There was a hiss of indrawn breath over the speakers, and a male voice
replied, "Twister? Who might that be?"
"No games, Darren. I know what you are, and where you're from. And I
won't let you stop me either."
Right about then, things got worse. Much worse.
At the base of the tower, a small contingent of bodyguards emerged,
surrounding a single man. One of the guards lifted a portable loudspeaker.
"I'm glad to see you here," said Quincy. "I was afraid you might not have
received the message. Are you willing to discuss arrangements to transfer
your data on teleportation technology to the Genom corporation?"
"When hell freezes over, you waste of skin! petaQ jay' Ha'DlbaH!"
"A pity," Quincy sighed melodramaticly. He nodded to the Sabers. "Take
care of this problem for me, won't you? I'll speak with him again after
you've disarmed him. Be assured, you'll be well paid." He turned to leave,
and the left arm of the mech snapped up.
"Not this time, monster!!" Paired lasers fired, striking Quincy in the
back. The results surprised neither the Crystal Knight, nor the Knight
Sabers. Lying on the ground, smoking and damaged, stripped of the organic
skin that had camoflagued it, was an android. "Nooooooooo!"
"You didn't ..#SKRRT#.. expect me to be ..#BZZZT#.. that foolish, did
you, boy? #ZAKK# Perhaps my offer of ..#BRZZ#.. employment was ..#ZZZT#..
premature. You are rather.. imma..#SPZAK#.. immature, emotionally. We'll
meet again. After you have ..#BRZZT# outgrown these ridiculous ideas of
justice and fair play." Then the android exploded.
"DAMN YOU, QUINCY!!" This time he lashed out with the heavy weapons,
vaporizing the metal carcass, and the boomer bodyguards along with it.
"That's the way you want it, FINE! I'm going to yank your company out of
Japan like a rotten tooth!"
"We can't allow you do do that. Don't force us to stop you," responded
Sylia.
"Don't even try, Sylia. I won't hurt you, but I'm not about to surrender,
either." The Chameleon turned away from her and fired the PPC repeatedly at
the top of the tower, blowing away large chunks of the building. "No one
owns me. Do you hear me, Quincy? Damn you, DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO ONE OWNS ME!
NO ONE!"
The Knight Sabers opened fire at him, then. Autocannons, railguns,
lasers, and a barrage of the Crystal Knight's C-spheres struck him
simultaneously. He staggered for a moment, the sheer firepower surprising
him.
The surprise was returned when the five noticed that aside from some
minor cosmetic damage, the Mech's armor was holding up astonishingly well.
He caught himself with an arm against the tower, and looked down. "Dammit,
Sylia, WHY? Genom owes me. They owe _you_, they owe Twister! Hell, they owe
nearly everyone! This is payback! It's justice! They _deserve_ it!"
*I don't know what he used for armor on that thing,* thought Twister,
*but it can't stand up to a diamond blade with a mono-molecular edge!* He
launched himself from the ground, heading for the arm holding the particle
cannon. The blade did cut through the thick armor, but reluctantly. *What in
the world is this stuff made of?! It's thicker than my blade is long.* Then
a large arm swatted at him.
Down below, the Sabers were directing their fire at the legs of the mech,
in the hope that if they could drop it, they would gain the upper hand. They
poured on the fire, trying to cripple the machine. A foot swept them aside,
knocking them across the plaza, and slamming them painfully into a nearby
building.
"I asked you to _stop_, dammit! I don't want to hurt you!"
"Then surrender. We can't let you do this." There was a pause. "And how
did you discover who we are? Have we met before?"
A tired and extremely frustrated laugh answered her. "Fair is fair, Saber
Prime. You still owe me an additional 15,000 yen shipping and handling for
that copy of Ptolemy's _Life of Alexander the Great_, Sylia. Unfortunately,
the copy of Aeschlylus's _The Myrmidons_ that you ordered was destroyed when
that bastard Quincy TORCHED MY SHOP!!"
"Mister Edwards?"
"Just Edward, actually. Anthony Edwards was a psuedonym." There was a
moment of silence at the other end. "You don't seem very surprised, Sylia.
Did I give myself away, somehow?" He laughed sourly. "I suppose I should
have expected it, given your natural genius. How long have you known?"
"I didn't. I had my suspicions, however. Your reaction to my use of the
traditional phrase that ended a batchall was a major clue. As was the
identification card in your appartment."
"My friend _told_ me keeping that in my appartment was a mistake. It
seems she was right. But I couldn't bring myself to leave it behind. It was
one of the few mementoes I truly cherish." The giant 'mech braced itself.
"I'm not going to leave without Quincy, Sylia. Let's end this."
Twister looked at the Sabers, and all five nodded. The battle was
rejoined.
/*
**
*/
* * *
Up in low earth orbit, Minerva was going quietly crazy, trying to scan
Genom Plaza. Between Twister's psychic powers, and Ed's unnatural and
unintentional bending of the laws of probability, things were happening in
the plaza that had to be seen to be believed. Quantum physicists would have
cheerfully murdered their own families in return for a chance to observe
them. Reality fluxed with every micro-second, and nothing was quite what it
was supposed to be. She watched in awe as a stray bolt from Sylia's lasers
struck a vending machine inside the tower. The machine proceeded to dump the
spare change it carried onto the floor. To her amazement, every single coin
landed heads-up and the soft drink cans spilling from it lined up neatly in
rows, stacked according to flavor. Even _she_ didn't want to think about the
odds of that happening naturally, and she had built-in floating point
hardware!
Finally, in an act of frustration, she simply ceased all analysis, and
dumped the sensor input to recorders for later examination. Not that she
felt that it would do any good. It just made her feel better, making the
attempt.
