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Chapter 18
Perfect Insanity

It was midmorning the next morning as Chas and Viking were preparing themselves to track down the whereabouts of their fellow council member, Bella. They hadn't been instructed to do so, it was even going against the wishes of Rob who sat in his chair in the Room of Judgement and contemplated thoughts with himself. Both Chas and Viking were gathering resources for the long trip ahead as neither of them knew where they were going in all honesty.
Viking had drawn out a map, earlier the previous night and started to pinpoint where Bella would run to. Both had a feeling that she had taken The Dome with her but no one was game enough to lay the pieces down in front of Rob and try to be civil with him. The Council was in disarray and it seemed like they were beginning to become strangers to one another as Ravyn hadn't voiced her opinion on the matter which was quite strange and Rob wasn't game enough to confirm the rumours that ran through the tabloid headlines like blood running through veins. 
Rob got to his feet without saying anything and begun to look for his other associate that hadn't been seen all night and just suddenly appeared in the building in the early hours of the morning. He walked through the lavished halls of The Council's headquarters, past towering vases of flowers and past precious antique mirrors that were originally Spyral's but no one was game enough to smash a mirror around this place. Superstition had overcome Rob as well along with the dreaded paranoia he found himself constantly battling in his mind. 
But he stopped suddenly in the middle of a hallway and looked at himself in the reflection of a Spyralan mirror.
What had he become?
A man of greed or a man of distinct power?
What was he?
A man or a reflection in the mirror?
He shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts, as he knew they would only lead him to eventual insanity.
He didn't know and he wasn't in a place to play more mind games within himself. It seemed like forever since the Battle for Control happened and it was a grim reminder of how he ended up here. He was no longer young and he was no longer carefree. He had the weight of the world resting firmly on his shoulders, and even that, wasn't easy to shrug off. With each passing day, Rob knew in the back of his head, that The Council wouldn't be in power for much longer and that another force would come along and overthrow them. 
But it wasn't a matter of who, it was the matter of when it would happen. Rob knew he was still well equipped to fight as he knew there were more Old World supporters out there in this world that he helped save, then any other kind of generation lingering on the cemented streets and pathways of this society.
Only madmen tell themselves this.
He tried to tell himself but the feeling of eventually becoming insane was a daunting one at the least. He convinced himself that he needed some fresh air and that being locked up in this building, day in and day out, was the main contributing factor towards his insanity-driven thoughts.
He turned around to see Viking a few feet from where he was standing. Viking wasn't dressed like the laid-back James Dean Viking, he looked like he was a character out of Indiana Jones.
"What happened to you?" asked Rob. "You look like you just came out of an Indiana Jones' movie dressed up as extra."
Viking didn't want to say anything, as he thought the only spoken words would be provoking words.
"I'm going to be quite bluntly honest with you Robert, and if you don't like my attitude, expel me from The Council then," retorted Viking. "The way you're handling Bella's disappearance is quite.....somewhat....." He found it hard to say what was really on his mind because the very thought of Rob not caring about Bella, put tears of anger in Viking's eyes. "...elated..."
"We have to remain calm about these things-"
"To the point were you're lying to the population of Old Worlders, you fought to save from the grips of Spyral?" Viking interrupted. "You've lied to the press and tried to deny Bella's disappearance and pass it off as though she's gone on a family vacation, Robert. I can't believe that this is happening Robert, Fox might've just as well died in vain alongside Mel and Mike."
Viking had just struck a nerve with Rob as Rob grabbed him by the collar of his shirt that he was wearing and pinned him against a nearby wall. Viking swallowed hard as Rob looked dangerously into his eyes.
"Fox never died in vain, no one did," Rob said through gritted teeth, as Viking withheld back from commenting on what Rob had just said to him. "How dare you say they died in vain. What's the number one rule of this House, Viking?"
"You're making out as though we're a bunch of blood-thirsty royalties," replied Viking. "It's the second time you've labeled this building a House. You're corrupt Robert." Rob bit his bottom lip and dropped Viking, letting go of his collar and stepping back. Rob looked away from Viking, as he started to roll up his sleeves. "You look like you're ready to fight me Rob. Is that what you're aiming to do?"
"While I am here, no one is fighting nobody," said a voice, as their attention was diverted to Ravyn who had just heard the commotion from her verandah. "Rob, go cool down, fighting won't get this problem resolved."
