[Andrew and Ruri sitting at the computer]
Ruri: Andrew, I must tell you that I am extremely disappointed.
Andrew: {Uh-oh} Uh, why's that?
Ruri: I took a look at your fanfic plans.
Andrew [nervous]: And...
Ruri: And I took a look at some of your videos.
Andrew: ...
Ruri: I thought you said you didn't like that kind of stuff.
Andrew: Uh, what kind of stuff?
Ruri: Playing dumb won't help, you know what I'm talking about. Japanese
word, six letters, ends in T-A-I.
Andrew [Thoroughly frustrated]: OKAY, I ADMIT IT! I've been watching
sentai shows!
Ruri: Anyway, we have to respond to Warhammer's MST. We'll discuss the
matter further afterwards.
Andrew: Duo's away "visiting his girlfriend"...
Ruri: In other words, having another mecha duel with Erica Carter from
Brian's fics.
Andrew: Got a replacement.
Ruri: Some characters from one of your upcoming fics.
[Suddenly, a group of girls wearing Iczelion armor backflip towards them
from behind the camera. They pose, and perform over-exaggerated martial
arts moves]
"Iczelion Alpha, White!"
"Iczelion Beta, Yellow!"
"Iczelion Gamma, Blue!"
"Iczelion Delta, Red!"
"Iczelion Epsilon, Pink!"
Together: Iczer Shoujo Sentai, Iczelion-2!
Ruri: Baka-baka.
Andrew: FYI, this is from a fic which may or may not become part of the
Lightsphere universe. White is Sandra Toyozumi, Yellow is Topaz, Blue is
Azure, Red is Jana Langley Ikari, and Pink is Sarah Michelle Carter.
Sandra: Right! Now, to respond to the MST.
At 04:43 PM 6/8/00 MDT, you wrote:
[Within the Gotterdamerang, Warhammer once more plans to rule the world...
or so he thinks. Salian is dragging him to the theater.]
[WH: Aw! Come on! I wanna take over the world!
[The Iczelion sentai perform their pose]
Ruri: Can we please skip the "protecting justice and punishing evil" speech?
I.S.: Awwwww....
Sal: You can't! You got to MST Lightsphere for Andrew. Or else who knows
what'll happen.
WH: Well... ok. I do like Lightsphere and all, but I still want to conquer
the world!
Andrew: Just as long as you never use the phrase "are you pondering what
I'm pondering".
Sal: You'll get your chance, now let's get on with it. And who's gonna do it
with us today?
WH: Uh... hold on a sec. (turns on transceiver) Say, Commander Dawn, we got
any MSTers that we can use today?
Dawn: Let's see... how about Wan from KO Century Beat Warriors?
All except Ruri: Uh... [sweatdrop]
WH: Ok, if that's the case, make sure that we got the buffet stocked up.
Dawn: Yes sir!]
[In a flash of tranporter light, Wan appears. Apparently, he's not used to
transporter beams.
Wan: Whoa! What the?! Where am I?
Sal: (with a smile) You, my friend, are going to help us here for the time
being. (purrs while scratching at one of his tiger ears.) Would you please?
Topaz [Glomps Sandra]: Sandra, that looks so cute! You should have ears
like that!
Sandra [struggles to break free]: Get off me! Don't you care that we're
in public?
Topaz: I don't see the need to feel embarrassed about being with my
girlfriend!
Sandra: I'm not your...
Sarah: Save it for later, you two!
Azure: They're such good friends, aren't they?
Jana: Uh... yeah.
Wan: (begins to purr and rolls around at the attention she's giving his ear)
Sure... anything… you want... just don't stop.
Sal: After the fic, ok?
Wan: Well, alright. (pouting)
WH: ...and people call me strange. (to the projection room) Roll it!]
Ruri: I've known stranger.
Andrew: Okay, it's been long enough since the last chapter, due to trying
to work out kinks in the fic, university work...
Ruri: ...and you procrastinating.
[WH: Andrew, you bad boy! You're acting no better than I am with Shara's
Last Gift.
Ruri: Worse, in fact.
Andrew: HEY!
[Ruri shows Andrew a list of the fics he's been MEANING to continue and
hasn't. Andrew bigsweats.]
