Prophesy
Gear 1195, aka Janet, made her way into the library to start her day. Mordhaus was strange without Charles there. At least this time around he was still alive. She still sent her reports to him. But it was not the same.
She got to her table and began setting up her laptop as another Gear brought out a crate for her to start on..
"I don't know how you do it. Reading what looks like chicken scratching all day."
"Uum?" Janet looked at the Gear. "To me, it's just reading. Of course, I have trouble when I pickup a newspaper. Takes me awhile to remember English."
The Gear laughed and when off to do his job. Janet unscrewed the lid to the crate and began to sort the tablets. It was second nature to her now. The non-prophesy ones went to the growing stack and the few possible ones in a smaller. She reached in, down the bottom of the crate and felt something...unusual Smoother, softer.
Janet pulled it out with a frown. It was the same size as the other tablets, but thicker, and brown. Dark brown. And felt waxy to the touch. Turning to look at the thicker edges, it looked...folded.
Janet's eyebrows climbed her forehead. She looked up for the nearest Gear. "I need a bowl, a big bowl. Maybe one from Jean-Piere. And warm water. Not hot. And I need them now!"
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Nathan woke with a start. He looked to the other side of the bed. Empty. Then he remembered the fight and Abigail leaving to take care of business. Another band.
The singer reached out and picked up his phone from the night table and dailed a familar number.
"Hey, I think you need to come home now. Yeah, I know, but Janet found the Prophecy. Yeah. I haven't seen it yet. The whale told me."
Nathan listened for a moment. "Good. See you soon." And hung up.
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Charles ended the call on his end. And sat in thought for a moment. The monks stared at him, waiting for him to speak.
"Gear 1195, er, Janet found the Prophecy."
"WHAT?" "Th..the original Prophecy?" One monk ran out of the room at full speed. "We going to Morhaus?"
Charles looked at them. "She just found it and needs time to translate it. But, yes, we are going to Mordhaus."
The monks ran out to pack while Charles called Mordhaus again to demand....er, request a hatredcopter to go...home.
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Janet worried the folded leather yet another layer open. She took the leather out of the water and nodded for the waiting Gear to change out the now cold water for warm water. Janet place the leather on a waiting towel to dry off a bit.
She looked up as one of the Gears brought the bowl back and another poured the fresh water in it. Janet was a bit surprised to see so many Gears who were "reading" or "working" near her station. Including in the prime spot closest to her table, Dethklok.
She sighed. "What? The whole 'haus is here?"
Nathan answered. "No, just those off duty. They switch out when the shifts are done."
She sighed again as she put the leather in the bowl again. "Guys, er. folks, I'm not even halfway done opening this. Then I have to start the translation. It's going to take awhile."
Overhead, there was the sound of a hatredcopter. They were big and noisey
Nathan said. "That must be Charles and the monks."
"What? They're here? Again, I've only got started on this!" Janet looked pissed. "You can't rush this stuff."
"That's alright. We'll wait." The band said in unison.
Janet put her head in her hands and sighed. She then looked up. "Out! Out! all of you. Nothing is going to happen for a few DAYS, not hours. Leave me to my work. I'll let you know if there is anything interesting."
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Janet finally had the hide fully opened. The Sumerians who preserved it had done well. The leather was still soft and flexible and the writing scratched into it was clear. Not like some of the tablets that had been battered around over the years. The hide was huge, probably off of a bull, the entire bull, and it covered the whole table. She lay it out over the towels and started to blot water off of it.
"So, this is the prophecy."
Janet jumped, so intent on the hide. She looked up to see Charles, in his monk's robe with Meaddle's pendant around his neck. "Charles!!! And the band is back again, I see."
Toki and Pickle, sitting with the rest of them, waved.
"Guys, seriously, this will take several days, if not weeks, now that I see it. I may even wind up working overnight on this." Janet's stomach rumbled. "Crap, I haven't even had lunch...dinner. What time is it?"
Charles answered. "It's, ah, 9:30 PM, or there about." Just as a Gear brough up a tray and put it on the table next to Janet. "And I made arrangements for your dinner. "I suppose it would be futile to tell you to go to bed after dinner?"
The band wolf whistled. "Thata boy, Charlie!"
Janet leaned to one side to glare at the band. They shut up and tried to look innocent with only Toki succeeding. "Go watch TV."
