the teachings of their mentor, once he found them. There was no hope for them.

It had begun when Kal Langley left the pods alone, in the sewers.

New York City can be a strange and dangerous place, the forgotten subway tunnels beneath the city, even more so. There are mole-like people, all homeless, and most suffering from some mental illness or another, who dwell there and live beneath the feet of the Big Apple. They use the sewer tunnels as well, to travel, to scavenge for supplies - drinking water and other items that those above ground have discarded.

It was with these inhabitants, that Zan, Ava, Rath and Lonnie first became acquainted with the human race. They were beautiful children, but mute at first. They knew, just as Isabel had explained to Alex, to hide their powers from those who had discovered them. So their powers could not be used to defend themselves.

The mole people fed them, and clothed them, and abused them. Two short days after emerging from the pods, Rath was brutally beaten by a large disturbed man who thought he was the devil. When Zan tried to intervene, the drive to protect his group as ingrained as Max's, he was savagely hit and kicked as well. After that, they learned quickly how not to draw attention to themselves. How to stay out of the way, and almost disappear.

Six months later, they were traded.

Money meant almost nothing to the tunnel dwellers, but provisions - food, blankets, and weapons were the difference between survival and death. And so the four children were bartered to a man, a pimp named Johnny Love, who catered to clients with a particular taste for the young.

For the next year, they were subjected to the most depraved, most degenerative of the human race. They were tormented and ripped of any innocence they had left. As all abused children feel deep down, they knew that the horrific things being done to them were wrong. What they did not know was if a life away from their latest captor would be any different. Maybe this, they thought, was simply what life on earth was like. So they submitted to the cruelty and exploitation, day after day after day.

Until one night, after she had been gone for twenty-four hours with two male clients, Lonnie was brought back to the rat infested apartment barely alive. That had been the end for Zan. He was sure there was anywhere would be better than where they were.

They left the next day, and returned to the place of their birth, to the sewers where the pods still hung.

They stayed there, safer and happier than they had been their entire lives. The peace lasted four days, and then a group of mole people stumbled upon them. But before the mob could lay even a finger on them, something miraculous happened.

A boy walked into the sewer room.

And that boy killed the bad people who had wanted to hurt them. He killed them with powers - powers like they had.

He told them his name was Nicolas, and he was their friend. He promised them he would take care of them, teach them all they would ever need to know about their abilities, about their world, and about their destinies.

**************************************************************

Around the same time that Nicolas was rescuing the dupes from a hell on earth, Kal was being eaten alive by guilt, one moment with Liz at a time. She was seven years old and his parental love for her was in full bloom. But every time she smiled or made some delightful accomplishment some small part of him thought of the children he had thrown away. Alien hybrids, yes, but children, like Liz, all the same.

Kal hired an army of discrete private investigators to find them. He provided them with sketches, knowing what they would probably look like, but the children themselves were never located.

What the investigators did inform their employer was of the existence of thousands of pornographic photos of the charges he was searching for. And their origination was traced back to one Johnny Love.

Kal went to New York himself, to question the pimp about the whereabouts of the children in his photos. After six days of suffering and torture, Kal believed him when the vile miscreant told him that he didn't know where they had gone. And then Kal slit the man's throat with his own two hands.

He continued to pay his investigators. He kept up the search, never giving up hope that somehow, someway, he could make up for his unforgivable sin. To that very day, there were people on Langley's payroll whose sole job it was to search the internet for the disgusting photos, that could never really be eradicated in cyberspace, and destroy them.

Kal never knew that just two weeks after he ended Johnny Love's life, Nicolas brought Zan back to the very same place. For a lesson in revenge. When they entered the apartment they found only the rotting corpse. Zan stared at the decomposing man for several minutes, feeling nothing but discontent at being robbed of a kill - that had rightfully belonged to him.

*******************************************************

The real tragedy in all of this was that even after their year with the Mr. Love, even after being terrorized by the tunnel dwellers, there had still been hope for them. Children have the miraculous ability to heal from even the most devastating of circumstances.

And yes, they most likely would have suffered some mental affliction or another as a result of their disturbing childhood. But they would have been human, at least in part.

The four would have had the ability to feel, and to sympathize, if only Kal had found them, or any other half decent person for that matter. But someone else hadn't found them - Nicolas had.