Sal: Speaking of which, when exactly do I come out in the rewrite...
WH: ...later, later.]
Andrew: ...so I'll skip the pre-fic chatter. Roll camera!
Daidouji Tomoyo: Rolling!
Andrew: Aaannnndddd.... ACTION!
[Wan: CUT! Beautiful!]
OPERATION: LIGHTSPHERE
An Iczer/Teknoman crossover fanfic
by Andrew Dynon
Phase 3
Chapter 6
<Teknosnip disclaimer stuff>
WARNING! This fic has now been officially declared DARK!!!
[WH: Yeah, just wait till I get For the Love of Ragnarok rewritten, it'll
make this one look like a cakewalk... whatever the heck that is...]
Andrew: I wait in dread.
OP: "Rolling Devil", from the Iczer-One Battle Music Collection CD
* * * * * * * *
"What I witnessed when Citrine was brought to me after being rescued from
Rhadam captivity wass the most horrifying thing I have seen. Poor girl,
she used to be so happy and confident. Now, she suffers from amnesia and
retardation which none of us can cure. She refuses to communicate either
by speech or telepathy, but impressions of pain leak - no, flow - from her
mind. Iczer-1, I urge you to make the rescue of Kthulhu captured by the
Rhadam a top priority! Nobody should be forced to suffer as Citrine so
obviously has!"
- Sister Grey
[Wan: Listening to Kuno or V-Darn going on about himself. Either way, it's
painful!]
Sandra: Can't be as bad as Azure's perfectly-memorised recital of
millenia-old Kthulhu war epics.
Azure: Those epics are very culturally significant. It's important to
learn them.
* * * * *
Nagisa's body hung, limp, inside a chamber in the Rhadam mothership.
Strands of her sea-green hair fell in front of her face, soaked in LCL - and
in her blood. Her eyes were open, but blank, unseeing, and yet, if an
obeserver had looked into them, they would be aware that she had experienced
- was still experiencing - a horror which most mortals would be thankful
that they would never know of, let alone be subjected to.
[Sal: What happens when you learn the dark side of Macarena. Learn well
humans!]
Ruri: No comment.
Inside her mind, Nagisa's psychic form differed little from her
present physical state. She was held, naked and cruciform, limp and unable
to summon the strength she needed to break free of her restraints. On this
plane of existence, though, she was far too aware of what was happening.
Iczer Zero and the Rhadam wished to use her psionic abilities to further
their agenda - Big Gold's legacy - and, since she was not going to willingly
help them, they were now wresting her powers from her by causing massive
psychic trauma.
[WH: (as Iczer Zero with a creepy voice) You WILL watch Battlefield Earth
and suffer!!]
Andrew: That hasn't come out here yet. Don't think it could be worse than
Mission to Mars, though.
She had no idea how long she had suffered the torture for - even if
she had known, it was likely that time here was flowing differently than in
the physical universe. Maybe, she thought, if she could resist for long
enough, her captors' agenda could be compromised. It wasn't likely, but it
was, nevertheless, a thread of hope for her to hang on to.
[Wan: (holds up a picture of Mei Mah(a mermaid girl from his series)
attached to a hook and thread) Need I say more?.]
Andrew: So she's hooked?
Azure: BEAM WING!!!
Andrew: [neatly sliced in two]
The first phase of her torture had been physical - she had allowed
herself the luxury of screaming in pain during that time, knowing she had to
reserve her strength of will until later. But the horror and pain of her
rigors ever intensified. Now, motionless and helpless, she awaited the next
stage of the assault on her being - not upon her physical body, she somehow
knew, but within it, upon her psyche. The breaks in between her torture
were, in their own way, just as bad as the torture itself. She could do
nothing but wait and dread what was to come, and the long sessions of
painlessness served to intensify the pain when it was being applied to her.
And, she suspected, during those times of silence her soul twin, Raura, was
having the same things done to her.
[WH: (frowns) Good. Anything that happens to Nagisa is fine by me.
Sal: Mind telling me what all those clones of Nagisa are for?
WH: (smirks) I'll tell you later.]
Ruri: Hmm... more Reis or more Nagisas?
In her mind's eye, Iczer Zero appeared again, her features
constantly distorting in a disgusting fasion.