* * *
"I've had a bad hair day. A bad shop-been-blown-up day. A bad
brother-been-murdered-and-my-father-thinks-I'm-scum day. So...
could you please get to the point?"
- Jack Knight
/*
** <more stuff>
*/
Twister gathered together as much Mindfire as he thought would be safe,
and hurled it at the battlemech. He didn't want to kill Ed, but he was
determined to bring the 'Mech to a halt. Striking dead center, the Mindfire
chewed away at the armor, burrowing deeply into the center torso.
Twister's next move was no suprise to the Knight Sabers. "Cue protector
dragon! Charcoal, AWAKEN!" At this, a small mushroom-shaped puff of smoke
appeared in the air some distance behind Twister. It dissipated quickly,
leaving a small dragon-like creature, which made a bee-line for its owner.
The 'Mech's confused battlecomputer bleeped at Ed, signifying another
potential enemy. He risked a brief glance at the viewscreen, and paled at
what he saw. _Oh, SHIT! Charcoal! Great, just what I need._
Charcoal moved incredibly fast for such a small creature, landing on the
Crystal Knight's armoured shoulder. "Charcoal, take that DOWN!" Charcoal's
tail twiched slightly, and it chirped cheerfully. _Boomers,_ it thought as
it took off. _Yummy._
It headed straight towards the 'Mech's cockpit. Ed knew _exactly_ what
Charcoal could do, and it didn't disappoint him. As it flew towards him, it
began to grow.
And GROW.
And _GROW_. Until it was at least forty feet long, and about the same
wingspan. Ed watched, fascinated, as it rapidly gained speed and altitude,
heading straight for his 'Mech.
The firedrake stooped like a hawk and hit the 'Mech dead center, tearing
through the weak spot in its armor created by Twister's Mindfire, and
knocking the machine to its knees. It emerged through the other side of the
mecha, leaving behind a large, ragged hole.
"_THAT_ should stop it," said Twister, smirking. The smirk quickly
disappeared, however.
Everyone froze as a synthetic voice began to loudly announce, "WARNING!
WARNING! FUSION REACTOR INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. FUSION CONTAINMENT AT 35% OF
NOMINAL AND DROPPING. MAGNETIC FUSION CONTAINMENT FAILURE IMMINENT. EVACUATE
AREA IMMEDIATELY. REPEAT, EVACUATE AREA IMMEDIATELY."
Inside the Chameleon, Ed swore as sirens howled and swept his eyes across
the status panel. Charcoal, knowingly or not, had taken out most of the
engine shielding when he'd rammed the 'Mech. *NO! It's gonna blow, and there
isn't a damn thing I can do to stop it!*
{Boss! Punch out! Punch Out!}
{Not now, baby.. I'm busy. Talk to you later.} He shunted her frantic
pleas to the back of his mind as he desperately tried to dump the reactor
core. *Shit. Isn't gonna work. Damn dragon of Twister's couldn't have done
more damage if it tried. Core ejection system's off-line big time.*
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 120 SECONDS."
*Fuck. Damper plates are jammed. Jump jets are dead, too. Gotta try..*
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 90 SECONDS."
{Boss!!} Minerva wailed.
*Can't let this happen. Not again. No more innocent blood on my hands.*
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 60 SECONDS."
{Can't leave this one, baby..} he muttered over the link. {Not this time.
Too many good people would fry. If I screw the pooch on this one, love, take
care of yourself. Promise me.}
{Nooooo! Punch out! Please!}
{Too late, baby. Promise me!}
She sobbed. {I.. promise.}
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 30 SECONDS."
*I did it once before by accident.. Can I do it again by design? Guess
I'm gonna find out.*
He shut down the link, cutting Minerva off abruptly. *Don't want you to
suffer, baby. Here goes nothing..*
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 10 SECONDS."
"This is probably going to leave a mark..."
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 5 SECONDS."
"4...."
"3..."
"2.."
*I love you, Ailuro..*
"1."
There was a bright light...
* * *
Three minutes earlier...
"WARNING! WARNING! FUSION REACTOR INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. FUSION
CONTAINMENT AT 35% OF NOMINAL AND DROPPING. MAGNETIC FUSION CONTAINMENT
FAILURE IMMINENT. EVACUATE AREA IMMEDIATELY. REPEAT, EVACUATE AREA
IMMEDIATELY."
The Sabers and the Crystal Knight froze at the horrid words blaring from
the external speakers on the war machine facing them, and Priss flashed back
to another day, when she'd been faced with the price of Sylvie's life as the
cost of saving Mega-Tokyo from a 0.5 megaton neutron bomb.
"FUCK! What can we do now?!"
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 120 SECONDS."
"It's not a bomb, this time.." said Sylia quietly. "Unless Edward can
stabilize his engine shielding, it will explode. There is nothing further we
can do."
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 90 SECONDS."
Twister's voice interrupted. "But there might be something Darlene can
do, Saber Prime." He vanished, and brief seconds later, his place was taken
by Darlene. She began to chant under her breath, and a lambent purple circle
sprang up from the ground to enclose the damaged battlemech. "You'd better
bail.." she ground out. "I don't.. know if.. I can.. hold this.."
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 60 SECONDS."
"Why?" asked Linna calmly. "How far could we possibly get?"
The circle began to extend itself upward, slowly forming inward curving
walls. A dome began to take shape. *Too slow! Too slow!* was Darlene's
agonized thought. *I have to close it!*
"WARNING. WARNING. REACTOR BREACH IN 30 SECONDS."
She stopped listening to the countdown and poured all the energy she had
into closing the dome of purple light. She gave it everything she had. In
the end, to her vast surprise, she was almost successful.
* * *
"And with the power of conviction/There is no sacrifice."
- Pat Benetar, _Invincible_
The universe was bright light and bitter pain.