And his teachings and influence sealed their fate…forever.

**************************************************************

If the protectors had fulfilled their duties, the duplicates would have been raised with care and attention. They would have been informed, kindly, of their place in the grand plan. The place of an understudy, called upon only if needed. But they wouldn't have felt cheated, they wouldn't have looked down on themselves. They would have been raised to feel blessed to have such a title, because they were, in their own way, crucial to Antar's future.

If all had gone accordingly, when the Royal Four returned to Antar, the back ups would have been sent for as well. They were to have lived the remainder of their lives in comfort on Antar, as nobles - as close relations to the King - for royal blood did indeed pump in their veins.

But all had not gone the way it should have.

And it was Nicolas who guided them. He fed their anger, until it was insatiable. He trained them to kill and maim simply because they could. He blamed every terrible thing that had ever happend to them, every hardship in their lives on one selfish shape shifter and the other set of hybrids who had stolen their future.

He taught them about retribution, and punishment and cruelty.

By the time they were seventeen years of age, their tutelage was almost complete. They killed at random and at will. They continued to live in the sewers because it kept them separate from the humans, who they of course despised. They took what they wanted, leaving carnage in their wake, because all life had ever given them was pain.

It was about this time that Nicolas noticed that one of the hybrids, Ava, was not as hardened as the others. He caught her in Central Park once, watching two children at play, and he had seen kindness in her eyes. That simply would not do.

Nicolas had in his possession a trilithium amplificatory, a device that could disable alien powers. He activated it and had Ava tied up. Then she was given to four human men, whom he paid to keep her for three days. They broke her - debased and ravaged her - and no one came to stop it.

Zan, by this time, had long since established himself as the leader, with Nicolas now playing the part of his trusted advisor. Initially, Zan disagreed with the plan to "cure" Ava. He had seen her weakness of course, but still, she was one of them, a part of his group, and the stand-by King's first instinct was to protect her from any harm.

But as always, Nicolas twisted the truth and eventually convinced Zan that this process would help Ava in the end - better enable her to protect herself and defeat their enemies.

To complete her transformation, when the three days were over, Nicolas then had the men bound, the ones who had defiled her. And he gave them to Ava to do with what she would.

Eight long days passed before she was done with them.

When she was finished, there was nothing left of the men, just as there was, by then, nothing left of Ava's soul.

***********************************************************

So that was how the four aliens who walked into the Granolith chamber, to face off with Max, Tess, Michael and Isabel, came to be the heartless, soulless, murderers they were.

And Max Evans thought he had been a monster.

He didn't know the meaning of the word.

But he was about to find it out.
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 01/21 AN pg 9

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Chapter 57

Max tried to open his eyes, to shake off the heavy mantle that surrounded his mind as the sound of voices brought him to consciousness. He felt something warm and thick like honey drip into his eye, and he tried to move his hands, but they were trapped behind his back. When he opened his mouth to speak, he tasted cloth - a gag.

"Stop fucking around Zan. Let's do 'em already and get the hell off this pit!"

"Shut up. I decide when and how. I'm the man. I've waited too long for this to let it end quick. They're gonna feel every fuckin' second of it…and they're gonna know it's us that's doin' it to 'em."

The voices continued to drag Max toward awareness and he started to realize where he was, and how he had gotten there.

He watched them walk in, everything suddenly becoming so clear, so obvious. The mind warp, the dream walks, Nasedo's death... Langley's.

The faces were identical, but the similarities stopped there.

The newcomers were dressed all in black, with a Goth-like flare that screamed for attention, daring anyone to challenge them.

The first in line, his own double was slender but strong. He was taught and tight, not an ounce of loose flesh to be found. His black hair was short, a goatee shadowing his chin with a silver spike piercing its center. His eyes were yellow and cold, but chillingly familiar, his movements sharp and lethal.

Beside him stood Tess's dupe, but instead of blond, her hair was altered to the darkest black, hanging down in a thick straight curtain to her waist, her lips painted the same shade. A diamond pierced her nose, her dead eyes stared out at them, from a face as pale and hard as stone.