[Sal: Eww, Iczer-Zero at the Funhouse.]
Sarah: Well, not fun for Nagisa.
As much as she wanted to shut the sight away from her mind, Iczer Zero's
psychic abilities forced her to keep "looking".
{Nagisa, I must admit that I'm impressed at how long you've managed
to resist me.} Iczer Zero said inside her mind. {I expected what you
experienced to shatter even one with as strong a psyche as yours.} She
smiled. {It will be interesting to see whether you can survive what we do to
you next. I hope so. The longer you resist, the more satisfying it will be
when you finally break.}
[WH: (with red aura) LET THE SCREAMING BEGIN!! (laughs hysterically as the
others look on silently)]
Andrew: I'm starting to worry about you, WH.
* * * * *
"Blade... can you hear me?" Star whispered as she sat beside the
tank of liquid her comatose, still-naked, beloved floated in. "You're going
to be all right, aren't you? I know you are." She stared for long moments
at his unreceptive form before she realised that a Kthulhu wearing the
loose-fitting, pastel-colored uniform of a medic was standing behind her.
[Sal: (as Star) What?! I'm not leering, I'm... observing.
Wan: (As the medic) Riiiiight.]
Topaz: What's wrong with "observing"?
Sandra: Will you be quiet?
"Star-thihu," the medic said, using an honorific that Nagisa had
told her was used by learned Kthulhu to politely address those less learned,
"I need you to move back from the healing chamber. I must operate on the
patient."
[WH: (as the medic) After that I got to get to the ER set.]
[The medic pops in]
Medic: Well, it was a better choice than Voyager and that hologram.
"Nick..." Shara said in a near-whisper, obviously just regaining
consciousness.
"He's right here, Shara. He's right beside you."
"Will he... arrgh... will he die?" Shara's injuries were obviously
still terribly painful, and Star shuddered as she remembered the impaling
wound the girl had recieved.
[Sal: (as Star) He's only Mostly-dead.]
Ruri: Exactly.
"He won't die. He'll be okay." {He *can't* die. He *has to* be
okay. Because... if Blade dies...}
[Wan: Horror of horrors. The series will end!!]
Andrew: Now, now. I can always get someone else to replace him.
"It was... was Saber, wasn't it?"
"Yes. How did you know?" Star knew the answer before Shara
replied.
"It could... only... be him."
[WH: (melodic operatic voice) ~IT MUST BE HIM! IT MUST BE HIM!~ *WHAM*
Sal: No, Bad Warhammer.]
All: Agreed!
Star felt no more need to speak - Blade's twin brother was solely
responsible for what had happened to him. Power-up or no, Saber was going
to be taken down.
*She* was going to take him down.
[Sal: Alright Woman!]
Sandra: Yeah, girl power!
Andrew: As long as you don't sing any Spice Girls songs, it's okay to say
that.
Sandra: How about Bardot?
Andrew: Noooooooo!!!!!!
Ruri: Sandra refers to an Australian girl group which those in other
countries can count themselves lucky not to have been subjected to.
* * * * *
"NO!!!"
[All three fall over from the power of the shout.]
Jana: [Roundhouse kicks Andrew] When you're going to do that, warn us!
Iczer-1's voice was filled with angush and horror as she heard what
had happened to Nagisa. After the fight with Iczer Zero, her body had
rapidly slipped into a _thelrhu_ - a healing coma - and she had been awoken
inside the /Silver Noah/. Immediately upon waking up, she had demanded to
know what had happened to Nagisa. The answer had struck a blow that wounded
her far more deeply than anything she could receive in a fight.
[WH: *KA-BOOM*
Sal: Again?
WH: Of course!]
All: [Sigh]
"Iczer-1, I regret that it was definitely Nagisa who sent to me."
Nagisa's Iczel replied, also in a state of shock.
"I'm going to try to rescue her."
"That's suicidal and you know it!" Sister Grey warned, vainly
hoping her race's guardian would change her mind.
[WH: Go for it!!]
"I DON'T CARE!" Iczer-1 prepared to teleport out of the ship.
She did not move. It was several seconds before she spoke, this
time in a hushed, but just as shocked, tone.