"Charles, I won't have anything worth talking about for a few days and won't be done with it for a cople of weeks, maybe."
The newly minted high priest said "I know. But I will be by often to remind you to eat and sleep"
Charles herded the band, along with any loose Gears, out of the library. Janet lifted the lid on her dinner tray- a burger, fries, dessert, and a pot of tea. She thought "not bad" and sat to eat, but her eyes kept wondering over to the hide. She sighed and thought "I maybe mainlining Deth Wish coffee by the time this is done."
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Janet looked over the four sections. One on the "Half Man". There wasn't much there, but she did not like what was there. So she planned to put that off, not to be translated
overnight, or ever.
One section was on the band and the song. And in detail for each member. The third section was on Dethklok's armies- one living, one dead...or undead. She wasn't sure. It was lead by
The One Seeking Redemption. The last was for the Gatekeepers The Dead Man and...the Speaker of Words.
Janet decided to work on the band's section first. If nothing else, Nathan would need the information on the song to start writing it.
Some hours later, just before the sun began to rise and the sky lighten, Janet was startled by a "hurmp". Looking up, she saw Nathan Explosion with a tray.
"Wha...what time is it and why do you have a tray?" Janet asked. "Sir."
"It's...almost morning." Nathan replied. "And I was told to take care of you."
"By Charles?"
"Er, yeah, and the whale." Nathan put the tray on the free table.
Janet sleeply smiled. "So you got up early to get me breakfast?"
"No, I was still up." The singer sat in the seat across the table from her as she sat down.
"I had dosed off and a certain whale told me to wake up and make you breakfast."
"Well, thank you, and the whale, and Charles." Janet said. "Oh, m'lor...er, Nathan, I have part of the beginning of the song. It has to start with a couple of lines in Sumerian and then switches to English. I'll have it translated for you by tomorrow, er later today."
"But I don't speak Sumanius."
"Sumerian." Janet yawned and poured herself more tea. "I'll teach you. It's only a line or so. Oh, it can be played only once and not recorded. And be careful rehearsing it. If it activates before the concert, it will cause problems."
"But if we are broadcasting the concert worldwide..."
Janet rubbed her eyes. "That will work, it has to, the whole world has to hear it. But no one will be able to record it. So it won't be on the record, won't be taped, and you won't be able to play it again."
Nathan thought a moment. "Why?"
"Don't know yet. I'll let you know." Janet finished off the tea and put the mug back on the tray. "Well, thank you for breakfast. But it's back to work."
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Janet dived into her work. She hadn't slept since finding the hide. But Charles would appear every few hours to tell her to eat and take a nap. she'd eat, but not take any naps. The words called to her.
None of them, the band, Charles and the monks, or the Gears, heard anything from her until about 4 days after she started translating when she sent word to meet her in the conference room.
When they entered the conference room, the hide was laid out on the conference table and they didn't see Janet right away. Until Toki noticed her red hair spilling over the back of the sofa. Her head back, eyes closed, and holding a mug in her hands.
"Shhh! Janets asleeps." Toki wishpered.
"No, I'm awake.. just barely." Janet's eyes opened and she put her empty mug on the coffee table. "I'm not done yet, but I have enough worked out to give a report."
She rose wearily from the sofa and turned to the new arrivals. It was the whole band, Charles and a couple of the Black Klok monks, and some of the elite Klokateers.
Teja of the Klokateers stepped forward, "Yes, but why are we here?"
Janet waved them over to the table. "You're important to this, too."
Janet waited until the group either sat down or gathered around the conference table. She looked like she might just fall asleep on her feet.
Charles took one good look at her. "Have you slept yet?"
"No, but I will after this. I didn't want to fall asleep in the library." Janet yawned again.
"Anyway, I've been translating a bit of each section, just to have enough to start things along." She pointed at the smallest section. "This one is on someone called The Half Man. Charles, I know you know something about him. And this has a little more on him. But I think not even the Prophets liked him. It's not good.
Janet pointed to the next section. "This is on the band, or the Gods of War and Thunder. There is something about each of you. I will talk to you about it. There is also some on the song you are going to sing. The important part is it can only be preformed once and you can't record it."
