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KISS In Paradise
Part 25-A
By Demoness
Gene was walking along the rocks that served as a
perimeter to the caves they settled in. There were
groups of fans clustered outside the caves and on the
designated area of the beach. Some were engaged in a
game or animated conversation, some were singing
songs. And others – too many others, Gene thought –
had a faded, haunted look on their faces. People who
wanted to go home, be with their families and loved
ones again. Who wanted out from the danger facing
them.
He turned and surveyed the other side of the rocks.
More fans wandering with nothing better to do. He
watched as Eric Singer went running after a few fans
who were going too far from the designated 'safe
zone' they established.
Gene snorted. 'Like there's such a thing with those
maniacs around,' he thought. He hoped that the
damage inflicted upon the ship would keep them away
from the islands and castaways for a while. Yet he
knew, if they did not find a way to leave the
islands, Dr. X would be back and probably with
reinforcements.
He let out a sigh. Rescue was looking less and less
likely, unless they were to overcome the corporation
and gain access to larger boats than they had.
Glancing around again, he let out a muttered curse
and started to climb over the rocks to stop yet
another group of fans wandering aimlessly away from
the safe zone.
"Hey!' he called out to them, stumbling just a
little, yet amazed that he did not stumble more with
the pace he set. His time as a half-dragon seemed to
have left him with some instincts he did not possess
before. He jumped the last few feet, vaulting over
several large rocks and landed on the sand just as
the wayward fans turned at his call. They watched in
amazement as one of their heroes appeared a few yards
from them.
"You're going too far," Gene warned them, walking up
to meet them. "I know this seems silly and juvenile,
but.…" He stopped and looked down, feeling tears
well up in his eyes.
"We already lost people," Paul's voice came from
behind him. "If we can help it, let's not lose any
more." Paul's voice was filled with unshed tears.
"Please," he pleaded in a soft tone.
"Sorry," one of the fans said.
"I guess we didn't think," said another.
"It just seem so unreal," added the first one.
"I know," Gene stated, looking up at them. "I know
this is not what you paid for or expected. No one
paid to sleep in a cave and live like this. But I
swear, somehow, someway, when we get out of this
mess, we'll find a way to make up for it. But you
have to give us that chance by staying alive until
then."
The fans nodded. "You're right, Gene," said one of
them. "We're sorry. We'll be more careful. This
isn't any easier on you or the other guys."
The second fan was studying both Gene and Paul. "In
fact, it's worse. We won't do anything to give you
more to worry about."
"I know some of the, uh, natives are scary," Paul
started, "but those who are willing to work with us
are our best protection. It's a good thing to get to
know them, and let them get to know you."
"Which means work with them, huh?" one of the fans
asked.
Both Paul and Gene nodded.
"Besides, some of us are 'them' now," Gene gently
reminded them.
One fan looked up at Gene. "Then it's true? I heard
things, but I didn't see you at the time."
"But I saw the dragon-lady," another replied. "You
were like that?"
Gene nodded again and found a grin. "Yup. Your old
Demon turned half-dragon. It's still in me even if I
look human again." He was glad Dr. X never had a
chance to run further tests on him. Based on other
test subjects, he knew what the mad doctor was
expecting unless proven otherwise. Gene knew the
otherwise had happened. Even looking human, he knew
he would never be the same again. From what Dr X
explained to him and things he felt and noticed
since, his DNA code had been changed – most probably
forever. He knew the changes were more than the
doctor expected of him once he changed back to full
human form. Human looking, but no longer a
Pureblood.
Thinking of his time as the doctor's prisoner caused
something to flutter in Gene's mind. Something he
could not grasp, but had a sense of importance.
Something vital that could be a matter of life and
death.
"Well, I think it'll be kinda cool," one of the fans
told Gene. "Too bad when we get home, you can't go
on tour one last time and use your changes as part of
the show."
Gene grinned, seeing the other fans agree. His eyes
got misty again as he turned to Paul. "We're pretty
damn lucky to have fans who will support us no matter
what we become," he said.
