Joseph makes it to Paul and Marcia. They both look back in surprise. Joseph stands there looking at them both. Annabelle was in between them both. She was crying. Paul shakes his head at Joseph.
“You’ve made a foolish mistake.” Paul tells him. “No, you have. You believe you can make the potion out you desire by drawing the blood from Annabelle? Wrong. It is fused with her genetic structure more than likely.” Joseph tells him back.
Paul frowns at the truth. He looks at her as she clutches to the diary tightly. He pushes her away from him. He looks at Joseph.
“Then you are both of no use to me. You know, I had forgotten one thing, one thing I could have used this entire time. You see, you’re a puppet. You have the injection in you. You follow my orders. So it’s time I put that to use.” Paul said. Joseph’s eyes widen.
“Agent 0, Joseph Arlington, your orders are to kill this young lady. If I can’t live for 8400 years, then she can’t. Kill her and then yourself. Thank you agent.” Paul said.
Joseph’s goes blank. He starts walking towards Annabelle. Annabelle starts backing away from him.
“Jas? Jas, are you in there?” Annabelle asks continuing to back up. “He’s not in there. He’s a puppet now. His orders are all that is on his mind. He will execute his orders perfectly. You will no longer exist in his memory…in anyone’s. You will be forgotten through the streams of time. Your end is nigh.” Paul says to her.
Annabelle takes off running. Joseph’s staff hits her in the leg knocking her into the ground. Annabelle rolls in the dirt. She opens the diary in her hand. Now was the time to decode a way to save Joseph…
Joseph picks his staff up walking slowly towards her. She gets up looking into the Diary decoding it as she could, looking back to Joseph. “I know you’re fighting to control! I’ve seen how you move. I would be dead now if you wanted.” Annabelle said.
A throwing knife grazes her shoulder. Annabelle looks at her shoulder. Joseph was losing that control that she stated. She continues to back away.
Joseph leaps in the air coming down with his staff in hand. There was a clanging sound and Annabelle opens her eyes to Syntyke. She had both her blades out holding Joseph at bay. She turns back to Annabelle.
“Run!” she tells her. Annabelle runs into the distance looking back at Syntyke being pushed to her knees underneath Joseph’s power. “I came back to congratulate Madison, and I come back to a zombie!” Syntyke says, “Wake up Jas! I don’t want to hurt you!”
Joseph tilts his head almost as if he heard her. He kicks her down. She rolls on the ground then flips to her feet. Joseph punches her back on the ground. Syntyke swings her blade at Joseph who dodges the attack. She manages to get to her feet.
Joseph puts his staff away. Syntyke wonders why in the world he was doing that. She starts swinging her two long swords at him. He dodges the attacks with sliding ease. He gets behind her as she tires out then takes her arm. Her sword is taken away from her.
Syntyke spins around slashing at Joseph. Joseph blocks the attack from the right. He spins his blade around hers swinging up with a strong strike. Her blade flies in the air. She jumps in the air to be yanked down into the ground. Joseph pierces her with blade right in the shoulder. He sticks the blade into the ground.
He turns away from her then runs after Annabelle. Syntyke lies there in pain, placing her hands on the sword.
Annabelle was in the field of tulips crawling around not to be seen by Joseph. She finishes the decoding. She shakes her head at the genius of her mother. If she had a modicum of her mother’s mind, she’d probably be hot cheese.
She looks up seeing no one around. She starts crawling forward. She bumps into legs. She looks up to see Joseph. She is grabbed by her hair and thrown back. He spins the blade in his hand.
Did not know he was talented in swordsmanship… she thought to herself. She gets up holding her hand out. Joseph swings and she ducks. He brings his sword up again. The blade is shot off. He spins around to see Syntyke holding a handgun in her hand. She dared not to point it at him.
He dropped the handle and lifted Annabelle up by her neck. He started to choke her out. Annabelle kicks and fights. Joseph twitches his eye.
“You’re strong Jas! Fight it. The secret…” She is cut off by a tighter grip. She pulls against his hand. “My mom, she knew that a fact. Humans are irrational, you can’t control them. She used something cliché. She used an age old secret…Joseph, love, love! That’s the key to freeing yourself.
It doesn’t matter what kind…motherly, fatherly, brotherly, friendly… All you need to do is realize that you can and do love. You’ll be free. The mind will release hormones that overwrite the programming.” She said still choking.
Joseph looks at her shaking. She closed her eyes trying to fight his strength. Syntyke still dare not come within range. Paul walks to them both. He looks at Annabelle.
“You die now.” He says. He looks at Joseph. “Snap her neck into two.” Joseph shakes. His body struggled to not do so.
Within himself he was warring with himself. He had heard the answer from the mouth of Annabelle. He knew what he had to do. He had to realize that he was human, that he loved. He loved….he loved Annabelle.
His grip loosened. She opened her eyes looking at him. Paul squinted. Annabelle starts to smile slightly. He pulls her in and kisses her. He gets close to her ear.
“I love you Annie…I love you…” he said to her. He releases her with a blushing face. Joseph turns around to Paul O’Connor. Paul frowned at him. Joseph takes out his staff spinning it.
“You’re through O’Connor. You won’t come back. You won’t bother me or anyone in this town. Now get ready to be beaten.” Joseph tells him. Paul shakes his head at him.
