Chapter 10Do Not Be Shy
Anybody depending on somebody else's gods is depending on a fox not to eat chickens.-Zora Neale Hurston
That night, Phobos stood her watch from a distance. She was justified in being upset over my slip, and even though it hurt, I decided that I was going to take my medicine like a big boy. Once she and Deimos deigned to appear before me, I would make my apology then.
The following morning was quiet, as a Sunday morning ought to be. Rei regarded me frostily all through breakfast: I was officially in the dog house. As we cleared away our breakfast dishes, I decided to try my luck.
“Rei, I’m sorry about last night.”
“Are you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Nothing sucks harder than the feeling of being ostracized.”
“That’s a start,” said Rei with a nod. “Next time, keep that in mind when there’s something we might want to know about. And on that note, are there any other surprises in the pipeline we should know about?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “The timeline is a bit different from what I knew.”
Rei narrowed her eyes, but I could sense that in this case her ire was not directed at me.
“Sit,” she said curtly. “Explain.”
“Well, the timeline that I knew of had you and the girls going through this whole ordeal with the Ayakashi Sisters two years ago.”
“Really?” said Rei in puzzlement. “The only thing that happened two years ago was the whole Metallia incident, and then the Doom Tree.”
“Doom Tree?” I echoed, but then the synapses made the connection and I snapped my fingers. “Ail and Ain! Those two! Out of curiosity, Has there been any word from them?”
“They visit now and then,” said Rei with a smile. “They say that their time on Earth had left quite an impression, so they like to see it sometimes. In fact, Ami is predicting that they will show up again in about two weeks. Of course, she has it down to a science.”
I snorted in bemusement. “That girl is utterly adorkable.”
Rei snickered. “Don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll die of embarrassment on the spot.”
“Hoooiii! Zii-kun!” came Hino-sensei’s voice. “There’s a package for you!”
“Another one?” asked Rei as she got up.
“I’m just surprised that you guys get deliveries on Sundays.”
There, before the steps of the shrine itself, stood a man in the iconic livery of the Kuroneko Yamato Parcel Service. He conducted his business in a crisp and chipper fashion, and was off before I could thank him - but such is the way of the Japanese in the service-industry.
With a mental shrug, and Rei following curiously, I went back to the living quarters to open the package. The only clues I had at first were that it came from Grumps’s place in California. Though I had no idea what he sent me that required a huge four-foot long parcel.
Once I had the box open, though, I gave Rei a huge, sidelong grin, and asked, “So, you know of a place with a nice road that’s largely unused?”
#
I had to look on the Internet for what I wanted, but I found it quickly enough. And in thirty minutes... well, let’s just say that birds of a feather flock together. And skaters were no different.
The styles were different. The brands were a bit different as well. Also, there were a lot double-drop decks here. And from what I could see - lots of very technical riding, and not a lot of straight-up bombing. In fact, my Santa Cruz pintail deck was the only thing like it there. That alone garnered attention. The fact that Rei followed me there did the rest - the reputation as Queen of TA Academy was not without a following.
The weather was cold, and getting colder. So I was able to layer my good, heavy sweatshirt with my protective gear - carving gloves, elbow pads, knee pads, and helmet. No one approached me just yet, but they watched with interest.
“Are you sure about this?” asked Rei.
“I’m a bit rusty, but I’m sure. It should come back to me in no time. Besides, the real trick to this,” I said as I secured my helmet and made sure it was snug, “is knowing when to bail.”
And with that, I dropped my deck and was off.
The roads here are beautifully sloped, nicely surface, and perfectly twisty. I did a bit of short carving - short, sweeping turns - to get a feel for the road, but I found that the road was very smooth so I was starting to pick up speed very quickly. I pulled into a heel-side stand up slide, quickly pivoting my deck sideways and leaning back into my heels to slide the board. I didn’t want to do that too much or else I’d flat-spot the wheels - grinding them down in one area creating a literal flat-spot.
I pulled into the first turn, dipping myself into a Coleman Slide and dragging my slide-glove sheathed hands over the pavement. I had this road’s measure now, so I went ahead and bombed it for the next turn, slipping once again into a long and sweeping Coleman Slide and causing the natives to cheer.
That was short lived, though.