He still was not sure if he could risk going back to
civilization and expect to live a normal life without
being considered a freak. There were still all those
fans who did not go on the cruise, that may not
accept what he and Peter were. At the moment, it did
not matter. What did matter to Gene was all those
fans who did go on the cruise and were now marooned
with them. He had to find a way to get them home.
He could not give up on that.
Paul nodded. "Yup. We sure are."
"Too bad we couldn't," Gene mused, smiling at the
fans. "But I'm not sure the world is ready for
that."
Gene and Paul excused themselves from the fans with
another warning not to wander too far from the safe
zones. They walked a while in silence, which was
familiar and comfortable. At least that did not
change with Gene's changes, and he was thankful for
that. They stopped on an overlook, which gave them
an advantage point of the others near the caves, as
well as the designated beach area. They were also
afforded the wide expanse of ocean along with the
islands that could be seen. Both men let out a sigh
of relief that came with reading the flags from the
other islands. All was well so far.
Gene released a heavy sigh. Paul looked at him.
"Okay, spill it. Something is bothering you."
Gene simply glanced sideways at Paul and raised an
eyebrow, giving his companion an eloquent 'No shit?'
look.
"I mean specifics, smartass," Paul remarked, hitting
Gene's arm.
"Them," Gene answered, gesturing expansively to
encompass fans and other band members. "I can't help
thinking what I would give to get them rescued. Bad
enough just being shipwrecked. But with that Dr. X
wanting to use them as lab specimens." Gene sat
heavily on a rock. "And I feel responsible for each
and everyone of their lives. Including the other
band members. Including you. This was all my idea.
I talked you into this…."
"And I made my own choice by agreeing. It was a
great idea, Gene. Everyone will tell you that.
That's why we didn't have to push too hard before the
other guys made their choices to agree to it. And
every one of those fans will agree still that it was
a great idea. It's not your fault something so far
fetched would happen. Sure there was the possibility
of trouble with the ship. It's always there, and the
fans accepted it the same way they would if they were
taking a Disney cruise or some other. Don't beat
yourself up for what happened."
"I know. I keep telling myself the same thing to
keep myself from losing it. But I still can't help
feeling responsible. I want to get them home in one
piece. Preferable the way they first walked onto the
ship." He looked down and picked up a rock.
Appearing to study it, Gene added. "I don't think I
can stand losing anyone else."
"I know, Gene. You're not alone. Believe me." Paul
placed a comforting hand on Gene's shoulder. "Hey,
you're more muscular since you went dragon on us."
Gene nodded. "I noticed that. I noticed my
metabolism doesn't seem to have gone completely back
to human standards. I may look human, but I'm still
half-dragon."
"We never had a chance to talk about it," Paul
stated.
Gene shrugged. "What's there to talk about? You've
seen me in dragon form. And you see me now."
"How do you feel about it?" Paul asked.
"I don't know. I mean when I looked half-dragon, I
didn't mind. I liked it actually. But it meant
changes in my life. Plenty of changes. Some I don't
think I can make, but would if I stayed that way.
And now? I feel like I'm missing something major.
Only I'm not sure if it's being a Pureblood again, or
not having scales and a tail." He gave Paul a
lopsided grin. "I'm more confused about that than I
want the others to know. Samantha included. She'll
get upset if she did. But under current
circumstances I have no regrets of her doing what she
had. For one thing, I'd be dead by now. She saved
my life. For another…." Gene stood up and turned to
face the large rock he had been sitting on. With
just the smallest of effort, he lifted it and held it
like a beach ball. After surveying the area, he
flung it toward the water.
Paul watched the rock as it landed in the surf, which
was a good distance away from them. He knew he had
no chance to even push a rock of that size, forget
picking it up and throwing it. "Nice. I agree, it's
nice to have someone that strong among us."
"But let's not forget I was still overtaken by the
Enforcers," Gene reminded him. "I keep reminding
myself not to get over-confident."
