RETURN OF THE PHANTOM // A KISS fanfiction (completed)

Chapter 8: The Return of Devereaux

"You did this to her... didn't you?" Space Ace said to Mr Lawsen

"Well spotted my cosmic friend" replied Mr Lawsen, earning a frown from the others.

"You don't fool us" Starchild turned to face the other band members "I've known this for a while now... but the evidence wasn't strong enough for anyone to believe me..."

"What is it?" Demon growled

"It's obvious, who else would know how to operate this equipment besides the man who built it?" Catman added.

"You mean to say?..." Demon was cut off

"Yes...it is I," Mr Lawsen said quietly, a small portion of his face now visible from underneath the cloak.

"Abner Devereaux we meet again," Starchild said boldly as the hood of the man's cloak was dropped, revealing the evil mastermind himself.

".....How on earth?-" Space Ace started

"Clever isn't it? How I made the world believe that I was dead, gone forever.... but here I am." Abner told the shocked musicians in the room. "My talent allowed me to make a robot replicating myself, which allowed me to make a quick getaway without a soul knowing that the lifeless man in front of them, was not me at all."

"What brings you back to Magic Mountain?" Catman asked

"Why you of course... all of you..." Devereaux said. "When I heard of your Halloween appearance, I knew it would be a perfect time to get my revenge. You destroyed me! My job here was my life... but because of you I was forced to leave that behind."

"So it was you then? The fire? You needed more time." Demon growled.

"That's correct. I knew that after the concert was over, you'd leave again, and my only opportunity to destroy you would be lost forever. But now... now I've got you..." A small moment after Abner had stopped talking, everyone in the room was startled by Catman leaping on top of a cupboard containing various jars of equipment.

Earning a few glances from the others, he explained himself. "Someone's coming, I can sense it." As if Catman's words were some sort of trigger, around ten half killer cat- half human robot-like creatures began to climb down the walls, surrounding them. Their red eyes fixed on the musicians in the room, glistening with pure revenge.

With that their powers automatically kicked in, while Abner watched and hoped that maybe, this time his new and improved creations would be strong enough to beat KISS.

As the first creature approached Demon he viciously propelled a ball of fire towards it, careful not to harm the weak child he was holding. The killer cat exploded with a loud bang, as sparks of electricity emitted from the base of its neck.

Out of the dark corners of the workshop, twenty or so more emerged, ready for attack.

"Space Ace, get Rosie out of here while you still can!" He yelled as another five robots exploded from the power of his eye.

"No, I can handle her, Space Ace is our only emergency escape route so he needs to be here!" Demon answered for him.

"I agree" Said Space Ace as he punched the head off of another robot.

After several minutes of violence, only a few robots remained. The powers of their talisman ran through their veins, making all four men feel invincible.

Abner stood there in shock. He has been heated again. As the last of his creations were defeated, he retreated into one of the back rooms, out of shame, embarrassment, and for the purpose of constructing a new and improved plan.

As they looked around, wires, sparks, and a mass of white fur and red glowing eyes could be seen scattered all over the workshop.

"I think we've done our part, we should go now, and get Rosie back to her mother. She must be so worried!" Catman expressed sadly.

"Agreed.....Space Ace- wait where is Abner?" Starchild said quietly, looking around.

"Who cares! He's probably hiding because he knows I'll rip his head off and feed it to my snake-" Demon growled.

"You don't have a snake" Space Ace looked at him with confusion written all over his face.

"Okay, now we're getting off topic." Starchild broke into their conversation, "Space Ace, get us out of here"

With that, they were all teleported outside of the underground workshop, and Rosie was finally safe.

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"ROSIE!" The woman's voice called when they are about 20 metres away from their accommodation.

She had been waiting there anxiously for hours to find out what had happened to her beloved daughter. Waiting and waiting, to hear if she was still alive.

Tears rolled down her face when she saw Rosie's emotionless face. As her eyes were closed, she could only think of the worst.

"Is she.....dead?" The women sobbed as the band reached her.

"No, she's just unconscious. She should be awake soon" Demon said with empathy in his voice. He looked down at the child to make sure she was comfortable. "She can rest in our room until she wakes."

Demon went to put Rosie onto a lounge in their accommodation, as Starchild comforted the mother.

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Everything was settling down now. Rosie's mother thanked the band for their services and left to go home, taking her now awake daughter with her.

Because of the stressful situation, neither of them thought where Abner ended up. That was until a distressing call from Calvin startled the four men. 

"It's locked!" he yelled once he charged into their room.

"What is?" Space Ace questioned.

"Mr Lawsen's workshop. I've called a dozen times and the phone in there seems to be broken. The spare key isn't working which means the locks are changed too." Calvin looked exhausted. "From the way this park is looking, we can't have our engineer disappearing on us.."

"He must have locked himself inside," Explained Catman.

"Probably for the purpose of constructing a new plan..." Starchild said to his bandmates.

"Whatever it is, we'll be ready." Demon growled.

"What on earth are you guys talking about?" Calvin looked at them, confusion sparkling in his eyes.