Universal Collision

All The Queen's Children

Elizabeth lashed her tendrils around his arms and ripped them off. He fell to the floor screaming. "Any last words, chaos demon?"

Rapture cursed and slid himself against the wall. "What do you fear most, Liz? Actually, let me rephrase that. Who do you fear?"

Elizabeth morphed her tendrils into blades and leveled them at Rapture's neck. "I fear no one."

"Is that so, my queen?"

Elizabeth went rigid as the voice echoed around the room. She looked at Alex and Lauren. By the look of things, they'd heard it too.

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

Elizabeth and Alex watched in horror as Dr. Jordan Kaleil descended from a balcony. "Did you miss me, my queen?"

He looked worse for wear. Six massive white scars were etched into his body. His skin appeared as if it were stretched over the bone. His ragged clothes hung from him like a ripped flag.

Elizabeth stabbed Rapture in the heart, then turned to Jordan. "What do you want, Kaleil? Have you come for a rematch?" She said, her voice cold and menacing. Void of emotion.

Jordan pulled aside his coat to show them that he had Emma held against his side, asleep. "Like he said, my queen. One wrong move and your daughter dies."

Elizabeth halted her approach. "Let her go. This is between us, Kaleil."

Jordan laughed. "You still think this is about payback? I could care less about that. Water under the bridge, my queen. All I want is your respect. Your love. Like you love this girl. We are both your spawn, after all."

Rapture held a hand over his heart, feeling as his life was slipping away. "You abandoned your spawn, Elizabeth. You abandoned Marriko. You abandoned Tamara. And now, Kaleil. What makes you think you're worthy of being a mother?"

Elizabeth gritted her teeth and slammed her tendrils against the ground. Alex raised a gun to shoot Jordan, but she waved him off. "You're right, Rapture. I'm not worthy of being a mother. I'm just a monster, right?" She teared up and retracted her tendrils.

Rapture pointed a finger at Emma. "Wake, my daughter."

Emma's eyes snapped open, glowing red like before. "Yes, daddy?"

"Your mommy is here. She's going to kill me. Can we allow that, darling?"

Emma chuckled. "No. We can't. We can't allow mommy to hurt anyone else." She brandished her tendrils and turned to Elizabeth.

"Emma, no! Don't do it!" Lauren shouted.

Emma looked to her sister, hesitant. Lauren brandished her tendrils. "She's not the bad one here. He is. He's not the daddy you think he is. He doesn't care about you. All he wants is absolute power. Your nothing but a battery to him."

Jordan slapped her away with his tendrils. "Ignore her, sister. Do as your father commands."

Emma turned again to Elizabeth. "Sorry, mommy. I'll do my best to make this as painless as possible."

For a horrifying moment, Elizabeth flashed back to what she'd said to her parents before she killed them. She remembered the horrifying similarities to this exact moment. Emma looked into her mother's eyes. "Sayonara, mommy." She raised her tendrils over Elizabeth's head, then drove them down. Blood splattered everywhere.

Jordan's eyes widened. "What the hell?"

Old Alex looked to the giant hole that Emma had made in his chest. He looked into the little girl's eyes. "You are not a murderer. Save your mommy. Please, Emma, I'm begging you. Don't make the same mistake as me. He doesn't love you like she does. As I speak, she's risking her life to save you. Like your sister said, you're nothing more than a battery to him. A source of power. Please... st- stop him."

His eyes fluttered closed and he collapsed to the floor.

Elizabeth wiped the blood from her face and stared at her daughter.

"Emma, please don't do this. You have a choice. You don't have to be like us. You can be the better one."

Emma started to shake. A halo of fire appeared between her horns. Her tendrils ignited with hellfire. Elizabeth, Alex, and Lauren watched in horror as she turned to her father, smiling. Her tendrils remained aimed at her mother.

To her right, Armageddon and Llana appeared. "Do it, sweetie. We can be a family. All you have to do is stop your mommy."

Emma clenched her fists and roared. A sound that echoed for several minutes. When everything was silent again, Armageddon gasped. He held up his hand and watched as his body began to disintegrate. Llana stared in horror as he became a pile of ashes on the floor. Emma turned to her. "YOU'RE NOT MY MOMMY!" She drove her tendrils through Llana's body and ripped her to pieces.

Rapture's eyes widened as his wife's head landed in his lap. "Emma, what are you doing?"

Emma stared her father down.

"You lied to me. You said nobody would get hurt. Daddy's friend is hurt. I HATE YOU!" She roared and Rapture was blown apart, his heart landing in Elizabeth's hand. She crushed it and dropped the fragments.

Jordan stared in shock. "Stupid girl. I'LL KILL YOU!" he launched himself at Emma.

Alex intercepted him midair and took him to the ground. He punched him in the face over and over before putting a bullet through his skull.

Seconds later, he threw Alex across the room. "I always keep my word. I'm going to destroy that little girl!"

Lauren and Elizabeth lashed their tendrils around him, then said in unison: "No, you won't."

They ripped him apart.

Emma retracted her tendrils. "Mommy, are you alright?"

Elizabeth scooped her up and held her close. "I'm fine. Thank you, Emma. You made the right choice."

Emma started to cry into her mother's shoulder. "Mommy, I'm so sorry. He was so nice before. I never thought he would do this."

Elizabeth brushed her fingers through Emma's hair. "It's alright, Emma. People are tricked all the time. Like Red said to me before: you're not the first to be tricked by him. But hopefully, you'll be the last."

She pulled her daughter into a hug.

All was well. It would seem that the story was going to have a happy ending. You would be correct for guessing that. It is going to have a happy ending. And that ending is right here.