"And we are less several Enforcers," Paul pointed
out.
"True. But does anyone know for sure how many there
are? We know about the main ones, but according to
the natives, there could be more. How do we know if
there isn't another island the ship can get to with
potential replacements? What about the young?
They're taken away from their parents very young.
Some of them could be raised to be Enforcers."
"Another thing we haven't had time to do," Paul
groaned, frustrated. "Talk to you and Peter more in-
depth about things you learned while being Dr. X's
captives."
Gene shrugged. "I already told all the important
things. So did Peter."
"Well, I didn't know about the young. That may seem
trivial. Yet things like you just pointed out may
make them very important."
Gene nodded, gazing out at the ocean. "You're
right," he admitted. "We'll call a meeting so me and
Peter can tell all." His eyes went up to the sky.
"But first I need to find Singer. And anyone else
who wants to help plan memorial services for those we
lost."
"I know some are obvious. But are we really giving
up on Des?" Paul asked.
"If she was still alive, someone would have found her
by now," Gene said, his voice catching. "And there's
Misha and Shannon. Hell, I mean Kismet is here,
somewhere on this island," he shivered, remember his
strange encounter overhearing her. "But there's no
sign of either of the two. We should have found them
too by now. Kismet never saw them again after they
ran out after me."
"Don't you think we'd have found bodies if they were
dead?" Paul snapped harshly. "My God. What if the
corporation found them first? Or Enforcers?"
"Then if they aren't mutated by mow, they're dead.
If they're not, they're worse." Gene turned to look
at Paul, shaking himself from the grip of fear the
memories of his captivity tried to put a hold on him,
and the fear of what the horrors the others would
face if they were captured. "I had many of the
others approach me. They want closure. So what if
any of our missing show up after? Who's going to
complain? But right now, we have people who are
stalled. We need to get them past this point to
increase their chances of survival."
"Good point. You're right. So tonight we start
going back to our own islands?"
"Yeah. We've got no one assuring everyone else is
safe. Or where safe is best on each island. So far
we've been lucky. I don't want to depend on luck
only. If only we had the space on one island for
everyone. But now, with current conditions, people
are cramped enough, even broken up as we are."
"We've got our work ahead of us, huh?"
Gene nodded, once again appearing to look distracted.
He started to walk in the direction of the caves.
Paul remained where he stood. "Gene?" he asked.
Gene glanced back at Paul, still walking on his set
course. "What are you not telling me?"
"As soon as I figure it out, you'll be the first I'll
tell," was Gene's reply.
Paul still stood where he was and watched Gene as he
joined the others near the cave. He tried to ignore
the nagging, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He looked up, guessing the time by the sun, wishing
it was setting soon. He realized he could not wait
to see Stephanie again.
** ** ** ** **
Ana and Samantha were bonding. Ana had just finished
telling Samantha her woes, and found a sympathetic
ear. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Ana
asked, "Were you really human at one time?"
The dragon-lady let out a sigh. "Gene believed I was
before that bad doctor got him. Drakkon Frye said I
was. That some Doctor Moreau did this to me. Gene
says Dr. X confirmed it. He also told Gene this
other doctor experimented on me. But Drakkon Frye
acts like this man who did this to me is a god or
something. But I think he was a very bad man. I
cannot help feel as if this was done to me against my
will."
Ana leaned against a rock, looking ahead and not at
Samantha, who was leaning against a tree. "So you
don't remember what your life was before…this?"
"No." Samantha shook her head, then winced. Ana did
not notice. "I never gave much thought about it.
Maybe a dream here and there. But that was such a
long time ago that I don't remember. Maybe they
weren't dreams after all, but my life before."
Samantha started to feel light-headed. "But ever
since I met Gene, I started to have those dreams
again. I can't remember when I wake up, except I
know in those dreams I look human." She swayed,
wincing again.
This time Ana saw it. "Hey, are you okay?"
