Adventures In Parodyverse: Confrontation - Tales of the Parodyverse

Writer's note: Not sure if I like how this turned out, but here it is anyway.

Adventures In Parodyverse - Confrontation

    Lara Night felt a mixture of ecstacy and confusion. Mostly the former as she made love to a beautiful man she felt she bonded with so closely that she believed she would cry if she denied him. And for giving herself to him she was richly rewarded with pleasure as she hadn't felt in years.

    But that was interlaced with a sense of confusion. She felt happy, but for some reason her memory kept failing her. She wasn't sure how she got there, or what she was doing before. She couldn't remember how she found this man or why she went to his home. And though she told herself it was nonsense, and blamed her own sometimes weak memory, she couldn't even remember his name. The only thing that kept her from becoming suspicious was that her heart told her she bonded with him and really cared for him. She never failed to trust her heart before.

    It was the ending of the powerful lovemaking session that finally set off a small alarm in her head. Lara would have accepted that it was an experiment she agreed to, even if it was a one-night stand with someone she discovered to be nearly a soul mate. But the ending made it clear that there were two things that were very wrong.

    The first thing was it had become obvious that he was not using any sort of protection, something she always demanded even of a man she lived with for months, even of Dream, and would insist on demanding even of a virgin. Even more important than that - what seemed to be only a hint of selfishness in the act that could have been dismissed...it was almost as if he flaunted the fact that he was 'unprotected'. As if that made it obvious he slipped that fact past her purposely and wanted her to know it.

    Lara sat up and stared at him, wrapped partially in the bedsheets, once he slid out of the bed. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him, making obvious her suspicion that he felt he'd taken advantage of her and was happy about it.

    "I wager you wonder how you got here," he said. He was dressed now in a dark suit. Odd, Lara thought, because she didn't remember him getting dressed.

    "Yeah," Lara whispered in response. She wasn't at all feeling confused, her mind was clear. It was like there were gaps in her memory. She noted that he emphasized the word 'here', and she looked around the room for clues. It was mostly dark in the room except for a small lamp, but it seemed to be a very plush bedroom. The bedsheets were satin. Apparently this was a man with money or power, or possibly both.

    "I had to get your attention somehow." He said, the sound of those words becoming alarming. "You think you're invulnerable, protected. That nobody can get to you. This is a vision of your future, Lara Night. Bonded to me, loyal to me, willingly accepting my seed within you."

    "What?" Lara asked, sounding confused now. She glanced around trying to find her clothing, but it was nowhere near.

    "I'm the man you fear more than any other," he said. "I'm the Parody Master."

    "...the hell?" Lara shuffled backwards and fell out of the bed. She scrambled to her feet quickly and backed up against a wall. "..the hell?" she repeated. "How did you get to me?" That last sentence was almost in tears.

    "I didn't...yet." he replied ominously. "This isn't even my true appearance." He laughed at her fear. "I merely found you have finely tuned senses, and I took advantage by having my mages send a vision. My present, from me to you."

    Lara calmed herself when it all started to add up. So that's why she couldn't remember anything. "Why did you do this?"

    "To show you what could be," he told her. "Your future in the Parodyverse."

    "As one of your crazy brides?" Lara asked, sounding almost angry.

    "No," the Parody Master replied coldly. "As my willing entertainment."

---


    Lara awoke suddenly at the Lair Mansion, her heart beating fast. She felt angry, and even a little scared. Enough so that she turned on the lamp on the table next to her and quickly looked around the room.

    She then dropped her face in her hands and took a deep breath. "He's just trying to get to you, Lara," she told herself. "Don't let him. Be strong."

    The self pep talk was working, or maybe it was that she was trying to control her breathing to slow her heart and calm herself. Even so, there was no going back to sleep right away. She slid out of bed, and for a moment had to check and make sure of reality again - she was wearing the same pajamas she went to bed in.

    Lara walked over to the window and looked outside. The city was in the distance behind some fog. A shiver ran up her spine as a thought occurred to her - that vision could have been a warning. This calm, quiet evening could be this Earth's last...he could be coming tonight, catching the Lair Legion off guard during its down time.