Right as I came out of the turn, a large, black saloon car braked into a power slide right in front of me. I was going too fast to bail out - my only hope was to slap my foot down on the pavement and do a foot-brake. It destroys the shoes if you do it enough, but it’s the fastest and safest way to stop. I still had too much momentum, though, and the side panels of the car came racing at me. At the last moment, I tried for a toe-side pendulum slide, putting my back to the car.
PONK!*
The shock of the impact jarred my guts... but aside from that, a brief self-check as I slowly got up revealed nothing worse than some bruising. What would have happened next might have involved me cursing out the driver for panicking like that.
Instead, a sent of strong hands picked me up, tossed me into the back seat, and the next thing I knew we were peeling out.
“Ah, not that your business is any of mine, but I do have friends that can make life difficult for you guys.”
“We’re from Public Security.”
I suddenly felt Rei’s warm and welcome fire blossom in my chest, and I looked over to the man next to me as I took off my slide gloves and fastened my seat belt.
“... My point still stands.”
Suddenly, the engine exploded, the hood covering it sent flying for parts unknown, and the car ground to a screeching halt. I had seen it coming and closed my eyes. The driver and his partner up front had not and were flash-blinded.
The next thing my seatmate knew was that my fingers were very painfully embedding in his neck, threatening to pry out his wind pipe.
“This is how we’re gonna do this. That gun you’re tickling? Pull it out nice and slow. Eject the magazine and work the action. Do it without trying to dislodge me or else I will crush your fucking larynx and you will die a slow and hideous death.”
The man glared at me, but otherwise did as I asked.
“Good. Now, open the door.”
The moment he did, I unbuckled myself and kicked the man out of the car. Suddenly, he found himself looking up Rei’s legs... and the orb of Celestial Fire she had primed and ready to go.
“Zii-kun,” said Rei, her voice a cold mockery of coyness. “You always find the most interesting playmates. Who is this slime and does he deserve to live?”
Right about then, more sedans arrived with black-suited men pouring out of them. Rei and I stepped back slowly, while I took off my pendant and handed it over to Rei for safe keeping. The black flames were quick in coming.
And suddenly, the man was pinned down by two of the black-suited agents and handcuffs affixed to his wrists. The man made no remarks - just a wide-eyed look of shock as the gravity of what had happened fell upon him with all the weight of the world.
“So,” said another Agent as he stepped around the developing morass. He spoke with perfect American English. “You’re the American known as Ezekiel Darkwood.”
“You’re only half right,” I replied with a nasty grin.
“Yes, the being known as Raven,” continued the man. “I had your BPRD dossier pulled. The one thing you have going for yourself is that, by all accounts, you do try to keep things quiet.”
I chuckled. “Oh, but fate always has different plans for us.”
The agent nodded. “Indeed. That man was one of my best men. I don’t know what came over him. You have my sincere apologies, Raven-sama, Darkwood-san. We had not intention of anything like this taking place.”
“And what exactly was supposed to happen?” snapped Rei in a testy sounding burst of Japanese while still wearing her Sailor Mars fuku.
The man gave Rei a mild look, as though he was not expecting her to understand English so well.
“We were planning on approaching Darkwood-san at a time when he was not agitated,” the Agent replied in Japanese. “You see, a situation has arisen, but the matter for the time being is classified.”
“Classified?” said Rei sharply.
“I apologize, but I have only been authorized to speak with Darkwood-san on the matter, Sailor Mars,” said the agent politely. “However, this situation should become abundantly transparent soon enough. Wait at home and keep the news turned on, you will see.”
“And what makes you think that I’m just going to scurry off to home like some obedient little housewife?” snarled Rei, the orb of Celestial Fire in her hand intensifying.
“Rei, a moment?” I asked suddenly.
Rei snapped a look at me, glowering, and then gave the Agent one last withering glare before she turned her nose at him and sauntered away so we could speak in private.
“What is it, Zeke,” she snapped testily. But then her tone became somewhat apologetic. “Or is it Raven-sama?”
“It pleases me that you have seen the error of your ways and seek to amend them,” came the Old Bird’s voice from my own mouth. “Worry not about respectful attitudes. As you can see from Zeke I do not tend to stand on ceremony. However, defy me at your own peril. Zeke may have denied me your soul, but I have other methods of making good on debts. Understood?”
Rei nodded her head, not exactly unafraid, but willing to face what was quickly becoming a new fear for her.
“Good. Now, my advice to you, my Priestess, is to let Zeke go alone for now. This is something I have set aside for him and him alone to deal with. Now, the pendant, please?”