Dwarfing her was Michael's twin, his huge bulging arms crossed over his chest. Unlike Michael's thick mane, the dupe's head was shaved bare. In the center of his forehead was a black tattoo of the whirlwind symbol. He was a hulk of a man - at least twice Michael's size.

Last stood Isabel's clone, her chin down, her hooded eyes staring up like a wild cat about to pounce. Her makeup was heavy, her hair short and spiky and black, but with blond streaks throughout, that reminded Max of a tiger. Her fists clenched and unclenched reflexively, and she shifted from one foot to the other, like a heroine addict waiting for a fix.

"Are they shape shifters?" Maria asked.

"No." Max answered, "There were two sets of pods. They're the others. Langley's set."

His duplicate just smiled grimly, his eyes holding Max's.

Max opened his mouth to command the Granolith to finish this, to execute the back-ups that were no longer needed, and who obviously had been working against them.

But he hesitated.

Even knowing the parts they had played, he couldn't bring himself to kill them, in cold-blood, without hearing why they had done it.

Maybe he was naïve to hope that they had been manipulated by Nicolas as masterfully as he himself had been by Nasedo. That somehow, there was an innocent defense for the death and harm they had caused. There had to be a reason. It seemed impossible that the four of them could look so much like himself and his family, and yet be that different inside.

Isabel must have been thinking the same thing because she said, "Nicolas is dead. You don't have to do…whatever it is you were planning to do. He's gone. He can't make you."

The man across from Max, who wore his face, sneered at his sister and said, "Nicolas never made us do nothing. We don't need him - never did. I'd a done him myself some day. I'm here for what belongs to me."

Even before he finished speaking, Max knew that his merciful hesitation had been a dreadful mistake.

He saw it in his eyes. They were empty and lifeless, and with frightening clarity Max realized that it hadn't been Nicolas who had been in charge, giving the orders all along. No, it was the other way around - these aliens had been the power behind the skins all along.

Barely finishing that thought, Max heard his own voice say, "Lights out."

And then there was nothing.


**************************************************************

Max moaned as his eyes finally opened. He realized the sticky substance dripping down his face was blood, from the gash on his head where it had connected with the floor after he fell. After he was blasted.

He looked around the Granolith chamber, taking in all that he saw.

To his left was Liz. Her hands bound behind her back as well, but there was no gag to obstruct the terror on her face.

On the ground in front of him lay Alex, unconscious, but no visible wound to see.

To his right was Isabel, who was looking so intently at Alex, she hadn't noticed that her brother was once again alert. Beside Isabel were Michael and Kyle, both tied in the same manner, but only Michael was gagged.

Lastly, next to Kyle, Max could make out a set of feet and legs. They belonged to Maria and he assumed by their prone position, that she was still unconscious. He didn't see Tess anywhere.

Across from him, sitting cross-legged on the floor was Tess's dupe however. She stared, unmoving, like a gargoyle. Standing beside her was Isabel's twin, her face a mask of annoyed impatience, her hands on her hips, a gesture so reminiscent of his sister that Max's heart tightened in his chest.

He pulled at the binds on his wrists and legs, and tried to use his powers to free himself, when he heard, "Well, look who's awake." Max looked up to the cold cat-like eyes bearing down on him.

"Don't even think about it." Zan said as he held up a triangular object with glowing markings on the side. "It's a present from Nicolas. Knocks out the powers. You ain't goin' nowhere."

Zan scanned the faces of his captives. Overtaking them had been just as easy as he knew it would be.

Because he had been smart.

He had watched and waited, he had learned their weaknesses, what made them happy, what scared them. And just when they had thought that they had won, he had walked in and shattered their perfect little world.

The surprise and shock he had seen on their faces had really pissed him off. That he had never even been a passing thought in their minds, when he had spent so many years thinking about them.

But now they would know how beautifully he had played them. Max may have gotten the seal, but he had gotten the brains and the balls, and before they died they would know the name and the face of the man who had bested them.

A struggle going on behind the Granolith caught Max's attention then, a tangle of limbs and a string of curses, one distinctively male, the other a female voice - Tess' voice.

When Zan saw where Max's eyes had landed, he smirked and explained, "That Rath's an animal, man. I gotta keep him fed so he doesn't turn on me, you know what I'm sayin'? But don't worry, he promised your little Queen if she fucks him good he'll kill her quick."