*Where am I? WHY am I?*
-You are where you were once before.-
*I know you, don't I.*
-That you do, grandson.-
*Coyote?*
-I'm pleased that you remember me.-
*Hmmm. I thought I couldn't die. But if I'm here.. is this hell? And if
it is.. why's it so bloody bright? The pain fits, but I always had hell
figured for a dark and forboding kind of place, you know? And you are the
_last_ being I'd expect to meet there.*
-Come now, boy. Think. This isn't hell, grandson. If you are speaking
with me now, then obviously you didn't die, did you? You tried to do
something, and you took a step beyond. Quite a _few_ steps beyond, actually.
The trick, youngster, is that we are trying to overcome our limitations in
order, patiently, gradually. We don't tackle the bare-handed extinguishing
of runaway fusion reactors until a little later in the program.-
*Oh.*
-What you did manage to do was to change your level of consciousness
rather abruptly. Now it's your choice. You've come a very long way in a very
short time, and this time you did it by deliberate choice. You can stay here
and learn on this level -- which is quite a bit higher than the one you
left, by the way -- or you can go back and return to your previous course.-
*That would mean leaving my friends, wouldn't it? And more important,
leaving the people to Mega-Tokyo to suffer from my shameful behavior.*
-Yes, it would.-
*If I return, would I be able to stop the reactor from devastating the
city?*
-THAT would depend on how much courage and strength of will you bring to
the task, grandson.-
*Ayuh. Figures. In the final analysis, it isn't even a choice. Will we
meet again, Coyote?*
-We will. And ... -
*And what?*
-You do an old trickster proud, boy. Very proud indeed.-
*I didn't do it for _you_, old one. I do what I must. And I do what I
_am_. Sometime again... grandfather.*
-Good. Now, remember what we were saying about one's body being nothing
more than thought itself....?-
* * *
The Knight Sabers could see the armor around the reactor mounted in the
Battlemech's chest melting away like ice on a hot summer sidewalk, as
Darlene's shielding spell rose above it. But before that shield had a chance
to close, the reactor failed.
The 'mech vaporized as a ball of brilliant, white-hot plasma swept out
from the magnetic fields that had held it constrained seconds ago. There was
no time for action, no time for thought. The five people and one dragon left
in the plaza stood their ground as the fireball expanded.
Then it stopped.
"What the _HELL_?!" goggled Priss. She couldn't believe what she was
seeing. A glowing ball of seething nuclear hellfire, hovering in mid-air,
that had stopped just short of the shimmering purple spell Darlene had cast.
A voice she could barely recognize as Linna's croaked, "I hope I'm insane,
because if I'm actually seeing what I _think_ I'm seeing, the world has gone
mad."
Sylia spoke up then. "None of us are mad. We're witnessing something to
which the rules of nature as we know them simply do not apply. I'd suggest
that you finish closing your spell, Darlene, and then.. then we wait."
"How.. how can you take this so calmly, Sylia?" got out Nene.
"There's no other way to take it, Nene. If that explosion hadn't suddenly
stopped in mid-air, we'd all be dead by now. With the possible exception of
Darlene, there is very little any of us can do to affect the outcome of
this. So we wait."
"For how long?"
The white armor didn't move. "For as long as need be, Priss. For as long
as it takes."
* * *
Nearly fifteen minutes has passed, and the tension was palpable. Then
Nene pointed something out. "Sylia? It's getting smaller!"
"Are you certain?"
"I am now. It's shrank by nearly ten centimeters in the past ten minutes.
And it's speeding up, as well. If it keeps up.. it should be visible to the
naked eyes in seconds... There!"
All eyes turned towards the fireball. Even through filters, it was
difficult to look at directly, but Nene was right. It _was_ beginning to
diminish appreciably. The rate of shrinkage was increasing.
Suddenly, it collapsed inward, and dwindled to less than two meters
across. Darlene cautiously began to move her spell walls closer to it, and
cast a second spell to cool the molten pavement this action revealed. Then
the globe dropped to the ground, burning a second, smaller crater in the
naked rock the initial blast had bared.
The brilliant light began to fade, and a human figure could be seen in
the center of the sphere. The area inside cooled further, and Darlene
cautiously began to lower her spell shields. She blinked, and looked closer.
"I don't believe it.. He's still alive. He should have been toast in there.
For that matter, he should have been ash and gone. Just what the hell is
going on here?"
A groan answered her from the crater. "Oooooooo... goddess, what a
hangover. I haven't felt like this since that drinking contest in Hamburg
thirty years ago." The figure, still glowing, tried to struggle to its feet.
It stumbled and fell several times before it was able to remain upright.
"What happened? I.." He looked at them. "Oh, shit. I remember. The reactor
blew." He looked around. "It.. it didn't blow?"
"It blew," said Sylia quietly. "But then it stopped in mid-explosion. Did
you do that?"
"I.. I don't know. Maybe, I think." He looked at the others. "Fucked up
again, didn't I."
Priss strode forward. "Yeah, you fucked up, all right. And now you're
going to pay for it." Her railgun was aimed at his head. "You aren't
intangible now, buddy, and you aren't hiding inside a bookstore."
Ed wasn't paying any attention to Priss, which merely enraged her
further. He stared at the fading glow surrounding his hands. "I did it," he
whispered. "I did it. I held it in. All of it."
An infuriated Priss was visibly shaking with anger as Ed ignored her.
Before anyone realized what she was doing, she fired a spike at the ground
in front of Ed.
He looked down at it, then switched his gaze to Sylia. "Why?"
They all knew what he was asking. Sylia looked at him levelly. "If
protecting my enemies is the cost of protecting the innocent, then so be
it."
"Something I should have remembered before I even stepped into the
cockpit.." he whispered. He looked around at the damage, and clenched his
fists. "I was in the wrong, but it doesn't end here. For me, it can never
end. Sometime again, Knight Sabers."