She rubbed her eyes and sighed. "The third section is about the armies of Deth or as close as it can translate. It's about the Living, that's you, Teja. You Gears who will be doing security will be the generals and the fans are the army. And the army of the undead."
"WHAT?" The band said, looking a little freaked out.
Janet looked at them. "Haven't you ever wondered why so many fans and Gears die around you guys? They are going to protect and fight for you. The good thing is, according to this, is that the Half Man can't see the dead. So he has no idea how many there are to protect the band. And the one leading them is the One Seeking Redemption. Which I'm pretty sure is Magnus Hammersmith. Which leads me to..."
Janet paused, and sighed heavily. "The Gatekeepers. The Dead Man and Speaker of Words. Meaning Charles and I. Because the Half Man can't see us."
Charles looked at her. "What do you mean, Janet?"
"You aren't the only one who died and came back." Janet said quietly. She looked up at Charles. "A long time ago, when I was about 7, my family went on a vacation to a lake cabin. It was my family with an aunt and uncle and a ton of cousins. My cousins, all older, took me out on the lake in a canoe. Horsing around, the canoe overturned. When the rest of them popped up on the surface, it took them a minute before they noticed I hadn't.
"They got me up and on the shore and the lifeguard used CPR on me. He managed to bring me back, but I had been dead for awhile. I came back coughing and spitting up water...and babbling about a whale talking to me.
"Which was impossible. It was a fresh water lake that wasn't deep enough for whales and some distance from the sea with no streams big enough for whales."
Janet closed her eyes a moment and swayed. Charles got up and poured her some more tea from the fresh pot a Gear had just bought in. And he stayed listening to her story.
Janet took a drink of the tea. "Thank you. Well, I spent the rest of the vacation in a hospital. And kept talking about a whale in my dreams. After recovering from almost drowning me, my cousins teased me about that. But the whale, well, she told me I was picked early so I could start learning the old languages and the Half Man wouldn't see what I was doing. So it would protect everyone."
"It was a female whale? A...humpback?" Nathan asked.
Janet nodded. "Yep. My family keep teasing me about it. Even taking a couple of whale watching trips on vacation. Most of them on the east coast. Asking me if I saw "my whale". Told them it was the wrong coast."
She drank the rest of the tea in the mug. "Anyway, I am suppose to open the gates. To call the gods down or awaken them or something. Because it was to be in Sumerian. At least to start. I'm not sure why, the prophets are a little vague on this, but Charles, the Dead Man, is to close the gates after Dethklok defeats the Half Man and drive him into the...black hole or whatever it is."
The band looked at each other, Charles, and the Gears. Charles finally spoke up. "Is that all?"
Janet shook her head. "There is more, still have to translate it. There is a spy in Mordhaus, but they don't know they are a spy. The good thing is there are "dead zones" that the Half Man can't see in. This room being one of them. The library, too."
The group was in thought for a few minutes. Then they started to ask questions.
"Who's the spy?" "How are we Gears generals? What do we do?" "What does the band do? Do they fight as well as sing?"
Janet rubbed her face. "I STILL HAVE TO FINISH TRANSLATING! I have some hints, but the only other thing I do know is....."
She grabbed the hide and flipped it over. On the back were two drawings, one of a concert stage and one of a stadium like venue. The stage looked like it was surrounded by large statues. With a drum raiser at the top, and a stage below that with a smaller stage in front of that. There has a hint of entries/floor elevators- five on the middle stage and three on the lower. Or at least as close as the ancient Sumerians could get. The sides seemed to be amplifiers with cravings, that lined the right and left sides of the stage all the back around to behind the drums.
The other drawing was an oval stadium/arena with the stage at one end, towers with cravings along the sides, and an elaborate entrance.
"I'm not sure what they thought of the amps and the setup, but the Prophets seemed to know what the band would need. The music, the sound, will active the cravings in the gate and drag the Half Man into a portal or something and seal him away."
Janet swayed and Charles caught her. She looked up. "That's all I have so far. There is more, though, a lot more."
She started to roll up the hide. Charles give her a look.
"You are not doing any more work until you had some rest, Gear."
Janet yawned yet again. "I know. I may not reach my room at this rate. But the hide stays with me until I'm done."
Charles, without thinking, ordered some of the Gears to escort Janet to her room and see that she got there. Old habits die hard. After she left with her escorts, the other sat in silence for a few moments.
"Well." Charles said. "I'm not sure what I excepted, but not sure it was that."
"And whats dat about Magnus? Hes is deads, now, we thinks." Skwisgaar asked. "Whys we wants him when he kids napped Tokis and almost kills him."
Toki looked up. "Is not sures Is wants to forgives him."
"Sirs, we will defend you against any attackers. But we're not sure about the dead army." Teja and the others had worried looks.
Charles was in deep thought. "We'll take care of that when we learn more. It's the only thing we can do. I don't think you need to do anything special other than your usual training."
"Then we'll get on with it, sirs." And the Klokateers left.
Nathan blinked a couple of times. "I've...got most of the song, I think. The whale has been helping. I'll know know when Janet gives the Sumer...ian parts."
"All we can do is let 1195 recover and then get on with it." Charles said. "And maybe try to figure out who the spy is."
He left the room followed by his shadow of monks.
Pickles stood up. "Yeah, who's the spy? One of the Gears? Or... one of us?"
Toki looked worried. "Hows can it's bes one of us? We don't gos out or talks to anyones?"
"Wellth, Ith know it's not meth." Murderface got up and headed out.
Nathan watched him. "Are we really sure about that? I mean his arm hasn't heal since we rescued Toki and Abigail. What's going on with that?"
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Janet made it, barely, to her room without her escorts having to carry her. They left her shoulder bag and axe on the table in her room and left her.
She looked around the room before thinking "oh, yeah, bed" and went over to it. She looked at the hide in her hand for a moment before deciding to tuck it under her pillows. She went to the bathroom and washed her face and hands. Back to the bed and sat to take off her boots. Looked down at her boots on either side of her feet before falling back across the bed.
A hour or so later, Charles knocked on her door to see if she was asleep. No responce, but when he cracked the door open, was dismayed to see all the lights on. He opened the door fully, but didn't see Janet right away. Until he heard light snoring coming from the bed area.
Charles turned around and chuckled. He saw a pair of boots, kicked over by the end of the bed, with legs hanging down. He walked closer and finally saw Janet, flat on her back, snoring away. He turned down the covers and managed to gently move her under them. He pulled the covers up over her, stepped away. He turned the lights out and left, gently closing the door behind him.
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The next day, while Janet was still sleeping, the band decided to have a breakfast band meeting. Well, it was actually about Noon, but for the band that was breakfast.
Nathan asked that Charles join them. Which meant his shadows, too. They decided on the conference room as Janet had said it was protected.
The men ate first. Not really avoiding the topic, but not sure what to say. Finally, they finished the food and Charles spoke.
"Alright, gentlemen, what are we going to talk about?"
The band looked at each, not sure where to start. Each made an attempt to say something but nothing got said. Until Nathan finally spoke.
"If we can't record the song, or even have trouble rehearsing it, how are we going to do it? And how are we even going to fight this...half man? We haven't used our powers since we recused Toki."
"I'm, ah, not sure." Charles answered. "I'm sure Janet can tell us. Or perhaps you gentlemen?" He turned to look at the Black Klok monks.
The two men looked at each other, and then one spoke. "We know a little more, but the details were kept hidden in the original prophesy. That was so neither the Half Man or his minions could get a hold of it."
"Is don' like nots rehearsing dis song." Skwisgaar said.
"Ah, yeas, but it will make for a great legend!" Pickles said. "Think of all da people who will talk about it forever!"
The rest of the band had to admit that was a good thing. In the end they decided they just had to wait until Janet had more translated until they could decided what to do.
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Janet drifted, deep in the water. She realized she was in the ocean. She started to hear singing. Whales singing, as they swim closer to her. With one very large whale. It was her! She came up under Janet and scooped her up on her head and swam on.
"You are doing well, Speaker of Words. You will have it finished in time and be able to give the ancient part to Lord Nathan in time, too."
"I'm glad." Janet replied. "But I am not sure about my part beyond translating. Am I going to survive?"
The whale just said "You will do what you must. Now, rest."
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Janet woke up and was rolling over to go back to sleep when there was a knock at her door.
She opened to to two Gears with trays of food. They told her her orders were to brunch and then go back to sleep. The second tray was snacks for later if she woke up. But she was not to leave the room until tomorrow.