“You really think you’re something else don’t you. I will give you that, that you are strong more skilled than I. But who can beat you? A person that beat a master as you have. Meet mine…Marcia, kill him.” Paul said.
He runs off into the distance. Syntyke grips her one remaining sword and runs after him. Joseph looks at Marcia. She takes out a thin rapier sword.
“Shall we tango?” Marcia asked. “You won’t win.” He said to her. “You think just because Chang Fo trained you, you can’t be beat? Please.” Marcia forewarned.
Marcia swings first. Joseph blocks the attack then hits her in the back with the staff. Marcia stumbles forward, and then does a handstand. He swings at her arms. She pushes herself into the air and swipes his shoulder with her rapier.
Joseph smashes her back into the ground like a bug. He swings again. Marcia rolls out of the swing then kicks him in the leg. Joseph stumbles backwards. She leaps forward at him, and then she is hit in the side with the staff.
Marcia keeps swinging at him with her blade. Sparks fly off the staff as Joseph blocks Marcia’s quick strikes. Joseph spins his staff then stops. She lunges forward with the blade, then he swings his staff down.
Her rapier is caught into the ground. She looks at him in surprise. Joseph breaks the rapier by stepping on it. Marcia shakes her head then takes a hand-to-hand stance. Joseph drops the staff on the ground.
“Don’t do this.” Joseph said. Marcia throws the first strike. Joseph grabs her arm flipping her in the ground. Her leg came into his side striking him in a nerve cluster. He seemed paralyzed until he grabs her leg from another strike meant to kill him.
Joseph slams her on the ground. He looks at her shaking his head. Marcia strikes him in the neck and Joseph is unfazed. She pushes him into a rock. She starts striking at him in a blur off attacks that land against the rock multiple times. She yanks her hand back in pain.
She looks at him. She punches him in the jaw. He falls out on the ground. She jumps on him and they roll on the ground. Joseph gets on top of her. He hits her with one good lick knocking her out.
“I don’t always fight with skill…dad taught me that in boxing…one good strike and you’re out.” He said to the unconscious woman. He gets up yanking the needles out of his side. He knew that they were poisoned, but he was pretty much immune to the poison. Chang Fo had forced him to build an immunity.
Paul was still running. Syntyke jumps in front of him. She runs him through with the sword right in the heart. He stops in his tracks. He falls down on the ground defeated. He had not seen or heard the assassin. She stands over him.
“You messed with the wrong people Paul. Now you’re going to die because of it. Enjoy the grave, I hear there’s plenty of boarding.” Syntyke says with a dark expression. She turns back to Joseph who had not seen what she had done. She decides that it was time to disappear.
She walks off disappearing in thin air. Joseph runs to Annabelle and lifts her up. He spins her around in his arms. As he touched her the memories of all those he had lost came back to his mind. He looks at Annabelle with happiness in his eyes, something that had been rare since he came to New Heights, at least on the purest level and sense of happiness.
“My grandfather told me, a number of times, that it takes a willed man to come on top of his strengths and weaknesses and become more. He called it, To Rise Above.” Joseph said to Annabelle holding her face in his hands.
“Annie, your new strength and weakness…I love you.” “Stop talking and kiss me.” He did as she commanded.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCgGnYRmzC
They started to walk back towards town passing over Paul. He looks down to him and looks around to see if Syntyke was anywhere to be seen. He knew that it was not likely. He decides to pass over the man that would ruin the world if it were up to him.
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The return to town. Everyone was recovering. It was clear to see a change in Joseph. It was clear that there was change between Joseph & Annabelle.
Joseph however, tore himself away from Annabelle then went to Madison. He smiles at her. “Today is your Maddie. I think we should, get a redo right?” “No. It’s fine. It wouldn’t be a part if someone wasn’t out to kill you.” She said.
“Okay then. Well, I’ll tell you a little secret…” “Your better?” “Yes. Remember what my grandfather use to say?” “Yeah. Andrew was the king of wearing out phrases. ‘It takes the strength of a strong and willed man to rise above strengths and weaknesses to become more than he is.’ You’re telling me that that old Lightman term worked?” “Yeah.” “Glad for you.” “Well you know, we’re not here to mourn anyone. WEREN’T WE HAVING A PARTY?” Joseph yelled out.
The people shuffled around looking a bit disappointed. Joseph looks at a guitar and grabs it up. He plugs into one of the unbroken amps. “Well, then I guess I’ll have to start it.” He said.
He strummed the guitar and started playing. Within minutes everyone fell into place. He kept his eye on Annabelle and her to him. Madison kept her eyes on Tony dancing with each other the entire time.
Everyone was happy despite the fact everything was crashed, and literally burned. Joseph couldn’t wish for any better…to be finally free. The answer so simple. Hadn’t stories and time proven that love was the universal cure for afflictions of the mind? But he was happy he could finally be honest not only to himself but out loud, that he could mourn over his friend and grandfather, that he finally felt human again. Things were looking up from there.
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In the field of tulips, there was a blade with dried stains on it. Out towards the sea, Paul was lying on a bed. He was unconscious, but within the realm of his mind, he knew he had not been beaten. He would return, and make everyone pay for what they had done. The time would come when no one would stand in his way; the world would be his…646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKNgSvJqJP
