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Post By Anime Jason Fri Nov 17, 2006 at 06:48:19 pm EST |
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Adventures In Parodyverse: Center Stage Part 4 (UT#295+ tie-in) | |
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Links: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Center Stage Part 4 (UT#295 tie-in) "Hold my hand," Lara Night whispered to Jay as the two approached an office storefront in downtown Gothametropolis. She was still dressed in the white tee-shirt and skirt but now had a coat they bought on the way over it to defend herself from the cool fall air. "We don't have to pretend to be a couple anymore," Jay replied. "It's in case he tries to put you in a dream state again," Lara explained. "If you're holding my hand, if you remember my hand is supposed to be there, it'll be harder to drag your mind away." He nodded and took Lara's hand, squeezing it a little too hard out of nervousness. He didn't want to end up stuck in another waking dream. "Sonics hat," Lara whispered. "Excuse me?" "That'd be a good defense. If Marv seems like he'll turn on you give him a lot of noise so he can't concentrate." Jay quickly produced a Sonics cap and put it on his shaven head. "Good idea. I'm ready now. Lara...what are we doing?" Lara ignored his question, feeling him tense as she led him directly at a solid wall at the rear of the unmarked office storefront. She knew it was because he wasn't used to being turned intangible and led through a wall. He gasped quietly after they passed through both layers of wall and appeared inside an empty dark room. "That's why you wanted to hold my hand isn't it?" She shrugged and smiled. "Easier to do than to explain. Marv is right in the next office. Be careful though, it's also a trap." "Damn right it is," Marvellous Marv suddenly announced, simultaneously snatching Lara by her throat and slamming her into the opposite wall. She crumpled to the floor... ...and as she sat up there was a lot of movement in the darkness. Her eyes widened as she sensed spirits of darkness beginning to materialize and take form. "They'll take your soul," Marv said calmly just as the shadows began moving toward Lara. The room suddenly flooded with light. Jay was wearing a cap that said Florida Sunshine on it. The shadows whispered loudly in protest and then fizzled away. Marv reached out and tried to grab Hatman but he had already switched to a Paradopolis Dept of Corrections hat, and Marvellous Marv found himself chained to the floor, both hands and feet. "How did you manage to make my dream come alive?" Jay asked. "How did you get Lara in there, and change both our clothing?" "I'm sorry to say," Marvellous Marv replied calmly with a quite sinister smile, "A magician never gives away his secrets." A bright flash went off, and then smoke, and in one of the most classic magic tricks in the book, Marvellous Marv disappeared. The now empty chains fell to the floor noisily. "Are you okay?" Jay asked Lara, gently helping her up from the floor. She stumbled a little, still dizzy from the impact with the wall. "Yeah," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I didn't...I should have fought back or something--" "Lara," Jay whispered to her as he held her up, "You're a very gentle and kind soul. I could never fault you for that." "Thanks, but...I often feel so useless." Lara sighed. "I mean, I can show a little power sometimes but when it comes down to real danger I'm beaten so easily." "It's just something you have to learn through experience, Lara," Jay told her. "I wasn't always so good at this. I was badly defeated quite a few times before I got here." He started to lead her outside, intent on returning with her to the Lair Mansion. "No, you don't understand. I didn't used to be so gentle." Lara hung her head sadly. "Bad things happened. Very bad things that I have to live with. And now I guess I don't want any more nightmares so..." she shrugged. Jay's eyes saddened as he listened to Lara and watched her reactions. "That's something I had to learn through experience too," he whispered. Lara looked into Jay's eyes for a moment, and she nodded silently. Not another word was said on the subject as they made their way back. --- "Hey." Jay gently nudged Lara as the two walked outside of the now empty office of Marvellous Marv. Lara looked at him with a suddenness that showed her mind was a million miles away. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm still thinking things over...how I could have done things different." "Marv had the drop on us. There isn't much you could do about it." "No, not that." Lara avoided Jay's eyes as she spoke. "I mean my visits to this universe. How at first I just came here like I was on vacation. It was fun for me but I was also so...detached. " Jay didn't say anything, he simply stood and listened. "I have so much I regret. If I would have known it would offend your sensibilities, and that I'd be friends with you, I probably wouldn't have did that stuff with Dream. I would have helped out a lot more if I knew it would have prevented the many injuries I've seen. I could have kept a closer eye on Liu Xi--" "You couldn't have known all those things," Jay interrupted her. "You did the best you could with what you knew. It's all about timing. Heck, if I got to know you before Chiaki, she might have done that stuff with Dream and you with me. And we'd all still feel horribly guilty, only for different reasons. I even asked myself why I didn't have Liu Xi living with me...with her own room, I mean, but still close by so the Parody Master couldn't get close enough to her." "We're both total screwups, aren't we?" Lara asked, cracking a slight smile. Jay smiled too. He liked seeing the carefree Lara again. "Yeah, we are," he replied with a laugh. Lara waved to him and said, "C'mon, hang on to me and I'll fly you back. The scenic way might be nice." He moved behind her and held out his arms, but couldn't find what he would consider a suitable way to hang on. "Um, how do you want me to--" "Just hang on." Lara grabbed both his arms and pulled them tight around her midsection. "Don't worry about it so much. Keep telling yourself that it's better than clinging to Dream." "I guess you have a--" Jay didn't finish that sentence before Lara launched skyward suddenly. He held on as tightly as he could, worried at first that he'd fall. But then he realized that he felt lighter - whatever method Lara used to fly, she wasn't simply holding him up, she was lifting him as well. They had to be travelling pretty fast, because they arrived at the Lair Mansion in only minutes. Neither one of them said a word until they had safely landed on the front lawn of the Mansion. Jay let go of her quickly and she dusted herself off. "Wasn't too bad was it?" she asked. Jay seemed distracted at first, but eventually replied. "No, no, it wasn't too bad. Sorry, I was thinking about something...whether Marvellous Marv might come after you or me." "I guess it's possible." Lara shrugged and frowned for a moment when she thought about it too. She shook her head then and shrugged. "He's not that scary though." "I'm still a little shaken that he got inside my head." "I think it was that furnace," Lara pointed out. She paused for a moment before asking, "Are you more shaken about him or that I was in your head too?" Jay looked at her in the eyes and smiled. "If it was just you I could live with that easily." He started to walk inside, noting that Lara followed. "I did tell you about Faite, did I?" "Yes, you did." Lara nodded. "I hope she comes back," he said. "I'd like you to meet her. Partly to prove I'm not imagining her, and partly because I think she'd be intrigued by you." "I know you're not imagining her." Jay looked shocked suddenly, giving Lara a questioning look. Lara didn't sound like she was guessing, she sounded sure. "You know how I said the Parody Master was like a motorboat in a bathtub?" Lara asked. "Yeah." Jay nodded, urging her to continue. "Faite is more like a fish breaking the surface of a pond. When I entered your room I could still sense she'd been there." Jay was only made more curious by her explanation. "Does it feel like...a scent or a smell...?" "No, it's like--" Lara paused and squinted her eyes as she thought a moment. "Like the air weighs more than normal." "So did you tap her ass?" CSFB! asked, seeming to come out of nowhere to stand between Jay and Lara. He put one arm around each of them. Jay's face visibly wrinkled at the sound of those words but he didn't say anything. Lara simply shoved Dream. "Nobody got tapped," she scolded him without losing her smile. "Too bad." Dream looked down at Lara's shirt as he said, "Jay could use some of that." "Dream, look at him. He's smiling already, he doesn't need more than the company and the fun we shared." Jay quickly tried to hide his amused smile when Dream looked at him. "She's right, I guess." Dream smiled and laughed. "That's cool. Wish you had something more interesting to tell, though." Lara and Jay looked at each other and they both remembered Jay's dream they were both trapped in, and they tried not to laugh. "No," Jay said, "Nothing interesting at all." -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2006 by Jason Froikin, and may not be -- reprinted without permission. -- Liu Xi Xian, Yuki Shiro, Lara Night, Chiaki Bushido (Psychic Samurai) (C) 2006 by Jason Froikin, all rights reserved -- All other characters property of their respective owners |
To the Spirit of the Night, I surrender...| Echo™ v3.0 beta © 2003-2006 Powermad Software |
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