She shrugged, ate her food, and then chased her babysitters off. Took a shower and changed into sleep clothes, then back to bed.
She woke again hours later and found someone had brought in a dinner tray. With a note.
"You're cute when you sleep.- N" "Eats your dinner meals before your snacks. T"
She thought "I had to be out of it for those two to sneak in."
After she had eaten, Janet was too awake to go back to sleep. She looked over at her pillows and the hide and thought about going back to the library. But she knew there would be guards to keep her out. No reason she couldn't "work at home", so to speak.
She pulled out the hide and went to work. But it was only for a couple of hours until she was yawning again. So she gave up and rolled up the hide, tucked it under her pillows again, and went back to sleep.
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The next day, about mid morning. two Gears knocked on her door to bring her breakfast. But she wasn't there when they checked. They looked at each other and sighed. Then headed off to the library. Sure enough, Janet was deep into the hide again. So the Gears left the trays and took off to tell Charles where she was.
The next few days were the same routine, but at least Janet did sleep, if only for a few hours a night. The band would check on her often and so would Charles and the monks.
Actually, she did tell Charles some of what she was learning if she caught him alone in his old office. They were both bothered by some of the details she was finding.
Until finally, she finished the translation. Janet had feed Nathan most of whe she learned about the song. And apparently the whale confirmed it in his dreams. He had finished writing it just before Janet finished with the translation.
So that day Nathan was done song writing, he and the rest of the band went to the library to see how Janet was doing. They found her sitting there and staring at the hide with a bit of a troubled look on her face.
"So, you done yet?" Nathan asked.
The Gear looked up. "Yes, I think we need to have a meeting."
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As the band, Charles, the monks, and the elite Gears gathered in the conference as Janet set up her laptop and hooked to the big screen TV in the room. She finished and sighed.
"Okay, the reason the Half Man is after you is your powers. He was to control you to rule the world. He's strong, but he wants the power of the gods."
"Gods?" "Whats is dis?"
Nathan said. "Yeah, well, when we rescued Toki we got some powers."
Janet held up her hand. "You have more. That wasn't even the most of the power you five can control. It was just the start to get you ready for what is to come."
The band stared at her wide eyes as did Charles. Monks just nodded as if they knew it all along.
"You have to the powers to create and destroy and even reach out to the stars. That's what the Half Man is after. And despite what some people think, the wisdom to use it as well. Or will have.
"When the concert starts, I have to call open the gates, speak the words thave haven't been heard in thousands of years to wake up the gods and bring them to you, their human selves. Who they haven't been in the same thousands of years. That's when the Half Man will try to strike, to get you at your weakest.
"If he can get you, he will control you and your powers." Janet went to get a cup of tea. "But if you have started the song, he's lost.
"That is why the gate to the statium has certain craving and will have Gears stationed on the inside and the undead fan army on the outside. It's to slow him down and delay him. He has to be right at the stage to get you under his control.
"If we can get him and keep him in the gateway, we can control him and send him and Orlaag into the space between worlds where they will be sealed forever by Charles."
"What!? But I don't know...." Charles was startled.
"You will. Most of what you have to say is in English." Janet sipped some tea.
"As to the spy.." The Gear reached into her computer bag and drew something out. She walked over to Murderface and quickly strapped something to his left wrist. The one wounded by the strange man when they were in the Depths of Humanity.
"HEY! Thas still hurts!" Murderface rubbed his wrist. "Why did you do that?"
"That's just the point. It's been a good while since you rescued Toki. Shouldn't that have healed by now? Somehow, the Half Man got some drug or something into you via his minion. That's why we meet in the dead zones. He can't read you in here and you don't remember what happened here, only regular band stuff, when you leave the room."
" So, what shouldth I do with dis?" Murderface rubbed the leather strap.
"Wear it on and off until the concert. Make the Half Man think he still has you under his control. The day of the concert put it on as part of your outfit and just grin at him when he tries to control you and fails."
"Now what? Nathan asked.
"Just... have you picked a spot for the concert? I get the idea from this" Janet waved at the hide, "it should be near the water and in the Middle East? So pick a spot and get the Gears to building the stage and stadium. And rehearsing. You can rehearse."
As the band started to remind her about her warning about the song. " You can rehearse just the music and then just the words. Just not together. Think about the words as you work on the music if you must but don't sing out loud.''