Quickly, Rei handed it over and I fastened it around my neck once more, causing Raven’s presence to recede once more.I don’t know what I would have done without that thing.
“Is he telling the truth?” asked Rei with concern.
I sighed at that. “He can lie like a snake when he wants to, but that’s not often. Ravens are chatty creatures. They might distort things a bit, but that’s just to make it more interesting to talk about. They’d never tell a lie that could come back to bite them. At least, not consciously.”
“So he thinks he’s making your story more interesting by making me butt-out?” asked Rei. “Forgive me if I don’t find that encouraging.”
I shrugged. “I don’t blame you, but if you don’t do as he asks, then he’ll probably do something like curse you with misfortune.”
“What?”
“You know, bad luck. I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. I’ve actually made it happen before!”
“How?”
“Well, you know... let’s just say that this was before I got this pendant.”
“Ah,” replied Rei as she was enlightened.
#
Rei left, springing across rooftops so she could transform unseen. My longboard and gloves were collected and given to me as I was packed into one of the saloon cars and driven off with a police escort.
“So, now that we’re alone,” I said as I inspected the trucks on my board for damage, “you guys wanna tell me what this is about?”
There was a moment of tense silence before the lead agent spoke up.
“At around midnight, local time last night, several large objects measuring approximately four kilometers in length were detected entering stable orbits over the Earth.”
I looked over at the Agent and raised an eyebrow.
“Are you sure they aren’t Jyuraian in Origin?” I asked.
“How do you know that?” snapped the agent sharply.
“My girlfriend and intended-wife is Hino Rei, Great Grand-daughter of Prince Jyurai-Masaki Yosho.”
The agent subsided grudgingly at that. “Of course. At any rate, no, they are not Jyuraian. We have, in fact, been contacted by them. They call themselves the Invaders, and they claim to be here to take our world - by force if they must.”
I frowned thoughtfully at that. “They seem awfully polite about this. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is, Darkwood-san, that they have offered us a sporting chance - for a person of their choosing to face off against the reigning champion in their national past time: Tag.”
I was getting deja vu all over the place, but I still couldn’t place my finger on what this was. All I could do was ride this out and stay cagey.
“So why me then?” I asked.
The agent shrugged. “They never said. They only claimed that you were amongst the few viable contenders residing in Japan.”
“Residing in Japan?” I parroted back.
“Indeed. Perhaps once you meet Mr. Invader you’ll better understand why he was so selective.”
That would have been the start of a lull in the conversation, but right then there was a pronounced vibration in the vehicle. It took me a moment to place it, but the Agent blurted it out before I could.
“Earthquake! Stop the car!”
The driver had already been reacting and the car was stopped no sooner than the words had left the Agent’s mouth. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash outside and the vehicle bounced violently, flinging me against my seat belt painfully and slamming me back into my plush seat.
“... Owwww,” I groaned.
It doesn’t matter who you are, folks. Car accidents fucking hurt.
A sudden memory came crawling to the forefront of my mind and then an irrational sense of claustrophobia overcame me. In barely a couple of seconds, I had practically ripped the seat belt off and shot out through the door like a startled cat, gasping for air as my heart hammered in my chest.
No fire.
No smell of burning flesh.
Although the engine compartment of the car was a smoldering ruin.
And standing up on top of that was something that just about made me fall over in surprise.
A gorgeous girl with a perfect hourglass figure. However, she was no Audrey Hepburn - this girl was voluptuous without being over-endowed in the slightest. And this was plain to see because of her outfit - a tiger-striped bikini that was made of actual fur, and a matching set of tiger-furred knee-high gogo boots.
But that was not the most surprising thing about her at all.
It was her hair! A huge, voluminous fall of barely-tamed hair that shone with a beautiful, rainbow-metallic iridescence that tended towards a deep forest-green hue. It was easy to miss the pair of smallish, stubby, yellow horns that barely peaked out from her mane.
She grinned at me with a cute, round face and baby-blue eyes as she said, in a adorably energetic and almost saccharine tone,
“Hiya! I’m the Invader, Lum, yeah! Are you my opponent, the American named Ezekiel Darkwood, huh?”
“Wha?” I said. Lum gave me an impatient look. She then took out something from behind her (hammerspace!?) and looked at it, at me, at it, and then at me again before she smiled broadly.
“You are him, yeah!” she beamed. “How’re you doing, huh?”
“Wait, you’re the one I have to go up against?” I asked.
