Wha-wha-what the fuck is going on? What is happening? Tony heard Grog ask.
Shut up, Grog! We don’t have time for this! Abbie said, slightly panicked herself and looking at Mike. You both know the truth about those meteorites now. The dark red one is evil. The bright red one is not. Mike is under the influence of the Demon, that’s what I call it. It wants to use him to kill the world. You two, Charlotte, and I are now all under the influence of the Immortal.
The Immortal? Grog asked. Does that mean that we are—
Yes, Abbie interrupted. You are immortal for right now. You need to use it for Mike. The Demon plans to use Mike to kill or change every single person on this planet. It will completely destroy everyone and everything on this planet but not before using it to destroy every other planet, solar system, and galaxy that we know about. And after having spent all those millennia flying around, we are aware of many other planets besides Earth. There is life on those planets too. You must stop Mike somehow, and you must find some way to destroy the Demon. And you must destroy the Immortal too.
Destroy the Immortal? Tony asked. Why?
Destroying the Demon and the Immortal is the only way to go back to normal. You must—Abbie was interrupted by Mike suddenly loudly retching and gagging. He threw the sandwich.
“CHARLOTTE!” Mike screamed, enraged.
Tony looked at Mike and was terrified by his eyes. There was only one other time in his life that he saw eyes that had that look in them. The night his mother went after his father, the look that still gave him nightmares.
“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME, CHARLOTTE?” Mike screamed at her. As Mike rose and slowly started moving toward Charlotte, his eyes turned completely black. He took off his glasses and dropped them on the floor.
Charlotte gasped in fear and started stepping backward. Tony and Grog stood but were unsure of what to do.
Oh no, Abbie said. He is completely under the influence of the Demon. He is going to rip you all apart, destroy the Immortal, and then the world. Do something! Abbie said.
Then Mike propelled himself toward Charlotte as she turned to run. Abbie snapped, growled, and leaped at Mike to attack him and protect Charlotte. Mike cried out in pain as Abbie’s teeth sank into his forearm.
“You bitch!” he screamed out at her as he punched Abbie in her head, gripped her collar, and ripped her from his arm. Then Mike lifted Abbie up by her collar with one arm and threw her across the room into the wall. Abbie slammed into the sturdy, thick, wooden wall and yelped in pain as she felt her ribs shatter and her front legs break.
“Abbie!” Grog cried out. That cry sent Tony and Grog into action.
Mike turned his head to look at Grog as Grog flung himself at Mike. Grog grabbed Mike’s shirt by the collar and pushed him back as hard as he could. Mike only took three steps back. He stood still, just looking at Grog. Then Mike moved toward Grog with the speed of a bullet and punched him in the jaw. The strength of that punch would have spun a person’s head around on their neck, but having swallowed the Immortal worms, Grog was only knocked unconscious. Tony pulled Grog out of the way and stood four feet in front of Mike.
“I’m standing between you and Charlotte now, Mike,” Tony told him, hoping to reach the real Mike. “And I’m not moving. Come on, Mike. You and I have been friends a long time. We don’t want to do this.”
Mike began to laugh an evil loud laugh. “I’m not Mike, and you are not my friend. You are my enemy. You have always been my enemy. You could never see the beauty of my plan. Destroy everything and everybody that is against you, then you are king. You become king of all the galaxies,” Mike said. His wide, black eyes stared at Tony with a crazy, maniacal smile on his face. He was so overstimulated by his fantasy that he didn’t notice the drool leaking out of his mouth and down his chin.
“Those who seek world domination only ever destroy themselves in the process,” Tony told him.
“This isn’t world domination. This is total domination over places that your small mind could never imagine. And in this body, nothing is in my way.”
“I’m in your way,” Tony said, taking a step toward him, challenging him.
Mike snarled. “Challenge accepted.” He spat.
Mike charged at Tony with the speed of a bullet just like he had Grog, but Tony was ready for him. Tony sidestepped out of the way and punched Mike in the face with the force of a sledgehammer. Mike’s head twisted completely around until he was facing behind him. Tony had heard the crunch of all of Mike’s neck bones breaking. Mike tried to turn his head back around with his hands; he stumbled and then collapsed to the floor at Tony’s feet.
“Charlotte,” Tony called out.
He started to walk toward the kitchen to find Charlotte. Then he heard a horrible noise behind him. It was the sound of a long gag and strangled breathing behind him. No. It couldn’t be. Tony turned. It was. Mike was standing. Mike found his head with his hands and, with the sound of wet bones grinding against each other, turned his head around on his neck. His head flopped helplessly around like a newborn baby’s head. With immense effort, Mike lifted his head and looked at Tony with his black eyes.
“TONY!” Mike shouted. “NOW YOU HAVE REALLY PISSED ME OFF!”
Mike charged at Tony with the speed of light. Tony tried to sidestep him again but wasn’t quick enough this time. Mike grabbed Tony by his throat, spun around, and lifted Tony into the air. Tony struggled to breathe, and he could feel the blood vessels in his face and eyes slowly begin to pop from the sheer strength that Mike held him with. Tony struggled to not pass out. He had to protect Charlotte, but his hits at Mike’s arm were weak and useless.
“I’m going to make you watch as I tear apart every bitch in your life right in front of you. Your sister, your mother, that fucking dog!” Mike said. “Then I’m going to make you watch as I tear apart your world before I slowly rip you apart and send you into orbit for the rest of eternity, like I did before I came here. And the best part of all is you’ll still be alive.” Mike squeezed Tony’s throat harder, and just as Tony was about to pass out, he saw movement behind Mike.
“Let go of my brother!” Charlotte screamed as she swung Grog’s parents’ heavy titanium meat cleaver that she had found in the kitchen into Mike’s neck. Mike’s grip on Tony’s throat loosened, but he did not release Tony. Mike’s head still hung on by a flap of skin and was getting covered by the blood that was spurting up from his neck. Mike turned slightly toward Charlotte. Mike coughed, and blood poured from his mouth and into his nose. Mike coughed some more.
“Now…”—cough, cough—“I’m really…”—cough, gag, spit out blood—“pissed off,” Mike sputtered out with blood dripping from his mouth with every word.
Tony grabbed Mike’s head and held it up. “Charlotte! NOW!”
Charlotte swung the heavy meat cleaver again, and Mike’s head came off completely in Tony’s hand. The hand gripping Tony released, and Tony dropped to the floor along with Mike’s head. Tony sat up and looked at Mike’s head on the floor. There was something in wiggling in Mike’s blood that was dripping out from his severed head. It was so small, and it was the same color of the blood that Tony might have missed it if it wasn’t wiggling. Tony automatically knew that it was the Demon worm. Tony snarled and immediately pounded the worm with his fist and ground it into the floorboard with his knuckle.
Then Mike’s eyes opened. His eyes were back to normal, and Tony could see that it was the real Mike.
“Tony.” Mike coughed and spoke softly. “Tell Grog and Abbie I’m sorry. I love you, guys.”
Tony’s eyes were filled with tears. “We love you too,