"You're always trying to be the peace keeper, aren't you?" asked Rob, as he rolled his eyes at her. He was still fuming with anger.
"I had no other choice when we were together," answered Ravyn. "You would storm out of the room just because you were too stubborn to admit that the other person was right and had a better idea. Where the hell was the man that I fell in love with before we took on Spyral and won? Ever since then you've been acting as though you're the father of Sarah and that everyone and everything abides by you just because of what's in your pants!"
"They abides by me because everyone causes a scene and without me, remember, we wouldn't have gotten this far," retorted Rob, as Viking watched on, waiting to intervene at any moment now. "And how dare you stick up for the Mud Puppet over there." Mud Puppet had become one of Rob's favourite insults of all time now. It simply meant that the person was being utilized by somebody else, as a puppet is by a puppet master and that they were stuck in mud, being unable to drag themselves out of it and resulting in having constricted movements. No one understood why it become one of Rob's favourite insults but simply had to work the insult out for themselves, which took a few seconds when one thought about the connotations.
"I'm no one's Mud Puppet, Rob!" snapped Ravyn, angrily, almost wanting to take him on in a fight but she knew she wouldn't win. The two strongest people in The Council were Viking and Rob, and even Rob managed at times to overpower Viking, even in playful fights. Instead, she just resorted to crying on the spot. She didn't hide her face nor was she ashamed to show what emotional pain Rob had inflicted on her. 
"You've done enough damage," Viking said, as everyone's attention was back on him and his tracking-styled khaki Indiana Jones outfit. "Why can't you see how much damage you've done to this Council? You're supposed to be a leader. Is this what you want the new generation of children to look up to, this kind of man who constantly fights people on every decision and makes women cry like that? Is that what you want Rob? To teach kids that emotional and physical abuse is okay?"
"I wasn't going to hurt her," growled Rob, who was sick of being targeted like a predator and like a criminal. "I'm not like that."
"Yeah, but you were going to bash the living daylights out of him," argued Ravyn, as Rob looked back at her, while Viking was still in the process of cooling down and trying to talk things through. "You're going to teach kids who lead by your example, that bashing others up is okay, male or female?"
"As opposed to wondering around the streets at times like past midnight for an example, is okay, despite the fact we don't have the same law enforcing equipment and ways as Spyral did?!" snapped Rob. "I'm telling you this for your own safety, you could've been raped."
"You're not my father to tell me what to do and what not to do," retorted Ravyn, wiping her arms with her grey top that she had woken up in. "I don't need to report to you about where I am every second of my life."
"Like hell you do!" exaggerated Rob, trying to control his anger. Because if she wasn't of the opposite gender, he would've started something more than a verbal argument with her by now.
"Like hell she doesn't!" Viking yelled back, as Chas was quickly drawn to all the yelling.
"What's happening?" asked Chas, quite innocently coming into the argument, not knowing about what the argument was about entirely. He had caught some bits and pieces of it but wasn't sure what the entire argument was about. Like Viking, Chas was dressed up in khaki and looked to Rob, like both were auditioning for a role in a Indiana Jones' movie.
"Stay out of it Chas," Rob ordered. "That's an order."
"What?" asked Chas, a bit confused. "What did I do that was so dire?"
"You know one day, we are all going to leave you on your own to deal with business, and you will have no one else around because they've all left you because you are sincerely an ass when it comes to the most simplest things," Ravyn told Rob. "And when that day comes, I won't even both wasting my breath in telling you, I told you so."
"Who was that man I saw you with last night?" asked Rob, who smugly turned around.
"No one," answered Ravyn, firmly, as she restrained herself from asking how did he know that she was with another man by the name of Jack. "No one that you need to know about. Our relationship went out the window a long time ago, and so did me telling you anything that happened in my day."
"You're going to end up like Bella, aren't you, Mud Puppet?" Rob was deliberately trying to provoke his fellow Council member and as much as she wanted to walk away from the argument altogether, she stood there, biting her lip, wanting to know what the reference to Bella was about. Everyone wanted Rob to exaggerate on his Bella reference. "We all know the real reason why Bella left, so I still don't see cause for even looking at her. It's obvious that she's ran off to the other side. Probably joining forces with the remaining New Worlders to overthrow us all. Even her true friends that she had here with The Council, don't matter. You all don't matter to her, so you are all better off without her I say."
