Judgement (The Twelve) (19 page)

It spoke with a hollow educated voice. “May I introduce myself, I am Shadow and it would be best if thee was to
stand back
.
I don’t want to kill you. That’s reserved for the Chosen one.”  Its voice seemed to drift on the air.

Chris however was fighting mad and without thinking raised a hand
,
point
ing a finger at
the creature
he
shouted
, “
Funny but I could have sworn you just ordered those slime balls to kill me.
”

T
o his amazement
a puff of flame sped from his index finger to strike Shadow in the chest. The flame went right through him and struck the far wall, but none the less the Darks chest burst into flame.
Water gushed from Leaches mouth extinguishing the fire
in Shadows chest
.
T
urning, Shadow
sped up the staircase screaming more in rage than pain and was gone.

The soaking wet teenager shouted to Patch, “Join with me Patch?”
It was more a heart rendering plea. The teenager held out one dripping wet hand towards her, imploring Patch to take his hand. The other held tight to his injured chest, which still steamed.

Patch
sna
pped
, “Bugger off Leach. I’ve told you thousands of times, the answer is no.”

Chris noticed that although he had hurt it, the towering water still remained, with the roar
it
crashed down onto Patch, Priest and
Anvil
, washing them
all
off there feet.

Chris found himself up to his knees in a receding tide of stagnant stinking cold water, “Leave her alone!” He yelled.

Leach
was actually standing on top of the
water,
“You can’t have her. She’s mine!”
His voice sounded like a spoilt child.

A
massive slab of
water rose up directly in front of Chris an
d dropped down towards his head in the shape of a huge fist.
Thrusting out a hand
, he
parted the fist of falling water right down the middle, t
urning
the centre into
a cloud of hot steam.
The rest of the water fell away on either side of him, smashing into the room
s
behind.
Coughing and waving a hand in front of his face he tried to clear the air. Finally when he could see, the Dark called Leach had vanished, probably up those
same
steps, judging by the wet footprints on each step.

Anvil
and Priest struggled to the
ir
feet, both were dripping wet. Patch however had been thrust across the dockside to smash head first against the wall. She
l
ay half submerged in the receding water and didn’t move. Chris was first at her side, lifting her face clear of the water.

“Patch?” his voice implored.

She coughed and spluttered several times, before opening her eyes. Spotting Chris’s face so close, she lifted her head and planted a quick kiss on his lips, “Hi.”

Chris was struck stupid by the kiss, “Eh, are you, I mean can you, do you.”

Huntress
lay
a hand on his shoulder, “Here lover boy, let me help her up.”

Chris moved back with a confused look on his face as Huntress lifted
Patch
to her feet.
Priest steadied her and checked out a small lump on her forehead, “You’ll live.”

Speed, steaming from head to toe, was doing a little jig in the water, “One nest down, many more to follow. Two Dark battered by Chris which will be hard to swallow!” He sang.

Hot Cross wasn’t as happy, Bulls Eye who was supporting him said, “
He b
loody nearly short cir
cuited in all that sodden water a
nd I’ve dropped a gun in that damn canal.”

A huge shape suddenly rose up from the canal water. It was Rage, in his hand he held Bulls Eyes missing weapon, “Itty bitty water not hurt Rage, though
it does
stinks a bit.”

Bulls Eye took the offered weapon gratefully.  He spun the weapon so fast it actually hummed! Any water on the gun flew off the metal parts. Finally he spun it back into its holster.

The water had receded back into the canal and Priest visited each room in turn, blessing and sanctifying each one, “There, they won’t be able to use these again in a hurry.”

“
Okay l
et
’
s get back to base and dry out.  I need to have a little chat with Judgement.”
Anvil
ordered.

Chapter five

A
nvil
was sitting on
a high stool at the
kitchen counter whilst the others where either showering or drying off
. Chris stood before him hat in hand, a puddle of water around his feet. Strangely there leather outfits were bone dry by the time they got back and showed no sign of ever being wet.
The water all came from his shivering wet body
.

“Okay, explain to me what happened?”

Chris thought he was in for a telling off for some reason, but the tone
in Anvils
voice was more interested than angry.

Chris looked down at his hat and thought through the events that had taken place.
“The Shade that came to my call
,
I
somehow
saw
what it had once been, it had
led a good life and its soul was still almost pure
but s
ort of trapped in
that
evil shell.
So I freed it and se
n
t it onwards.
”

Anvil
leaned forward, “You made it ascend
?
”
He sounded startled.

Chris shook his head, “N
o!
I …allowed it to ascend.”

“Then what of the others?”
Anvil
enquired

A sad look came over Chris’s face, “That was different. I destroyed the outer shell
s
and gave them no choice. They were all sent down to you know where.
”

Anvil wasn’t finished,
“And the way you swayed out of
the way of
...
…”

Chris interrupted him, “I haven’t the faintest idea
.
I just knew what was coming a second before it happened. Look, I’m having a lot of trouble adjusting to what it is I can actually do. So far I haven’t found my limit.”

Anvil nodded deep in thought, “That voice you used why…?”

Again Chris interrupted, “That wasn’t me! Something inside took over
, possibly this Judgement guy.
”

Anvil looked confused, “But you are Judgement!”

Chris shook his head, “No I’m still Chris with this Judgement guy inside me.”

Anvil
leaned back thinking
hard
, after a moment he swung down off the counter, “
Amazing! Best you g
o shower
, you do stink a bit
.
Don’t worry about the leather it stays dry and wont smell, can’t say the same for your underwear and socks.
”

An hour later after
Chris
had showed, the others questioned him about his attack on the Dark.
He could see they wouldn’t be satisfied until he answered all the
ir
questions so Chris
told them in detail
,
all that he could remember.
Anvil and Priest sat apart, listening quietly as he spoke.

Heartless was impressed, I saw you kid
! Y
ou bloody well hurt them both. Not much
,
but enough to frighten them off. Bout time those bastards got what’s coming to them.”

Priest warned him about his swearing. Heartless grunted and walked away.

Huntress however
pressed Chris,
“Did I hear Shadow tell you that the Chosen One was going to deal with you?”

Chris thought it over and nodded, “Who’s the Chosen One, sounds almost biblical.”

Priest was impressed, “You got an education in you boy. It is
biblical, taken from
Isaiah 42:1, ‘
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations
’
B
ut the Chosen one in this case
comes from the book of the Anti Christ, ‘
He will come unto this world and be known as The Chosen One. His coming will foresee the end of days
.’  Now he can just as easily be a she but it will be
Hells representative to
lead T
he Dark
.
He or she is supposed to be your nemesis.”

This was momentous news for Chris but like any other teenager, his stomach chose at that moment to rumble loudly. “What’s for supper?” Priest’s eyebrows went up in surprise.

He may be some re
-
born super hero but right now he
realised that he
was just a starving teenager.
Later that night,
Th
e
T
welve sat or stood around in the main living area. They had just eaten a fish and chip supper. Chris had to ask
,
who had
gone
to the chippy?