“Yuppers!” announced Lum cheerefully.
“But... I thought your people wanted to conquer mine.”
Lum gave me a slightly annoyed look. “Well I don’t like being all evil and mean to people that don’t deserve it, nuh-uh! In fact, I read up all about you! You’ve had a pretty tough time, yeah? So I wanna be extra-nice to you, even if we gotta be on opposite sides. Don’t’cha think that’s better? Huh?”
I stopped and thought about it. It would be nice to play a more friendly game with someone who wasn’t out to eviscerate me just for existing like those blasted Droids that keep showing up. Granted the stakes of the game were pretty high, but Lum seemed like an alright person.
“What if I lose?” I asked.
Lum sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “There’s not much I can do about it. Daddy’s the one that makes the rules. I can at least make sure that you and your friends get treated fairly. That is, if you really are a nice person. I think that you’ll be okay, though.”
“But if you could change things, you would?”
Lum nodded her head vigorously. “Yeah-yeah! So many people get hurt because Daddy can’t keep all the other Warlords in line like he wants them to be, ya know? You see, Daddy is a nice person, too. He would never got Mama to marry him, don’tcha see?” And here she winked playfully at me. “Daddy tries his best to make things better, but he doesn’t really have a lot of power because of how our government is setup. The real power is in the Warlords themselves. Daddy just helps keep them organized so we don’t fight each other too much. Neat, huh?”
“Errr yeah, I guess.”
“So, why don’t we get going, yeah?” asked Lum as she finally jumped off the car.
“Ah, there’s a problem with that. You just trashed our ride.”
“Huh?” she replied in puzzlement as she turned to look where I was pointing. Suddenly, she flinched as though she just got whacked across the head. She then turned to me, a sickly smile on her face. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to not tell my daddy about this, maybe?”
“Sorry cute stuff,” I replied. “The Japanese Government I am certainly not. I can’t even vote here!”
Lum huffed in annoyance and I raised an eyebrow. It was startling that even when she was annoyed she was still cute.
Eventually, the replacement sedan came and we rode together in relative silence. Oddly enough, I could actually smell Lum inside the vehicle. Fortunately, though, it was not unpleasant. It was mint, cool and green, with just a touch of what must have been her own natural scent, and, oddly enough, ozone.
I don’t understand why but I caught myself looking at her several times. It was hard to resist! She was beautiful, for sure, but I knew in my heart that I had fallen in love with Rei. Why couldn’t I keep my eyes off this alien girl!?
Soon enough, we drove through the security gates at Yokosuka Naval Station and I at last had a distraction. Distant memories of my past life were awoken and the familiar sights began to wash over me. We drove past the Mountain, the peak of which was where the offices of Seventh Fleet were kept, past the new steam plant and the Fleet Rec Center, past the dock operations center with the last of the Naval Tugs owned and operated by the USN, past the berth of the USS Blue Ridge LCC 20 (The phrase ‘Let’s Continuous Clean for Twenty Hours!’ popped into my head at that!), and then a sudden left turn into one of the massive buildings in which Ship Repair Facilities worked their arcane arts at keeping these machines of war afloat.
We came to a stop and we were ushered out and through the massive workshop, which was eerily silent. Of course, we learned why as we turned a corner and I was suddenly confronted with the visage of Mr. Invader.
The man was, in just two words, sprockin’ HUGE.
He was like a mountain, sitting on a work bench and still tall enough for the second-level railings to be at eye-level with him. He could probably go toe-to-toe with Optimus Prime, and still maybe have steam left over to take on Megatron.
“DADDY!” cried out Lum happily as she jumped up, took FLIGHT! and glomped her father as best as she could.
“Ah! There’s my little girl!” Mr. Invader then regarded us all. “Thank you for bringing my wayward daughter back to me. I hope that she wasn’t too much trouble for you.”
I shrugged. “She only wrecked one car.”
“YOU SNITCH!” cried out Lum and suddenly I felt an intense desire to not be where I was standing.
Of course, I acted on it, and not a moment too soon as Lum did a very good impression of a Sith Lord casting lightning.
“That’s enough, now dear,” said Mr. Invader, a stern look on his face as he put a massive paw on her shoulder.
“Don’t feel too bad,” I said. “A friend of mine fried one before we met earlier today.” I didn’t mention that she was my girlfriend, as that would have tied Sailor Mars to Hino Rei... if they didn’t know about her already.
