Adventures In Parodyverse: Crossworlds, Part 4

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Adventures In Parodyverse - Crossworlds Part 4

    "When you said we were going on a mission--" Lara couldn't help but smile when she learned exactly what Jay meant. They had just arrived by air and landed in front of Mac Fleetwood's Zero Street Mission.

    Jay couldn't help but smile. It was easy to after having Lara cling to his back as he jetted the whole way there wearing his Rockets cap. She could fly herself, only much more slowly, and he wanted to get there fast. He couldn't help but wonder if she played along just to entertain him a little.

    "It's both kinds of mission today," he joked. "Sometimes I help the mission do things they couldn't possibly do by themselves. Like get all the homeless people possible here on a freezing night. They don't have the staff to go out and notify people, they just have to hope those poor souls find this place. I, on the other hand, can get around pretty quickly."

    Jay opened the door for Lara and led her inside. There were a scattered few people sitting on the floor snacking on crackers or doing various activities as they waited for nightfall. The interior of the main room was rather dim and dingy, but it served its purpose. "Reverend Fleetwood makes do with very little," Jay explained.

    "Hatman!" Mac Fleetwood stepped out of the back office and shook Jay's hand. "Always glad to see you here. Brought another friend?"

    Lara smiled, knowing that meant Jay brought Zdenka there once already.

    "This is Lara Night," Jay introduced. "She's an occasional visitor to our...city...and a colleague. After you gave me a call I thought she could help out too."

    Mac shook her hand quickly. "How's this city been treating you?" he asked Lara.

    She didn't reply verbally, but she did smile shyly and shrug. Mac laughed knowingly.

    "Notice the small numbers in here today?" Mac asked Jay.

    He nodded. "I was wondering what was going on. It's going to be too chilly tonight for all those people to remain outside."

    Without speaking a word, Mac handed Jay a blue colored piece of paper. "Found this nailed to poles all over town."

    Jay read the paper, and Lara tried her best to look over his shoulder to see it. An invitation, obviously aimed at homeless people, advertising a hundred dollars cash and free boarding for anyone willing to test a new sleep aid. "This can't be right," he said. "They usually don't test these on the homeless."

    Lara shrugged. "At least they aren't testing an impotence drug." She glanced at Mac for a moment, expecting a horrified look for her verbal slip in his presence, but he just ignored it.

    "I estimate seventy people might fall victim to this," Mac said. "That's the number of people who usually come here for a night like this."

    Jay turned and looked at Lara. "What do you think?" he asked.

    "I don't like this," she whispered, looking at the paper as she spoke. "I don't trust it. I just know there's some really horrible catch to it."

    "That's why I asked," Jay responded with a sly smile, "I heard you have an instinct about these things. Shall we go?"

    "Let's." Lara nodded to Mac Fleetwood and then followed Jay outside.

---

    "An interesting observation indeed," Sir Mumphrey nodded as he sat across from Liu Xi in his study. He sat in a plush chair facing a small couch, where Liu Xi leaned on the arm with her feet up beside her. Visionary was at the opposite end of the small couch trying to avoid sitting on Liu Xi's small feet.

    She just told him about the senses she had been picking up, that it felt like the universe was closing in on her and everyone else. That they were quietly being surrounded, and nobody realized it.

    "Have you spoken to Lara about this?" Sir Mumphrey asked.

    Liu Xi nodded. "She doesn't want to interfere."

    Mumph looked at Visionary and frowned. Not wanting to interfere was a bad sign coming from someone like Lara, appointed a Guardian in her own universe. "Please notify her that I wish to speak with her when she returns from her mission."

    "I doubt you'll be able to convince her," the Hooded Hood contributed. Somehow he had been there all along, sitting in a plush chair between Sir Mumphrey and the couch. When the others looked at him in shock he continued. "I have spoken with someone from Lara's home universe. Someone very powerful."

    Sir Mumphrey tried to call the Hooded Hood some clever and insulting name but he suddenly had a pipe in his mouth.

    "She too indicated a reluctance to interfere," The Hooded Hood went on. "Even after I indicated the danger to her Guardian."

    Visionary looked at Liu Xi for some kind of explanation, but she just shrugged.

    "Whatever you have planned for Lara, I won't allow it!" Sir Mumphrey finally managed to get out.

    The Hooded Hood raised an eyebrow, not seeming the slightest bit concerned. "My plans should not concern you right now," he said. "Lara's help, as well as her more powerful associate's, could have proven beneficial to all of us. Their refusal...could mean your doom."

    "They aren't stupid," Liu Xi rudely piped up. "They know you are a manipulative bastard."

    Sir Mumphrey seemed taken aback at the language she used, but then nearly smiled when he realized that she said what he happened to be thinking before the pipe appeared in his mouth.

    "As opposed to a young woman," the Hooded Hood commented, "with no real place in the world, who clings to the Lair Legion to feel useful?"

