Adventures in Parodyverse: Finding the Frontier Part 3 (UT#316/317 tie-in)

Adventures in Parodyverse - Finding the Frontier Part 3 (UT#316/317 tie-in)

    Lara Night quietly entered the attic den of Liu Xi Xian. She couldn't find the Chinese elementalist and it was instinct which led her there. That, and the fact that the Lair Mansion was virtually deserted on the eve of the big preparation for the final battle against the Parody Master. Most everyone was out trying to make the most of what could be their last day.

    Liu Xi, on the other hand, was watching a DVD on her surround sound entertainment system. It was easy to see from her slouching posture and the glassy stare of her dark eyes that everything wasn't great for her.

    "What's wrong?" Lara asked.

    The dark haired Chinese girl sat up on the couch and looked over the back to see who asked that question. She then settled back in and sighed with relief. "Oh, it's you."

    "Who did you think it was?"

    "I thought it might be Dancer. She thinks she is cheering me up but she only makes me more sad."

    Lara walked over and kneeled, leaning her elbows on the back of the couch. "Dancer is out with Premier. What did she say to make you sad?"

    Liu Xi turned sideways and turned down the volume on the movie. "She said I should be out instead of here moping."

    "Out where?" Lara asked the most obvious question she could think of.

    "Exactly." Liu Xi nodded. "Everyone is busy, so I am seeking some quiet time."

    "Jay Boaz and Joe Pepper are both busy?"

    She nodded. "Joe is out with Marie, because Marie is afraid she will become a ghost again now that the Celestian barrier is gone. I think Jay is with Zdenka the last night before she goes home."

    "What about Yuki? If she's not doing much, maybe you could hang out with her and do something dangerous."

    "Yuki isn't here either," Liu Xi noted. "I don't know where she is."

    Lara shrugged. "And Visionary is out somewhere too with one of his many girls."

    That make Liu Xi laugh slightly, but the smile afterward didn't last. "I suppose I worry that I have...a not so good reputation," she said. "That I am quick to anger or I bring death to anyone who gets close to me."

    "This is about Exu again isn't it?" Lara asked.

    Liu Xi nodded sadly and lowered her head.

    "It's not like his fascination with you has tainted you," Lara pointed out helpfully. "He pushed you to the breaking point and you did what you had to do to survive. It's called an abusive relationship, Liu Xi, and you should be happy you made it out in one piece."

    "You think so?" Liu Xi asked sadly.

    "Yeah," Lara confirmed. "And you know what? If he kept treating you like that sooner or later I would have had to kill him myself."

    "He did a great job of that to himself," Liu Xi noted bitterly.

    "I know, but there's an expression for that. 'Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy'."

    Liu Xi giggled reluctantly.

    "So you think you brought death to three people?" Lara asked the question rather clinically. "Two of them you were forced into it. The third you were tricked into killing by an abusive liar."

    During the inevitable silence from Liu Xi, Lara climbed over the back of the couch and sat down. Liu Xi didn't object.

    "I killed someone, you know," Lara admitted sheepishly. "I'd never tell these guys at the Lair Legion, though, they're much too black and white about everything, even Dominic. They'd probably lock me up until I could prove I'm not a threat or something."

    "Did you ever...get over it?" Liu Xi asked in a whisper.

    "No," Lara answered bluntly but truthfully. "You never get over it, and you shouldn't. You remember for a reason...not to make you afraid or sad, that's only temporary. With me at least, I guess in the long term it made me appreciate life and how fragile it is."

    "If you're not afraid," Liu Xi asked, "why won't you kill the Parody Master?"

    "That's a different kind of afraid." Lara sighed and cast her eyes downward. "I'm afraid it won't work, and all it'll do is piss him off. If I die trying to kill him...what will happen if the heroes here need me and I'm gone?" She looked up again and added, "Or if you need me?"

    Liu Xi nodded once to signal that she understood. She then asked, "Who did you kill?"

    "Someone who didn't really deserve it." Lara replied with another deep sigh and a distant look of sadness. "I took it worse than you did, too. I hid away and cried for days. I--" She looked a little ashamed as she finished that last sentence. "--I felt like I couldn't deal with it and I wished I could die or be punished. Eventually, though, I grew to realize there was a reason I wasn't."

    Liu Xi allowed a few seconds of silence pass in case there was more, before she finally asked, "What was the reason?"

    Lara smiled knowingly. "You are. And Jay, and Dream, and everyone else I've met. When you're sunk deep into sadness or depression you don't really think about just how far the love of a friend goes. It literally saved me, Liu Xi. And you have some really good friends."

    "Yes," Liu Xi replied softly and thoughtfully. "I do." She smiled slightly but then added one more concern. "Evenings like this, though, I feel a little left out and lonely. I know I'm not really part of the Lair Legion--"

    "--but they really know how to make it feel like an exclusive club sometimes, I know." Lara smiled too. "Why do you think I'm hanging around here too? Everyone's gone, out celebrating and there's no one to even talk to except you. Or Chiaki, but she really doesn't talk much and Visionary has her babysitting the kids anyway."

    Liu Xi nodded in agreement. "And I wonder, if this is our last night alive...is this how I want to spend it?"

    "It's not your last night." Lara shook her head, chuckling at the absurdity of that suggestion. "Because I know it's not my last day alive. I sense it's not my last day alive. And I would fight for you, so I know it's not yours either."

    "You just made all that up!" Liu Xi accused, though she sounded amused.

    "Maybe." Lara shrugged. "But maybe the others who are out? They could just be playing off the drama of the event to have a nice time and get laid. Because, you know, maybe it's not all our last nights, but some of us might not survive. So just let them have it, and know that you'll be safe and at least you're not doing anything you might regret."

    "I suppose that's a nice way to look at it. Or maybe it's a way to justify being left out."

    "Yeah." Lara nodded slowly and looked down. "But being sad or scared is no fun, so we have to do something." She sat up suddenly when she felt a powerful electrical discharge in the room that set her nerves on edge and her heart racing.

    Liu Xi was gone.

    "It's you, isn't it?" Lara stood angrily and looked around the room at nothing in particular. "You've taken her again." She reached out to try and sense where the electrical charge came from - and the answer came much too easily.

    Lara quickly left the room. She had to tell someone.

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 Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 02:23:20 pm EDT	Subject Adventures in Parodyverse: Finding the Frontier Part 3 (UT#316/317 tie-in)

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