Adventures in Parodyverse - Saving the Future Part 10.2

    It was night out when Lara Night repelled an attack from the Axe Mangler with an invisible forcefield.  His axe bounced off of it first, and then as it pushed against him, he was tossed into a pile of trash cans lined up on a curb in front of the docks, waiting for trash pickup.  They clattered noisily into the street, spreading garbage everywhere.

    She then paused suddenly.  She remembered when CSFB! tied him up with silly string, just before she and Hatman arrived to wrap up a scene of destruction.  At the time, Axe Mangler wasn’t working alone - he was with Physica and Stone Crusher, two other budding crime artists.  All three were arrested and sent to the Safe.

    “When did you get out of jail?”  she finally asked him while he was trying to squirm free of the trash bags.

    “Didn’t you hear?”  he asked with a laugh.  “They had a new open door policy yesterday.  A lot of us got early parole.  Real early parole.”  He tried to take advantage of Lara’s seemingly off-guard posture by launching an axe at her.

    “Hmm.”  Lara stepped aside and allowed the axe to fly past her.  “This isn’t my first day, you know.”  A bright, flickering flash of lightning filled the dark street, and Axe Mangler fell unconscious into the gutter.

    She turned suddenly in alarm when she heard the steel of a sword touch the ground, prepared to electrocute whoever was working with this lame villain.  But then she blinked twice when she realized who it was.

    “Help me.”  Chiaki Bushido managed to breathe, before she collapsed in front of Lara.  The blonde managed to catch her partially, but she wasn’t strong enough to lift the Samurai with just her own strength.  She tried her best to prop up the sword too, knowing how valuable it was to Chiaki.

    “You’re injured.”  Lara pointed out.  She searched her mind for places she remembered to be safe in Paradopolis.  The Lair Mansion was gone.  Chiaki’s apartment was likely compromised if she was out and about.  She then remembered the one place that always slipped through the cracks, when the Lair Legion’s enemies were after them.

    In a quick burst of light, the street and buildings of the docks vanished, and the dark interior of Al B Harper’s cabin appeared.  Lara dropped Chiaki’s head and shoulders onto his couch, and then pulled her feet up too.

    “I’m going to try and heal you.”  Lara said.  “Be still, and breathe slowly.  When I’m done you’ll still need rest, so don’t go racing out of here.”

    Chiaki nodded once and closed her eyes.  She started to breathe slowly and concentrate on the flow of warm energy she felt Lara transfer to her arms through her hands.

    Finally, Lara stood.  She headed to the kitchenette and began searching for food.  Fortunately Al B Harper was a bit of a paranoid survivalist, and kept the cabinets fully stocked at all times.  “I never had so much respect for Lisa until now.”

    “Lisa?”  Chiaki asked in a slow, purposeful tone.  She was in a state of partial self hypnosis, trying to recover her energy.

    “Yeah.”  Lara replied as she sat down on the counter to munch on some dry cereal.  “She gave me these...well, honestly, pretty lame clues.  Or at the time it seemed like it.  But they led me to meet the Silver Aegis, get an idea of what’s going on, and to find you.”

    Chiaki didn’t move, and kept her eyes closed as she replied.  “Perhaps.”  she said.  “Silver Aegis meets a lot of true heroes.  He’ll probably tell them of your existence.”

    “What do you mean ‘true heroes’?”  Lara asked, wondering about her very specific phrasing.

    “Not the phony ones put up to the world by the Baroness.”  the Psychic Samurai replied slowly.  “Silver Aegis is a very good judge of character, he was an excellent contact to make.  Plus if you need help...if we do...he’s the perfect man to ask.”

    Lara smiled, and said her next thought out loud.  “Kind of funny, the Lair Legion has always been afraid of Lisa, but she’s actually pretty cool.  And nice to me.”

    Chiaki finally opened her eyes and sat up partially.  Lara tried to stop her, but she waved off the blonde.  “Lisa...she responds in kind to how she’s treated.  I treat her with polite respect, and she offers me the same.  You are very nice to everyone, so she treats you in kind.  And since neither of us have an alternate agenda...she has no reason to dislike contact with either of us.”

    “Or maybe she’s just nice deep down, unless she’s being treated like crap.”  Lara pointed out.

    “That’s...a possibility.”  Chiaki finally smiled.  “Is there any ramen in that cabinet?”

    Lara looked behind her.  “Yes.”  she replied.  “Lots of it.  Dozens of flavors.  Al must live on this stuff.”

    “Hmm.  Packaged ramen.”  Chiaki said with disdain as she shrugged and stood.  “I can work with it if I have to.”  She moved to the kitchenette and began raiding the cabinets.  “We need some real food,”  she said.

---

    Yuki Shiro bent down to look through the small model of a jungle created with leaves, twigs, and dried fruits, and whatever other debris could be found.  It was Anna’s idea, and a pretty good one.  

    The android knew that the people of that primitive village were superstitious about maps.  So rather than irritate them by making a giant one, why not a three dimensional model which would intrigue them instead?  It looked more like art that way.

    “You interviewed everyone in the tribe?”  Yuki asked.

    Anna was still wearing her crown of leaves, or at least a newer one.  She was the only one of the two who could speak the tribe’s language.  “The tribe has seven master guides.  I followed each one into the jungle and remembered the routes.”

    Yuki looked at a folded pile of fabric in the corner with rope attached.  “And I built a wind glider and attached it to a tree to get a look from above.  That’s how I figured out how the trees, the river, and the mountains around it look.”

    “So we’re in a valley.”  Anna summarized.

    “Yes.  That’s why this tribe has been living here safely in isolation.”  Yuki noted.  “Unfortunately--”  She stood up again.  “Without technology, even our mechanical bodies won’t make it through these mountains.”

    Anna’s eyes widened as she thought of another idea.  “Yuki, do you know how to build a crude transmitter?  Just something that will broadcast...I don’t know--”

    “This?”  Yuki held up her Lair Legion comm card.  “I probably could build a crude repeater if we could find some metal.  I’d have to use the acid from fruit to make batteries though, so they won’t last more than a day or two.  But that way if any of us are out there, we’ll be able to link the comm-cards.”

    “Like the satellite that usually does.”  Anna contributed.  “Except...if the others are over the curvature of this planet it won’t work.”

    The purple-haired Legionnaire shrugged.  “Well short of building a rocket with a crude solar satellite attached...which might take years...this is our best chance right now.”

TO BE CONTINUED?

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 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