Adventures In Parodyverse: Tempered Part 2

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Part 1

Adventures In Parodyverse - Tempered Part 2

    Visionary leaned back in the co-pilot's seat of a noisy, small helicopter, buckled in tightly and still a little tense. Yuki was in the pilot's seat, flying the small craft a little too casually - and a little too fast - through the pouring rain.

    "How are you holding up?" Yuki asked. She looked at him, and he noted that even in the cloud-obscured dim daytime light she was wearing wraparound sunglasses. Purple ones, to match her hair.

    "Can you um...see where we're going?" Visionary asked, his voice wavering as the helicopter clipped through some low-hanging clouds, completely blocking the view. He pushed against the floor with his feet, holding himself against the back of the seat, and gripped the armrests.

    "Relax," Yuki urged him with a comfortable laugh. "You're not going to die today. I can see the radar waves from the airport. If anything so much as a bird gets in our way I'll see the reflection."

    "Oh." Visionary released his grip on the armrests slowly, and relaxed his feet. He kept the seatbelt solidly fastened, though.

    "You didn't answer my question," Yuki prodded as she continued sailing the helicopter through the heavy rain and clouds, "How are you holding up? Since Pricilla died, I mean."

    "Shouldn't you be watching--" Visionary pointed out the front window, trying to encourage her to look where they were going instead of at him. But he then guessed that she would just say something about her advanced peripheral vision. "I'm doing okay, I guess," he replied.

    "Liar," Yuki summarily accused. She smiled at the outraged expression on his face.

    "You don't know me!" Visionary fumed. "Don't tell me how I feel!"

    "You're in a waking dream, Visionary," Yuki told him. "I can tell. You walk around every minute like you think you're dreaming, waiting to wake up all warm and toasty in your bed with Pricilla by your side." She faced the windscreen again.

    "Leave me alone," Visionary mumbled.

    "I hit a nerve did I?" Yuki's smile disappeared when she looked at him again. "I bet you're curious about why I'm treating you like this."

    He looked away, but didn't reply. He was biting his lip, trying to avoid showing any emotion to her at all.

    "Visionary, I don't have a pilot's license. In fact, this is my first time flying a helicopter."

    Visionary still didn't look at her, though he felt nervous. He was almost sure she was lying just to get a response out of him again.

    "Do you know why I do these things? I'm not crazy, you know." Yuki switched on the autopilot and raised the armrest to turn around and face Visionary. And she poked him with her toe for good measure. "Do you know why?"

    "No," he finally replied coldly.

    "It's because I know what it's like to want to die," Yuki told him. "When I was in the hospital, before I was given this body...I went from being mediocre to being nothing, Visionary. And do you know what broke my heart the most? That I never tried to become anything when I had the chance."

    Visionary finally turned and looked at Yuki.

    "I was dying long before the accident," she continued. "Only I didn't know it. When I was given a second chance...I promised myself I'd never be afraid to live. To really live. As soon as I learned how to use this body...and believe me, it wasn't easy...I left the gate running, and I never stopped."

    "I think I get it," Visionary mumbled.

    "No, you don't get it." Yuki was frowning now. He'd never seen her so serious...so angry...before. "Because this SR 1066...and the lawsuit against me and Al B Harper...if they succeed--" She clenched her teeth and looked down. "I won't want to live anymore," she whispered. "I won't want to live as a robot controlled by some tag. That's not what it means to be alive."

    "Okay," Visionary replied quietly. "And that has to do with me how...?"

    "It has everything to do with you." Yuki shook her head sadly. "Because you still have a chance. No matter what happens to me, or the Lair Legion. And all you want to do is live in your memories and mope. It makes me sick to see it now...because you'll be so much worse when this situation comes to a head."

    "Look, it's just temporary, okay?" he said. "I just...need some time."

    "What do you miss about her most?" Yuki asked. It was a sudden, and uncharacteristically sensitive question from her, and Visionary was taken aback.

    "I guess--" he started to answer. "Waking up with her. Just knowing someone was there for me in the morning. Now...falling asleep without her is difficult, but waking up...is worse."

    "So it's not the sex?" Yuki asked, giving him a slight smile as she did.