Priss opened fire, but it was too late. His form shimmered, then faded
away to nothing. The railgun bolts simply struck the building that had been
behind him. She dropped to her knees, pounding the pavement with armored
fists in her frustration. "That's TWICE, dammit! There _isn't_ going to be a
third!!"
Nene sounded the alert. "Sylia, we've got ADPolice moving in rapidly, and
Army units are also headed this way. We'd better leave while we still can."
Darlene nodded, and a purple flash engulfed all five. It faded, leaving
behind an empty plaza littered with boomer wreckage.
* * *
"She's alive! Alive!"
- The Bride of Frankenstein
Ed grimaced right after he re-materialized on the transporter pad,
smoking clothes and all. "That.. could've gone better," he muttered under
his breath while heading towards the living area of the ship. After his
impetuousness (it sounded better than sheer bloody-minded, mule-headed
stubbornness) he hoped the interference that prevented them from rotating
out of this universe had dissipated enough to leave.
Minerva heard him and also knew what had happened on the planet serenely
rotating below them, even through the clashing interference of some
downright WEIRD forces she was still trying to give parameters to. "That
could definitely be labelled as an understatement, boss," she commented
worriedly, more concerned with his mental state than with events below.
The suddenly-weary Ed sighed as he rubbed his face. All he wanted to do
now was collapse into a nice comfortable chair and relax; he'd clean the
soot off later. The door to his cabin whooshed open and he stomped into the
room.
"Well, it's about time," a merry, amused voice...chimed?...unexpectedly.
Ed's head shot up as his body stiffened, ready for some form of assault,
but the being casually relaxing in his chair with an ease that looked
disgustingly natural was a total surprise. Long, flowing purple hair,
gracefully pointed ears on an elegantly angular and beautiful face, and
violet clothing with a strange-looking upper torso armor all conspired to
give Ed the uninvited guest's name. Darlene's older elven form, Valanna! She
was flashing an enigmatic smile his way as she steeped her fingers over her
previously crossed legs.
{Minerva!}
His ship's ACI seemed flustered when she replied. {She just appeared,
boss! I can't tell if it was because she was hiding herself or she just
arrived!}
Ed noted Minerva sounded nervous, and she had a right to be since
Valanna's powers could very well tear her apart from the inside out. But why
weren't her eyes glowing? The elf's lips twitched upwards.
"Oh, I've been waiting a while, Minerva; sorry to upset you." Her smile
deepened at Ed's start; she'd heard! "And there is no need to be upset."
"No?" Ed replied warily. "Since when did you change your mind?"
"Mmm.... About a thousand years ago."
His mind went blank for a moment. "Hanh?"
She cocked her head coyly. "I may not like time travel much, but as I'm
immune to paradox it has it's uses at times."
{Boss, is it just me or is this getting too strange for words?}
{Unfortunately, it's just not you, pretty lady.} Ed replied as he stared
at the amused elf. He rubbed his temples with his fingertips, trying
desperately to prevent the headache he could feel coming on. Time travel. He
repressed a tingle of anger at the thought of yet another possible conflict.
"So," he finally said out loud since she could hear him either way, "you're
an... older version of Twister?"
"Very good," Valanna complemented, clapping her hands mockingly with a
twinkle in her eyes. Despite the sarcastic gesture it didn't anger Ed the
way it should've. It seemed... oddly right for her. "Much, much older,
actually," she added, placing her hands down on her legs as she looked
directly at him, "and much, much stronger."
*Oh shit...* Ed didn't care to wonder how much that meant, but it was a
good bet it wouldn't be wise to piss this elf off, mostly for Minerva's sake
and the ship's. "So why ARE you here?" he asked her cautiously.
"To aid you by offering a few choices," she stated and started ticking
them off with her long, slender fingers. "One, do not accept my help; two,
shorten your journey in a more useful way; or three, go straight home. Which
do you want?"
He blinked, then swallowed as the elf watched him. "Wh-what?" he
stammered. Was she telling the truth? COULD she send him home??
{Boss...} There was nervousness in Minerva's voice, but Ed ignored her as
he stepped towards the curious Valanna.
"CAN you send me home?" he demanded.
"Oh, yes," the purple-eyed elf agreed, "I can send you home..." she
paused significantly, "if you so desire."
"And why shouldn't I?" he asked, suddenly suspicious as her reply had
been layered with something he felt was labelled 'Road Hazard Ahead'. In
huge flashing day-glow letters. Ten meters tall. He was surprised when the
elf smoothly rose from her seat and walked over to face him directly. There
was something about her that she had to a lesser degree in her 'present'
self that gave him an uneasy feeling, yet faintly exciting. It was like
wanting to whoop for joy and throw up at the same time.
"You know you have enemies, Legion," she said plainly, losing her smile.
"Do I have to tell you what might happen if you went home, totally
unprepared for what they may throw at you?" Valanna nodded sympathetically
as Ed's face fell. "I see I don't."
His fists tightened in helpless rage at his sides; he could guess only
too well and he wanted to howl in fury. There was an opportunity to go home,
NOW, and yet he knew that he couldn't. It was so frustrating! Maddening!
{I think she's right, b'wana,} Minerva added reluctantly.
{I KNOW that!} Ed snarled through the link. He was so focused with his
internal torment that the kiss from Valanna came as a complete surprise. His
eyes widened as he felt a tingling sensation pass through him from scalp to
toes.
Whaaaa???
{HEY!!!} Minerva protested heatedly as the smiling elf broke off the kiss
and drew back from the confused Ed. Wasn't Twister's female self afraid of
that sort of contact with the opposite sex?
"I thought... you didn't like that?"
Valanna twirled with a little laugh. "Things change. I AM change.
Besides, you needed it," she said with certainly. The elf shook her head.