Samantha touched the area where the rock hit her,
digging under her thick dark hair. "It still
bleeds," she stated, frowning. "I tried, but I
cannot stop the bleeding."
Samantha moved away from the tree she leaned against
and Ana let out a gasp. "Oh Mother," she exclaimed,
upon seeing the blood stain running down the tree
bark and down Samantha's back to form a pool of blood
that she sat in. "You need help. Do you think you
can go back to camp?"
For a reply, Samantha tried to get up, only to fall
back again. She closed her eyes and let out a growl
as her head hit the tree trunk. "No," she replied.
"It does not matter anyway. There is nothing anyone
can do. I think I am what Gene called bleeding to
death. It would have been most welcome a few weeks
ago, but now…." She closed her eyes and gritted her
teeth, slumping against the tree. "Tell Gene Simmons
I said goodbye… and that… I—love him…." Her voice
was getting weaker. "Tell Ace Frehley too…."
Ana waited a few precious seconds hoping the strange
creature turned kindred soul would say more.
"Samantha?" she asked, moving closer.
The dragon-woman seemed to still be breathing, but
she was unconscious. She appeared to have difficulty
breathing.
Ana scrambled to her feet and looked down at
Samantha. "Tell them yourself, lady, 'cause you are
not going to die." She immediately set off in search
of Gene or Ace. Especially Gene – he was a dragon.
Something told Ana because of that, he would know
what to do. She hoped she could find someone fast,
because leaving Samantha like that alone could mean
her getting taken by the wrong people. Ana had no
choice but to leave her. She did not know what to do
and she needed to find someone who did.
** ** ** ** **
Doctor Xavier waited impatiently in the radio room of
his crippled ship. They would all pay, he vowed.
Every one of the new castaways were going to be used.
Every one of them will suffer. Especially Gene
Simmons and Peter Criss, along with Samantha and
Darkraven. His first plan was the kill the four of
them first chance he got. But quick deaths were
letting them get off easy. The four of them deserve
to suffer – long and horribly. Dr. Xavier knew what
he was going to do. He would capture them first, but
not before he had a fail-free way of holding them.
If he had to break or dismember all their limbs to
accomplish it, that's what he would do.
He wanted Gene Simmons to suffer the most, so he'd be
the last to die. Dr. X learned enough about KISS to
know the best way to hurt them the most. So the band
members will watch as their fans get experimented on,
tortured, dissected – maybe some of them will be
alive when they get dissected. Then Darkraven and
Samantha will be next. When they were no more,
Simmons and Criss will watch as the same faith befall
on the other members of KISS. Then Criss will die,
preferably by Simmons' hands. By then Simmons should
be broken beyond repair. He might keep him around a
while, make him useful. But in the end, his death
will be long and painful.
First he needed to re-supply. The board members of
the Corporation were in a meeting at that moment.
Dr. Xavier was awaiting the results of that meeting.
At long last the radio crackled to life. A dismal
non-descript male voice came through the speakers.
"You are to proceed to rendezvous point YXQ
immediately for debriefing and replenishment
requisition."
"But my ship is crippled," Xavier protested. "It
will take…"
"It will take what it takes. We will be waiting."
The transmission cut out abruptly.
He turned to the short man waiting on the other side
of the cabin. "You heard them. Let's get this
monster crawling at best speed to the designated
rendezvous point. However it takes."
He left the navigator behind as he stormed back to
his quarters, once more vowing revenge. He
considered ordering some of their female prisoners to
his cabin, then decided they might need to use them.
He contented himself to plotting what he required and
how he was going to make those four pay for costing
him to nearly lose all he gained, including his
position in the Corporation.
** ** ** ** **
Vinnie and Mark walked through the woods toward the
camp. "So word is we're all going back to our
islands," Mark told Vinnie. "At least that's what
Singer says is going to be discussed at tonight's
meeting."
Vinnie nodded quietly, hands stuffed in the pockets
of his cut-off shocking pink shorts, which at one
time was a fine pair of pants. He stopped and looked
back when he realized Mark had stopped walking.