Janet rubbed her forehead. "And I get to write my into. I have the fun of speaking all in Sumerian that night."
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So they all went off to finish what they had to do. Country of the stage was set, not too close to a city, but not too far away. And the construction crews got to work. Janet showed them what to crave on the gate and the stage and told Charles about what he had to say. Nathan went over the song once more and the whale visited him in his dreams to let him know it was good.
Salatica was frustrated with the progress of using Murderface for a spy. He kept losing the connection and only got normal concert prep from him.
Janet was talking with Charles about his part of the show. The high priest/manager noticed a worried look on her face as she got up to go. "Well, I have one more fitting for my costume for the show and then I'm ready for it."
"Janet, what is bothering you?" Charles rose and walked her to the door of his office.
Janet paused. "I...don't know if I'm meant to survive this. All of you are fine if we pulled this off. But both the prophesy and the whale are vague about me. The whale just says I will do what I must."
Charles put his hand on her shoulder. "I think the boys are rather fond of you. I don't think they'll let anything happen to you. Not after all you have done for them."
"But they can't submit to Salatica! If they do, the whole world is over."
"I don't think it will come to that."
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Weeks went by while the things were ready for the concert. It sold out quickly. Janet received a small package in the mail that had an acient dagger in it made of bronze and some other odd metal. Had a note that simply said "You will need this."
They flew in one of the Dethcopers to the concert site for some last minute rehersals of the stage set up. The Gears, specially the elite guards, were getting edgy.
Finally the day of the show dawned. There was major activity on the site. Then the band, Charles, and Janet were there and went to their dressing rooms to get ready. The band had decided to wear ancient Sumerian grab, in black of course, for some reason. Nathan simply said it felt right. Murderface wasn't happy with "wearing a skirt" but the wardrobe Gears threaten to sew it onto him if he tried to pull it off. He was wearing the cuff that Janet had given him full time time. He claimed it was the writing on it that healed his wound faster than anything else.
Charles knocked on Janet's dressing room door. "It's time to get in position. Are you ready?"
Janet jumped a little, then nodded. She picked up Book, her axe, and the old dagger that she had gotten.
"You're going to use that?"
Janet replied "I don't know, but it fits the outfit."
Charles escorted her to just beneath the stage and the elevator platform she would ride up.
A Gear tech attached her wireless mic and tucked the battery pack into her outfit. There was a back support and she leaned into it. The band joined them as Charles moved to his spot. It would be his first time on stage with the band in a long while. But he at least got to ride his "throne" up.
They could hear the audience chanting for Dethklok through the stage. Until the lights went out and it changed to a roar as the lights lit the stage and smoke started to rise.
Janet sighed and crossed her arms, holding her axe in her right hand and the dagger in her left. The elevator rose up to the stage level and through the smoke. She was dead center of the stage and the crowd was roaring. Janet stood still, head bowed, until the crowd quieted down. After a beat, Janet started to speak in Sumerian. Screens above the stage showed the English translation.
"We call the gods of the sea, thunder, power, music, this world to us! We give ourselves to you to protect the world and defeat the darkness and silence. Gods of thunder, we need your help! We ask you to fulfill your destiny!"
Janet heard the elevators on the stage start to rise. As well as a sound that surprised her, whale song. She turned to face the band as they rose out of the floor to the stage. If she had thought the crowd was loud before, it was nothing once they saw Dethklok.
Janet knelt as Nathan walked to her. He placed his hand on her head and said "Rise, Speaker. We answer your call."
There was something...more about the band. Janet could see a glow and feel electricity about them.
Janet rose and went to her throne on the side of the stage.
Outside the stadium, General Crozier and his troops began to arrive and surround the area. The soldiers had glazed eyes like they were being controlled. Like Crozier.
Inside, the concert had started. Dethklok was going to play two of the new songs from the album before they did THE song. The concert was being broadcast all over the world via streaming and more TV channels. It was the biggest broadcast ever.
Outside, Crozier and his troops started to advance on the stadium as a very large (but not as big as the Dethcopter) helicopter landed and Salatica and Orlaag existed. At the same time, dark shadows formed behind the troops.
