KISS and Battle of G.O.O.D vs E.V.I.L.
Part 35-D by Demoness

Ace walked down the hallway, taking 
uncharacteristically long strides, Ana's hand in 
his.  His walk alone told of his foul mood.  He was 
like that ever since they left Andrew in Bruce's 
care and left the room.  He turned back to shoot 
Raven and Peter a nasty glance.  "I'd love to find 
Mark and show him what I think of his heroics," Ace 
snarled.  "Only that would take more time away from 
what I plan to finish with Ana."

Peter shook his head and chuckled.  "He's a nice 
enough kid, but really ..." Peter started to laugh 
as he put his arm around Raven's shoulders and 
pulled her close.

"I'm glad you find it funny," Ace retorted.  
"Someone needs to show Mark how to tell the 
difference between a potentially dangerous Paul 
impersonator and some kid who doesn't know what eye 
Paul puts the star on."

"It takes the token Normal to capture a Normal," 
Raven remarked.

"Maybe that's what set Mark to jump him," Peter 
supplied.  "I mean I know he's a big fan and all.  
He proved it to us.  But you would expect a real fan 
to know which eye to put the star on."

"Be thankful he's not an acolyte," Ana pointed out.  
"Could you see Paul's powers backwards?"

"Backward mind control," Peter mused.  "Now that's 
scary.  Good thing we stuck around to make sure the 
kid has no powers.  Or is a Girltalk lurker."

Ace snorted, his mind still on one fact.  "He jumps 
a fan.  Our two-second guitarist jumps a plain, 
ordinary fan.  I'd expect something like that more 
from Vinnie."

"And when I ran into the imposter, he wasn't wearing 
make-up," Ana pointed out with a chuckle, somehow 
finding the situation amusing.

"If Gene finds out, make sure he knows the kid has 
no intention of suing our asses off," Peter laughed.

"Oh, we made sure he wouldn't do that," Ace 
remarked.  "Gene should be proud of us."

Raven and Peter shared amused smiles.  "We do have 
some decent quality time before we get ready for the 
meet and greet," Peter pointed out.

"And I'm intending to use every second, believe me," 
Ace snapped.

"No bet," Raven said with a smile.

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"This is interesting," Gene said, stretched out on 
his back across the bed, his head propped up by the 
pillows.  He was petting the winged creature settled 
on his stomach.  "Hey, stop that.  It tickles," he 
laughed.

The bat was happily playing with Gene's midsection.  
Gene fell back on the bed, his hands digging into 
the sheets as he started to moan, trying to remind 
himself that the bat that was giving him much 
pleasure was actually a woman he had known for many 
years.

The bat stopped and jumped off Gene.  Once again 
Gena was sitting beside him, her hands going back to 
the target she had been happily toying with seconds 
before.  

Gene sat up, anxious to complete what she started.  
"I don't stand a chance with you around," he 
groaned, pulling her into his arms.

"Really?  I just thought you were that way," Gena 
remarked.    

Someone knocked loudly on the door.

"Go away," Gene growled.

"Gene!" Paul's urgent voice called.  The tone of the 
voice stopped them.  With a sigh, Gene climbed off 
the bed to open the door.

"What is it, Paul?" Gene asked annoyed, unlocking 
the door.  Gena got off the bed.

"You're needed."

"Never a dull moment," Gene sighed, the frustration 
in his voice.  He was about to open the door when he 
looked down at himself.  He looked over to Gena.  
"Would you mind?" he asked, gesturing at their 
bodies.

She gazed at him in question.

"Gene!" Paul insisted, starting to push the door 
open.

"You made our clothes disappear, so how about 
bringing them back?"

"Oh!  I did do that, didn't I?"  She waved her hand 
and they were both dressed.

Paul pushed at the door again, almost knocking Gene 
off balance.  "Shit, Paul!" he complained, quickly 
moving out of the way of the door.  Paul stood in 
the room.  Gene glared at him.  "This had better be 
important."

"It is," Paul said, taking a step closer to Gene. 

Staring at Paul, Gena took a cautious step toward 
Paul.  "Paul?" she asked.

Paul turned to look at her and smiled.  Gena studied 
Paul more carefully.

"Shit!" Gena yelled.  She held out her hand and a 
glowing orb of red/orange flames appeared.  She 
threw it at Paul.  "Get out of his way, Gene!" she 
yelled.