That was the final straw of insults that Viking could take. He didn't know if Rob knew how Viking felt about Bella, but that didn't stop him. It happened so suddenly. A fist was raised at one end, and met a jaw at the other.
Rob stumbled back, as Chas held Viking to restrain him, as it was obvious that Viking was probably going to literally kill Rob for that comment about Bella. Rob continued to stumble back into a ceramic table that held in place a mirror. Blood gushed out of his mouth and dripped into his hands and he fell backwards and narrowly missed hitting a leg of the ceramic table and hit the back of his head on the edge of the table. The table created another wound and everyone begged their lucky stars for him to get knocked out so they could get rid of him, but he didn't. Everyone was disappointed, even Viking, as Chas continued to hold him back and utter words of relief to Viking.
But those words weren't working and Viking found himself getting more heated, the more Chas talked to him.
Not even Ravyn could find it in her to go to Rob's aid after what he had said to her. She just stood there, shaking her head, as Rob's world went blurry.
He had to get back up and fight.
He had to defend himself.
Everybody else had gone insane and Rob felt like he was the only person to set them straight.
"How did that feel?" asked Viking, ignoring Chas who desperately tried to talk Viking out of continuing to fight Rob. Both Chas and Viking knew that Rob was the strongest one out of the men in The Council and that Viking would have no place in The Council if Rob was to ever recover. "Did it feel like you deserved it?"
"You know whatever fate Bella meets, I hope she gets the worst one," Rob knew he was provoking Viking and was taking great fun in doing so. He slowly got to his feet without aid and looked around, trying to make the blurriness in his eyes go away. He tried to refocus on Viking, who was starting to slowly cool off now. "The only person that deserved to be here today was me."
"You're saying that Mel died in vain?" asked Chas, as he slowly turned around and faced Rob. "You're saying that Mike died in vain and that even Fox died in vain? Is that what you're getting at?" Rob had started on Chas, for not even little weedy Chas could have the guts to take on Rob as Rob would just snap his neck in half like he would do to a wishbone. Rob smiled as Chas glared at him in flashing visions of rage. "What are you saying Rob?"
"Bella's going to die in vain as well," added Rob.
"Have you gone insane?" asked Chas, trying to comprehend what was being said, especially since it was a rule amongst the group not to bring up old wounds. Chas looked from Rob to Ravyn for answers. "Has he gone insane?"
"He's been there for a while sweetheart if you haven't noticed," answered Ravyn, with a small and sweet smile upon her face.
"Ah, poor little rich girl," smiled Rob, as it was plain to see to any onlooker that he had gone mad with power. And only a lot of it, could bring a man like him down to such a level. Ravyn swallowed hard as he knew he was about to start on her, again. "Best friends with a powerful woman, only to kill her. Tell me, how does betraying Spyral in all it's might, feel like?"
"Says the person that thinks that the husband did it not her?" asked Chas, as Rob took no notice of what Chas was saying.
"What's the rule about old wounds, Rob?" asked Ravyn, sounding a bit nervous about the topic. She was trying her best not sound too hypocritical but she had a feeling Rob was going to eventually do this. "It was simple, we simply don't bring it up. Not everyone is proud of their history. Not everybody lived a carefree life back in the Old World like you Rob."
"And you accuse me of not telling people things, tell us how you did it, Rachel, tell us how you've managed to backstab me all through these years, knowing that you achieved a greater feat than anyone else has," Rob rambled on within his own insanity. It had been a while since anyone in The Council had called her by her real name and not the name she had stolen that was used for her most common identity. She shook her head as she knew Rob was trying to make out that killing Felicity was a greater achievement than getting where they were today.
"I never said I was proud of that," she replied back, as tears of anger rolled back in.
"Do you feel proud that you also achieved a great feat, this is, defeating Spyral?" asked Viking, as Rob slowly moved his gaze back over to Viking. Chas was still coming to terms about Rob's erratic and bizarre behaviour. "Even if Felicity had lived, we most probably would've ended up right here and right now at this precise time, where we are arguing stupidly in a hallway."
"So I repeat, again, Rachel," said Rob as he had deliberately started to call Ravyn by her real name, in which only one person had done so before. She held her anger back as they met eyes again. "Who was that man you were with?"