"Nani? Sister Grey, why can't I..."
Sister Grey put her arm around Iczer-1's shoulders in a gesture of
sympathy.
"You were created as the guardian of the Kthulhu. Your programming
prevents you from taking a course of action which will result in your
death."
[WH: Awww. I was hoping for the reaper to get her.
Iczelion Sentai: [Battle auras flaring] NANI??
Wan: No wonder animates don't like you too much.]
"But I've risked my life before. I've done it so many times."
"True, but those were calculated risks. What you want to do this
time, like I said, is knowingly suicidal."
[Sal: Which gives her all the more reason to do it!]
"So... I can't... try to help... Nagisa?" Iczer-1 burst into tears,
which resembled liquid crystals as they streamed down her face.
"No. You can't."
[WH: That's right! She's dead. DEAD! DEAD!! A HA HA HA!!
Sal: You want to kill him or do you want me to?
Wan: Let's wait till the end of the fic.]
Jana: Aww, why not right now?
"Infinite Heavenly Sisterhood, this can't be... Nagisa... I'm so
sorry... I'm so sorry... I don't deserve to be forgiven!"
Sister Grey could not think of anything to say as Iczer-1 mourned.
[WH: And in the land of villans, there was much rejoicing.]
* * * * *
Restless, Nami walked along one of the the /Seriphos/' corridors.
In two or three hours, they would be in combat with the Rhadam forces, with
her and the other Iczelions, including Jalir, handling the main assault.
Right now, though, the only thing she could do was pace around impatiently.
[Wan: (with Darth Maul mask) Hey! Stop impersonating me!]
Then, suddenly, Jalir threw a punch at Cyan, striking her on the side of the
face, and sending her staggering backward. Cyan managed to keep her
footing, though, and continued facing Jalir.
"Jalir, I understand how you feel..." Cyan began.
"No, you don't!" Jalir shouted in barely-restrained rage. "You
don't understand anything! You just turn up now, and... and..." she
paused, trying to think of words sufficient to express her what she felt.
[Sal: (as Jalir) …and, you take my employee of the month parking spot! Can
you blame me?]
Andrew: Heh.
"Jalir, please believe me when I tell you I'm truly sorry about what
happened to Tayah. It's a risk all of us take." Cyan was not at all
confident that her words would calm Jalir.
"If you're so sorry, why didn't you help us before now? We told you
we needed it, damn you!"
"There was no way we could reach your planet to help."
"Do you even know what Pelah ment to me?" Jalir screamed, finally
losing all control. "She was my best friend ever since we were kids! And
because you wouldn't help us, she died! Damn you all!" She collapsed into
tears.
[Sal: (with a frown) Sorry, but tell that to someone who actaully cares.
Wan: Oh, now that was mean!]
{Poor girl...} Nami thought as she ceased her period of
eavesdropping. {Did I ever get like that?}
{Yes. I did.}
[Sal: That's a rarity. A human actually admitting it when they've done
something wrong.
WH: What's you're problem?
Sal: It's what you did to me in the rewrite's final chapters, that's what.]
Andrew: The final chapters of SLG, or another fic?
Ruri: I presume SLG.
* * * * *
<Teknosnip Nami's dead younger sister scene.>
All: ...
* * * * *
Tsuko... thinking about what happened to her hurt Nami deeply, even
now. Even though she knew that one of the Rhadam-controlled Teknomen had
killed her sister, it had been a lengthy and difficult task for her Iczel to
persuade her to synchronise and fight against them. She still doubted
whether she had completely forgiven her Iczel.
She only hoped that Cyan and the others could persuade Jalir to
forgive them somewhat.
{Because that's not something I can do.} She thought. {"Diplomatic
and persuasive" is not something I'm good at being. I'd just end up saying
the same things Iczel said to me.}
{And didn't *that* work well?}
[WH: (with a smirk) I still think the Ragnarok rewrite's gonna outdark the
previous version.
All (including Ruri): Uh-oh.
Sal: Well, now that you got a reason why the Senshi went bad I am unsure
about letting them run free after what you did to them.
WH: It's still fun, no matter what you think.
Andrew: Like I said before, I worry about you.