"What's wrong?" Vinnie asked.
"You don't have an island to go back to," Mark said
softly. "I'm sorry, Vinnie."
Vinnie shook his head. "It was my choice. I'd
rather be under Simmons' rule than a pawn of that
Corporation. At least Simmons never killed in cold
blood like that bitch Angel."
"If you want, you can stay on my island," Mark
offered.
Vinnie gave Mark a twisted smile. "I might take you
up on it. If your few fans can tolerate me."
Mark let out a bitter laugh. "I have to admit it's
better being the forgotten member instead of the most
hated. But Singer also mentioned Paul and Gene are
considering something a lot of their fans won't like.
Paul thinks it's better having a more equal number of
fans per island, especially considering new
accommodations. Right now, Peter and Scarlet are
surveying the islands to see what will work best."
"So we discuss plans first among us before telling
the fans?" Vinnie ventured.
Mark nodded. "That's the main idea. I think we'll
need to plan a defense when those fans who end up
being moved from Gene's and Paul's islands revolts."
Vinnie let out a sigh. "They will too. It's always
those two. And we'll be the worst ones for them to
be stuck with."
"Sucks being us, huh?" Mark stated. "And to think at
the time Gene and Paul chose me as your replacement,
I thought it was the best thing that ever happened to
me. Now, in some ways, it was the worst."
"At least you got canned for health reasons," Vinnie
muttered, before he tripped over a fallen branch and
landed in a pile of leaves.
Mark could not help but laugh at Vinnie, who was face
first in the pile and grumbling. Vinnie turned to
his side after a few attempts to get up, which had
Mark doubled over in laughter. "Hey, give me a hand.
It's sticky and wet in this mess. I can't get a
grip." Vinnie attempted one more time, as Mark
started to applaud him. "I didn't mean that type of
hand, jackass," Vinnie fumed, as he reached out and
grabbed onto something somewhat solid in the leaves,
hoping he could use it for leverage. But instead of
the object remaining where it was, it slipped with
Vinnie's hand, causing him to crash down in the
leaves, still holding onto it. It felt sticky and
slimy. "Ewww, something smells here," he complained.
Mark started to bend over to help Vinnie as his mouth
opened to give Vinnie his opinion of what smelled
when he got a good look at what Vinnie held. He
turned away, falling to his knees and retched.
A second later, Vinnie let out a shriek, then
exclaimed, "Oh shit!" as he scrambled to his feet.
He shivered, knowing it was another sight he never
wanted to see, yet would many times in his
nightmares. "Mark," he said urgently, placing his
hands on the other guitarists shoulders. "Get a
grip. For heaven's sake, I was the one holding
that…" He shuddered
Mark pulled away from Vinnie, trembling. "Don't touch
me after holding...that…"
Vinnie pulled Mark to his feet, and start to run to
the camp, dragging Mark along with him. Easily Mark
kept the pace. "Do you think it was one of our
missing?" Mark asked, still shaken.
Vinnie didn't want to think about it. "I hope not,
because that was a park of something," Vinnie stated.
"Or someone."
"We should do something."
"We are," Vinnie replied. "Find Paul and Gene. Even
Ace if we find him first. Then I'm going to take
long soak in the water." He shivered again,
resisting the impulse to hold his hand out as far
from his body as possible.
** ** ** ** **
"So we're waiting for Peter and Scarlet to return
with their scouting report?" Ace asked Gene as they
sat off to the side of a cave opening.
Gene nodded. "Yeah. If I could find any of our
other flyers, I would send them out too. Paul said
he was taking some people to inventory what we have
to equally divide up when we start moving people
around."
"You're going to have some fans pissed off at you for
making them leave your island," Ace pointed out.
"Let them," Gene replied. "I'd rather them mad at me
with a better chance of survival. So we're waiting
for Paul and Peter. We need to hash some things out
among us first before our meeting with the rest of
the band." Gene looked around at the others nearby.
