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Post By Anime Jason Sat Jan 01, 2005 at 03:49:51 pm EST |
Subject Epilogue - The Return Home (read this follow-up, dammit!) Originally #201: Untold Tales of the Lair Legion: And Evermore Shall Be So, or the Season of Murder |
In Reply To The Hooded Hood concludes the end of the LL tale that was conceived as a trilogy back at #105 Fri Dec 31, 2004 at 07:34:34 pm EST |
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Epilogue - The Return Home NOTE: This is an add-on following Untold Tales #201 "There," Al B Harper made a last-minute correction to the equations on the wall of the Chinese Room. "Interesting," the Manga Shoggoth bubbled. "Not bad for primitive three dimensional thinking." Standing next to the Shoggoth was a Chinese teenager named Liu Xi Xian, watching intently as Al B Harper worked. She didn't seem to understand what he was writing, but her instincts told her enough to figure out what was going on. "Oh yeah?" Al B protested. "Let's see you get Keiko Takashi home safely...without driving her insane." Miss Framlicker shook her head. The Manga Shoggoth fell silent as Yuki Shiro laughed. She was hooked up to three wires, using up nearly all of the ports hidden behind her hair. The wires were hooked up to the Transdimensional Generator conveniently brought from EEE by the Shoggoth in mere seconds. "Why is Liu Xi here?" Keiko asked. "She asked to observe the Transdimensional Generator at work," the Shoggoth replied. "She is fascinated by the concept." "What do you do?" Liu Xi asked Yuki. "I'm regulating the Generator," Yuki told her. "We need a computer with an independent power source. If a fuse blows once the Generator is activated it will go crazy unless it's shut down." "Is this safe?" Keiko asked for the third time, sounding unconvinced. "I will observe," Liu Xi tried to reassure Keiko. "I think can pull you back if this go badly." Al B suddenly stepped back from the wall, scrawled from top to bottom with permanent marker. "Perfect! Everyone ready?" Yuki nodded. So did Keiko, and Liu Xi. "Try not to blow up the house," Miss Framlicker said. "I don't think we're insured for that. He circled six numbers at the bottom of the wall, and outlined them to make them stand out. "These are the coordinates, Yuki." Yuki nodded. "They're locked. Tell me when." Keiko stepped in front of the Generator and took a deep breath. "You not ready to go home?" Liu Xi asked. Keiko frowned. "No, I'm ready. There are a couple of people I wish I could have said good bye to. And one I should apologize to." She turned around and noticed Sir Mumphrey standing in the doorway. "No apology necessary," Sir Mumphrey told her. "You were doing what you thought was right, what? Not your fault you'd put your faith in that blighter, the Hooded Hood." Keiko sighed and looked down. "Please accept my apology anyway, Sir Mumphrey. You've shown me kindness even after I attempted to take your life, by inviting me to your home and treating me as a guest." "Everyone deserves a second chance. And I'm still alive, no point in holdin' a grudge." Sir Mumphrey gave her a slight bow, which she returned. "Have a safe trip home," he said quickly before leaving the room. "I'm ready." Keiko took a deep breath and stood perfectly still, a few feet from the piece of tape on the floor marking where the portal would open up. Given the ancient wiring in the building, she would only have a few seconds to dive through. She had to be ready. "The Transdimensional Generator is starting," Yuki warned everyone. "I thank all of you for helping me," Keiko told them. She seemed a little shocked when the power went out in the entire wing. "Evacuate!" Al B called out. "No." Yuki was sitting perfectly still. The wires coming from her head were glowing slightly from the high voltage flooding through them. A blue, shimmering portal formed just in front of the tape Al B Harper placed in the floor. "Yuki, you're draining your camo battery too quickly," Al warned her. "It'll overheat." Yuki looked at Keiko and whispered, "I have to. You have someone to go home to. I can see it in your eyes." The portal began wavering a little...but then came back even stronger a moment later, and grow in size very quickly. Keiko, Yuki, and the Shoggoth didn't move. Al B Harper and Miss Framlicker tried to get out of the room, but weren't fast enough... ...and suddenly, they were all standing in the lobby of a hotel in Garden City. Keiko seemed to brighten up for a moment when she realized that she had gone home. Keiko stepped farther into the lobby and stared out into the street, past all of the confused hotel staff. She stared as if she were unsure if it were real or a dream. She turned around as she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. "You seek someone like me," Liu Xi Xian told her, "if you wish to return. There one like me hidden close to your world. Call to her, she will find you." Keiko nodded. She wasn't entirely sure what the teen said, but somehow she understood. "Thank you," she whispered, as she turned to the surprised Al B and Yuki. "All of you," she added. She smiled and added, "Good luck with your world." With that, Keiko stepped through what seemed like a transparent border of liquid, and headed through the doors of the hotel lobby out into the street. The hotel itself then faded from view, and they were back in the dark room in Sir Mumphrey's home. The Transdimensional Generator had burned out, and was releasing thin smoke and a acrid electrical burning smell. "Yuki!" Al B called out. Yuki had just removed the three wires from the back of her neck, and she was rubbing her head. "That hurt," she complained. "What happened?" Al B asked the Shoggoth, suspecting something odd enough had happened that he was involved. "It take many ingredient," Liu Xi told him, "to make perfect dish. It take many hands to open heavy door." "Can she really reach into other dimensions and worlds?" Al B asked enthusiastically. "If so I'd like to try that again, and monitor it this time." "Don't waste your time," the Shoggoth told him. "Your Transdimensional Generator is what opened a portal into Keiko's world. Liu Xi merely pried it open wider. When your Generator died the portal closed. She did nothing your simple minded equations can't explain." "He's right," Yuki said. "Not the simple minded part. I mean when we appeared in that hotel lobby I felt the power requirements for the Generator drop dramatically. It felt like...when you hit cruising speed in an airplane, you don't need to pour on the power anymore." "I have to try that again!" Al B announced. He grabbed a wrench and began tearing into the smoking Transdimensional Generator. "I need to analyze it. Shoggoth, can you ask Liu Xi to--" He stopped talking because the Manga Shoggoth was long gone, and Liu Xi was as well. He gave a depressed sigh and dropped the wrench to the floor before sitting down himself. "You'll get another chance," Yuki reassured him as she rubbed his back gently. "I'm sure Keiko will return some day, and she'll need your expertise again." "Yeah," he whispered with another sigh. "I guess so." Two rooms away, the eyes of the Hooded Hood glowed green for a moment. "A little present for you, Keiko," he whispered to himself. "So your time with us will never haunt your dreams." -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be -- reprinted without permission. -- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow -- Lui Xi Xian is an original character by Jason Froikin -- Keiko Takashi is part of World Class (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin |
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