“It’s time for a little disorder in the court, if you get my drift!” Genblade taunted to the other guards as he jumped onto the bar separating him from the gallery, hopping down into the hall and running for the door. Grinning wildly, he placed his hand against the knob... and locked it, then broke it off.
He turned around slowly, watching as panic began to set in and the people who were too scared to move got in the way of those who were so scared they ran, the court threatening to tear itself apart even without his help. After a moment, they all stopped and stared at him, wondering what he would do next.
Genblade smiled, his tongue rolled across his lips. As he did, his own jagged teeth cut his tongue, blood oozing down his chin. He didn’t notice, just smiled wider as the coppery taste filled his mouth.
At the other side of the courtroom, Xander looked on in absolute horror. His mouth opened wide and fell slack, and his eyes felt as though they might pop out of his head. His breathing was so quick and hard that he thought he was going to pass out. It was all he could do to repress Black Womb from coming out right then and there. He couldn’t move. He could only let two words pass through his dry lips.
“Genblade’s free.”
CHAPTER NINE:
REMATCH
The words hung in the air as Genblade shifted his gaze from one frightened person to the next, taking in all of their fear and awe. He smiled grimly at all the horrified eyes which were trained on him, the pupils following even his most minute movement as he swayed back and forth. He took a deep breath through his nostrils and then sighed happily, as if he could smell the fright in the air. Blood and saliva mixed together in his mouth, mingling together to form a thick, bubbly liquid that seeped from between his lips and ran slowly down his chin before finally falling onto his jumpsuit.
“Genblade’s free.”
Xander felt his own words pass through his lips, not even realizing that he had spoken them. Every muscle in his body had locked in place, holding him in place through sheer force of instinct. He watched Genblade move one foot closer to the exit, rubbing the red rings around each of his wrists.
The two remaining guards kept their guns trained on Genblade, their hands shaking so fiercely that they probably couldn’t have squeezed the triggers even if they wanted to, Xander guessed. One kept mumbling something out of the corner of his mouth, seemingly without realizing it. Only after he started again was it recognizable as the Our Father.
Genblade ran his eyes from face to face, lingering on some as he scanned the crowd. Like a wave, each person shuddered or curled into themselves and those around them as his eyes locked with their own. More than one started to cry, if they hadn’t already. Finally, his gaze arrived on Mike and Cathy.
Cathy turned into the nape of Mike’s neck, yet her eyes still bulged and stared out at him from behind her hair.
Mike glared at him wickedly, wishing with every thought he had that Genblade would simply drop dead where he stood, but at the same time unable to control the vibrations of his lower lip.
Genblade’s smile grew mischievously. Letting out a small, happy squeal, he turned around and bent over so that he was eye-to-eye with Xander. “Well, well. The gangs almost all here,” he chuckled. “Time to get out the party favours.”
“Stop it,” Xander whispered through pursed lips, his eyes darting from Genblade to Mike and then back again. “You’re the only one who can stop this.”
“Hoho, now that’s not true,” Genblade grinned, his fingers wriggling back and forth as though he could not contain the excitement coursing through his veins. “The real killer could stop this fairly quickly, don’t you think?”
Deep inside Xander, the Womb organ nudged itself against Xander’s gut, kicking in the same way an unborn child would. Already it started pumping to the beat of his heart, racing to get its black ooze through his veins. His head felt like it was going to explode.
“I mean, think of all that’s happened here. All that’s going to happen,” Genblade laughed, standing up and spinning around, thrusting out one of his legs straight from his body. It connected solid against Xander’s chest, making him stumble back and smash his head against the judge’s bench.
Xander’s head crashed into the fragile, thin wood that cracked into splinters, gouging the flesh off the side of Xander’s face before he could pull away. Warm liquid oozed out of Xander’s head, and he brought a hand to it immediately. His fingers were soaked almost instantly, but they were thankfully red rather than deep black. As he turned back to face Genblade, his vision became dark and hazy around the corners, closing in slowly like the black circle at the end of a cartoon before returning to normal. No, he thought to himself, swallowing back hard and feeling that taste of sour limes and copper travel down his throat. Not now.
Xander staggered slightly, one hand on his stomach. To most of the people watching at the edge of their seats, it looked as though Genblade’s blow had seriously injured him.
As Mike watched in horror, he realized that the Black Womb was fighting its way up into his friend’s throat. Slowly, he tore his gaze away from
