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Post By Anime Jason Sun Apr 09, 2006 at 02:01:03 am EDT |
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Adventures In Parodyverse: Falling Star Part 3 (UT#266+ tie-in) | |
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Adventures In Parodyverse - Falling Star Part 3 (UT#266 tie-in) Links: Part 1 Part 2 Note: This edition is a collection of scenes happening in between UT#266 scenes or between #265 and #267. I try to stay up to date but no promises. Yes, I know some of this is quite a bit outdated. Visionary heard someone knock gingerly on the doorway of his bedroom. He hadn't been able to sleep normally in...well, a long time. To function these days he relied on simply passing out for an hour or two whenever he became exhausted. "Come in," he said without really thinking. He assumed it was Kerry, hopefully to apologize for keeping him awake with late-night giggling and furniture rearranging. Liu Xi Xian peeked around the partly open door and looked at him. "I hope I'm not disturbing," she whispered. Visionary was taken aback. It was the first time ever that she actually knocked and asked politely before visiting. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked. She closed the door behind her and strolled over to the bed, sitting next to him quietly. That was more like her. "Lisa told me what happened." She spoke in a very soft voice, keeping her hands folded in her lap. She looked as if she wanted to say more but couldn't find the words. "Oh." Visionary slouched as the depression overcame him again. It didn't take much to remind him. "I'm okay. I don't want you to worry about me." "I want to offer help...I mean, you have things to take care of--" She closed her eyes for a moment when she realized she wasn't making much sense, at least in English. "Come. Follow me." With that, she rose and took Visionary's hand to lead him downstairs. As soon as he began descending the stairway Visionary began to smell something. It smelled very good, and his stomach began to growl. He realized he hadn't eaten more than snack food in quite a while. Once they arrived in the kitchen Visionary realized that Liu Xi hadn't just arrived. She was downstairs for a while creating a very tasty meal. "Umm...I don't know what to say," Visionary whispered. "Don't say." Liu Xi smiled at him. "Just eat." She sat at one end of the table, elbows next to her own empty plate and her chin rested on her clasped hands. "I wanted to suggest...you should bring Miiri here. I will take care of your house so she is not tempted to, and you can take care of her." Visionary nearly choked, but didn't, because the food was so good he didn't want to have to spit it out. "That's a little more complicated than it sounds," he told her. "Yes, it is." Liu Xi sighed. "But there is nothing that would be better for both of you." She served herself some food as well and began eating with Visionary. "Pain shared is pain lessened." "That's a thought," he admitted reluctantly. "But--" He stopped to swallow a mouthful of food. "I...sometimes feel like I don't want to live. And I don't want Miiri to see me like that." "Miiri carried Naari inside her for months," Liu Xi pointed out. "Don't you think she feels the same way?" Visionary stopped eating for a moment and thought about that. "You don't have to hide away until you can be the strong one," Liu Xi continued. "You're both stronger together than you are apart." "What about the guys in the Lair Legion? I mean...aren't they going to tease me about Miiri staying here? What about the press?" Liu Xi stared at him and took a bite of her food. "Lisa is already very angry," she replied. "There will be no teasing." Visionary took another mouthfull of food in the absence of words. He needed to think about that. --- "I should have volunteered," Lara Night told Lisa Walz as soon as she entered the lawyer's office at the Lair Mansion. "For what?" Lisa asked, confused by the unsolicited offer. "To guard Visionary's daughter," Lara explained in a much quieter voice. "If I would have known she had been born I would have volunteered to watch her. At least part of the time." "In all likelihood then you would be dead too." Lisa gave her reply very coldly, as if she were reading it from a book. "I seriously doubt it's some average human being who did this. It's almost surely someone who would kill you as easily." "But I could have been a deterrent at least--" "Don't be so naive," Lisa replied almost a little too sharply. "You're not a killer type, Lara. If you had to face down someone who is, and protect a baby at the same time?" She shook her head sadly. Lara sighed. "Maybe you're