Chapter Eighteen

DeMartino now veered around once more. Both of his eyes burst out of their sockets, one headed for Daria, the other for Quinn. They tried to resist, but the sinew wrapped around each of their middles, binding their arms. This time, Quinn could not even lift her hands to do damage with her nails.

The tough sinew then yanked them back in the direction of DeMartino and Phelps. In the near distance, Quinn saw her father lying on the ground, not moving. Her heart sank, and her cheeks began to burn. She saw Daria shake her head vigorously, until her glasses fell off. It was then Quinn noticed that the floor had begun to shake again.

She wrestled with the sinew bindings, trying to free up a hand so she could take off her contact lenses - when she realized that she had never put them on! Yet strangely, without any visual aids, she could see better than ever. Quinn concentrated as hard as she could, to bring out the power that she had never wanted, but now needed.

The floor shook harder, but DeMartino seemed undeterred.

"Bring them here, or you'll be next," Phelps said in a cool, hard tone. "I've parked the ship in the far corner. One of my students made it thinking it was for a Babylon 5 exhibit."

"The deal is OFF, you murderer!" said DeMartino in a tone of undisguised rage. "I'll carry them back to Xulfanex, MYSELF!"

"Six-and-one-half-dozen of the other."

"Except when YOU return," DeMartino sneered, "you'll find that when your MASTER learns of your betrayal, what he'll have in store will make the SALT MINES look like a damn BEACH party!"

Quinn concentrated harder, wondering why nothing seemed to happen. The shaking floor did not seem to faze DeMartino, or Phelps from his safe spot on the stairwell. Then DeMartino gasped, and Quinn felt her bindings loosen. She turned to Daria and saw hers loosening as well - then a trail of smoke rise up from the bindings. At once, the sinew burst into flames that quickly spread down the entire string. In pain, DeMartino had less control over his eyes, causing the bindings to loosen further. Daria and Quinn still had to struggle to free themselves before the flames swept toward them. They managed to escape just in time to watch DeMartino's eyeballs burn up into ash, and for the rest of the sinew to follow. Now DeMartino stood before them, moaning and wailing, with two empty sockets where his eyes were.

"That," said Daria, "was for Aunt Amy."

DeMartino fell to his knees. From his perch, Phelps laughed. "Oh please, that's hardly enough to stop a man from Xulfanex. Which is more than I can say for your friend Stacy, hmm, Quinn?"

Quinn felt her legs shake. "And this," she said coldly, "is for Dad."

She wasn't sure what would happen next, but she felt power and rage coursing through her. Suddenly...

Nothing.

Quinn took a deep breath as the adrenaline drained from her body. She looked at Daria, then at DeMartino, and noted an awful, dead silence. Phelps then filled it with more laughter.

"Poor Quinn," he sneered. "Capable of sending your friend to an early grave when you least expect it, but unable to harness your powers when you need them. If you weren't so ready to destroy the people who could help -"

"Do you ever get tired of the sound of your voice?" asked Daria.

She gave Quinn a nod, which filled her with encouragement. Quinn looked at DeMartino, took a deep breath, and suddenly - he wobbled to his feet and shot up against the ceiling. He slammed against it, then dropped to the ground with a powerful thud. These body blows were enough to kill an ordinary person, but still, DeMartino raised his head weakly and looked toward Daria and Quinn with empty eyes.

"Girls... wait..."

"Wait for what?" asked Daria grimly. "For you to betray us some more?"

"No... I can TELEport us out!"

"We're not leaving," Daria shot back. "You only care about yourself!"

"That's... not TRUE..."

"Even if it weren't always true, it proved true in the end."

Daria looked at him squarely with a cool, unapologetic expression as the rest of DeMartino's body began to smoulder. Her expression made Quinn nervous; she wasn't sure she liked that her sister could now indulge in her anti-social impulses.

"Dammit..." DeMartino gritted his teeth to fight the pain. "THIRTY years I spend protecting your family, and THIS is the thanks -"

He suddenly let out a shriek that made Quinn shudder, as flames overtook his body. But before they could completely overwhelm him, his body shriveled up and collapsed, like a balloon suddenly depleted of air. Daria and Quinn stared.

"Is he dead?" Quinn whispered.

"I don't know," Daria frowned.

"Oh don't get too excited," piped up Phelps's voice. "He isn't dead - just in a different dimension, leaving his human body behind." As he saw their eyes widen at the revelation, he added with glee, "He might come back someday, when you least expect it - just in a different costume, so he wouldn't be recognized."

Daria swallowed and tried to keep her heart from leaping out of her throat. "Doesn't matter," she said. "You're the one we want."

Phelps stood up straighter, an odd smile spreading across his face. "Very well," he said. Without warning, he leapt off of the stairs and landed squarely on Jake's neck and upper back. If there was any doubt he was dead before, the sickening crack of his neck being snapped in half put it to rest. Quinn screamed, and began to sob. Tears stinging her eyes, Daria looked at Phelps with mounting fury.

"Catch me if you can."

Phelps was gone in a blur. Daria's eyes darted about in search for him, but to no avail. Wobbling with fatigue, she headed toward a row of cars, trying not to think of what would happen if she couldn't summon her powers. Instead she focused on her rage, letting it burn within to keep herself strong. Phelps's voice echoed around her.

"There's another secret I really must tell you..."