"Leave her alone you sick son of a bitch!" Kyle spat out, struggling against the ropes.

Zan knelt before him, bringing a long serrated knife to Kyle's throat and said, "The only reason you ain't dead yet, is because I want her to watch when I cut into you. So shut the fuck up if you wanna keep breathin' for a few more minutes."

Max tried to yell, but the gag in his mouth muffled the sound. Zan's attention turned back to the King and he approached him, smacking the wound on his head, causing a blinding the pain to shoot through Max's skull, "Did you want to say something? Sorry, no can do. Can't have you usin' the big guns on me."

Then Zan started to pace in front of them as he spoke, "Did you like that dream Lonnie sent you? She loves fuckin' with people's heads. All this time you thought it was Nicolas. You gotta be ten kinds of stupid. He couldn't even get his dick to get hard and you think he could take out a shifter? I watched you after you left the motel. I needed to see what you'd do…how you'd react. That was the night I knew how easy it would be to get to you…to get to all of you."

He paced some more, passing the knife back and forth in his hands with the grace of a skilled fighter as he continued, "I took out Nasedo too, you know. You can thank me later. Didn't know what that slippery fucker would do, so I figured it was better to do him while he was down. It was a piece of cake after you got it started for me. How's it feel to know he was dealin' this whole time behind your back? That's gotta sting. You know Nicolas was an evil little bastard, but even he wouldna sunk that low. Cause we both wanted the same thing."

"Whhht?" Max asked through the gag.

Zan smiled without humor and said, "All these years Nicolas kept telling me what a bad motherfucker you were. You don't look so bad ass to me now. I figure it was your bitch. She got you turned around…made you soft. You ain't no king now. That's what I want. When you're dead, I'll get the seal and the Granolith. And then we go back to Antar and rule the world, man."

"So just do it already!" Lonnie yelled from behind him, "I'm sick of hearin' you talk."

Ava rose and walked to Zan and in a sweet, child like voice said, "I'm bored."

He tossed the knife in the air, and she caught it easily. Then he said to her, as his arm swept down the line of his bound captives, "Take your pick, baby. Leave me the king and his whore - the rest are up for grabs."

Ava smiled and Liz thought she would be sick. She passed in front of each of them, holding the handle of the knife in one hand, tapping the blade on the other palm.

She stopped in front of Michael, "I like him."

Zan smiled at her, almost warmly, "Then he's all yours."

He walked up to Michael and dragged him by the hair across the room. Zan kicked Michael in the chest, knocking him down so his back was against the floor. Then he put his foot on his throat holding him there. Zan looked at Lonnie and ordered, "Keep him down for her." And then he walked back to the group, as Lonnie did what she was told and replaced Zan's foot with her own.

Michael started to scream through his gag, as Ava lifted his shirt and sliced the skin on his abdomen. Shallow cuts, not enough to kill him, but just enough to be excruciating. His legs thrashed helplessly, while Lonnie's foot and his tied hands kept his upper body on the floor.

Max and Isabel cursed outrage, but they could barely be heard through the cloth in their mouths. At the same time, Liz and Kyle started to scream as well.

But it was Liz's words that made it through the din to Zan's ears. "You fucking coward! You're not a man! You're nothing!"

Zan perched down in front of her, the cold malice in his eyes halting her tirade. "You gotta big mouth. You think if I put my cock in it, it'd shut you up?" He smiled then and dragged her up, holding her body tightly against his own as he hissed, "Let's find out."

He licked the side of her face, making her moan in disgust as she tried to turn her head away. Max cursed and screamed and Zan smiled wider at him and said, "Loosen up Maxie. Some guys like to watch."

Zan grabbed Liz's breast through her shirt and she couldn't stop herself from calling out, "Stop! Stop it!"

He laughed at her protests and insisted, "Come on Liz, you already gave it up to Max. I'm just like him. Pretty soon, you won't be able to tell the difference."

Liz turned angry eyes on the one that held her and said, "You are nothing like Max."

"Don't kid yourself, baby." Zan returned, "I am exactly like Max. I am exactly what he could have been if you hadn't pussy whipped him."

"Never." She insisted wth a shake of her head.