* * * * *
{Where am I?}
Nagisa, hopelessly struggling against the insubstantial bonds around
her limbs, opened her eyes, and saw only a thick, orange mist. Warm and
humid, it seemed as though it was trying to float into her nose and mouth,
suffocating her with the stench of blood. It seemed as though there was no
ground for her to stand on - she was suspended, or perhaps freefalling,
inside the endless cloud of otherworldly mist.
[All: *cough cough*
Wan: Looks like someone forgot to turn the fog machine off.]
Sarah: And how did it go orange?
{How did I get here?}
"Nagisa." Her name was spoken by a male voice, a voice with a
distinct tone of cruelty and coldness to it that she felt was out of place.
She was sure she knew the speaker, but she could not recall who it was.
[Sal: (inclining Warhammer) This is Déjà vu.
WH: (as Déjà vu) Have we not met before?
Andrew: [sweatdrop]
A figure appeared, at first silhouetted in the mist, and then
becoming clearer as he drew closer to her. By the time Nagisa recognised
the young, dark-haired man dressed in a red jacket and white jeans, he was
standing directly in front of her.
"Look at you." Nick said, making no attempt to disguise his
contempt for her. "How could you have been lucky enough to survive this
long?"
[Sal: (as Nagisa) Not sure...but, are those D-Boy jeans you're wearing?
Wan and WH: *facefault*]
All except Ruri: *facefault*
Ruri: Baka.
Nagisa tried to speak, but she only managed to make a few pained,
incoherent noises.
[WH: How cruel! They've turned her into Charlie Caliss!]
Andrew: Who?
"Not talkative, Nagisa? I can't say I'm surprised. But you can
feel pain, can't you?" Blade slowly and deliberately clenched his hands
into fists, and sent them thundering several times into her body. Blood
welled up in her mouth, spilling out of it and down her naked chest.
[Both WH and Wan look away, whistling innocenly while Sal shakes her head.]
Sandra: Topaz, STOP STARING! [MALLET!]
"You're weak. You're so pathetically weak. Be greatful that I'm
going to finish you here." A tekno crystal appeared in Nick's hand,
glinting with bloody red light. Then, he transformed, his body becoming
covered in black and red armor.
"Nick, no... don't..." Nagisa managed to moan. "You're not Saber!"
[Wan: (as Saber) Really? Oh, I forgot. Sorry.]
Andrew: I can actually see him saying that.
{I remember now. Iczer Zero.} The thought appeared in Nagisa's
mind.
{This isn't real.}
Blade stood, observing Nagisa's expression as the terror disappeared
>from it, and the girl regained the calm expression she had struggled to
maintain throughout her ordeal. As expected, she had held out longer than
any of her other prisoners. But this time, she had panicked and was close
to breaking. He thrust his teklance through Nagisa's body, and she gritted
her teeth to stop herself from screaming before her body convulsed and lay
still.
[WH: Yay! About time!
Sal: (to Wan) Did you ever read Elsa Babit's essay on cruelty and torture?
Wan: I think, why?
Sal: Hammerhead here liked it a little too much.]
Andrew: BTW, WH, were you here for her "A Long Strange Walk Y2K" essay?
If you weren't, I can send it to you.
Then, Blade's body shifted back to being Iczer Zero's. She could
still feel the sensation of Nagisa's panic in her mind. Soon, she knew, the
girl would be irrevocably owned by her masters.
[WH: (with brittish narrator accent) And as soon as that would occur, there
would be no choice but to kill the ever annoying Nagisa. And there was much
rejoicing.
Ruri: WH, is there ANYTHING that would make you like Nagisa?
Sal and Wan: (Bored) Yay.]
* * * * *
"All right, is everyone clear on our plan of operations?" Cyan
asked, and those aboard the /Seriphos/ instantly responded in the
affirmative.
[WH: (raises hand) I forgot everything after you told us to exit the ship!]
"Have you memorised our contingency plans as well?" Another chorus
of "Yes!".
[Wan: If we fail, we got to the pub and enjoy happy hour until we've passed
out?]