    Liu Xi stood angrily. "I should hurt you," she said plainly, "simply for being so rude as to interrupt our conversation."

    The Hooded Hood smiled at that. "Excellent." He leaned back and steepled his hands together. "That would quickly put you on the path I have laid out for you."

    "You don't control my future," Liu Xi dismissed his claim.

    "Indeed." He nodded. "And that is why your future is to be filled with disappointment." He glanced at Visionary when he said that, as if to note him as part of that future. He then dismissed Liu Xi's topic by moving back to the original one. "At any rate, Lara Night is potentially in danger. Her powerful friend refuses to protect her. Whether they wish to interfere or not at least one of them could become part of what is happening in the Parodyverse."

    "Could become," Sir Mumphrey repeated. "Wording things carefully, what? Your only purpose here is to frighten the young lady unnecessarily. I must insist you leave now."

    "Far be it for me to be rude," the Hooded Hood replied, "But I am not here on business with you. Perhaps you should mind your own more immediate concerns." A cup of tea was suddenly in Sir Mumphrey's lap, which of course spilled when he was surprised by its presence.

    "No," Liu Xi stepped in front of the Hooded Hood. "He asked you to leave. You will leave."

    "At your request," the Hooded Hood said, "I will comply."

    "You will leave alone," she added. "Without anyone or anything else."

    Visionary couldn't help but smile at Liu Xi cleverly closing a loophole as he watched the Hooded Hood frown and vanish suddenly, leaving the room as it was before he arrived. "Why do you suppose he's so interested in Lara?" Visionary asked.

    "She is the key to many different universes," Liu Xi said quickly without really thinking about it.

    When she sat down Sir Mumphrey and Visionary were both staring at her silently.

    "Lara has been to a few different universes," she explained. "She left an impression in a few. Even tried helping out before she learned how dangerous that was." She paused for a moment to think, to assemble the pieces of the puzzle in her mind, before coming up with a conclusion. "Perhaps...the Hooded Hood wants Lara to keep her away from...whatever else wants her."

    "But you just chased him out of here," Visionary pointed out.

    "Then it's up to us, what?" Sir Mumphrey said. "We must do our best to keep Lara from what or who ever may wish her harm."

---

    Lara thrust one hand out in front of her in a mostly symbolic gesture, releasing a wave of invisible force that sent a group of gun-toting security guards tumbling to the ground. She placed herself in front of Hatman, who was quickly switching to a Steelers cap.

    "Nice one," Hatman admitted. He kept the Steelers cap on anyway in case more guards showed up. "Unusually strong security for a research facility."

    "What's that noise?" Lara asked.

    "Noise?" Hatman quickly switched to a Sonics cap, and he too heard the same sound Lara noticed, only loudly amplified. It sounded like metal tubing in the walls carrying high-pressure gas. He followed the sound upward, where a chiller's compressor ran noisily. "A freezer," he said. "On the other side of this wall."

    "Should we go through?"

    "No, there might be people in there. If we break through the wall someone could get hurt."

    "Not break through, Jay," she clarified. "Go through." She demonstrated by touching the wall gently, her fingers penetrating the solid material.

    "How can you do that?" he asked.

    "Same as dimensional travel," she explained. "Only it's just a few feet rather than unfathomable distances." She gave him a concerned look for a moment. "Maybe you should go through without a hat. I'm not sure how your powers might interfere with this."

    "Okay." Hatman took off his cap and quickly attached it to his belt. He took Lara's hand and closed his eyes instinctively as she pulled him through the solid material of the wall. He could feel the density of metal, cold against his skin, for just a moment before he was in the open air again.

    "Sorry, I was a little off target," she apologized. "We're okay though, I didn't re-materialize us until we were through the freezer wall."

    Hatman wasn't listening. All around him were metal racks with human bodies in black bags stacked six high. It was like a morgue without a drawer system, out in an open freezer. He noted also that Lara was shivering - the room was kept very, very cold. "We can't stay here long," he said.

    Lara unzipped one of the bags and looked inside. She turned pale and backed away at what she saw. It took her a moment to gather the courage to fill Hatman in on what she witnessed. "The organs are missing."

    He frowned and opened another bag to look. She was absolutely, nauseatingly, correct. "It's a black market organ smuggling ring," he guessed. He noticed that Lara's teeth were now chattering. They'd been there too long. "Let's get out of this room," he said.

    She nodded and grabbed his hand with her icy and shivering one, and stepped through the opposite wall into another room, which turned out to be an office.

    "Good guess," he said. "We can look for records here." He gave her another concerned look. She was still shivering even in the warmer room. "Here," he said, putting on his Suns cap. He hugged her tightly, letting the power of a miniature sun warm her quickly.