"Probably someone who's better at relationships then you'll ever be," answered Ravyn, softly. "Our relationship failed because of this sort of behaviour. What did you expect me to do...just put up with it? If there was one thing that Project Tourniquet taught me, it was to stand up for myself. And for the list of people who didn't die in vain as well, before you went all lunatic on us, you forgot to mention someone. My sister."
"Who?" asked Rob.
By now, the front of Rob's shirt was covered in his own wet red blood. He now looked like he was wearing a wet red shirt instead of a dry white one like he had been originally wearing. Chas couldn't help but to make a joke to himself about how Rob and Count Dracula looked like they were related, physically.
"Joanna, Robert!" snapped Ravyn. "Don't you remember? She was the person that convinced me that I was sane despite the fact I thought the whole world was crumbling because I couldn't remember events! Spyral killed her and you haven't got the guts to even recognise her death. For the record, she didn't die in vain. Shows how much you apparently still care for me."
"But I do..." Rob started but realised something in the process. "But I don't. Who was that man?" Rob wanted to know the answer dearly and he was almost at breaking point. "I'll leave you alone if you just tell me."
"I reiterate my previous point, I don't have to answer to you," she replied smoothly. "I'm leaving. I've had enough. I don't want to be part of tyrannical state and I certainly don't want to hang around a madman! Your death will be vain, I can guarantee that!" She turned her back on him for that one split second, but it was enough to break Rob's rope that represented his mentality. He put one hand on her shoulder, turned her around with that one hand, and before she could say anything in retaliation to him touching her, the other hand went flying and smacked her across the mouth. The force was that much that t throw her to the ground, and it was enough to draw blood. Chas and Viking acted quickly, one went for Rob to restrain him and the other went to Ravyn to see if she was okay, and to restrain her as well.
She sat up as she could feel her own blood dripping onto the floor from the corner of her mouth. Viking asked her quietly if she was okay but she knew she wasn't and shook her head.
But while Chas was busy trying to restrain Rob, Rob had broken free of Chas' weak grip and went for another attack on Ravyn. Viking was quick to react, getting to his feet, driven by pure adrenaline and instinct, he tried to stop Rob, as he knew Rob was back to do more damage. However, Rob was too strong for him this time.
Rob grabbed Viking by his collar and threw him against the wall. If this was an Old World movie, Rob would've thrown him hard enough for the tiles to break and shatter into a million pieces, but it only rendered Viking unconscience. While Chas was still trying to figure out what was happening as he got back to his feet, he saw Viking with his head in a pool of his own blood next to the wall which had a small circle of broken tiles near his head and then before he could even fathom what was gong on, he saw Rob going back to Ravyn who hadn't managed to get to her feet, but was sliding backwards on the table.
"God damn Rob you maniac," Chas found himself saying. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size, you great hunk of junk?" Chas was trying to see if Rob would react to any of his taunts, like he had seen on TV and the Incredible Hulk. Chas was the only person speaking, other than hearing Ravyn's whimpering in the background. Chas had to act quick, he needed an ultimate distraction.
He spotted a vase on top of the table that Rob had hit the back of his head on previously. Chas had never done this to a person before, he had only seen it be done in the movies and wasn't quite sure that this technique would work; but Chas was willing to take chances, as always. He picked up the vase to realise that the ceramic top was detachable. He then hurriedly cleared the table as he knew he didn't have much time to lose, breaking everything in sight and finally picking up the detachable ceramic top.
It was bulky and it was heavy and he wasn't sure how he was going to work this plan.
"What is his name?" Rob repeated, looking like he was going to kill her with his bare hands. 
"Who?" asked Ravyn, as she looked beyond Rob and saw Chas formulating a plot. She was deliberately trying to mess with him and gain time for she knew she probably didn't have much longer to live if Chas wasn't quick. 
"That man, I saw you walking with and acting like a cheap whore with last night," answered Rob. He didn't need to possess a weapon to kill someone. He had killed someone with his bare hands once and he wasn't going to need a weapon this time around. It was quite obvious by now that Rob had no intentions of letting Ravyn live, even if she did or didn't tell him about Jack.
"Jack, his name is," answered Ravyn as she had concluded that she may as well just die telling the truth that way she wouldn't have to be buried with a burden.