"All right then, all get ready for the start of our
counteroffensive." Cyan could hear her heart pounding as she prepared to
command her first real battle. She wished that someone else, such as
Indigo, was
coordinating tactics and giving orders. Indigo would never make the foolish
mistakes she feared she was going to, and she would have been able to be in
the thick of battle, where she felt far more confident. Some of her
contingency plans did involve her fighting as an Iczelion, with her
second-in-command, Amber, on the /Seriphos/' bridge. But, despite her
desires, she had to do what was best for the ship and her allies. Still,
she would miss piloting her Delos Zeta Custom.
[Sal: *Sigh* A pity this junk pile's going to the recycle bin.
WH: (as the mecha) Crud.]
Andrew: But it gets made into a cool new mecha, with model kits on sale
soon!
"It's a good sign that you're calm." Cyan smiled. "It means the AI's
reacting well to you. Just be careful with the Rion Lancer. It's powerful,
but it's tricky to use." The weapon Cyan referred to was a spear-like
weapon with two energy blades forming a Y shape. Resonance between the
blades could create a powerful energy beam.
[Wan: Ahh, wouldn't that be nice if I could use that against that punk,
V-Darn.]
Ruri: V-Darn, V-Sion and Akumako... the pre-Team-Rocket Team Rocket.
"I know. I think I've gotten the hang of it now, though."
"Good to hear, Ivory. Oh, and remember..." Cyan said as she
prepared to leave. "The Zeta Custom's still my mecha. If you so much as
scratch it, you'll be explaining what's going on to newly-selected Iczelions
for the rest of the war." She failed to stifle a giggle at her clearly
tongue-in-cheek comment.
[Sal: Oh spare me!]
Andrew: Well, is it something YOU'D like to be doing?
* * * * *
<Teknosnip another Nagisa torture sequence, where Iczer-Zero pretends to be
Mizuki, berates, and then strangles Nagisa into unconciousness.>
WH: (smiling) Ahh, it's the simple things in life that you learn to truly
enjoy.
Andrew: Now I'm really worried.
* * * * *
"Okay, this is it!" Cyan commanded. "Move out, now!"
"All right, Cyan! Time to go kick these guys' asses!" Kiiro
responded as she and the other Iczelions, plus Mizuki, sped away from the
_Seriphos_. A Rhadam mothership was already visible in the distance, at
least to Cyan, who was using her psionic abilities to enhance her senses.
"Ivory, Delos Zeta Custom, ikimasu!"
[WH: Ok, all I wanna know is how the heck ramsey these Kutthulus know
Japanese? It don't make sense to me if their alien.
Sal: (sarcastic) Need you ask? All alien speices speak Japanese.
Wan: Just shut up you two, it's about to start getting good.]
Ruri: Just a Law of Anime.
She had no time to dwell on such matters, though - all her concentration
needed to be devoted to the battle at hand. The Kthulhu forces were to be
the center of the counterattack, with the Lyrinae guarding their flanks and
hopefully being able to surround the Rhadam. Saryan forces would take a
suppourt role, and hopefully be able to minimise casualties.
[WH: Yes, they'd make such lousy cannon fodder, so they use them in the
front lines.]
Of course, battles rarely went as planned, and she dared not hope
that this one would.
[Sal: Reciting Murphy's law is not a good way to keep up morale.]
Ruri: No kidding.
* * * * *
Black mist.
Pitch black mist, surrounding her, choking her, entering her body
every time she dared to breathe. It was all Nagisa was aware of, and, for
all she knew, she had been surrounded by it. She screamed in terror, and
screamed again, and yet again, wishing for someone to help her, but she
could not think of anyone, and nobody came.
Through the blackness, she became aware of a girl who looked exactly
the same as herself, standing and watching her. Very gradually, the form of
the girl seemed to drift closer to her - or was she drifting toward the
other girl? She had no way to tell. It was not until the two were touching
each other that Nagisa recognised the robes the other girl wore - the robes
of an Ishuan princess.
"Raura?" she whispered, somehow remembering the girl's name.
Raura placed her hands elegantly on Nagisa's shoulders, and leaned
towhisper in her ear.
"Iczer-One's *mine!*"
As Raura spoke those words, a gash opened down Nagisa's body,
running from the top of her throat to between her legs. Her blood sparkled
as it sprayed freely out of her body, contrasting with the pitch-black mist
that flowed inside of her, supplanting it.
