Date: Mon, 17 Apr 1995 20:36:28 -600 Reply-To: Scarcrest Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Scarcrest Subject: "Gothic" ("In The End..." Pt.2) Ch.6 X-cc: Jonathan Haupt , Haydee Viardo , Lorene Buttram , Sarah Smith , Allen Monette , Brandy Lumpkins , Pat Stubblefield ****************************************************************************** " I N T H E E N D . . . " ****************************************************************************** A Highlander/Batman Tale of the Future Jason R. Tippitt, 1994-95 http://www.utm.edu/~jtippitt/j.html Warning: Violence and Profanities Comments, suggestions, questions, back-chapter requests to JTippitt@Utm.Edu (Flames discarded and considered beneath comment/contempt) Book 2: "Gothic" Chapter 6 ******* Michelle had to hang back as Jason and the monstrous Immortal Bane dueled outside the penthouse. The rules said all fights had to be one-on-one, and as much as she'd like to help Jason beat Bane--if for no reason other than the pain Jason was obviously in over seeing his friend Dragon's body lying outside the penthouse--she wouldn't break the rules. Shaking her head, she ran into the penthouse, looking for some sort of protection just in case Jas--well, just in case. ******* Carl, Nemesis, and Deadshot rode through the streets of DC in near silence. It was crowded in the small car, and Deadshot's chain-smoking didn't help matters any. When Carl asked him to please refrain, he could see the faintest trace of a smile under the marksman's greying moustache. "You're Immortal--what do *you* care?" He'd lit up another Camel, and all had been quiet ever since. "How old are you?" Nemesis asked him as they approached Capital Hill. "A little over a hundred," Carl replied. "A pup, as we Immortals go." "Man, that would really blow," Deadshot said, sending a smoke ring toward Carl. "Life's a bitch anyway; knowing it could go on forever? Man, I don't see how you can handle it." "We learn to appreciate things. At least we try." Carl looked out the window at the lights illuminating the Capital. He'd been in the House twelve years, the Senate eight. And it appeared he'd be dead or vanished soon. So much work left to do; someone else would have to carry the torch for him. He thought he could do anything, but he hadn't banked on The Gathering coming so soon. "Not even Immortals live forever, if that's any consolation." "Guess not, if what you did to Mr. Handsome's any indication." Deadshot leaned forward, looking Carl in the eye. "You guys can only die if your heads roll, is that it?" Carl nodded. "Man, I bet living in Europe used to be a real bitch. Does it have to be another Immortal doing the whacking?" "Well--" Carl felt a sweat rising to his brow. Deadshot took a long drag on his cigarette. The car rolled to a stop. Nemesis showed an ID to the guard in the security station, who waved them on. Deadshot let out his breath. "Guess not. So do you think a shot of something really high-calibre to the neck would kill one of you?" "If it blew the whole neck apart, yes, I suppose it would." Deadshot held up his hands. "Don't get testy, I'm just curious." Nemesis laughed. "You know what they say about curiosity and cats, Floyd." Floyd smirked. "And you know as well as I do that a guy don't sign on to an outfit nicknamed 'The Suicide Squad' if he doesn't have a little bit of a death wish.'" Carl, for his part, was just glad to get out of the car and into (relatively) fresh air. ******* Jason was losing. It had been stupid to attack Bane; he saw that now. But there was no way Bane would call off the fight, and there was no way Jason was going to back down. Yeah, that talk about living to fight another day was fine and dandy, but he wouldn't be able to match the brute's strength *then*, either. He dodged the blows easily enough, but he was starting to tire. Pretty soon he'd be too slow, and then there would be big problems. He leapt up onto the roof, looking for Michelle. At least she was out of sight--he could still Sense her nearby, but she was out of Bane's sight for the time being. Bane hammered at the wall under Jason's feet, his blows shaking the concrete. Jason leapt down onto the giant's shoulders, his feet trying to yank the IV tubing out of the behemoth's arms, cut off his supply of Venom, the drug that made him so ungodly strong. He succeeded with the left arm, but Bane managed to catch him by his sportcoat and throw him to the ground. Jason landed on the base of his neck. It snapped, instantly cutting off all feeling from the rest of his body. He could still feel the cold rain pounding down on his skull, hear the harsh wind whipping around him, feel the ground tremble as Bane stomped toward him for the killing blow. "Step away, you animal." /Michelle...no...you gotta get away from him.../ "You must be his woman...you're a small one..." "I don't think you want me to fire this at you." /What? My crossbows aren't going to do anything.../ Jason struggled to rise; there was a bit of tingling at the base of his spine, so he knew he was healing, but he was probably a good twenty minutes away from movement. "Michelle, get out of here! You can't beat him!" "No! I'm not leaving you, Jason!" Guttural laughter. "How touching--" "Shut up!" "The two little lovebirds..." "Shut the fuck up! Step toward the ledge!" "You know, those things are really built for two people, girl." /Two...the bazooka?/ Jason began to smile a little, despite the situation. Maybe there *was* a way out of this. "Shoot him, Michelle!" "I'm sure Dragon's Quickening malfunctioned the bazooka, little girl." "Stay back, I'm warning you--" "Don't talk to him, just do it!" "You're *warning* me?" That laugh, again. "In the next lifetime, perhaps. But for now, say goodbye to your boyfriend!" There was the sickening thud of steel hitting flesh. Then the sound of metal hitting concrete as the bazooka fell to the ground. The nighttime sky lit up again as what little there was of Michelle's Quickening began to erupt. The penthouse erupted in flames as the liquour cabinet was struck by lightning. Then there was another explosion...the sound of a shell erupting from the bazooka, and the sound of Bane screaming as he was knocked off the building, sent plummeting to the street, over a thousand feet below. Jason shut his eyes and cried as the Quickening overcame him. He felt his neck beginning to heal faster, and then he fainted. ******* To be continued... =========================================================================