In the midst of her denial, Liz stared at Max's twin. The face was indeed the same, the full lips, the sculpted cheek bones.

So handsome.

Only the eyes were so very, very different.

She whispered then, truly curious, "What happened to you? I saw Max when he was a little boy. He wasn't like this - you couldn't have always been like this. What happened to you?"

Surprised by the question Zan shrugged, "Way the dice rolls. Shit happens."

The anger in Liz's eyes faded to something akin to pity.

When Zan saw it, rage overcame him once more. He grabbed her by her upper arms and said, "Don't you fucking look at me like that. You wanna feel bad for someone? Feel bad for your old man - for Kal. He moaned and cried like a little bitch when I did him. I ain't never seen no one go down that hard."

"Shut up. Shut. Up!" Liz screamed.

"You wanna see it? You wanna go outside and I'll show you how much he hurt - how much fun I had killin' him slow."

"You're a monster!" Liz raged. "And a fucking coward! A scared little boy - you're twice my size and you won't even let me try to defend myself!"

Zan froze at her words, not unimpressed by her bravery. Her eyes blazing, her hands balled into fists behind her back, her chest heaving with righteous anger. He licked his lips and whispered close to her, "I'm startin' to see what he likes so much about you."

He backed away and held up one hand, calling "Ava."

Without another word, the knife soared expertly through the air to his hand. Without her weapon, Ava resorted to poking at Michael's fresh and bleeding wounds. She laughed like a deranged toddler each time he screamed.

Zan used the knife to cut Liz's ropes away and said, "You want payback for the old man? I get that. I'm gonna show you I'm not such a bad guy after all - and I'm gonna give you a shot - one shot."

He held his arms open wide in invitation.

"You wanna piece of me, baby?" He asked. "Come and get it. Come on Liz," He whispered seductively, "Let's you and me dance."

Liz took the bait and circled him. He moved with her, facing her, as she tried to block out the desperate, terrified screams of her friends.

She took a swing at him which he side-stepped with a laugh, "Where'd you learn to fight - ballet school?"

Liz swung again. Zan knocked her hand away easily and cheered her on with mock enthusiasm, "Come on Liz - get in the game! Think of the shifter. Do it for him!"

And then Liz caught him by surprise when her left hand connected with his cheek, tearing the flesh there with her fingernail.

Zan stopped moving and touched the injury with his fingers. He stared at the blood he found there for a moment, in shock.

His eyes met Liz's triumphant ones and he in a deadly tone he told her, "Playtime's over bitch."

Zan backhanded Liz brutally, sending her flying back through the air, landing forcefully on her back. He stalked to her and kicked her in the stomach as she tried to rise to her feet.

"LIZZZ!" Max screamed through his binds, wanting to kill, wanting to die, feeling completely helpless, because he was.

In barely controlled anger, Zan said, "I watched you turn him - pussy whip him - make him forget about everything 'cept you. The way I figure, when you're dead - this fight is over. He'll be beggin' me to kill him."

Zan grabbed Liz by the hair and pulled her up against the wall, his eyes just inches from hers, "I coulda done him anytime - but I wanted him to see you go first. I want him to hurt. Like we hurt."

When his eyes met her dark brown ones, Zan stopped, his heart skipping a beat.

A feeling, something he couldn't remember ever knowing before - strange and foreign - surged into his chest.

For the briefest of moments he felt...sorrow...regret.

Regret for what he was - for what he couldn't change. He found himself wondering, if his life had been different, if the world had been a different place, could this woman have looked at him the way he had seen her look at Max?

Would he have wanted her to?

As suddenly as it came, the feeling was gone, and he was empty once more - the only sensation spreading through him was cold fury.

He placed his hands around her throat and squeezed, "You wanna know why I am what I am? You wanna know how I became...this?" he hissed, banging her head against the wall as he spoke.

Shouts of horror from Max and the others permeated the room, as Liz tired to pry his fingers from her neck. His hold only tightened, completely cutting off her air. He brought his face close to hers, near enough to feel his breath as he confessed, "There aren't words. There's nothin' I could say, that would ever make you understand."

Liz opened her mouth, silently screaming for air, but finding none.

Zan brought his lips to hers and kissed her tenderly, even while squeezing the life from her body.