"You can't dwell on what you can't do, Legion, or you won't do anything.
What you DO need to do is LEARN," she told him firmly. "Find out what you
can do as you journey so you can defend yourself and your home when you DO
return."
"So... what did you mean when you listed choice number two?"
"Let's shift first; the interference is gone. Minerva?"
{I'm not taking any orders from an... an off-color Tolkien reject!}
Ed sighed; his ACI was still peeved from the kiss and Valanna's smirk
told her she knew it as well. {Minerva...}
{Oh, all right,} she grumbled. {Shifting.} There was a pause, then she
reported, {We've arrived at a dead world.}
Valanna didn't waste time. "What I would do is this; you would no longer
shift purely by random but each world you come to will hold a key or lesson
you must learn in order to control your powers. It will cut down your travel
time by going blind by at least half what you would originally have taken,
even if you do visit each world." She fixed him with her purple eyes. "It is
the best course for you, but it is all up to you to decide."
Ed grimaced. "Is it a choice?"
"Yes."
{B'wana?} Minerva asked quietly after he had remained silent for a few
minutes. He heaved a sigh.
{Not much of a choice, baby. Hobson's choice, in fact.} "I can't take the
chance of leading them to my home and leave it undefended." Ed looked at the
waiting elf. "I accept."
Valanna nodded and smiled. From out of nowhere she pulled out an ornate,
multi-colored staff about five feet long and glowing with power. Then she
unexpectedly slammed it, to Ed's alarm, into the floor.
{GAH! BOSS!!} Minerva shrieked in panic.
The whole ship shuddered from the magic-charged impact and when the light
around the pole dimmed he saw a good foot of the staff was merged with the
floor, leaving the rest of the object to stand in the middle of the room.
The elf smiled at the rattled Ed. "It is done. The next rotation will
begin your training and your shorter path home."
{A twisted path no doubt...} the ACI muttered.
Hesitantly, not sure to be grateful just yet, Ed extended his hand.
"I'm... sorry our first meeting wasn't what I had hoped," he apologized,
"and I'm glad our second was more friendly."
{A little TOO friendly...}
{Minerva!} he chided. {What on earth's bugging you?! You've never acted
this way before when I've flirted!}
His ACI was silent for a moment before reluctantly answering him. {She's
more like you than the others, I suppose. Unique, powerful, odder than last
year's leftovers...}
{I get the message, pretty lady.}
"Don't worry, Minerva," Valanna assured the ACI as she playfully waved Ed
to sit in his chair, which he did to his relief. "I've done what I came to
do and I'll be going now."
"Thank you, Valanna," Ed told her with rising spirits.
"It was not a problem," she assured him, then snapped her fingers as if
she had just remembered something. "Oh, yes! I almost forgot my second
surprise!"
Ed blinked at her, confused. "Forgot what?"
/* Weird Science, Oingo Boingo */
Valanna winked playfully, eyes flashing purple light, and the next thing
Ed knew there was something soft, warm, pink, shapely, female, nude, and
very, very surprised to be sitting on his lap. What's more, to his startled
disbelief, Ed recognized whom it was.
"MINERVA?!?!?"
The familiar face of his ACI was indeed on the confused and terrified
human female, who seemed to be in understandable shock. "Boss!!" she cried
in her panic, realizing that the impossible had just occurred. "What...?!?!"
Minerva gaped down at her naked human body before recovering enough of her
wits to cover herself with her hands and arms, blushing furiously.
Ed was in a state of shock. {Minerva??}
{Boss!!} came the surprising and terrified response from his link. {I'm
HUMAN! But I'm still HERE! I'm in...} Astonishingly, the Minerva on his lap
spoke out to finish the sentence, "... TWO places at the SAME time!"
They stared wordlessly at each other for a moment. Then Valanna, who had
silently walked up to them, twisted her head towards the grinning elf and
kissed her deeply for a few seconds before pulling away.
"Ha... haba.... Wha.... This..." Minerva was totally rocked to her core
by what was happening, with Ed not much better off.
"Magic is the spice of life, is it not?" Valanna laughed, a merry,
faintly wild sound that had both staring at her. "She can survive as either!
Have fun, kids!!!" She quickly vanished with a swirl of her cape, the
gleeful laughter remaining in the air seconds after she left.
Leaving a speechless Ed with a naked woman, who was also his ship's
guiding computer intelligence, on his lap. Minerva shifted on his legs,
unused to and uncomfortable in a human body purely hers.
"So... what NOW, b'wana?" she finally asked him.
"Uhhhh...."
She sighed. "That's what I thought."
* * *
At Darlene's place, Sylvie was trying to explain to Sylia _why_ she
hadn't told the Sabers about Edward until now. Sylia, Nene, Linna, and
Darlene took it surprisingly well. Priss was another matter entirely.
"YOU KNEW?? You KNEW he was the vigilante and you didn't tell me?!" she
shouted. "I _told_ you I wanted to get back for what he did to me! Why
didn't you let me know?"
Surprisingly, it was Anri who defused Priss' temper. "We didn't tell you
for the same reason we don't tell our other friends that you are a Knight
Saber.
Priss was taken aback. "Huh? I don't .."
"You trust us to keep your secrets, Priss. And we have. Edward trusted us
to do the same. And we did."
"But it's not the same! It's.. ahh.. uhm.." Priss flushed a deep red.
"It's just different," she ground out.
"If we can't be trusted to keep one secret, we can't be trusted to keep
_any_ secrets, Priss," Anri said quietly. "Trust is an all or nothing
situation."
Darlene put a hand on Priss' shoulder. "Priss, I'm angry too, but Anri is
right. It _is_ a matter of trust. He trusted them to keep his secret, even
from their own friends. Just as you trust them. They can't break that trust
simply because you might find it convenient."