A few minutes ago he saw Krista hovering near the
opening of the cave. Now he didn't see her. He sat
up more, scanning the others, hoping to find her.
"What's wrong, Gene?" Ace asked, going on alert.
Gene looked ready to bolt.
"Krista. Where is she?"
"Inside the cave. I watched her. And she did not
leave. I'm not letting her out of my sight if at all
possible," Ace replied. "I almost lost her once."
"I know, Ace. We have to make sure she is in sight
at all times. If you can't watch her, grab someone
who can." Gene's eyes became unfocused. "Something
Dr. X said…" He shook his head in an attempt to
clear it. "Damn, I can't remember. But I have a
sense that Krista is a key somehow. It's been
fluttering around my mind since this morning, but I
can't grasp it.
"Which makes her a most likely target for another
attempt to nab," Ace said sullenly. "Damn, I just
gto her. Now I have to live in constant fear of
losing her."
"I'm sorry, Ace." Gene stood up. "Look, I'm going
to check up on the fans. I won't be far, probably in
sight until Paul and Peter…"
Gene was interrupted by Mark and Vinnie charging over
in a mad panic, nearly trampling Ace, who barely got
himself out of the way in time.
"Hey, watch it," Ace complained, getting to his feet.
Gene went to snap, but upon taking in the two
traumatized men, he asked, "What happened?"
"A…a…something…." Mark sputtered out. "Vinnie was
holding it."
"Holding what?" Ace asked, exchanging a look with
Gene, who shrugged.
"Someone," Vinnie gasped. "Or something. Part of…."
Gene grabbed onto Vinnie and shook him slightly.
"Where?" he roared, feeling the panic set in.
Vinnie's eyes open wide and nearly bulged out as he
let out a yell of pain.
Ace placed his hands over Gene's. "Gene, easy. Your
strength, remember?"
"Oh shit!" He released Vinnie. "I'm sorry. I
forgot. Where is…whatever?" Gene felt his insides
tie up in knots.
"I can't go back there," Mark croaked.
"I'm gonna be sick," Vinnie whined. "My hand, it
feels like something slimy is crawling all over it."
"Someone has to take us," Ace pointed out,
understanding what the two men were going through.
He hated to take at least one of them back. He was
not too thrilled with being one of the two they found
to break the news to. Yet it had to be done, no
matter how terrifying it could be. He opened his
mouth to say more when he heard Ana's frantic voice
in the distance.
"Gene! Ace!" she cried out, hysterical.
The four men turned to see Ana come charging toward
them from the opposite direction Vinnie and Mark had
come.
"Oh no," Mark groaned. "She found another part." He
started to gag, and Gene stepped out of his way in
case he decided to retch.
"Ana, what's wrong?" Ace asked, moving taking a step
away from the group toward Ana. The distraught woman
threw herself in Ace's arms. She looked up at him,
then over to Gene. "Samantha… she's hurt real bad.
I think she's dying."
Gene immediately thought of the Enforcers and Angel.
Ana read what went through Gene's mind from the look
on his face. "No. It's my fault… I didn't realize…
I didn't see all of her at first, and thought she was
a giant lizard ready to eat me." She pulled away
from Ace and started tugging on Gene's arm. "C'mon,
Gene. You'll know what to do. You have to…"
The knot that was Gene's insides tightened. For a
moment he was torn what to do. He hated to dump
finding out whatever Vinnie and Mark found on Ace.
But if it was someone, it was too late for them to do
anything. Meanwhile, someone still alive needed him.
He looked at Ace, trying to calm Ana before she
pulled both him and her off their feet. "Think you
can take care of them? Samantha might need… You
could end up going dragon on us helping her, you
know. Meanwhile, I'm already…."
"Go," Ace said without hesitation. "You were dragon
already. You're her best bet. I'll take care of
things here. Maybe find Singer or Bruce or someone
to lend a hand."
"Thanks," Gene said, relieved. No one had anymore
time to speak because once he allowed it, Gene found
himself being dragged in the direction Ana had come
from.
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