Chapter 305: Further Beyond

Chapter 305: Further Beyond

It wasnt like Claire suddenly transforming was a bad thing. When the Fire Nation attacks, you want someone to change into their Avatar state. She was more Korra than Aang, but who knew what she was capable of now?

I suddenly felt a sense of loss at not having Maurice around to swap pop culture analogies with. Its all very well having people standing beside you in times of trouble, but it leaves an unsatisfactory feeling when they dont understand your references.

We had a giant Elf with a handful of twats coming at us, so Claire going blue-eyes white dragon was a good thing, even if she had no idea what a blue-eyes white dragon was. Whatever had been behind the wall in the crypt, it had presumably exited via Claire and taken up residence.

Normally, that would be cause for concern. How often has the thing bricked up inside a church been a chill dude who got trapped by accident? No, it was always some abused child whose vengeful spirit was now going to wreak havoc on the ones kind enough to release it.

In this case, however, whatever had got into Claire seemed more interested in the Elf. If the two of them wanted to get into some kind of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers battle over the city, I would be glad to grab some popcorn and watch from the sidelines.

God, I really was missing Maurice. Who else was there to argue over what language morphin was from?

Who are you? said Jenny to Claire, or the Arsehole Formally Known as Claire, to give her a more appropriate title.

Claire, who had drifted up a couple of feet and was hovering with a slight drift back and forth, turned her head and looked down at us with fluorescent eyes. I AM TRUE.

I waited for a fuller explanation, perhaps a surname, but that seemed to be the end of the sentence.

The One True God? asked Jenny.

TRUE, Claire corrected her.

Using a regular word as your name is annoying. Its not cool to call your child Table just because no one else thought of it. They have, they just werent stupid enough to actually do it.

I AM TRUE. It was beginning to seem like the newest member of the team was mildly retarded. Which isnt so bad. The Hulk is, too, and he has his uses.

Where is Claire? said Jenny. Can I talk to her?

The wind was really blustering at this point. Hair was flying around and voices were hard to make out. Well, most voices.

I AM TRUE. STAY OUT OF MY PATH.

Straight answer to a straight question. Not the question that had been asked, but you couldnt fault it for clarity. Not a team player, I was guessing.

There were a lot more questions we could have asked, the main one being, Who the fuck are you?, but I expected they would get the same sort of response.

Which was fine by me.

Jenny wasnt as thrilled about what had happened to Claire. She was concerned for her friend, which was understandable. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about what would happen once the Elf and True got into it. I mean, what would happen to us lowly mortals down here on the ground. There were no buildings around us apart from the church, but the ground could crack open and swallow us, or stray lightning bolts might zap us into oblivion.

I didnt know what form the battle would take, but it was likely to be destructive. The best place to be when observing a major title fight, I find, is not in the ring, so getting out of there was high on my to-do list, but I was trying to get as much information in terms of peoples intentions, first.

What did the Elf want? Destroy the city? Defend it against Mothra? Get down on bended knee and ask me to help defeat Peter? You cant just assume you know whats going on because it seems obvious to you. I couldnt see Peter up there. Was he even here?

And what was Trues objective? Fight the Elf? Join forces with it? Free the old gods?

There was a lot to work out, and no one to provide answers. The question, though, was how far was I going to let this go? If I waited until they made their intentions clear, it could be too late.

The one thing above all others to take into account were the people arriving with the Elf. If Gideon and the Gidiots were involved, how much proof of intention did I need?

Claire was floating higher. The Elf was almost at the city walls. The druids were on their knees cowering. Time to make my move.

I slid out of myself and floated over my body. Everything stopped.

Its hard not to feel exultant when you can do something so wide-reaching. Its an amazing feeling to be able to hit the pause button on the entire world. And no, it isnt the same as save scumming. I wasnt rewinding everything to have another go, I was just taking a break to stretch my fingers. Perfectly legitimate.

I have to admit, it was great having a supernatural power, even one as convoluted as mine. I could see why Maurice was so determined to hang onto his, even if it meant selling his soul. I mean, who wants to be an average pleb when they dont have to be?

First things first, I needed to check who else was active here in my personal playground. The Elf was capable of moving in here, I knew that, but how was that affected by whatever Peter had done? And Joshaya was also able to do things, although at a much slower speed than normal. I hadnt seen him, but that didnt mean he wasnt around. And if Claires guest was also a god of some kind, she might also be partially active.

The good thing was that I had the time to look into all these possibilities, unmolested. But first, I couldnt help but take a quick look at Jenny.

There was a pause. A long one. I was fine with waiting for my answer. I had used the NHS back home, I could wait forever (and usually had to).

WHAT she began at full volume, and then thought better of it. ...what do you want?

I want to know who you are, for a start.

I AM I am the heart that beats. The centre that holds.

Honestly, why do people think it sounds cool to be mysterious and enigmatic. Yes, yes, that sounds very impressive. Are you one of the old gods? Like Joshaya?

The glowing eyes narrowed. Joshaya Where is that one?

I shrugged. Dunno. He ran off just before you turned up. Problem?

No. No problem.

Sounded like a problem to me. For Joshaya. I was feeling quite good about this new arrival. She seemed to have her priorities in the right place.

Release me from this place so that I can deal with THIS. She pointed at the Elf.

Shes being controlled by Peter. You know him?

I know him. He will pay for his deeds.

I was liking her more and more. You can defeat her?

A look of contempt crossed Claires face. Even without my limbs, I am more than a match for THIS.

She looked like she had all her limbs, but I was looking at Claire. Maybe she meant the other gods. If they were separate parts of a whole, they might attach to her like a Power Rangers Megazord. Unlikely, but I could dream.

So, you dont like Peter and you plan on beating the Elf, right? Just wanted to make sure I had my facts straight.

YES. It was a resounding yes.

Will there be earthquakes and explosions?

No, of course not.

How long will it take? Roughly.

Seconds.

She seemed very confident. Okay, sounds good. I floated down to the Elfs hand and slashed wildly at all the vines I could. By the time I had finished, they were all shorn to of most of their connections, to each other and everything else. I had been ready for some kind of counterattack, but it was worth the risk, especially with True watching and able to intervene. She needed me to get out of here. Nothing happened, though.

Ill leave you to it then. I floated back down to my body. I had more questions, but I could ask them later. And I could also call another timeout if necessary. But if I could get rid of this immediate threat quickly and, more importantly, without my personal involvement, I was all for it.

Even if the new god was as bad as the old (and when was the new god not?), I at least knew I could trap her here.

I re-entered my body, curious to see how this would play out.

What happened? asked Jenny as things started moving again.

Everythings sorted. No worries. I winked at her, and immediately felt like a twat. Im not a natural winker. Claires got this. I pointed up at the small figure floating in front of the Elfs face.

There was a flash of light and then Claire wasnt there anymore. I looked around and then saw her, standing next to Maurice. The Elf kept moving towards us like nothing had happened.

Whats Claire doing? I asked Dudley.

He squinted. Erm. Smiling. So is Maurice.

Oh, said Flossie. Are they back together again?

Not the result Id been hoping for.