    Lara stopped shivering almost immediately. "Wow," she said with a smile. "I bet you and that hat would be great to have in bed on a cold morning." She frowned when she realized how bad that sounded. "I mean...I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

    "It's okay, I know what you meant," Jay lied. He let go of her and had to muster the will to slow down his heart, which had begun racing after what she said. A smart, pretty blonde, in his arms, commenting on having him in bed on a cold morning was something out of a dream, even if it was an accident.

    "Hey, if one slip like that excites you," Lara said, seeming to catch his lie as she began looking through a filing cabinet, "How did you just lay in bed all night with Zdenka? She's seriously hot, and she wants you."

    "It really wasn't easy," he admitted, calming down when he realized that Lara seemed to be grounded well enough to be willing to talk about it. "We even did some serious kissing at one point."

    "You must have taken a really long shower that morning," Lara said almost absent-mindedly. She looked up and noticed Jay staring at her with a surprised look on his face.

    But then he smiled slightly. "Long shower, eh?" he poked fun at her wording. "Wouldn't you?" he asked plainly.

    She stared for a moment realizing that he'd just turned the question around and fired it back at her. "Yeah," she admitted with a shy smile and a little shrug.

    "I'm not used to that," Jay whispered as he began going through the desk.

    "Used to what?"

    "A girl talking to me like Dream does," he said. "Only with a lot less teasing. You're more sympathetic than he is, like maybe...you understand."

    "Ohhh." Lara laughed and gave him a big smile. "I see. You're used to guy friends being guy friends and girls being...something else."

    "No...well, not really. I have a few friends who are girls."

    "A lot of the friends I've had have been guys," Lara told him with another shrug. "I've learned to tease with the best of them. I can probably tease right alongside Dream, though I'm nothing like him...but who is, really?"

    Jay laughed at that. "You're better at it. Even your best poking fun at me sounds good-natured and sweet coming from you."

    "Because I'm a cute blonde?" she asked.

    "No, because you never say anything to harm anyone." Jay pulled a thick file out of the desk drawer. "I think I found something."

    "So did I," Lara noted.

    A man had just entered the office carrying a gun, and he brought plenty of security with him.

---

    "And next thing you know were were here," Jay told Keiko later at the Lair Mansion. "Lara just zapped us both across town, back home. We got the proof we needed. The cops went in a couple minutes later and made arrests."

    "She's right though." Keiko sat cross-legged, next to Jay, sipping cocoa in front of the fireplace in the study. "You do get turned on very easily."

    "No I don't," Jay denied. "Well, okay, maybe with you, because I like exotic girls."

    "I have a thing for guys like you," she added with a sly smile. "I'd love getting you to shed that sense of self integrity, take you to bed, and do things to you that you've only imagined."

    Jay just stared at her, seeming shocked for a moment.

    "I told you that you were easy to turn on," Keiko noted with a laugh. She sipped the cocoa some more.

    "That was just...kind of cruel, actually," he whispered sadly.

    Keiko looked at him for a moment and frowned. "I'm sorry," she said. She sat up and reached over to hug him. "I didn't know you were so sensitive about that."

    "I try to hold myself to a certain standard," he said. "It's not easy, you know."

    "You're right, it isn't." She finally let go of him and looked into his eyes. "I do understand."

    "Do you?" Jay asked. "Even though you were just picking on me?

    "It's a long story," she explained. "It involves a friend of mine who is married yet still has wandering eyes and mind. I like him a lot and it's been very difficult keeping myself to a certain standard."

    "Oh."     Jay responded quietly, sounding a little deflated. "I'm glad to hear you're trying."

    "Thank you," Keiko replied with a nod. "And I both commend and envy you for your success at maintaining a personal standard."

    He smiled slightly. "I'm not perfect either, but I try."

    Keiko laughed. "It's kind of funny, we became friendly as complete opposites and as time goes on we have more and more in common." She looked across the room as Zdenka entered. "One more thing, Jay."

    "Yes?" he asked.

    "If you choose to...deepen your relationship with Zdenka--" Keiko began quietly, "After what I've told you, I don't want you to try and compete with me. You're in a very deep, serious relationship. Don't sacrifice it for cold hard principles. It would break my heart to see that."

    He nodded once as he watched as Zdenka took off her jacket and hung it up. He didn't realize that Keiko was so sentimental about romance until now, but somehow he wasn't surprised. She had this emotional side she kept hidden from all but her close friends.

    "I'll see you around," Keiko suddenly said.

    "Are you leaving?" Jay asked.

    Keiko shrugged. "I have to go home sometime," she joked. "But I'll be sure to visit again." She smiled at him and added, "I have reason to, after all."


TO BE CONTINUED


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
-- Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
-- Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin
-- Keiko Takashi is an original creation by Jason Froikin

Post By Anime Jason Sat Dec 10, 2005 at 02:15:55 pm EST	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Crossworlds, Part 4

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