As the dark forces advanced, something started to form between them and the stadium. People. Fans. Klokateers. All who had died for Dethklok. All around the massive stadium, there stood the dead who had died for Dethklok. And Magnus Hammersmith was at the center, facing Salatica.
The soldiers stopped. Most shook their heads in surprise. Because with as many people who had died for the Dethklok, there was at least one or more who the soldiers had known. Seeing their departed friends and family broke the control Salatica had on them. And the dead army started to advance on the troops. Magnus moved toward Salatica, who tried to take him out. Magnus just smiled.
Inside the stadium, Dethklok finished the second song. And there was silence for a moment. Skwissgar and Toki struck certain notes on their guitars followed by a deep note from Murderface.
Salatica's head snapped toward the open gate. NO! He can't be that late! He stalked toward the open gate with Orlaag right behind him. He was still going to control the band! He would not fail.
As the Half Man and Orlaag entered the gate, the outer panels slid shut. Salatica tried to reach out to Murderface to have him disrupt the song.
Outside the stadium, the dead army moved to the soldiers, who instead of fighting, dropped their guns and cried.
Murderface felt something try to control him, slip over his arms and hands. He shivered and realized what it was. He grinned at the big man in the gateway and continued playing with Skwisgaar and Toki as Pickles' drums sounded the beat.
Nathan began the song. He swore he heard the whales singing with him. Lighting began to flash along the walls and towers. And the gateway where Salatica was began to glow red.
Salatica tried to step out of the gateway, but he didn't get far. Lighting flashed around and he fought the energy trying to hold him back. He tried to reach out toward the stage and the band. When something flashed near him and hit his right arm, cutting him before he batted it away. An axe. A woman was standing to the side of the stage. He snarled and started to reach out to her when something else hit him. In his chest. And this one hurt! It was that knife! How did she get it? The damn whale no doubt.
Salatica sent a bold of energy toward the woman. It hit her in her chest and slammed her back into the seat. He turned his attention back to the band. But he was too late now, the woman's attacks had distracted him enough. Salatica roared in frustration.
Dethklok just grinned and with their music and their voices, pushed him back into the gateway with Orlaag. And held him there.
Charles realized it his turn. "You are not wanted here, you were never wanted here. Dethklok rules this place. GO!"
With a final crescendo of the song, the doors inside the gateway slammed shut. The Half Man and his minion were trapped in a box. Dethklok sang one final phrase and it disappeared.
Once the gateway was open again, a figure walked into the stadium. Magnus Hammersmith paused and then bowed low to the band. Then he rose and walked out of the stadium to fade out of sight.
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Dethklok finished the concert. Outside the stadium, Crozier and his troops were left confused. They didn't understand why they were there. The dark shadows had disappeared as soon as Salatica was enclosed in the box. And the dead army had faded, too. Only the troops and Crozier were left.
Janet had been lowered beneath the stage almost as soon as she slammed into the seat. She was rushed off to an ambulance. Which took her to the Dethcopter.
After the fans had left, Pickles and Nathan stood on the stage before leaving for the Dethcopter.
"Well, dis is something new." Pickles said.
"What?" Nathan asked.
"We left the stadium standing."
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The next day, when they were all back at Mordhaus, Charles was going to check on Janet. She had not come around since Salatica hit her with the energy bolt. And it was going to leave a serious scar if it ever healed.
As he turned the corner to the medical ward, he saw the band ahead of him. They turned into one of the rooms. As Charles got to it, he saw it was Janet's room and the band was standing around her bed, hands out over her with glow coming from them. They held it for a few moments.
"There." Nathan said, "That should do it." He pulled his hand back, flexing it. "Ya know, these new powers are kinda fun."
"Ja, but Is hopes we don't has to be too responsikble wit' dem." Skwisgaar grinned.
"Ah, boys, what did you do?" Charles asked.
"She helped us, we helped her. Her wound is healed and she'll be fine after a rest." Nathan said. "Besides, we still need her. You think that's the only adventure we have in our future? We're gods now."
Murderface said. "Yesth, we can do things now. Hey, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."
Charles just sighed as the band left to go find some food. "They'll never change."
Postscript
The gateway box didn't leave the planet. It had meerly been sent to the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. Where it could be watched over. And there it rested. Even as the Earth turned old and the gods took every living thing to another world. And as the empty, dead world still circled the sun until even the sun burned away