The Rise of the Fat Mogul (The Defenders Saga Book 2) (26 page)

CHAPTER 28

The Earthworm escaped from a hole it created beneath the group and landed hard on the soil beside them.  Talmadge jumped out of the vehicle quickly, holding a silver orb in his hands as his eyes beamed brightly.

“I think I found it!” he yelled.

“The Mind Wipe Device?” Ryan asked eagerly.

“I don't know what it is,” Talmadge responded.  “But it was pretty much the only thing that survived the explosion, so I’m guessing it’s pretty important.”

“Pretty good indicator,” Buddy smirked.

“Right,” Talmadge agreed.  “So, anyways, it's got all sorts of flashy lights on it and stuff, and this cool interface.  I can't quite figure out what it does or anything, but it seems awfully important.”

Ryan took the device out of Talmadge's hands as Salachar stumbled out of The Earthworm.

“Salachar!” Alexa exclaimed.  “What happened?”

“Dunna worry about me lassie.  When the building fell, I might notta been as quick as I was in my younger years, but tis nothing time won't heal.”

“Yep,” Ryan concluded, “this is it.  This is the Mind Wipe Device.”

“Are you sure?” Buddy asked.  “How can you tell?”

“Well, taking a look through the menu settings on this thing,” he said, fiddling with the flat screen display embedded in the orb, “the headings make it pretty obvious.  Things like
Organize Memories into Categories, Activate Memory Redistribution
, and
Input Modified Memories
, really kinda bring it all home.  That,” he said smiling, “and it says
Mind Wipe Device
right here on the front.” He turned the front of the device to face Buddy and in big letters above the screen were the bold-faced words Ryan spoke.

“Okay,” Buddy smiled, “so we've got that in our hands.  Now what?”

“Well, we've got what Jeff's looking for,” Ryan answered.  “If he weren't doing whatever he's doing with Damon there, I'd guess he'd be right on top of us already.”

“Well, that's a good thing,” Buddy stated.  “Isn't it?”

“Well, yes and no,” Ryan answered.  “The way I see it, we currently have a great opportunity to keep this epic battle from happening.  I mean, we hold here in our hands the very tool necessary to keep those two from ever remembering who they are, or why they're fighting.”

“Are you suggesting we use the Mind Wiper to erase both Jeff and Damon's memories?”  Alexa asked wide-eyed.

“I don't see why not,” Ryan answered.  “I mean, Damon seemed perfectly happy to be Murphy.  And Jeff, well, I have a feeling that it will be either that, or we have to kill him, from how determined he seems to be to get this thingie here.  And if he gets this, he'll just do exactly what we're talking about, but to everyone.”

“I say fire it up,” Buddy spoke.  “If we can get out of this whole thing without having to fight, I'd be a very happy man.”

“Although I'm pretty excited to test out my new powers,” Talmadge joined in, “I agree with Buddy.  I’m not sure I’m ready for quite so big a test, yet.”

The group looked at Alexa, who shifted her gaze to the ground.

“Okay, well, it appears we have a near-unanimous decision,” Buddy said grimly.  “I think that's the best we're going to do.”

“There is one thing we might need to consider first,” Ryan said as his eyes fell upon the fireball sitting in the middle of the field nearby.  “What happens if we try re-writing their memories while they’re on fire?  This might take away their powers.  I’m only kind of okay with taking away their memories.  I’m definitely not okay with burning them to a crisp.”

“Dammit!” Buddy yelled.  “So, you’re saying I need to go in there and face off against not just one discontented super-powered villain who is bent on destroying the world and just so happens to hate me personally, but two of the most insane people who meet that definition, at the same time, in the middle of an unearthly hellfire.”

“That about sums it up,” Alexa grinned as she walked to Buddy's side.  “Don't worry about it, Captain.  You've faced off against worse in the past.”

“Have I?” Buddy asked.

“Probably not,” she answered, “but I thought it might help you feel a little better about the whole thing.”

“Right, so, any help you guys can offer me?” Buddy asked.  “What about the goo gun?”

“Honestly, Buddy,” Ryan answered, “I don’t have any idea what you’d hope to accomplish with something as small as the goo gun.”

“Okay, good point.  Anything else?  Talmadge?  You figure out any more crypto-thingies that may be able to help out?”

“Sorry, Buddy, I really don't know much about what I can do, or who is even out there to talk to.”

“What about the Cherufe?” Ryan asked.

“The who?” Alexa asked.

“The Cherufe.  I think it was the ancient Chileans who believed in them.  Thought they brought about earthquakes and volcanoes and whatnot.  They were a sort of magma golem or something like that.”

“How the hell do you know about those things?” Alexa asked.

“They were in a card game I used to play.”

“Are they real, though?” Talmadge asked.

“How the hell would I know?” Ryan asked in return.  “I didn't know the Mongolian Death Worms were even a thing, much less real, until today.”

“I think what my brother is so delicately attempting to say,” Alexa covered, “is that it couldn't hurt to try, right?”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Talmadge agreed as he walked away.

“So, is that it?” Buddy asked.  “You don't have any tricks up your sleeves, do you Alexa?”

“The absolute best thing I could possibly offer in a situation like this is to try to kick up enough wind to put the fire out,” she answered hesitantly.

“Okay, so, let's do--”

“I said in a situation like this.  I've had zero luck in my attempts to douse Damon so far.  Can’t imagine I’d do any better against two of him.”

“Damn,” Buddy scowled.  “And neither of you would be any help inside of there either, would you?”

“Sorry, Buddy, my suit's registering temps of over one thousand degrees Celsius in there,” Ryan frowned.  “There's no chance my armor would be able to survive that.”

“Whole helluva lot of use you two are,” Buddy frowned.

“Sorry,” Alexa shrugged.