Gene turned to stare at Gena with a stunned look.  
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked her.  "Have 
you gone mad?"  He felt his body get hit with what 
seemed to be an electrical jolt.  At the same time, 
he saw Gena throw another fireball at Paul.  The 
force of the jolt that hit Gene knocked him off his 
feet and he went crashing into a nearby desk.

"Gene!" Gena screamed as Gene was hit with another 
electrical jolt that forced a cry out of him.  She 
threw another fireball at Paul, knowing it was not 
her who was the mad one there.  What got a hold of 
Paul?   Gene let out another scream and she could 
see a charge of crackling energy surround Gene as 
his body started to shudder.

"You're killing him!" Gena roared, producing a ball 
of bluish white crackling fire and threw it at Paul.

Paul staggered back and turned to Gena as Gene let 
out another scream.   "It's going to have to be me 
or him," Paul stated.

With eyes that changed to red, Gena hit him again 
with another bluish orb of intense heat, letting out 
a roar.  This time Paul nearly fell over.  The 
charge surrounding Gene disappeared and Gene let out 
a gasp.

Gene rolled over, still stunned from the attack and 
watched as Gena turned into a bat.  The bat soared 
right at Paul, flames surrounding it as it reached 
Paul's personal space.  Paul ducked and the bat 
disappeared.

"No!" Gene cried out weakly, attempting to get up, 
but unable to.  His body was still tingling from the 
shock it received.  Gena appeared behind Paul in a 
burst of flames.  Gene felt the relief and hoped it 
did not show up on his face as Paul turned to face 
him again.  Her palms out, a stream of flames shot 
from her hand to hit Paul on the back.

Paul screamed, stumbling across the room, away from 
the attack of the steady stream of flames on him.  
He turned to glance down at Gene.  Gene shivered as 
he saw the stare Paul gave him.  As he stared down 
at Gene, Paul lifted his hand in Gene's direction.  
Gene let out another cry of pain as the electricity 
wave hit him again.

Gena turned into a bat, flying right at Paul.  The 
flames surrounded the bat again.  The bat turned 
back into a woman surrounded with flames, as she 
crashed into Paul with a bloodcurdling scream that 
echoed in the room.  Paul let out a yell as they 
both lost balance.  Paul hit the window.  With a 
crash, the two went out the window.

Gene let out an anguished cry.  The electricity 
jolts stopped and he attempted to get up at the same 
time Ace and Peter ran into the room, followed by 
Ana and Raven.  Both men ran over to Gene and helped 
him to his feet.  Raven and Ana rushed to put out a 
fire on the bed.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked.

"What happened?" Peter inquired.

"I don't know," Gene said shakily, trying to move 
from them and go to the window.  "Gena and Paul just 
started to attack each other.  They fell out the 
window."

Raven looked about the room.  They put the fire out 
with the spread that was pushed aside.  "Why do I 
have a feeling we have another flame thrower?"  She 
looked at Gene in question.  "Or did you do this?"

Gene shook his head, then swayed when the action 
made him dizzy.  "Not me.  We do," he said, his 
voice shaky.  "Paul hit me with electricity and Gena 
started to throw around fireballs and flames."  Once 
again he tried to get away from Ace and Peter.  
"They fell out the window!" Gene insisted, going 
into a panic.

"You're sitting down," Peter stated.  "You're in no 
shape to do anything else."

At the same time Peter was speaking, another voice 
asked, "Who fell out the window?"

Everyone turned to stare at Paul, who was standing 
in the doorway.

"What the hell happened here?" Paul demanded.  He 
glanced over at Gene, still being held up by Ace and 
Peter.  "Gene, are you all right?"

Gene went white.  "P-Paul?"  He heard the flapping 
of wings coming form the window and something gently 
landed on his shoulder.  He felt his ear nuzzled and 
could feel the concern coming from the creature on 
his shoulder.  Ace and Peter got a tighter hold on 
Gene to keep him from sliding to the floor.

"Who's your pet, Curly?" Ace asked him as they sat 
Gene down in the closest chair.

Raven took a step to stand before the chair Gene was 
in.  "Gene," she asked concerned, "Are you okay?"