"Bye, Liz." He said softly and her entire world went black.

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trulov
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Re: Falling Dominoes (CCw/UC Adult) 01/22 Chapter 57 pg 9

Post by trulov »

Thanks so much for your feedback! So glad you liked the last part. So here's the next one - didn't want to keep you in suspense for too long! Oh - and the gags? Zan was concerned that the Granolith would respond to the pod squad's verbal commands, now that they had activated it. That's why Max and the others were gagged, but the humans weren't. Thanks again!


Chapter 58

When next Liz opened her eyes, she was no longer deep within the mountain of the New Mexico desert. She was in the backyard of the LA mansion where she had spent her childhood. The sky was blue, the sun bright, and she could hear the soft chatter of birds somewhere nearby. Was this a dream, she wondered. Was she dead?

She looked around, her brow wrinkling in confusion, when a voice came from behind her.

"Well there's a sight for sore eyes."

Liz turned, not quite believing what her eyes were showing her. And then she was running towards him and flinging herself into his open waiting arms as she called, "Kal!"

He laughed as he caught her and her long hair spilled over his shoulders as he hugged her securely and close.

"I thought I'd never see you again." She said into his neck, relief and comfort settling over her, as she was enfolded in his arms and she felt that he was solid and whole and real.

"Nah - can't get rid of me that easy." Kal said teasingly, "I'm like a cockroach that way."

She pulled back from him and smiled and sat down on the bench beside him. "Is this real? I mean, are you really here, or is this just me - just in my head?"

He shrugged as if it didn't matter, "Maybe a little of both."

His smile dimmed a bit as he looked at her and asked, "What are you doing here Liz?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, though she had a feeling she knew exactly what he meant.

"I mean the finish line's in sight, kiddo. You can't give up now, not when you're almost there. You have to fight." Kal explained gently.

She looked away from him, unable to stomach the disappointment in his eyes, "Fight for what Kal? You're gone. Max is leaving. What exactly am I supposed to be fighting for?" She asked, bitterness clear in her voice.

"To live." Kal said softly, taking her gently by the chin and turning her face to his, "You're supposed to be fighting to live. If I haven't taught you at least that much, then I am a total frigging failure. Life is…wondrous, Liz, precious. You have to savor it, struggle for it. Every moment, every touch…they mean too much to give them up before your time."

"I miss you." Liz said in a small voice.

"I know you do, sweetheart. And I'm sorry it hurts so much. I'm sorry I can't be there to make it easier." He sighed wearily, "All I can tell you is it will get better. I promise, that someday, you'll think of me, and you won't be sad anymore…you'll smile and remember all the times we had. And there's more times like those waiting for you, Liz. They won't be with me, and maybe they won't be with Max, but you can have them. There's so much life still out there."

"I don't…I don't know if I can…if I want those moments, Kal." Liz admitted softly.

His voice firmer, Kal asked, "Would you trade any of our time, Liz? Knowing how it all ended, knowing how much it hurt, would you give up one minute of the life we had together? Would you erase any of the time you had with Max? Would you make it so you never met him, if you could? Would you be willing to give even a second of it away?"

"No." Liz answered honestly, "No, I wouldn't give any of that up."

"Of course you wouldn't. Because it's worth it. Life is worth it. All of it, the great times as well as the horrible ones. You have to find more of the great ones, Liz. That family you always wanted, friendship, love. It's all still there - just waiting for you to come and get it. But you have to fight."

Liz shook her head, "I tried to fight. He was too strong."

"You're stronger." Kal insisted, "You were strong enough to change me. You took a miserable murdering alien and you made me a man - a father. Just by being you. You changed Max Evans from a king of stone to a flesh and blood human being. You're stronger than any of us. And Max needs you, Liz. He'll never be able to do it without you."

His final words chased away the argument on her lips - dashed any denial she had left. In spite of the heartache, as scared as she was, as much as she just wanted to stay here with Kal forever, he knew just as she did, that she would never walk away from Max if he needed her.

She loved him too much to ever do that.

Unfallen tears pooled in her eyes as she looked at Kal and asked, "Will I ever see you again?"

He pushed her hair back from her face tenderly and tucked it behind her ear as he promised, "I'll always have your back. You won't see me, but you'll know I'm there."