"OOOOH... DAMN! I'm going to go riding." With that, she stomped out.
Sylia watched her go, then turned to the sexaroids. "She'll get over it.
You were right, and she knows it. But her pride won't let her admit to it
right now. She'll come back, after she works it out." Her eyes narrowed.
"Now.. as trust and secrecy are no longer an issue here, I need you to tell
me all that you know about Mr. Edwards."
"Mr. Becerra, actually," said Anri sadly. "That was his real name. I'd
better get us all something to drink. It's a long story."
The Sabers nodded, and everyone took a seat, while Anri went for some
refreshments.
* * *
Minerva had left to cloth herself. Ed, on the other hand, had a death
grip around the neck of a bottle of single-malt scotch, and nothing short of
total obliteration was going to make him let go.
T'was a pity he couldn't get drunk, anymore.
*What do I do now? I've royally screwed up things in Mega-Tokyo, Minerva
is flesh and blood now, and it's very likely that Darlene wants my head on a
plate. Although, as fights go, that would be an.. _interesting_ one, to say
the least.* he thought. *We _both_ possess nearly unlimited power. However,
both psionically and magically, Twister is oriented for offence. He knows
what he's doing, too. He's trained himself in the use of his psychic powers
and from what I've read, Professor Miyabi's trained him in the use of magic.
My abilities seem more defensive in nature, and I have absolutely NO idea
what I'm doing, or how the hell I'm doing it!*
A pair of warm hands caressed his shoulders, rubbing the tension away.
"Thinking black thoughts again, love?"
"Just.. musing, pretty lady." He set the bottle down. "More important,
how are _you_ holding up? This has to be as much a shock for you as my
accident was for me!"
She smiled, the joy in her face lighting up the room. "It's _very_
strange, but it's also very wonderful, b'wana. I just tried my first drink
of water! Now I understand the human obsession with taste. I want to try
everything!"
He smiled and hugged her. "I understand, love. It must be very different
from using the holo-emitters to simulate a solid form." He took one of her
hands in his and marveled over the warm flesh. "But there are things we have
to see to, first."
She blinked at him, worried. "You're not planning on anything stupid, are
you?"
"I made a mess there, love. Now I have to clean that mess up. We already
_have_ the co-ordinates for Twister's version of Bubblegum Crisis. We're
going back."
"Lover.. you are just too noble for words."
He laughed. "Noble? More like too terminally stupid, Minerva."
She kissed him on the nose. "Noble is as noble does, boss. A stupid
person would simply skip out on this. Which you are _not_." She laughed, as
he blushed, and her face twisted in concentration. "We'll be ready to rotate
in just a few minutes, b'wana."
"Thank you, pretty lady." He began to change, removing the ruined
clothing he'd worn in the 'Mech. "If I'm going to do this, I might as well
look presentable."
Minerva's eyes went wide. "Boss? There's something distinctly odd,
here..."
"So what _else_ is new?" He rolled his eyes. "What is it _this_ time?"
"The co-ordinates..? They've already been set, b'wana. And I didn't do
it."
They both glanced uneasily at the staff embedded in the floor. Ed finally
shrugged. "I guess Valanna has me figured out already. Or else there's a
lesson still waiting for me to learn, back there." He slipped into a fresh
shirt, hanging the scorched one on the staff so he wouldn't have to look at
it. "No use fighting the inevitable, girl. And no sense in it, either. Go
ahead and rotate."
"Right, love. Rotating..."
* * *
"The way to fight a woman is with your hat. Grab it and run."
- John Barrymore
"...t'were done, t'were best done quickly..."
- Shakespeare, _Macbeth_
The fire trucks and police vehicles had left some hours ago, most of the
sidewalk gawkers had long since gone home. So there was no one present to
witness the sudden shaft of light that appeared inside the gutted first
floor of `Rare Books'. When it faded, Ed took a look around, seeing the
water and foam soaked ruins. He clenched a fist, suddenly furious.
*Quincy won, damn him. He won this round.*
{Don't go there, boss. It'll just make you crazy again. Please.}
He nodded. {I won't, pretty lady. But somewhere, somewhen.. Quincy is
going to get his. As you've said before.. I've got eternity on my side. I
can afford to wait. Quincy's going to learn that, to his regret.}
He slowly made his way around the burnt remains of books lying on the
floor, and eased his way over to the door. Ducking under the yellow crime
scene tape, he stepped out into the street.
{Baby? If I can manage to pull this off without the Sabers trying to tear
my head off, I want you to see if there's a range limit to what Valanna's
given you. If there isn't... then I'd like you to come down and join us.}
He felt a warm smile inside his head. {Thank you, boss.} Then he squared
his shoulders, screwed up his courage, and started down the block to
`Flights of Fantasy'.
* * *
Priss' curiosity had gotten the better of her anger, and after a quick
spin around the neighborhood on her bike, had returned from her ride, and
was listening as raptly as the rest. As Darlene and the Sabers absorbed the
tale Sylvie told them, there came a knock at the door downstairs. Anri stood
and went to answer it. When she looked through the peephole, she got a
shock. She quickly unlocked the door and threw it wide.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?! You can't come back here! _They're_ here right now.. and
so is _she_! It isn't safe for you!"
"I didn't have a choice," replied Ed. "When I got to my ship, there was
someone waiting for me, Anri. An elf."
She looked at his face. He didn't _look_ like he was joking. "Valann.."
"SHHHH! Don't say that name!" He clapped a hand over her mouth. "Look,
there's something I _have_ to do, and if that means I have to let Darlene
& Company beat the crap out of me.. well.. then I _have_ to. It's out of my
hands, now. I think it's even out of the hands of the gods." He pulled his
hand away. "But there _IS_ something we can do to try and keep the shooting
from getting started in the first place. IF you're game."