    With her senses she reached out and felt the energy wave of the Celestian barrier gently wash over her. Weakened, as usual, but still there and strong enough to keep them safe. She sighed with relief at that. The fog would stay where it was, and so would the city...for now.

    She was half tempted to visit the operations center and check if there were any new incursions, but she had been ordered by Yuki to get some sleep. Yuki told her that they were all only as strong as the weakest link, and that Lara was one big link that couldn't be allowed to weaken...that sleep was essential to the Lair Legion's future contingency plans. The Parody Master must agree, she thought to herself, if he was working on instilling doubt in her mind and interrupting her sleep.

    There was one thing Lara learned from visiting the Parodyverse that she would take home with her and use forever. She had never been good at being able to sleep when stressed - but Chiaki showed her ways she can meditate and gradually shut out her senses until she could sleep during a hurricane if she chose.

    She would have to use that method each night, she told herself, to make sure she was tuned out properly and couldn't be disturbed by the Parody Master. Otherwise he would just slowly torture her with images, deprive her of sleep, until she was too paranoid and tired to operate.

    But before she attempted to meditate she grabbed a pad of paper nearby and began writing down what she remembered. She would have to tell Dream what happened, for her own safety and for the Lair Legion's. Even though she felt a little embarrassed by it.

    Fortunately after that it didn't take much meditation for her to become tired, and she quickly fell into a deep sleep.

---

    In the morning Lara awoke refreshed, but still distantly haunted by the memory from the night before. Except something felt a little eerie...like she could sense something new far, far away. It was the Parody Master - usually shielded from detection, but now open to Lara. She could 'see' him like a bright star in the night sky.

    Lara could only guess that was because he intended to make his presence known to her in order to intimidate her. She knew she should have expected that, and she steeled herself and pushed that distant bright signature away, trying to forget it. She wanted to make it clear she wasn't intimidated and didn't care.

    Once she showered and dressed she went to visit Dream in Hatman's office. He was still temporarily the leader of the Lair Legion until Hatman recovered enough to resume his duties.

    The visit was refreshing to her. Any time she saw him, he made her smile just by his presence. She felt like she could forget the whole world in his presence, forget time itself and fear and responsibility. It almost made her forget the pad of paper in her hand as she approached him, smiling.

    "Hey babe, what's up?" Dream asked cheerily, showing no sign of what Lara knew beneath the surface - that poor Dream was buried and overwhelmed by the job.

    "I had kind of a weird experience last night." Lara handed him the pad of paper and tried to explain it as best as anyone could after a night time memory had been watered down by sleep and daylight.

    "Sounds like our old buddy learned how to mess with dreamtime," he replied quickly. "No problem, I'll just have to teach you something my dad taught me, how to take control of it when things go really f-ed up."

    "Chiaki...already taught me," Lara replied with a nervous laugh. "Well, some of it, anyway. I guess you could help too."

    Dream smiled widely, in a way that made Lara a little nervous about what he was about to do. "This will be so cool," he said. "You'll really get to see the new Dreamcatcher Foxglove in action."

---

    The first step of Dream's plan was by far the toughest. Not by its own nature - what was to come after that was actually what made it scary. Lara Night sat up on her own bed, a little paler than usual. She was supposed to go back to sleep, this time leaving her mind open and her senses sharp. Essentially leaving the doors and windows open to encourage the Parody Master to contact her again.

    "It's like Dreamscape," Dream told her. "Remember that? I'm like Dennis Quaid, I'm here to look out for you and make sure you remember...it's your dream."

    "Okay." Lara nodded and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried to let her thoughts wander to more peaceful places...like home. Her garden behind her home, with a tiny artificial waterfall, and trees, and brightly colored flowers.

    She didn't even notice the transition. Lara was squatting beside the small waterfall behind her home, listening to the water sound, and suddenly the Parody Master towered next to her, in the same handsome form she saw him with before. She could sense a sort of artificial charisma, almost like an animal pheremone, projecting from him, trying to make him sexually irresistable. Only that could only work once.