Liz bit her bottom lip and nodded, and when she blinked, two tears slid down her cheeks. "I love you." She whispered brokenly.

"I know you do sweetheart." Kal returned, holding her close, "And you know that I, have always, loved you."

Liz bent her head and closed her eyes, and Kal kissed her forehead tenderly.

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When Liz opened her eyes she was back in the cavernous chamber, and chaos reigned all around her.

Tess was screaming and struggling with the demon on top of her. Michael was moaning as Ava continued to prod him roughly. A high pitched screech came from Isabel's gagged mouth, as Lonnie, now in possession of the knife used it to make long slow slices on her twin's cheeks. Liz heard Max groan as Zan had him by the hair, telling him in grisly detail all the horrors still in store for them, as he forced him to watch his sister‘s torture.

Liz breathed deep, the air back in her lungs as she lay on the floor in the same spot she had slid to when Zan had released her. She focused on the triangular alien device that sat on the floor across the room from her.

She took one more breath and darted towards it.

Zan sensed movement behind him and turned, his eyes catching her as she ran. Max's gaze found her then as well, and his gag trapped a grunt of relief, at the sight of Liz up and moving.

Zan held out his hand, a reflex, to blast Liz - forgetting that his powers were also blocked. It gave Liz the seconds she needed to reach her goal. She didn't know how to turn it off and with Zan coming at her, she did the only thing she could. She threw the pyramid at the Granolith's cone. It hit and shattered into a dozen pieces, breaking its hold over the aliens within its range.

Before the fragments even touched the floor, Max was free from the ropes, and charging Zan. He brought him down at the waist, sitting atop of him, pounding his face with his fists to keep him down.

Before Lonnie knew what was happening, Isabel's hands were also unbound. As she raised the knife, to plunge it into the other girl’s chest, Isabel put her hand over Lonnie’s heart and blasted with everything she had.

The dupe was thrown back, and slid on the floor until her lifeless body hit the wall. The knife fell from her dead hand to the floor, as the scent of charred flesh filled the air.

After liberating Kyle of his restraints, Isabel went to Alex, tapping him gently on the cheek, calling his name to revive him.

Seeing that their advantage was slipping, Ava backed away from Michael as he rose from the ground. He blasted her once, twice, but with surprising dexterity, she dodged the shots. The idea of a mind warp came to her, but she didn't have the opportunity to use it, as Michael mercilessly tried to hit her.

Kyle threw himself on top of Rath, who had been so focused on the writhing wisp of a girl beneath him, that he hadn't realized their victims were free.

Succeeding in knocking him off of Tess, Kyle pummeled the larger man with all his might, as Liz dragged Tess away, telling her over and over, "It's alright. You're okay now, Tess." Though that was yet far from the truth.

With tears streaming down her face, Tess clutched at her ripped clothes, trying to cover up. Her body was battered and bruised but because Rath had wanted to take his time with her, he hadn’t had the opportunity to completely violate her.

Rath was about to overtake Kyle, when suddenly Michael was there. He kicked Rath in the face, stunning him, while Kyle continued to work on his stomach, punching the breath right out of his lungs.

Liz led Tess away from the fight, over to Isabel and Alex and Maria. In the seconds it took to get there, Alex's eyes had opened meeting Isabel's concerned ones.

Seeing his friends in trouble as they grappled with the monstrous alien, Alex went to help Michael and Kyle. Isabel called his name, trying to stop him, but he ignored her pleas.

Alex jumped on Rath's legs, keeping him down. His help gave Michael the chance to pin Rath's face to the floor. His hand on his cheek, holding him down. Rath let out an inhuman roar just before Michael's blast cut it off.

The force from the blast cut the alien's head right off his body. Even decapitated, the limbs continued to try and fight - twitching and spasming for several minutes.

Across the room Max and Zan continued to brawl. Pausing his barrage of punches, Max thrusted his hand out, to deliver a deadly blast, but Zan beat him to it. Max was thrown back and off of him. Both on their feet, they threw out their shields simultaneously, locking themselves together in a struggle for dominance.

They turned in a circle for a few steps, both sweating with effort. And then Zan asked, "You know why you still ain't gonna win this?"