    Visionary gave her a suspicious look. "That's a close second but...no. Definitely waking up with her." He looked out the window again, noting that the helicopter seemed to be hovering in one place, except for the wind tossing it from time to time.

    She finally took off her sunglasses and hooked them onto her shirt. "Geez, you really had it bad for her, didn't you?"

    He looked down sadly, almost looking as if he was ashamed to admit to it. But he peeked anyway to see what Yuki was thinking. He was surprised to see that she looked a little sad.

    "I've never had anyone love me like that," she whispered. Yuki quickly turned around and put down the armrest, and then resumed piloting the helicopter, remaining strangely silent.

    "I'm sorry," Visionary finally said after several minutes of silence.

    Yuki glanced at him. "What for?"

    He seemed more alive an animated for just a moment as he replied, "I'm sorry you've never been loved like that."

    "I guess someday, it's an adventure I should try." Yuki gave him a slight smirk. "You're much more relaxed now."

    "Yeah," he agreed. Visionary pushed his feet against the panel in front of him and once again gripped the arm rest as he noticed Yuki pushing the steering stick forward, sending the helicopter plummeting downward.

    "I can fix that," she replied mischievously, happiness and excitement creeping into her voice once more.

---

    Jay was flying a small Lairjet, and Lara was both a little frightened and a little impressed. Frightened because the jet was all power and little space - both seats in the craft were set up almost like a motorcycle with the rear passenger sitting almost on top of the driver and a little higher up. Through the seat she could feel violent yet stable hum of the powerful jet engine.

    She was impressed that he was able to pilot such a powerful craft at high speeds and terrifying roller-coaster like g-forces. It would be far more exciting if his elbow didn't brush one of her legs each time he reached for a switch or button to his far right or left, startling her for a moment.

    "You're supposed to put your feet in the braces," he finally told her. She wasn't sure what he meant until he tapped one of them. "It'll keep your legs low enough to be out of the way."

    "Oh." Lara slid her legs down and planted her feet against the braces. "Hmm," she commented, "I feel more stable like this during climbs and turns."

    Jay nodded. He was oddly all professional, and a little distant, as he was completely focused on flying. She guessed it was because he wore a fighter pilot's helmet.

    "This is kind of cool," Lara smiled and leaned back, finally relaxing now that her correct position in the seat meant she didn't have to constantly resist the g-forces at work. "I'm sitting right on top of the engine back here, aren't I?"

    "We both are," he pointed out. "I'm sitting above the intake and you're above the primary impeller." He smirked at Lara in a high mounted interior mirror designed to be able to look at the passenger. "Zdenka would have asked me if this is some sort of phallic symbol. It probably is."

    Lara giggled at that. "I like her already, she's funny. Next time she's in town I've got to hang out with you guys."

    "Can I ask you a personal question?" Jay suddenly changed the subject.

    "Sure." Lara leaned forward as far as she could with the seatbelt on so she could hear over the engine noise.

    "Why did you choose Dream?" he asked.

    "Choose him?" Lara didn't understand at first. But then it dawned on her what he meant, and she leaned back again. "Ohhh, I see. I dunno, really."

    "You don't know?" Jay was the one who didn't understand now.

    She lowered her voice to a near whisper to reply to that one. "You hear stories about someone, but you never know what they're really like till you're up close...he's actually very sweet and polite. He didn't push me into it what we did...he told me he wanted to please me, and I was feeling down at the time so I thought--" She sighed, and her voice saddened. "I never thought he'd go and tell...everyone. I have a reputation now, don't I?"

    Jay was silent for a moment or so, unsure of how to reply to that at first. He could feel her eyes on him, though, waiting for a response. "I guess I might feel a little intimidated from time to time," he admitted.

    "I thought as much." She sounded a little depressed as she said that. "But really, you have no reason to be intimidated. I'm not usually the type to chase a guy. Usually I just...wish and hope."

    "Uh-oh," Jay said.

    "What do you mean 'uh-oh'? You don't believe me?"

    "No, it's not that." Jay tapped a digital gauge on the instrument panel. "This is a new jet, we're still working out the bugs. We had a fuel leak and I didn't notice. We're just about out of fuel. This is a new plane, too. I really didn't want to crash it."