"I'll do anything I can to help you, Ed. You know that."
He nodded. "Thank you." He reached under his coat and brought out a pair
of items. He kept the first, and handed the second to her. "Get the idea?"
She shook her head. "You _did_ warn us you had a warped sense of humor.
Do you really think they'll buy this?"
"Maybe not.. but at least they won't shoot first. It'll buy me a few
seconds of time.. and that may be all that I'll need." He looked at her
pleadingly. "I _have_ to do this, Anri. Please."
"All right. But this has to be one of the looniest ideas I've ever heard
of." She nodded slowly, and he snapped the handcuffs around his own wrists.
Then they both started slowly up the stairs, Anri backing up them carefully,
holding a pistol on Ed.
* * *
In years to come, Ed would remember the expression on the faces of the
people in the room. He'd never seen as many long jaws in a single room in
his life. They didn't last for long, though. Darlene shot to her feet, her
hands glowing a bright purple. Priss's break-down gun appeared with a speed
that amazed him. He froze.
*It's times like this I'm _very_ glad I'm bullet proof. I just hope that
I'm _Darlene_ proof. She looks.. oy!*
Sylvie looked at the pistol in Anri's hands, confused. "Anri, what are
you doing?"
"What Ed asked me to do."
That earned her six confused looks. "_He_ asked you?"
Anri nodded. "He put on the handcuffs himself."
Ed broke in then. "I'd hoped that it would do what it did. Buy me a
moment to surrender. Without getting another fight started."
The long jaws reappeared, and got even longer this time. Surprisingly,
Priss was the first to recover. She jumped up and began to stalk towards
him. "You're not gonna surrender, you bastard. Not yet. I haven't had a
chance to kick the shit out of you for making me look like a fool!"
"Priss." The single word from Sylia carried an entire lecture in its
subtle tones. Her jaw clamped, and she returned to her seat. The expression
on her face was easy to read. It promised the world.. _This isn't over_.
Ed turned towards Darlene. "Besides.. I didn't have a choice, thanks to
you."
She looked at him oddly. "What do you mean by that?"
"You.. or rather _Valanna_, showed up on my ship. Actually, she'd been
there for some time, from what she said. She .. did some things, and cast
some sort of spell on my ship. As well as one _hell_ of a spell on my ship's
ACI." Eyes in the room widened as he spoke, and he rubbed his forehead,
thinking of Minerva. "The spell you.. she cast on my ship was supposed to
take me where I _need_ to go, rather than rely on random chance. And the
first place it took me was right back here."
"Time travel," said Darlene flatly.
"Got it in one. Her exact words to me were.. 'I may not like time travel
much, but as I'm immune to paradox it has it's uses at times.'" He looked
around the room for a chair. "May I please sit down?"
She waved him towards a chair, and he cautiously sat. "I assume Sylvie
and Anri have already told you who and what I am?"
Sylia nodded, intrigued. "I had already assumed that you are from a
reality where, like Darlene's, the Knight Sabers are fictious beings. Is it
also true that Darlene herself is a fictional character in your native
universe?"
Ed rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Yes. In point of fact, I even know the
person who wrote the stories collectively titled `Twisted Path', where I
first heard of Twister. I used to correspond with the author on a regular
basis, when I was just someone writing fan fiction on an internet mailing
list. Now I don't write fan fiction, I _AM_ fan fiction." He shook his head.
"Recursive - (adjective); see recursive. Arrrgh. I think I'm giving myself a
headache."
"And you say Valanna appeared on your ship?"
"Yes. She.. did some things I don't fully understand, then cast a spell
on my ship, the Calypso. She said it would keep me from wandering aimlessly,
and that from now on, I'd only arrive in realities where there was something
there for me to learn or do."
"Why didn't she send you straight home?" asked Linna curiously. "She
probably could, from what we saw of Darlene in that form."
"She offered to do exactly that, Linna. And reminded me that if _I_ could
find my way home.. so could those who are following me."
Sylia's brows knitted together. "Who is following you?"
"The Circle Oroboros, for one. The Oans, for another. And last, but NOT
least, I've got the Q after me. The first two seem to reguard me as a threat
to meta-reality, due to something that I haven't done yet, but that I'm
supposed to do sometime in the distant future. The Q... well, _they_ simply
want to draft me."
Darlene looked at him strangely. "The Q? As in Star Trek?"
"Yup." He sighed. "And she.. err.. you.. err.. _Valanna_ was right. I
can't go home, as long as there are beings willing to use it as a hostage
against me. Not until I understand enough of what I am to be able to defend
both myself and my home from them."
He glanced at Sylvie. "There's something else. Something that Minerva
would like to show you and Anri. But we'll need your permission."
"What is it?" asked Anri.
"I can't say.. you'll have to _see_ it to believe it." He shrugged. "I
didn't believe it, and I was there." He looked at the Sabers. "Look, I'm
_not_ trying to escape, or anything, so please hold off on the gunplay.
Okay?" He spread his arms, casually snapping the chain links holding the
cuffs together. Then he looked up at the ceiling. "Minerva? It's all right.
You can come on down, now."
Sylia watched with interest as a shimmering column of blue light
manefested in the center of the room. A female form quickly took shape
within it. When it faded, a tall, elegeant looking woman stood there, in a
jet black, low cut dress, slit high up the sides to show off her shapely
legs. The dress hung in tatters about her legs, but was clearly designed for
this effect. Her hair was as dark as her attire, and piled up high in a
cross between a sixties bouffant and an eighties punk spike. At the moment,
her face was made up in a way that would have made Cleopatra envious. A pair
of small silver earrings in the shape of adders dangled from her earlobes
and a jeweled dagger decorated her belt buckle.
Sylvie blinked, recognizing the woman. "Minerva?!" She stepped over and
gently poked the newcomer. "You.. you're real! You're flesh!"