Daria felt hot energy surge through her body, and gasped as she tried to keep it from exploding all at once. To her astonishment, one car lifted up on its end and began to roll toward the nearest wall, where Phelps's voice rung loudest. With a crunch, it struck the concrete and fell backwards, roof and windows shattering upon impact with the floor. For a moment, everything was quiet, and Daria grabbed a pillar to keep from stumbling to the ground. Then Phelps's laughter rose up again, clear and undaunted.

"It's such a good secret, too..."

Daria glared, and took a deep breath. Prickles of rage raced down her spine, and another car started to lift upward. It rose nearly all the way up on its rear wheels - when Daria's strength gave way, causing its front end to fall to the floor with a thud that vibrated across the garage. Daria collapsed against the pillar and gasped for breath. Her heart pounded and sweat ran down her temples.

"And I thought you were the 'smart' one," Phelps voice rang out. "Wouldn't it be smarter not to face me alone?"

At this, Quinn looked up from where she sat, crouched beside Jake's body. Tears ran down her face at the sight of his unnatural position, which had sapped her will to fight.

Phelps materialized on top of the car that Daria had freshly smashed and looked out at the sisters expectantly. Quinn gazed at him with a sudden wave of hatred. She was not going to let him hurt Daria.

The car Daria had tried to lift rose up again - then shot out of its space and flew toward their antagonist. It, too, hit the wall with a thud so powerful that as the garage shook, Quinn briefly wondered if it would cave in. She trembled and felt a sudden wave of nausea.

Phelps appeared in front of the crushed cars, gazing at them with a curious expression.

"Is that the best you can do?"

All at once, every car on both sides of the aisle rose upward, as Daria regained her strength and managed to combine it with Quinn's. The cars veered toward Phelps, and one after the other flung themselves on top of him... until finally he was buried under a tall tower of twisted metal and broken glass.

Both sisters gasped and coughed, not sure how they had done it, but hoping they could keep up the momentum. They waited to see if Phelps would emerge from the wreckage...

"Now really girls," came a disappointed voice from behind Quinn on the stairwell, "flinging cars? I expected more from the daughters of Norlek."

It was Phelps - unharmed.

"We can fling semi-trucks if it would make you happier," Daria glared, trying to mask her shock that he had escaped.

"I'd hoped for something more creative. Otherwise, what is the fun of a battle? But I'll give you one more chance."

Quinn tried to remember how they had frozen Phelps back at the high school, but before she could set her sights on him, he was gone in a blur up the stairwell. Without thinking, she followed.

The rest of the stairwell was in a separate narrow enclosure that rose up to the street level. Above her head, Quinn could see the staircase spiraling toward the only door leading out. As Phelps was nowhere to be found, she wondered queasily if he had already escaped into the open, and imagined that she and Daria would have to fight him from the tops of skyscrapers and dangling from bridges. Quinn had climbed up about eight steps when a cold blast hit her from behind. Phelps had been hiding behind the stairwell.

Quinn stumbled against the railing and nearly fell over the side, but managed to hang on. She tried to avoid Phelps's eyes, but still found herself paralyzed by their power as it hit her from close range. She barely heard him say -

"If you are truly powerful, you can find your way out of this."

His stare was so intense, Quinn almost felt as though she were inside of him. She tried to move, but her limbs were stiff and unresponsive, as if she had slept in the wrong position and stopped the blood flow. She tried to look away, tried to do something...

All at once, Phelps let out a yelp and stumbled backward against the wall. He glanced behind him, and saw Daria standing there, her eyes glowing green. Phelps's lips curved into a grim, satisfied smile.

"Well. Game on."

He was suddenly standing over them on the stairwell, eyes blazing with intensity. Quinn barely had time to collect herself and avert her eyes. She shuddered, and felt the stairwell lurch to the right, than the left. Phelps swayed, but remained rooted in his spot. The stairwell then let out a screech as metal bent sharply to spin Phelps so that he was upside down and facing the floor. Quinn hung on to the railing to keep from falling herself. Her eyes glowed with inner power that did not seem bound by conscious will.

"Come now," Phelps said peevishly, "use your minds!"

Metal bars tore off the stairwell and spread over him in an attempt to bind him in place. Phelps ducked them with ease, then managed to jump out of the way as the metal step on which he stood tore off and fell to the ground.

"Why don't I just make it easier for you and tell you my secret?"

The metal stairwell gave one final agonizing yank, then was severed from the upper floor completely. The entire structure collapsed, folding upon itself like an oversized slinky, leaving scattered steps in its wake. Quinn felt herself lurch backward and stumble head over heels down the remaining steps to the ground. Rushing blood screamed in her ears. She lay there, dazed, as her field of vision turned white... before strong hands grabbed her arms and pulled her back. Quinn moaned softly and tried to resist, before realizing that her rescuer was Daria.

Her vision cleared slowly, and she and Daria both lay on the ground, staring up at the destruction before them. Depleted of energy and shaking faintly with pain and sickness, they waited to see if this could have been the blow that did Phelps in.

Alas, it was not to be. Phelps suddenly emerged from the wreckage and walked toward them, scuffed, but unharmed. His long shadow stretched over their bodies, and Daria and Quinn struggled to get out of the way, as if fearing the shadow would solidify and crush them.

"Don't you want to hear my secret?"

"Quit beating around the bush!" Quinn snapped. "What is it?!"

Phelps rolled his eyes with paternal exasperation.

"I can't die."