    Lara stood slowly and noted that even at her full height she was much smaller. No doubt he exaggerated his size to intimidate her. She stared at him calmly, feeling confident when his expression changed. She locked him out of her most private thoughts, and he no longer knew her intentions.

    "Clever," he complimented her. "But you won't be able to resist forever."

    "Why are you so preoccupied with me?" Lara asked him. "Don't you have better things to do? I'm not a leader, I'm not even part of the Lair Legion."

    The Parody Master smiled ironically. "You underestimate your role," he said.

    Lara was intrigued by that. "Are you saying I'm key to beating you? Is that why you're picking on me?"

    "To the Lair Legion you're an ever-present reminder what they fight for." the Parody Master told her. "Once I take you from them...once you're serving me...it will demoralize them more than you can imagine."

    It was that point Lara decided to dispense with the pleasantries and remember what Dream told her. In this dream world, the dreamtime, Lara was a god. He said she had imagination and creativity the Parody Master lacked. That he was limited in this world by the power he created in the real world. And that Lara had no such limits.

    And she also remembered a particular movie he mentioned...and it inspired her.

    Lara focused her anger quickly, remembering the state Hatman returned home in. And the merciless murder of Lisa Waltz. The many kidnappings and turtures of Liu Xi Xian. And the missing gentle spirit known as Dancer. And her fury exploded.

    She simultaneously released fire from her eyes and fingers, as well as lightning, and consumed the Parody Master. He lashed out at her, but she was no longer a solid form, and his soul axe passed right through her without harm. And then she was everywhere...both physical and ethereal, oozing firey tendrils through his head and into his mind.

    He almost laughed at first, but then he winced, cried out...and vanished. At that last second she could sense that she touched his mind...somewhere out there. And she hurt him.

    But as she awakened and saw Dream sitting on the bed next to her, she also realized that she caught a horrible, horrible glimpse of the Parody Master's thoughts and intentions. And that led her to sit up suddenly, hug herself, and start shivering as she tried to shut it out.

    Dream instinctively understood and hugged her tightly.

    "It's so horrible," Lara whispered, shaking her head. "It's so horrible."

    "But you beat him, didn't you?" he asked with a heartwarming smile.

    She nodded slowly. "Yeah," she whispered. "Yeah, I did. But it was just a dream. I wish it was more. I wish I could have...really hurt him."

    "You did, Lara." Dream replied, his voice desperately trying to get her to share his enthusiasm and confidence. "Because he's invincible, and you got to him, you shook him up. He won't invade your dreams now, and you know why? Because he's afraid, he can't beat you there. And if you ever meet him in person he'll know you beat him, and it'll dent his confidence, and it might be enough to make him f-up so we can take him down."

    "You think so?" Lara asked. She finally stopped shivering and she hugged herself more loosely now. "You wouldn't just say that to cheer me up would you?"

    "If I just wanted to cheer you up--" Dream looked down at the sheets below him. "We're already in a bed."

    This time Lara flashed a slightly embarassed smile. "Okay, I believe you," she replied.

    "Really, Lara, you get to play with energy. That means you don't just use the Force...you are the Force! You're more powerful than we can imagine even without being struck down. You're--"

    "Okay, okay." Lara touched his hand gently to stop him. "Honestly though, it doesn't do much good against a man who controls the very fabric of the universe."

    Dream seemed shocked by that last part. And he didn't seem shocked all that often.

    "Yeah, that's what I picked up." Lara whispered sadly. "He could use his power to play with all of us like puppets if he tried. He just hasn't figured it out yet, and fortunately we're all distracting him so he hasn't had the time to learn."

    He was silently for a moment or two longer before saying, "I hope Hatty takes over again soon."

    Lara couldn't help but smile at him and hold his hand. She felt bad shaking him up like that. "If it makes you feel better, I'm starting to sense that's the one thing I'm here to stop him from doing. So I guess that means we're supposed to work together...two elements of chaos against the Parody Master's extreme idea of order."

    Dream smiled again at that. "Couldn't have said it better myself."



-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2007 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

Post By Anime Jason Sat Mar 31, 2007 at 07:26:03 pm EDT	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Confrontation

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