Judgement (The Twelve) (23 page)

Heartless barked out a short laugh, “I can think of hundreds of times when we needed
Judgment
!”

Chris’s face grew serious
; his
voice took on
that
deep
commanding
tone,
Judgement coming to the front
,”
You are the Twelve, you where re-born
to fight
super natural
evil wherever it
appears
. The Creator realised early on that his
nemesis
was running free, creating evil
here
on Earth.
Your main
function is
to
fight evil spawned
from
hell
. But you already know that.”

Priest nodded
appearing slightly agitated,
“
Then tell us something we don’t know
.”

There was much muttering from the others, with the exception of
Anvil
, “What
about you
?” He asked quietly.

Judgment
stared back, “
For Judgement to appear. A certain host must be made available to me
.
This youth is that host and you are responsible
Anvil.”

Judgement
looked at
him
,
“
Th
e
truce that Edge called all those years ago. It
was to tell you he was your son.
”

A
nvil could only nod, whilst the others just gaped in shock.

Judgment
continued in Judgements voice, “You lied to Huntress. You’re horse didn’t go lame. You met a girl and bedded her at an Inn.”

Anvil walked over to an armchair, he threw his weapon to the floor, which cracked the concrete and collapsed onto the seat. For several minutes he said nothing as everyone waited for him to answer. Finally he looked across towards Chris and the others.

“A long time ago, I met this woman. She was ill, dying really. It happened when
I had only recruited Priest, Speed and Slash. Thanks to a vision from Priest, I
was out on my own looking for a poacher who was to be hung.”

Anvil couldn’t meet Huntresses eyes and stared at the floor, “My horse didn’t go lame Huntress. I was busy helping this woman. She was starving, I found her collapsed in the middle of the road. It was impossible for me to ignore her. I took her to an inn and rented a room. I fed her and cared for her until she had sufficiently recovered to be left on her own. That took
three
days out of my search for you. On the day I left, she rewarded me in the way that men like.
I was weak and
found I couldn’t help myself and took advantage of her. It wasn’t until a century later that I found out from Edge, I was his father.”

Huntress moved over to sit down on the arm rest next to him, “I don’t blame you Anvil
. You saved the woman’s life
and my death was foretold
but how did Edge know?”

“His mother gave him a description of me when he was full grown. Edge stayed with his mother until she dies at the age of forty, which wasn’t a bad age in those days. I’d left her money, so he wasn’t short of a penny or two and went in search of his father. It was more like a quest, he told me years later.”

Heartless added sarcastically, “This son of yours? He’s the same shit faced evil monster that we’ve all come to love and respect?”

Anvil gave him a hard look that said many things, one was he’d overstepped the mark, “All said and done he is my son.”

Priest asked, “How did he go over to The Dark?”

Anvil looked crestfallen, “Although he
’s
the
ir
Leader. He wasn’t the first. Shadow found him f
irst. He was an intended target, ready for killing
but at the last minute as he sank his fangs into
Edges
neck, he suddenly realised
from the blood, just
who he was, blood of my blood. How he knew I have no idea but instead of killing him, he showed him the power of The Dark. Remember Edge was a bitter young man and hated me for abandoning him and his mother. It was easy for Shadow to bring him over to The Dark. Shadow finished the job and Edge was re-born
. Over the years his power and strength grew until he challenged Shadow for leadership and won.”

Bulls Eye whistled, “How did he beat Shadow?”

Anvil took a deep breath, “Shadow had a human form in those days. Edge
almost killed him in a duel but at the last second Shadow begged for his life. Edge made him swear allegiance to him as leader, which Shadow did and on a whim, Edge removed his earthly body and made him what he is today
.”

Patch looked confused, “Chris you said Anvil is the reason you’ve arrived. Is it to kill Edge?”

Chris
,
who had been speaking as Judgement, changed back to Chris, “
I was born sixteen years ago and abandoned
. I was
adopted by my step father and you all know how that turned out.”

Chris turned to look directly at
Anvil
,
“What I’ve just
been told by Judgement
is that I am your son as well.”

Anvil
had gone ashen
,
“It can’t be!” He exclaimed.

Priests eyes suddenly went very wide, “That’s what it meant.”

He strode forward to stand in front of
Anvil
, the ground shook as he moved.”  Years ago
during a Zeppelin attack on London,
I
was buried under rubble for
twelve
hours until
Anvil
and some of you dug me out. During that time I
had
one of my
prophecies
. I dream
t
whilst unconscious
that two sons would meet and the fate of
our lives
would rest on the outcome. I had no idea what it meant because I’d already
had a prophecy hundreds of years prior to that one when I was told
that
Judgement
shall be the one to decide our fate.
I
felt compelled to tell you of the first prophecy but not the second. Not until now that is.
”

Anvil
was looking frantic, “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

Priest stepped away to face Chris, “
You’re here to balance things aren’t you
, with
Edge on one side and you on the other. The Chosen One isn’t your target
,
it’s Edge.”

Chris
spoke in
that deep booming god like voice
again
, “
Correct
!
I have arrived to de
s
troy the evil in Edge
and bring him over to our side.
”

That bought dozens of expletives from the others as well as numerous questions. Chris ignored them all and approached his father.
H
is voice mellowed, “
Anvil
,
what do you know
about my brother and my mother
?”

Anvil was remembering something long ago
, “
Let me go back awhile first. I
found Slash
in the heat of
battle in Egypt
during the reign of Amenhotep III”

Slash cut in, “That was one hell of a battle. You where there for me remember? I’d just lost my arm and was dying.”

Anvil
nodded, “I found you underneath a chariot. And
...”

It was Speed’s turn to cut in, “Hang on who the heck’s this Amen hoppy
fellow
?”

Anvil
was getting visibly agitated, “Amenhotep III. He was the grandfather of Tutankhamen, did a better job than the boy king. Anyhow I digress. I had just found Slash who was on his last breath before his re-birth, when a young man actually managed to stab me in the upper right arm with a spear. I should have heard him coming but didn’t. I recovered and struck him a blow with that.”

He indicated his
Hammer
, “
The youth like Slash
,
was a mercenary heathen.
With his dying breath he
managed to sink his teeth into my shoulder
and neck
, tearing away a chunk of flesh.
I wa
s
bleeding badly from a wound inflicted by a vicious
young man I’d just killed
, but I still managed to help Slash to be re-born.
I wasn’t to know that my blood caused a side effect that day
.”

Slash slapped his head remembering something, “That’s where I’ve seen Shadow before! He was the young warrior you killed that
day
. I wasn’t the only one re-born!”

Anvil nodded, “I saw both of you die and your re-birth. I was only there for you and didn’t know
about
Shadow.
He was my enemy in life and my enemy in death. He
must have
fled the field of battle.
He was the Devils creation to equal me and my own. Up until that time I had fought many evil creatures but never a Shade. They only started to appear a year later and that’s when we came to know
of the existence of
The Dark.
”

Priest snapped
his fingers
, “
So when he bit Edge, he recognised the taste of your blood
as his
and that’s how he knew he was the flesh of your flesh.”