[Wh: Whoa! That's had to be a 9.8, if not a 10 on the scoreboard!]
Andrew: Well, except for the Russian judge, anyhow.
{Raura... no... how could you say that?}
More gashes opened on Nagisa's body, across her shoulders and waist,
and down her arms, legs and spine. The girl let out terrified, agonized
screams as her lifeblood drained out of her body, allowint it to be replaced
by the polluting blackness. Then, Nagisa's eyes blackened over, her body
fell limp, and the cuts slowly began to heal themselves.
[WH: Andrew, from the very bottom of my heart- THANK YOU!]
Andrew: [Sweatdrop... again]
{Nagisa...}
As the blackness flowed into her body, Nagisa thought she saw a
glint of white-green light. With her fading psyche, she strained herself,
trying to catch a glimpse of it. The white-green light briefly flickered in
front of her eyes, and she saw a feminine figure inside it.
{Nagisa...}
{Raura? But...}
{Reach into your soul, Nagisa. Trust me.}
For a moment, Nagisa hesitated. Then, she nodded, and tried to
concentrate. The first Raura stared at her, and the black mist around her
contracted, from stifling her, to suffocating her, and then growing heavier
and heavier, forcing an unbearable, crushing weight onto her body - or was
it her mind? - from all directions. It was more than Nagisa could stand-
she closed her eyes and screamed as she was crushed.
[WH: *sniffsniff* It's so beautiful.]
Then, her body began to glow with the same white-green light that
surrounded the second Raura. The light forced the black mist away,
relieving its terrible pressure from her body. Nagisa looked at the Raura
who had been tormenting her, and saw Iczer Zero in her place. She turned to
the other Raura, who was still herself.
"Raura... arigato."
"Nagisa... yokatta."
[WH: Same question as before concerning Cuthulu's use of Japanese.
Sal: It's anime, hammerhead. What do you expect?]
<snip more torture and the mind battle>
"Raura... are you all right?" Nagisa asked desperately. "Come on,
Raura! Answer me!"
"You are, Nagisa. That's..." Raura coughed, and then continued,
unable to speak above a whisper. "That's what's ... important."
"Raura, don't say that! You're important, too!"
[Wan: (gags and falls off the chair)
Sal: (checking Wan's condition) Could it be?
WH: What?
Sal: He's been attacked by the side effect of the 'Kenshin Syndrome'
WH: *KA-BOOM*]
Andrew: Have you got Megumi in there, WH? You might need her.
"Arigato. But ... it took ... everything I had ... to reach you.
My mind ... it's burned out. I'm dying."
Nagisa knelt beside Raura, and whispered softly in her ear.
"No, Raura. You won't die. I won't let you die."
[Sal: (as Nagisa) There's not enough money in the budget to have you
killed!]
Andrew: Well, it's a good thing fanfics dont have to pay for seiyuu.
The wounds Iczer Zero had inflicted on Nagisa reopened, and the
blackness
that had entered her now flowed out. Raura's figure glowed with her
white-green aura, and then the white-green light flowed into the gashes on
Nagisa's body, healing them as it entered.
{Nagisa, what's this?} Raura asked.
{Your mind was destroyed, Raura.} Nagisa replied. {So I'm letting
your soul - you - share mine. We are twins, after all.} She "said" to
Raura, smiling.
{Oh, Nagisa! Thank you so much!} Raura said.
{Don't thank me. I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't do it. Now
we have to go back to my - our - body.}
[Wan: (recovered) You know, seeing stuff like this... make me huungy?
Where's the buffet?
WH: After the fic!]
[Several packets of instant ramen fall onto WH's set]
Andrew: Huh?
Ruri: Yuri overfilled her lunchbox again.
* * * * *
Nagisa reawoke inside the darkened chamber, and eventually her
vision cleared, allowing her to see the pool of LCL she was in. Momentarily
disoriented, she tried to move, forgetting that she was still restrained.
The tendrils wrapped around her limbs cut into her flesh, and she struggled
weakly, too exhausted mentally and physically to escape from them.
"What a shame. After all that effort, you're still held prisoner."
[Sal: (as Nagisa)Oh yeah, I nearly forgot that part.]
Sandra [Nagisa]: DOH!