Gene nodded as the bat left his shoulder and turned 
into Gena.  Ace muttered something about "it 
figures" as he recognized Gena.  "I am now," he 
replied, eyes settling first on Gena, then on Paul.  
"You are Paul?"

Gena nodded, intense eyes studying Paul.  "Yeah.  
That's the real Paul.  But who the hell was that?"  
She lifted her hands and gazed at them in wonder.

"The imposter?" Ana asked.

"I was on my way because I heard the imposter was 
caught," Paul stated.

Four of them disagreed.  "Mark jumped some kid 
trying to meet us," Peter said.

"Whoa!" Gene cried out as Gena sat on the arm of the 
chair and took his hand.  "What the hell is everyone 
talking about?"

Raven pointed to Ana.  "This is Ana or Lady Space on 
the group.  She had a run in with what looked like 
Paul, but she sensed he wasn't.  Shandi put out word 
about it, and some went out on a search for the 
imposter."

Ace stared at Gene.  "Did you get the message 
through the matrix?" 

Gene shook his head.  "I guess I was creating a 
matrix of our own," he said ruefully, looking up at 
Gena with a smile.  He noticed that she was wearing 
the clothes she arrived in, but knew under the tank 
top there was a tattoo of his make-up.  

"Another one?" Raven groaned.  "Gene," she 
admonished.

"It just felt right," Gene protested.  He glanced 
back at Gena with a thoughtful look.  "It finally 
felt very right.  It had to be," he said.

"You couldn't keep it in your pants," Ace remarked.

"Actually, Gena made them disappear so I had no 
choice," Gene quipped back.

Everyone in the room groaned.  

"I still say it had to be."  Gene looked up at Paul.  
"You realize that too, don't you?"

Paul nodded.  "Which is why I left when I did."  He 
looked at the others.  "Ace might have an idea of 
their history, but I know the dance they've been 
doing around each other for 18 years.  If it 
suddenly seemed like the right time they've been 
waiting for, then I'm with Gene.  It had to be."

Raven studied Paul.  "Don't ask too many questions 
about that," Peter said to her.  "I'm sure we'll 
find out eventually and wish we didn't have to 
know."

"So what about this fan?" Gene asked.  "Mark didn't 
thrash him up too much, I hope.  Or discover he has 
a power after all, and used the poor fan for target 
practice?"

"No nothing like that," Peter replied.  

"The four of us went to where Stephanie and Bruce 
were holding him, so I could identify him," Ana 
said.

Gene nodded and looked over at Paul.  "And you know 
about the imposter, I take it, since I was the only 
one who didn't know about it.  Well, me and Gena, I 
mean."

"Yeah, I knew," Paul admitted.  "After I left here, 
I found out.  I was out with a few of the others 
looking for him when we got word for me to head back 
because Mark caught him.  And walked into this.  
What happened?"

"Oh, and Gena won't be able to receive any messages 
through the matrix from Shandi until they meet and 
Shandi can put a face to her name," Ace said.

"It was powerful," Gena replied.  "A mage.  I sensed 
that.  He started to attack Gene, trying to kill 
him."  Gena's voice went up an octave and Gene 
placed an arm around her waist while his other hand 
tightened his hold on her.

"I'm fine.  I'm feeling much better," Gene assured 
her.  "Remind me to thank you properly for saving my 
life when we get another chance."  To the others in 
the room, he said, "Gena zapped him with fireballs 
and fire.  He was impersonating you, Paul," Gene 
said.

"Demoness?" Raven asked, suddenly the name attaching 
to an online name in her mind.  She looked at Gena.

"Yeah.  It's me," Gena replied smiling, then 
muttered, "More than I thought when I started to use 
that handle."

Ace went over to give her a hug.  "Hey, babe.  So 
you're on Girltalk too, huh?'

"Yup.  Which is how I found myself here.  Boy, am I 
glad Val gave me a chance to pull my pants up," she 
chuckled, returning Ace's hug.  "I was using the 
bathroom in JFK," she replied to Ace's amused look.

"The imposter," Raven remarked, staring at the 
broken window.  "What happened to him?"

Gene pointed to the broken window.  "Him and Gena 
fell out during the struggle.  Guess Gena went batty 
and flew back."  He laughed when he got swatted 
gently by Gena.