"Enlighten me." Max ground out through clenched teeth.

"Cause you ain't focused. She makes you weak. Even now, you're wonderin' where she is…is she alright…is she still alive." Seeing the crack to Max's concentration that his words caused, Zan went for the kill.

He retracted his shield slightly, then with lightening speed, sent it back out forcefully. The hit brought Max down, and Zan was on him, straddling his waist. Before Max could throw out his shield again, Zan's hand was on his chest. Burning into him, trying to rip the seal out of him.

Max howled in agony, the pain so great he was unable to defend against it. Liz heard his cry and looked around frantically for a weapon, but there was none. And then she felt the pen in her pocket, that she had unthinkingly put there, in the silver mine, after drawing the map for Kyle.

His face inches away, saliva dripped from Zan's mouth onto Max's cheek, as he shook with the strain to steal the seal that was not meant for him.

But Zan could feel it working, he could feel the power, the unbridled energy seeping into his skin. "You're done Max." He taunted, "Don't you worry though - I'll take good care of Liz when you‘re gone."

It was the last thing the would-be alien King would ever say.

So focused was he on Max, he didn't feel Liz come up behind him. He didn't know she was there, until she plunged the pen, with all her strength, into his neck, severing the vital artery housed there.

Blood surged out in spurts from the wound, the last minute weapon protruding even as Zan's hand sought to cover the hole, to stem the loss of his life blood as it flowed out like a fountain.

He stumbled back and his eyes met Liz's. Hate and accusation shot from his glare. But then, as he fell to his knees, his face changed, and Liz would later swear that he looked almost grateful, almost proud.

Of her.

For just a moment, her heart stopped, as she saw Max, the man she loved reflected in Zan’s dying eyes.

Then he fell forward, hitting the floor with a thump - his sickening, sad life at last at an end.

All eyes turned to the last remaining dupe, Ava.

She had retrieved the knife from where it lay beside Lonnie. She held the knife in front of her, slashing at the air, panting like a cornered animal, as the hybrids and humans slowly closed in, forming a circle around her.

Looking at each one of them in the face, knowing there would be no escape, she stilled her movements. And then she brought the blade to her own throat.

Ava was tired - so very tired. Tired of the struggle, tired of knowing the things she knew, remembering the things she had done, and that had been done to her.

So with a long forgotten sense of hope she pushed the sharpened edge into her own flesh, and dragged it across her neck. Liz gasped as she watched; Isabel covered her mouth in shock.

Without thought, Max rushed forward and caught Ava before she fell to the ground. And when he touched her, the flashes came to him, rapid and intense.

Zan, just a child, weeping as he healed Lonnie on their last night in Johnny Love's clutches. Swearing he would die before he let anyone ever hurt them again. Ava putting her small hand on his shoulder in comfort.

The four of them in the sewers, the pods hanging behind them, during the one tragically happy time in their lives. Zan handing Ava a Big Mac that he had stolen earlier, from a fast food restaurant above them. Ava looking at him like he was her hero, because in that moment, that was exactly what he was to her.

Ava huddled in the corner in the days after she had killed the men that Nicolas had set upon her. Dead inside. No longer caring to hear Zan's cold justification that it had all been for her. That it never would have happened if she hadn't been so weak.


Max pulled out of the flashes, and raised his hand to Ava's throat, fully intent on healing her, before she slapped it away - not wanting to be saved.

She looked at his beautiful face, the face of the man she would have loved, had her heart not been murdered long ago. Staring at Max, held in his strong arms, the life left her body.

Seeing that she was gone, Max's brow creased in pity. He raised his bloody fingers to her eyes and closed them for her. Silently hoping that she - that all of them - had found the peace in death, that life had never allowed them to have.

He gently put her on the ground and looked around at the pale, shell shocked expressions of his family.

"Max!" Michael called from beside Maria, with tears in his voice. Max went to him and crouched down beside Maria, immediately raising his glowing hand to heal the internal injuries the blast had caused.

Maria opened her eyes, and saw Michael beside her, clutching his bloody middle. "Michael!" She cried, sitting up, "Oh my God, are you alright?"

Seeing her awake once more, knowing that this time it really was over, Michael smiled through the tears in his eyes and said, "I am now."

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