Adventures in Parodyverse: Finding the Frontier Part 1 (tie-in to nothing in particular)

Adventures in Parodyverse - Finding the Frontier Part 1 (tie-in to nothing in particular)

    "So this was your room?" ManMan asked. He tried to remain calm, covering up the fact that he just stepped through what looked like a free-floating science fiction mirror into another dimension to get there. He was standing in a room that looked somewhat normal except it had a rounded ceiling, and looking closely at its shape make it somewhat obvious it had been built into a cave.

    The room was less like a bedroom and a home and more like a small hotel room. It has a fairly nice flat screen television, a private full bathroom, and a small refrigerator. The walls were painted a calming shade of deep purple and had what looked like framed photos until a closer look revealed that they were animation cells and movie stills.

    Liu Xi was quick to point out how difficult it was to put in a window considering that the room was so far underground. But by then ManMan tuned out as his mind tried to protect itself from something beyond the power of his perception.

    "Go easy on Joe," Knifey finally interrupted - to Joe's relief, uncharacteristically. "He's a simple guy. Real simple."

    "Okay," Liu Xi giggled.

    "Hey!" ManMan objected.

    The three of them were in the Manga Shoggoth's underground cave lair somewhere beneath frozen Antarctica. And yet ManMan was surprised that Liu Xi's former room, where they arrived, was nice and warm. And he had to admit that she did a good job with the sanity mangling window, as the light seemed normal enough and the glass even felt cold.

    "It's like putting a camera outside that can transmit more than just video," Lara Night explained, noting ManMan's interest in the window. She didn't seem the least bit bothered by the explanations, or even the Manga Shoggoth's cave itself. "When you really think about it, primitive people would find even a camera to be magical. This just happens to be magical to us too."

    "I bet it's real cold out there." ManMan noted thoughtfully.

    "It's minus 40," Lara replied.

    Joe frowned and looked at her. "How do you know?"

    Lara and Liu Xi simultaneously pointed at a digital thermometer on the desk in the room. It listed the indoor temperature as 70 degrees and the outdoor temperature as minus 40.

    "Oh." ManMan looked outside again, afraid to ask how the thermometer could take the outside temperature.

    "My first excersizes with my power was to build this room," Liu Xi told them. "It used to be more simple, I didn't ask for much. But I thought it might be nice to change a few things, so I had to learn how."

    "That's pretty cool," ManMan acknowledged.

    "Translation...he doesn't have a clue what you're talking about," Knifey contributed.

    ManMan frowned but then admitted to it. "Yeah, maybe, but I'd like to learn."

    Liu Xi smiled at that. "Wanting to learn is better than thinking you know everything."

    "That's very wise," Knifey pointed out.

    This was a rare chance for ManMan to snipe back at Knifey as he said, "I think that was aimed at you."

    There was no reply from Liu Xi. Instead she said, "I'll be right back. Wait here." She then opened the plain looking wooden door to her room and headed out into a very cave-like hallway.

    ManMan looked out the window again. Part of him was afraid that he might be losing his mind every time he looked out that impossible window into the snow outside though, so he looked across the room at Lara who was looking in the small fridge.

    "So when are you going to ask her out?" Knifey asked ManMan, barely perceptibly.

    "Huh?" ManMan snapped back from wherever his mind had gone for a moment. "Uh...no, she's hot but way out of my league. Way, way out of my league. And very hot."

    Knifey then realized they weren't talking about the same person. "Not blondie, you dork. The one you actually have a chance with if you were the last man on Earth."

    "Hey!" ManMan protested. Slightly too loudly, in fact, so Lara looked up from the fridge.

    "What's wrong?" Lara asked.

    "Nothing, just arguing with Knifey."

    Lara shook her head and took out some Brie and a bottle of water. She was happy that someone restocks that fridge regularly.

    "At least she didn't catch you craning your neck to get a better look at her curvy behind," Knifey pointed out un-helpfully.

    "Yeah I did," Lara replied across the room. "Every guy does that. I'm used to it."

    While ManMan was busy blushing Knifey pressed again with his question. "So you going to ask?"

    ManMan shrugged as Liu Xi returned with a small amulet in her hand. "I don't know," he mumbled.

    "You're hopeless," Knifey told him. ManMan was ignoring him though. So he added an additional comment that seemed to get ManMan's attention. "I like her. She's very sweet."

    "You guys see this?" Liu Xi asked. "It belongs to Ebony."

    "Oh neat, the jewel is a piece of Shoggoth!" Lara noted. "It looks beautiful."

    "Don't look too close," Liu Xi scolded. "Especially you, Joe."

    "Why does everyone assume I can't handle stuff like this?" ManMan asked angrily.

    Knifey snickered but kept silent.

    "Joe." Liu Xi took his hand gently and looked upward into his eyes. "I have a natural resistance to these things, and on top of that I lived with and have been trained for years around it."

    ManMan complained further. "What about Lara? Shouldn't you be worried about her too?"

    Liu Xi looked at Lara and smirked as if she were going to laugh. "What Lara sees, I don't think this will harm her."

    "Well, she did see Dream naked," Knifey ponted out.

    That finally made Liu Xi laugh, causing Lara to fold her arms impatiently. "Nooo, she sees the universe from the inside," Liu Xi explained cryptically. "It's very complicated yet very simple."

    "I don't think Joe can handle hearing about it," Knifey pointed out.

    "Yeah, probably not," Lara agreed. Before ManMan protested she explained a bit. "It's kind of like discovering where some of the food you eat comes from."

    "Oh." ManMan said, suddenly feeling conscious of how disasterous that could be considering his favorite foods.

    "Anyway," Liu Xi interrupted to change the subject. "If you wonder why you're here? I wanted to show you both my room at the Shoggoth's cave as a treat because you're good friends of mine. I would have brought Jay too but he is still a little messed up since he came back."

    "Oh. And I thought I was special or something," ManMan moped bitterly.

    "You are special," Lara told him with a grin, affectionately placing one arm around Joe and one around Liu Xi. "Here you are in the middle of the antarctic with two beautiful girls and a talking knife. And where is everyone else you know?"

    ManMan smiled, and understood for a moment what made Lara so popular at the Lair Mansion. She was always around to try and cheer people up. He stuck his hands in his pockets quickly to avoid accidenally touching something inappropriate on either Lara or Liu Xi, especially since he was so close to them both.

    "So," ManMan finally asked the two of them, "Is there something of the Shoggoth's here to help with the Parody Master? Just thought I'd ask because time's running out and I'm kind of worried. Especially for you, Liu Xi."

    Liu Xi fell silent and hung her head. She didn't have any ideas.

    But when ManMan looked at Lara, her eyes seemed more angry than sad or frightened. He wondered if he said the wrong thing and touched on a very sensitive subject for her. Fortunately she spoke up and made her feelings clear.

    "He's going to get what's coming to him." Lara said, maybe a little abrasively, but certaintly defensively. "One way or the other. It's the law of the universe, Joe. Anyone who's that abusive will eventually get it back times three."

    "That's why I like her," Liu Xi said, no longer silent or saddened. "She is very inspiring."


TO BE CONTINUED?

-- 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 Jun 23, 2007 at 12:11:38 pm EDT	Subject Adventures in Parodyverse: Finding the Frontier Part 1 (tie-in to nothing in particular)

	[Reply] [New] [Edit] [Email] [Print] [RSS] [Tales of the Parodyverse]	Next In Thread >>