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The Second Time Around part 2 Sunday, 16-Jan-2000 12:16:40
The Apostate arrived late in the day outside of the correct dormitory and quickly proceeded through the doors to the front desk. “I require access to your residence hall directory” he stated imperiously to the clerk. “Uh...” the student behind the desk replied, looking warily at the imposing man's antique armor and horned helmet. “like... are you a parent?” With no small amount of irritation, the Apostate reached out with his mind and latched onto the students beliefs, then subtly began to twist them. “I am Mr. Douglas S. Weisburg, Dean of Student Affairs, and it is imperative that I find a certain student so that I may confer upon her a full scholarship. You will be happy to help in any way…" he added flatly, "being the boot-licking toady that you are.” “Yes, sir! Right away sir!” the desk clerk replied, believing every word. Beneath his mask, the Apostate smiled. Soon he would have what was rightfully his... Cheryl and her roommate headed back to their room to change. They were going to join a bunch of people to watch movies in Brian and Visionary’s room, and the dorm rooms just weren't big enough to make housing multiple sweaty volleyball players a good idea. It was nice to have met some people already, and those two lived right downstairs from them. Admittedly, Visionary was a little strange (although with a name like that, he’d almost have to be), but he seemed to be a nice enough guy. Just outside of her room, Cheryl noticed her Resident Advisor waving to her. She walked down the hall to meet her. “What’s up?” she asked curiously. “Your boyfriend from back home stopped by to see you” her RA answered. I told him he could wait in the lounge until you came back, since I didn’t know where you were.” “Boyfriend?” Cheryl asked. She tried to think of who it could be, but even though she had dated plenty of guys her senior year in High School, she couldn’t easily think of any one that rated that title. She was rather pleased to be starting college unattached. “Uh-huh, and let me just say... He’s quite a catch.” her RA whispered conspiratorially. “If it weren’t so obvious how much you two are in love, I just might have tried to steal him away, myself!” “Ooookay” Cheryl said dubiously. Now she knew what the RA’s did with all the illegal substances they confiscated. Still, her curiosity was piqued. She wandered down the hall to the lounge and poked her head in. “Hello, Cheryl” A tall, armored, masked man said. “I am the Apostate, your one true love, and everything you could ever want in a man.” Cheryl suddenly felt dizzy, and there was an odd tingling in the back of her head. She shook it off and when she looked up, her loving boyfriend was watching her curiously. “Of course you are, silly.” She said as she wrapped him in an embrace. “Who else would you be?” “So...” Brian began as they hastily picked all the dirty laundry up off the floor. “That girl who clocked you was pretty cute.” “So was her roommate” Visionary observed with a grin as he stuffed some clothes under the bed. They could now see the rug that lined the center of their room, which meant that they were ready for company. Visionary hung the ‘movie-night’ sign on their front door, proudly advertising tonight’s feature, Bob and Doug Mckenzie’s “Strange Brew”. A variety of guys from the volleyball game showed up in short time, but none of the women had by the time they started the flick. About fifteen minutes into it, there was a polite knock at the door. Visionary rose and looked out the open door to find a pretty brunette with green eyes in the hall. “Uh... Yes?” he asked. “It is good to be seeing you again.” she responded. “Oh, ummm...” Visionary said, trying to place her face. “I’m sorry, have we met?” “No” she answered happily. “Not yet. I was wondering if I could be seeing the movie?” “Oh! Of course! Um... come on in...” Visionary said to the odd woman. “That’s my roommate Brian, I’m Visionary and, uh... I really can’t remember the names of anybody else.” He admitted. “Two is impressive enough for you” she answered cryptically. “I am Yo.” “Come again?” Visionary asked. “Yo.” Yo repeated. “It is my name.” “Is that short for Yolanda?” Brian asked curiously. “If you like” Yo replied, looking around. “Where is Cheryl? Why is she not here?” “You know Cheryl?” Brian replied, gamely trying to make conversation. Visionary didn’t mind his roommate trying to monopolize the only woman in the room. Frankly, he thought that there was something rather strange about this Yo woman. Still, since he and Brian were both male college freshmen, she could be as odd as she liked. There was no way they were going to throw an attractive woman out of their room. Visionary went back to watching the movie as his roommate tried to engage Yo in witty banter. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this woman was not only staring at him, but silently laughing at him as well. He couldn’t help but think that she somehow found his very existence amusing. It was rather unsettling. When there was another knock at the door, it was with relief that Visionary rose to answer it. Outside was the blonde woman who had clobbered him with the volleyball, Cheryl, arm in arm with an extremely tall, muscular man in archaic armor and a horned helmet. “I am the Apostate” the man declared imperiously. “Aside from being your superior in every way, I am only an ordinary college student, not a powerful arch-villain. The woman with me is mine, and you will never have a chance with her. You are beneath us both.” With that, the two of them turned and walked away. “Ummm... okay.” Visionary said. Campus life was obviously much weirder than he had been lead to believe. “Well, thanks for stopping by and clearing that up” he said wryly as he turned to go back inside. Instead, he found himself face to face with that Yo woman. “No” she said simply. “This will not do.” “Uh-huh” Visionary said again. “So where’s your DeLorean, future-girl?” Yo-woman sighed. Explaining things to Visionary was never an easy task, even under normal circumstances. Considering that he hadn’t yet experienced the Parodyverse, he was having a hard time coming to grips with what was, in Yo’s opinion, a rather routine adventure. She smiled happily and tried again. “Such things are not necessary” she said patiently. “It is the thought that counts.” “Uh-huh” he repeated. Yo was not the violent type, but she could see the value of giving him a good slap. Still, she thought she’d try another tactic first, and so she did. With a thought, she shifted back into her androgynous state and smiled at him once more. “WAUGH!” Visionary cried, (Gah! had yet to catch on as an exclamation), and nearly fell over the chairs in the small lounge where they were talking. “Wha-- howdid--- whatare--” “Yes” Yo said happily. “Now you are getting it” This was closer to the Visionary that he remembered. He explained it all to him once more. “So... you’re for real? You’re from this... Parodyverse... and so am I? Er... eventually, anyway?” “Yes” Yo answered, nodding. “And I’m really that important?” he asked with a bit of awed pride. “The whole place goes to hell if I’m not a part of it?” “No, you’re not really being very important at all!” Yo answered enthusiastically. He was finally accepting things! “Mostly, you just do monitor duty... and sing very badly” Yo added. “I sing just fine!” Visionary insisted woundedly. “No” Yo answered. “You do not. But it is entertaining, also.” Visionary crossed his arms and looked at Yo. “So if I’m a nobody, then why does it matter what happens to me?” “Because” Yo said, “You are harmless, mostly. Not so for this ‘Apostate’. We’d rather have you…" she stated happily, "provided you are not singing.” “You mean that jerk in the hall?” Visionary asked, ignoring the jibe. “The one with that Cheryl girl?” “Your wife” Yo replied, nodding. “HER?!” Visionary said, shocked. “The one who clobbered me with the ball? But... but... she... that is...” he sputtered, pacing like a caged animal. Finally his shoulders slumped and he sighed. “... I’ve always preferred brunettes” he finished lamely. “She is surprisingly good for you” Yo reassured him. “Besides, Lisa is saying always that Cheryl could have done better than you by far. I have not heard that you could have done better than her yet.” Yo explained. “The feeling is that you were mostly quite lucky.” “Uh-huh” Visionary said moodily. “So if she’s so great, why is she hanging all over that fashion disabled prick?” Yo once more had to remind himself that these beings tended to miss the obvious. After all, any child on Yo-planet could recognize the mental sway the Apostate held over Cheryl. “She is not herself.” He answered. Visionary sat down heavily on one of the chairs and sighed. “So... What are we supposed to do about it?” he finally asked. “I mean, to correct this timeline? Do I have to win my ‘future wife’ back from that armored goon? Is that why you’ve come back… to play matchmaker?” It should be noted that Yo was running out of time, and that he believed that he would need Visionary’s help, and also that, should things work out, Visionary would stand to benefit greatly from his actions. With all this in mind, Yo decided to do something to Visionary that he had never done before. “Yes” Yo lied, “exactly.” to be continued... Visionary, continuing the story of how he and Cheryl met. |
| The Second Time Around part 2 (Visionary, continuing the story of how he and Cheryl met.) (16-Jan-2000 12:16:40) |
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