Minerva nodded, and hugged Sylvie. "Valanna did this. She winked, there
was this flash of purple light, and suddenly I was in two places at once! I
was still part of the Calypso, _and_ I was sitting in Ed's lap, with a human
body!"
Ed snorted. "Sitting _nude_ in my lap, with a human body." He glanced at
Darlene. "Don't take this the wrong way.. but in a few thousand years, I'm
gonna get you for surprising me like that."
Sylia looked over at Minerva and said with a perfectly straight face, "I
see what you mean by 'some things you don't fully understand'."
* * *
On that note, the conversation broke up for a few moments as everyone in
the room paused for refreshments and a breath of fresh air. Anri hid a grin
as she noticed Ed carefully staying on the opposite side of the room from
Priss. Then Sylia nodded for everyone took their seats again, and she
motioned for Ed to continue.
He looked at them, his shoulders sagging. "You know.. there's a very old
saying.. `When you're up to your ass in aligators, it's easy to forget your
original goal was to drain the swamp.'. I made the stupid mistake of
becoming wrapped up in the whole revenge thing. It's not as if Quincy could
have really hurt me. I lost sight of that fact that I was here only to try
and find a way home.
Sylia's expression was a mixture of insight and cold compassion. "Losing
yourself to revenge is all too easy a mistake to make, Edward. So easy that
it's a cliche'. However, that doesn't excuse what you've done."
"I've been all kinds of fool in my time, but I'm not fool enough to think
that it would, Sylia. I have some hard choices here." He paused. "No. Not
really. `Debts must be paid.' I caused this entire mess by trying to single
handedly settle up with Quincy. A stupid thing to try. Now I have to try to
repair the damage I've done. Then.. I'd best get the hell out of this
reality before I make things worse."
He spread his hands. "I can't trust my own judgement, at the moment, and
it's _your_ world I did the damage to. I realize it's a silly thing to say,
and a needless formality, but.. I surrender myself to you, the Knight
Sabers. I will abide by your judgement, whatever it may be." He glanced over
at Priss and grimaced. "Although I can guess what _her_ decision would be."
The other women in the room laughed as Priss did a slow burn, Sylia
included. Then Sylia turned back to him, her mien sober again. "This isn't
something that can be done in a snap decision. We ALL need rest and clear
heads."
Darlene nodded. "We need to sleep."
Ed shrugged. "Works for me." He paused, thinking. "My apartment's still
full of smoke at the moment. I'd better sleep in my cabin aboard the Calypso
until I can get things cleaned up."
Sylia frowned. "Actually, Edward, I'd like to talk to you about that..."
* * *
Sylvie passed by the bedroom door where they'd put Ed up for the night.
He'd protested, saying that it would be much simpler for him to return to
his cabin aboard the Calypso, but Sylia and Twister insisted that he remain
in Mega-Tokyo for the nonce. She could hear him tossing and turning rather
violently in the bed, and she started for the door when she heard a faint
humming noise. A sparkling light shimmered on the wall opposite the open
door, and Sylvie quietly crept to the bedroom door to see what was
happening.
As she looked in the room, she noticed the beautiful raven-haired woman
she'd been introduced to earlier. *Minerva. That's her. Incredible.* She
shook her head, still amazed at the idea that Valanna had simply.. _created_
a living body from thin air. Then she noticed that Ed seemed to be in the
grip of a nightmare.
She watched as Minerva approached the bed. Her sensitive ears could hear
him muttering a name repeatedly in his sleep. It sounded like Ailuro. She
didn't _like_ to eavesdrop but this seemed important.
"Don't.. Aili.. please don't leave me.. don't leave me.. not again.."
The computer turned flesh sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his
forehead gently, brushing the hair from his eyes. "I'm here, baby. Aili's
here," she whispered. "I won't leave you. I'll never leave you again. I
promise."
He didn't wake, but his breathing calmed, and his violent motions slowed,
then stopped. Sylvie blushed and turned to go, embarrassed to intrude on
such a private moment, when she heard Minerva start to quietly sing.
"Dream... dream, dream dream.., Dream... dream, dream dream..
When I want you in my arms, When I want you and all your charms,
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
dream... dream, dream dream.
When I feel blue in the night, and I need you to hold me tight,
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
dream... dream, dream dream.
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine, any time, night or day
Only trouble is, Gee whiz, I'm dreaming my life away.
I need you so that I could die, I love you so, and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do, is
dream... dream, dream dream.
I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine, any time, night or day
Only trouble is, Gee whiz, I'm dreaming my life away.
I need you so that I could die, I love you so, and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do, is
dream... dream, dream dream.
Dream... dream, dream dream, Dream... dream, dream dream..
Dream... dream, dream dream.."
Ed let out a tiny sigh, and relaxed. Minerva looked down at him and
whispered, "I'll never leave you, lover. I'll always be here for you.
Forever." She brushed the hair from his forehead one more time, then
carefully rose from the edge of the bed, and left the room. Still wondering
at what she'd just witnessed, Sylvie failed to notice her exit, and the two
women bumped into each other in the hallway.
"Oh!" exclaimed Minerva. "I'm sorry. I'm still unused to having a human
body. I'm a little.. clumsy yet." Then her eyebrows drew together. "Why are
you here? Were you watching us?"
Sylvie nodded towards the bedroom. "I heard Ed. He was having a
nightmare." She blushed slightly. "Does he know you love him?"
Minerva nodded slowly. "Yes. And I know his heart belongs to someone
else." She looked away. "But.. she made him happy, Sylvie. I can't hate her.
Not when his memories of her are what keeps him going when everything else
fails him. Sometimes.. sometimes that's all he has left. Just his memories.
I can't take those away from him, Sylvie."