"And do you love Jack, Rachel?" asked Rob, again, not hesitating to use her real name, once again. She wasn't sure if this was a question she should answer honestly, as she knew it might be the death of her if she did. "Tell me! Do you or don't you love Jack, Rachel?"
"I suppose," answered Ravyn, not sure what to tell him.
"And do you want to have a family with Jack and marry him, Rachel?" asked Rob.
"Rob, you're insane," she found herself repeating.
"Answer my damn question!" yelled Rob. "Do you want to have a nice little family with him, a few kids perhaps, and a family pet, and do you want to say I Do to Jack, Rachel?" She really didn't want to answer that question, again, she thought she was just giving him more fuel to kill her, and that was without the insanity part included. She shrugged. "I should meet this Jack."
"I don't think that's a wise idea," suggested Ravyn. She just wanted Chas to hurry up, she couldn't stall him much longer. "If you end up killing me right here right now, I think you're going to be on his death wishlist."
"And what makes you think that I'll kill you right here and right now?" asked Rob.
"Perhaps, the fact that I think you've just killed Viking," answered Ravyn. "You know, these little indications do tend to give you away, just a tiny bit and the fact that you look like you want to kill me."
"What if I kill Chas instead?" asked Rob. "Would that make you happier?" Ravyn shook her head. "You know, it would make me happier in a way." 
And that was just that exact precise moment where Chas fully unleashed his power over Rob, with the aid of dismantled ceramic table top. All they heard when the table top had met the top of Rob's head was a large crack and he fell to the floor without another word said. Chas quickly raced over to Ravyn and pulled her away from Rob. But before he could do so, he had to make sure of something.
"I have to make sure he's dead," Chas told Ravyn, as Chas hurried to put Ravyn in a nearby corner. "You stay here. Can't risk Rob surviving that blow."
"What about Viking?" asked Ravyn. "Is he dead?"
"I don't know, I didn't check to be honest," answered Chas. "I was too busy trying to save you from the Incredible Psychopath." 
"Then you check Rob, I'll check Viking," answered Ravyn.
"No, you stay here," Chas argued. "Can't have you being hurt, again." Then Ravyn noticed something. Chas was the only person that came out of that insane rampage of Rob's without a trickle of blood.
"You know, I can defend myself, just not against Rob," explained Ravyn. 
Chas thought this was stupid arguing over something so small. He gave in and nodded as she smiled and parted their ways.
Chas was very hesitate around the limp corpse of Rob's, afraid that he had survived the attack. He had watched too many horror movies in his life and seen corpses turn into zombies and come back to life as the undead. Of course, that was Chas' own fault for staying up so late and deliberately watching them with the lights off. He knelt down beside Rob and placed two fingers on his wrists. Even looking into his blank and open eyes, scared the daylights out of Chas. No heartbeat. But those eyes....
"Viking's still alive," Ravyn said, as Chas nearly hit the roof as her voice penetrated his own reality. Chas looked up to see Ravyn and Viking's head in her lap. She was covered in not only her own blood, but in Viking's as well. She had his head in her lap, holding him up, trying to help him breathe. "What about Rob? Please tell me..."
"He's dead," replied Chas, as he closed Rob's eyes with two of his fingers and then stood up. Again, too many horror movies. He was expecting Rob to suddenly come back to life and drag him down by his feet. Chas really regretted watching horror movies now.
"We need to get Viking to the hospital or he's going to die," begged Ravyn. She was more thinking about Bella and him than anyone right now. And as soon as she said that, Viking started to choke and started to cough up his own own blood.
"I really hate to say this, but I think Viking's already screwed," Chas tried to put it to her as bluntly as possible, as Chas raced over to Viking.
"What do you mean?" asked Ravyn. "He can still be saved." Chas ripped open his shirt and tried to make his breathing easier for him. Viking still continued to choke. "What the hell is happening here Chas?" 
"I'm no doctor, but with such force as he was thrown into the wall, he's hemorrhaging badly, most probably in his brain and his lungs," answered Chas. "That's why he's choking on his blood, there's blood in his lungs. He's not going to make it, even if we get him to the hospital now."
"Chas, I know you mean well, but Viking's saved our lives a number of times, it's the least that we can do for him," replied Ravyn. "Please, think of Bella also." The coughing and choking became more frequent so did that amount of blood he was starting to cough up. "He's going to die for real, in my arms, I don't want that, especially with this man. Please Chas."

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