    "Can it hover?" Lara asked.

    "Yes," he replied. "But I don't see how that would help. We'd just fall straight down when the fuel runs out."

    "Just try it," she urged. "I'll take care of the rest. Trust me."

    Jay closed his eyes and pushed the throttle all the way back to the idle position and locked it into the 'hover' slot. A small motor sound echoed through the cabin as the engine's exhaust and the wings' flaps both turned downward. The plane came to an abrupt halt, making both of them glad they had their seatbelts buckled. "Five seconds of fuel--"

    In mid-sentence, the darkened skies and heavy clouds disappeared, and they were hovering a few feet above a concrete floor in a dimly lit hangar owned by the Lair Legion.

    "--left," Hatman finished his sentence just as the engine sputtered out and the jet abruptly clunked down on it's landing gear. He was still shaking, his mind and muscles braced for a much more painful crash from tens of thousands of feet up.

    "Don't open the canopy yet," Lara told him. "We have to wait for it to repressurize first." She calmly unbuckled her seat belt and leaned forward. "Are you okay?" she asked.

    "You could have warned me," he said with a nervous laugh.

    She smiled at him. "Where would be the fun in that?"

    "I didn't know you were the practical joker type." Jay finally began to calm down a bit with the conversation.

    "Not usually." She shrugged. "Sometimes it's too hard to resist." She leaned back into her seat again. "So...where to now?"

    "I think for our next stop," Jay told her, "We'll take more terrestrial transportation."

    "Good call," Lara agreed as Jay finally opened the canopy so they could step out.

    Jay tried to help her, but by then she already had leapt to the floor, landing on her feet. "We need to go across town," he explained. "So we'll probably take a cab."

    "Cool." Lara nodded in agreement.

    "We can use the time to talk about a few things," Jay continued. "For instance, I've been wondering what your home is like."

    "My home?" Lara asked. "You're really interested in that?"

    "Someone here has to know about you." Jay motioned for Lara to follow him, and they headed outside to wait for the cab.

---

    Once the helicopter was safely in the Lair Legion hangar, Visionary was in such a hurry to exit that he fell and nearly landed face-first on the concrete floor. But Yuki caught him before he landed - and lifted him right off of his feet.

    "Are you okay?" she asked him as he reflexively flailed in panic for a moment.

    "No," he replied quickly. "I mean...yes, I am now. Now that I'm on solid ground that doesn't hurtle through the air at dangerous speeds."

    "Yeah, boring isn't it?" Yuki noted as she dropped Visionary back to his feet.

    Visionary frowned and sighed in exasperation.

    "You like boring?" Yuki asked.

    He fidgeted as he thought about his answer for a moment. "Boring is underrated," he said. "It can be quite relaxing."

    "It's also why your heart nearly failed and you no longer can eat what you wish," Yuki scolded him. "It's not your nerves that harm you, Vizh. It's that you want too little and expect too much."

    "Why are you so cruel to me sometimes?" He almost rushed to take that back, worrying that it sounded too much like an accusation.

    Yuki gently placed one hand around the back of his head and looked into his eyes, frightening him a little because he knew how strong she was but wasn't sure exactly what she was capable of. "Because somebody has to make you think," she replied. "Most of the guys around here, they tease you nonstop. And you're so used to that, it doesn't encourage you to change at all. I want you to think, I want you to take a good look at yourself sometimes."

    "Why?" Visionary asked. "I mean...I'm doing okay."

    "Because 'okay' isn't good enough when you're helping to raise a young girl," Yuki pointed out quickly. "In spite of all the names she calls you, she does look up to you. She looks up to me too, but not as much as you. You're the person who teaches her what's right. If you retreat and don't care when bad things happen to you...what do you think she's learning?"

    Visionary looked down, but couldn't think of a response to that.

    "Something to think about, eh?" Yuki gave him a slight, lighthearted smile which seemed like it was trying to make up for all the trouble she'd caused him.

    "Yes," he agreed. "Something to think about."

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

Post By Anime Jason Sat Feb 04, 2006 at 04:46:13 pm EST	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Tempered Part 2

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