right. I just...desperately want to feel useful, you know? I hang around and see people suffer, and it feels out of reach, like I wish I could help but I can't." Lisa frowned and folded her arms. "You know what you can do to help?" "Yes?" Lara perked up for a moment, hoping she would get a decent answer. "Someone like you?" Lisa told her calmly, as if it were something she said a thousand times, "Just do what your heart tells you. I know it sounds corny...that's why it's perfect for someone as light-hearted and sensitive as you." "You say that as if it were something bad," Lara pointed out quietly. She wasn't smiling when she said it, either. "Look." Lisa sighed. "Someone like me, I'm great in situations like this. I'm at my best when things are at their worst. You, on the other hand..." "I see." Lara sighed. "I guess that's why I never took the possibility of being a superhero seriously. I'm no good under stress." "Yeah, well, sometimes I wish I was more like you," Lisa admitted, her voice still sharp and direct. "Girls like you make guys smile, and even while you still have clothing on. Sometimes I wish I had some of that magic, guys are mostly terrified of me. Sometimes, Lara, the best thing you can do under stress is make someone smile." "Wow." Lara finally smiled. "You can be pretty encouraging when no one is watching." Lisa shrugged and appeared to look through a file cabinet. She wheeled around suddenly and narrowed her eyes at Lara. "If you ever tell anyone I said that I'll make sure you go home in a dozen plastic bags." "Okay." Lara didn't lose her improved mood even after the threat. "No worries, I'm good with secrets." Just in case, she left Lisa's office quickly. --- ManMan had just made the perfect Dagwood-style giant sandwich, containing roast beef, bologna, turkey, mustard, mayonnaise, and just about anything else he could find in the refrigerator. He was taking advantage of the rumor that Yuki was incapacitated during her last mission and would be for a while. Knifey was inside the fridge, his muffled protests almost inaudible outside. He looked out into the hallway to make sure nobody was nearby, and then he sat down and lifted up the huge, greasy, dripping sandwich, closing his eyes to savor his first bite. "What are you doing?" a female accented voice demanded. ManMan jumped, and then he reached out in futility to stop the sandwich from slipping through his fingers. It was slippery, and evaded his grip twice before tumbling to the floor with a heartbreaking splat. He frowned and turned around - somehow Liu Xi Xian avoided all detection and simply arrived in the kitchen. "That's cruel," Liu Xi scolded him as she opened the refrigerator door and removed the sentient knife called Knifey. As it turned out, her question referred to the treatment of Knifey and not to his sandwich. "I'll get your for this, fatso!" Knifey threatened. Knifey turned his attention to the new arrival. "He's cheating on his diet! I'll tell everyone I see today! He's been eating take-away burgers in the monitor room and making sandwiches laden with calories and fat!" ManMan quickly placed a plate and then a chair on top of the dropped sandwich. "Umm...no I'm not?" "Yuki is going to be very angry," Liu Xi warned ManMan. She didn't say any more as she began washing the glass baking tray she brought with her. Once she finished washing it she dried it quickly and she climbed up onto the counter to store the tray in a high closet. By the time she turned around, ManMan had thrown the sandwich and the plate into the trash compactor and was scurrying to try and clean up all traces on the floor. "You'd not doing it right," Liu Xi scolded him. "The floor will be sticky." She gestured quickly and the floor was immediately covered in a film of churning, icy water. A moment later the water was gone and the floor was cleaner than it had been in years. "Wow. You're an amazing girl," ManMan commented. "Oh, stop sucking up," Knifey commented. "She's not falling for it, and you don't have a chance with a hottie like that." "A what?" Liu Xi looked at ManMan, seeming confused. "Go ahead, fatso. Explain what that means," Knifey prodded. "Umm..." ManMan fidgeted for a moment before coming up with something to get him out of it. "Nature calls. I gotta go." He quickly raced out of the kitchen, leaving Liu Xi holding Knifey. "It's moments like these I wish I had a body," Knifey noted. Liu Xi frowned and jammed Knifey into a loaf of bread before stalking out of the kitchen. TO BE CONTINUED? -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2006 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 |
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