"Now I know you're feeling all right," she hissed 
playfully.  Her face turned thoughtful.  "That Drow 
you encountered ..."  She looked back at the window.  
"I wonder if that was it.  I felt something like 
black magic coming from it."

"That makes sense," Gene said.  "Once it started to 
attack me, I sensed something dark.  He used black 
magic when he attacked me.

"If that's true, then chances are it's the Drow, and 
it's still alive," Raven commented.  

"And somewhere close enough to try to get to us 
again," Peter commented.

Everyone looked over at Gena.  She shrugged.  "I 
would guess it might be able to do something to 
prevent it from being flattened on the sidewalk.  I 
was thinking only two thoughts at the time.  
Survival and to make sure Gene was okay."

Gene squeezed her hand.  "I'm fine," he reassured 
her again.  "And I'm glad so are you and Paul.  I 
nearly had heart failure when I saw you both go out 
the window.  For a bit there, I started to think 
that you and Paul were dead.  That jolted me more 
than what that thing threw at me."

Ace walked across the room while Gene was talking 
and carefully peered out through the shattered 
glass.  "All's normal below," he reported to the 
other occupants in the room.  "Typical New York City 
street scene.  No ambulances, no chaos outside of 
the norm.  No smashed body, no blood, no guts."

"You sound disappointed," Peter stated.

Ace turned to face Peter.  "I am.  That would mean 
we got rid of whatever it was.  And whatever it was, 
Drow or no, it's still dangerous and obviously after 
us."

Paul gazed at Ace.  "Mind taking a quick closer 
look?  Just in case?  Maybe there might be a clue or 
something?"

"Good idea," Ace agreed and disappeared from the 
room.

"Why did it take Ace to think of looking out the 
window?" Peter asked the room in general.

Gene looked at Gena.  "How did you know?  That it 
wasn't Paul, I mean.  You knew before he started to 
attack me."

She shrugged.  "I sensed it already.  It was very 
strong magic and seemed wrong for it to be coming 
from Paul.  I didn't notice it coming from Paul 
earlier.  Just traces of something, but not like I 
sensed from the imposter."

"So your fire power isn't like mine," Gene mused.

"That felt magical to me, too," Gena replied.

"A fire mage," Raven stated.

"And batty," Paul said amused.  Gena gave him a 
teasing warning glance.

Ace appeared in the room, a few feet from Gena.  She 
jumped to her feet and turned with a fireball in her 
hand.

"Easy, it's just Ace!" Gene yelled as Ace ducked.

She looked at Ace, and nodding, the fireball 
disappeared.  "Don't do that," she warned him.  

"Sorry," Ace said, a bit shaken.  He started to walk 
over to Ana when they were joined by Stephanie, who 
stood in the doorway.

"What happened in here?" she asked.

"Long story," Raven remarked.  "Steph, this is Gena, 
Demoness.   Looks like she's a fire mage, thus the 
state of this room when the imposter attacked Gene.  
So don't startle her."  Raven looked at Gena.  "And 
don't piss off Stephanie.  She's got the Rage and 
when she's pissed, disasters happen."

Gena nodded, with a slight smile.  "Noted.  Don't 
piss off Stephanie.  Boy, am I glad you're one of 
the first one I got to know on the list."

"I hate to see the two of them together and angry," 
Peter remarked.

The other guys nodded their heads.  "No argument," 
Ace said.

"And with Raven," Gene shuddered.  "Nasty stuff."

Paul looked at Peter and Gene.  "Guys, we're 
screwed," he laughed.

"Well, I was coming by with a key to a room, because 
someone needed a room here," Stephanie said.  "Gena, 
I guess that's you."

Gena held out her hand and accepted the key.  "Yeah, 
that's me.

"Looks like Gene might have to move in with you," 
Ace stated looking around at the scorched walls.

"It's not too bad," Gene remarked.  He looked at the 
bed.  "Might need new bedding though.  Wow, we were 
that hot, sweetheart.  We set the bed on fire," he 
joked, winking at Gena.

Gena smiled back at him, looking around at the room.  
"I know why you want your own room, but how would 
the poor girl feel when she enters this room?"

"I'd just say my love is hotter than hell," Gene 
remarked.  

Paul groaned, Peter laughed, Ace cackled and the 
other girls chuckled.

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