Nagisa turned her head in the direction the voice had come from, and
saw a familiar figure - a woman with long red hair, dressed in a blue
bodysuit. Iczer-2's beam sword appeared in her hand as she stepped into the
pool of LCL and walked toward her.
[WH: (Frowns and turns away.)
Wan: (to Sal) What's his deal?
Sal: If I make my guess correctly; you'll find out at the end of the fic.]
Sandra: I haven't seen her around.
Azure: She's "mysteriously vanished" in our continuity.
"You know, she's just gonna end up doing the same thing to you
again. Maybe it would have been better for you to just give in." Iczer-2
said calmly. "It's probably better for you if I just kill you here."
Iczer-2 raised her beam sword and swung it at her...
[WH: Yay! You've redeemed yourself!]
Azure: I'd advise you not to speak too soon.
...slicing the tendrils that restrained her away. Nagisa collapsed
into the LCL, and, tired and disoriented, struggled to rise to her feet.
Iczer-2 grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Nagisa just stood and stared at
her unexpected rescuer.
[WH: I take that back!]
Azure: See what I mean?
"Come on!" Iczer-2 grabbed Nagisa, and flew with her in a streak of
light.
[Wan: (as I-2) Bus is gone and I gotta drive you now.]
All: [Groan]
Nagisa was not sure how long Iczer-2 carried her through the dark
corridors of the Rhadam ship for - they just seemed to twist and turn, over
and over again, and she felt sure that they had come to the same place
dozens of times. Eventually, though, the corridor Iczer-2 was following
came to a dead end, and Iczer-2 stopped.
"Well, Nagisa, the way out's through there." Iczer-2 said, pointing
to the
organic wall. "It won't let me through with you, though."
"Then how do I get out?"
"You have to impose your will on it, force it to obey you."
"All right. Thank you for helping me, Iczer-2."
"It wasn't because I felt sorry for you. Do you know how Iczer-1
would have been affected if you'd died, or ended up controlled by the
Rhadam? She'd have been so badly off it wouldn't have been worth my time
killing her."
Nagisa just smiled.
[Sal: Oh please. That's pretty retarded reason for letting her go.]
Andrew: You think it's her real reason?
Ruri: Was that hint necessary?
"No, I think there's another reason why you did this. I think you
wanted to help me."
"Matakuu... you're mind's more addled than I thought." Iczer-2
teleported away.
"Really?" Nagisa asked aloud, not concerned that Iczer-2 could no
longer hear her.
[WH: Someone got Kavorkian on the line? We got a patient for him here!]
Nagisa turned toward the dead end Iczer-2 had indicated, and
concentrated, trying to force it open. As soon as her mind "contacted" the
wall, it came up against a force of will within it. Nagisa struggled, but
she was too tired to be able to dominate it, and was forced to break
contact, and sat down, unable to think what to do.
[WH: (as Nagisa) Oh! Now I gotta think some more!
"Well, it looks like you've almost escaped. Pity you only got this
far, Nagisa... and Raura." Iczer Zero said as she appeared behind Nagisa.
"And outside... well, even if you get out, there's nothing but vacuum. A
human won't be able to survive out there. It's better if you just give up.
[Wan: Good thing that Jar Jar Binks isn't here.]
Andrew: What's he got to do with this?
"No." With all her remaining strength, Nagisa forced her will upon
the wall, screaming as the field of mental static around her intensified,
feeling like spears piercing through her mind. Despite her pain and
exhaustion, her desperation allowed her to concentrate, forcing the wall to
open. Air rushed away from the ship, and Nagisa felt her unprotected body
being flung into the coldness of space.
{Iczer-1...}
[WH: Yay!! My long national nightmare is finally over!!]
Sandra: What makes it national?
* * * * *
End of part 1 of MST
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________________________________________________________________
Andrew Dynon
"When will those bloody adolescents learn to leave my Mobile Suits alone?"
- Bright Noah, from Kathleen Moffre's fanfic "Russian Roulette"
"Keep 'em guessing. Never tell anyone the truth. Try to confuse them."
- Stefan Elliot on dealing with Hollywood executives.
"Stories have to be told to exist. They exist in the telling and retelling."
- Itzhak Roeh