“Alright,” Buddy said, reassuring himself.  “No big deal, right?  Just need to run into the sun, knock out a couple of all-powerful super-beings, and hope I don’t burst into flame in the process.  Easy as cake.”

“And you had better do it quickly,” Ryan added.  “At the rate that fireball’s growing, I’d say we’ve only got another half hour before it burns down all of Sun City.  Even at the size it’s currently at, with the heat it’s putting off, I wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of town shoots up in flames anyways.”

“Great, just what I need. To be responsible, once again, for destroying the whole city.”

Without another word, Buddy walked determinedly toward the burning fire before him.  The glow, blinding him even from his initial distance, made it that much more difficult to make out his surroundings as he made his approach.  He wanted to look back, to turn around and return to his friends.  The fear of the unknown filled his every nerve.  Each step toward the brightened void required that much more determination, that much more willpower. 

Thirty feet away from the event horizon, he felt his uniform burn away.  Knowing that he was not only going forward to meet his own destruction, but he was going to do so naked, brought Buddy to laughter.  Finally, he reached the edge of the flame, where ground gave way to pure heat and he stopped.  He slowly turned his head to look at where he had been, his eyes incapable of seeing anything due to the intense light before him.

He turned back toward the fire and with a shrug of his shoulders, entered.  The heat immediately outside of the blaze was already barely bearable; within the confines of the hellfire, Buddy felt as though every centimeter of himself burned separately.  Five billion separate fires seared across his skin in unison.  He was grimly amused by the fact that he was suffering intense pain, yet knew he was not being injured. 

Buddy continued forward, cringing with each step.  He could see nothing, could hear nothing.  White was all he knew as he continued walking through the void. 

Buddy questioned the intelligence of walking around without the use of his senses, not to mention clothes, in the middle of what was obviously a battle of epic proportions between two crazed individuals.  Even though he was incapable of being injured, the pain coursing across each and every one of his nerve endings caused Buddy to fear he had put himself into a mortally dangerous situation.  He had not felt fear like this since the last time he faced off against Dominion, before he understood how far his ability could take him.  Of course, that time he was only battling one Damon Memphis, now there were two, or whatever else Jeff decided to be. 

And what happened to everyone that had come in here to help Jeff?  Maybe they had decided to give up at the same time as the rest of the Meta Army.  It felt empty in here, lonely, and creepy.

He continued onward, uncertain what to do but walk forward.  He reached his arms out in front of him, futilely hoping to find something to give his existence shape outside of the blank void. 

Just as Buddy was about to give up, he heard the faint sound of someone screaming.  Buddy ran in the direction of the sound.

Faster and faster Buddy ran, following the only sense still available to him, his hearing, until he finally tripped over something.  Buddy landed on the hot slushy ground with a splash, quickly turning to determine what he had tripped over in this seemingly empty and infinite white. 

“Who's there?” the voice screamed. 

“Damon?”

“I don't know.  What’s happening?  Where am I?”

“Where's Jeff?” Buddy asked.

“I don't know.  Who’s Jeff?”

“Can you stop the fire?”

“What fire?”

“This, this thing we're in.  It's fire.  It's you.”

“But, it can't be, can it?  How could I possibly be the man capable of so much destruction?”

“Look, pal, we all hate ourselves from time to time, but right now, you're threatening to destroy most of Sun City, maybe the world, if you can't get a hold of yourself.”

“I can't control it.  I can't control him.  I don't--”

“Alright, Murphy, just relax,” Buddy grimaced.  “Let me try something.”

Buddy felt around, trying to find Damon's body.  His fingers stumbled upon the man's naked foot and white gave way to black.

*******

Buddy stood in the center of the white spotlight within the dark room he recognized as his subconscious mind.  At his feet lay the naked form of Damon Memphis or Dennis Murphy.   Buddy looked down at himself and saw that he too was naked.  He closed his eyes and imagined clothing on the two of them, feeling that whatever was about to happen, would probably be less awkward when clothed.

“Murphy!” Buddy yelled, kicking the man at his feet.  Murphy slowly awakened, his eyes turning upon Buddy as he jumped quickly to his feet.

“Where are we?” Murphy asked frightened. 

“Don't worry about it.  Right now, we've got to find your off switch.”

“My what?”

“Look, you've got some serious mental issues going on here, issues that will take a shrink ages to deal with.  I don't have that kind of time.  Right now we need to find a way to turn off Memphis so he doesn't manage to burn down the entire world, okay?”

“Are you talking about me?” a cackling voice came from behind them.  Buddy turned and found the evil grin of Damon Memphis. 

“Memphis!” Buddy growled. 

“I...I don't understand,” Murphy stuttered.

“Why are you here?” Buddy asked.

“To finish what I started, of course.  To complete the task I was given by God himself.”

“You know I can't let you do that,” Buddy said as he assumed an attack position.

“Is this how you intend to defeat me yet again, Buddy?” Damon asked.  “Do you honestly believe that you can keep me from achieving my ends through your pathetic mental link?”

“Murphy,” Buddy shouted, “you can control this.  You can control him.”

Murphy cackled wildly, joined soon thereafter by Damon.  They began circling Buddy slowly.  Buddy felt dizzy and quickly lost track of which was which.

“Don't you get it, Buddy?” one of the Damons said.

“Or are you too damned stupid to understand?”

“Murphy!” Buddy yelled again.  “Fight back!”

“You always have been a little too trapped in your world of pop culture references, haven't you?”

“This isn't something that can be corrected simply by strength of will.”

“Oh, no, this is something much, much worse.”

“I removed you from this world once, Damon,” Buddy said, fear filling his voice.  “I can definitely do it again.”

“Ah, but here's the trouble, Mr. Jackson,” the voice snarled.  “Which one of us are you going to remove?”