“HAH!” cried out Mr. Invader. “Interesting friends you have, kid.”
I shrugged again. “Mr. Invader, my entire life has been an exercise of the Ancient Chinese meaning of that word.”
“Oh, that old curse?” asked Mr. Invader. “‘May you live in interesting times’? Heh-heh, that one’s always been one of my favorites. And you seem to be in for interesting times, too! Seeing as you’ve managed to anger my little girl, here. Not that I mind, really.”
“DADDY!” cried out Lum, scandalized.
“Lum, you’ve grown too soft with all the boys that fawn over you. Especially that Rei character. How he ever got you to accept a marriage proposal is beyond me.”
“But I broke it off right away, ya know!” cried out Lum.
“Regardless, you’ve become spoiled where other men are concerned. And I’m glad this kid has the sense to throw something other than roses at your feet.”
“So, I take it this doesn’t happen very often?” I asked.
Mr. Invader barked out a laugh. “I wish! Every time a boy sees her it’s the same thing!”
“Well, I do admit, she is beautiful.” Lum’s glares softened somewhat at that. “But my grandmother always told me that there’s more to a woman than just a pretty face. There were some terrible girls in my school that bore that out.”
“Meanie,” snapped Lum and she stuck her tongue out at me. I almost laughed at how utterly adorable she was.
“Hmm,” murmured Mr. Invader thoughtfully. “Well, regardless, we need to get down to business here. I take it things have already been explained to you, kid?”
“Yes, Mr. Invader. I’ve been told that I’m to face off against Lum in a game of tag for the fate of my world.”
“You got it. Just to be safe, though, I’ll explain the rules. The game will last for one week, and the whole time you will be It. The only way for you to win is to grab Lum by her horns.”
“Why so long?” I asked.
Mr. Invader grinned. “My daughter is very difficult to catch.”
I didn’t have anything to say about that, so I just shrugged, causing Mr. Invader to laugh.
“I’ll tell you what, kid. Since you’re being such a great sport about all this, I’ll let you pick the venue. Any place you want, we’ll hold the game there.”
My eyebrows shot up at that. “Anywhere I want?”
“Anywhere!” confirmed the Oni jovially.
I thought about it for a moment, and then I remembered what it was like back home on the reservation.
I then smiled wickedly. “How about Monument Valley?”
#
There was a press conference, moderated heavily by a public relations person from the American Embassy. I stayed to answer all the questions that made it through moderation. Of course, the reason being that I wanted there to be little chance that someone would wish to ambush me.I discussed this matter with the PR person, and they confided in me that it would be best if I selected a reporter from a local press club to be my exclusive reporter - a little bit like how, in the comics, Lois Lane always got Superman’s exclusives.
Over the course of the press conference, one reporter came out on top as having the most questions that the moderators felt were relevant, and she was flagged out for me. While everyone else was packing it in, someone went and whispered in her ear, and shortly thereafter she and I were sitting down together, sipping at bottled waters.
Shoko Asami was an attractive woman who did not look at all like the twenty-nine years the dossier said she was. Her long, feathered hair was lightened to a medium ash blonde, and her eyes seemed to be caught somewhere between violet and blue, making me wonder if she had some Jyuraian in her as well. She wore a sea foam green blouse with a mandarin collar, and a teal-colored calf-length straight skirt, finished off with a set of stylish black high-heeled calf-height boots.
“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be,” said the reporter with a mildly teasing smile.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “And you look pretty damn good for being old enough to be my aunt.”
Shoko glowered at me for the back-handed compliment.
“Touche, Mr. Darkwood. You certainly have guts calling that out to my face, even if I was teasing you just now.”
“Miss Asami, if you tease me you had better be ready to get as good as you're giving. Besides, since I’ve had several someones go out of their way to try and kill me, the only woman’s ire I worry about anymore is my girlfriend’s.”
“Ah, so you do have a girlfriend then?” she asked, her eyes lighting up a bit.
“Yes, and that’s on record, too! The last thing I need is marriage proposals by the hundreds.”
Shoko smiled knowingly. “You do realize that’s not going to stop them all, right?”
I sighed at that. “Yes, I know. What bugs me the most is that most of those will be fathers or mothers trying to get me to marry into their family by foisting a daughter at me who’s way outside my age bracket.”
“I don’t think you’ll get too many of those,” said Shoko blithely, “but I won’t deny that people like that exist, as much as I wish they didn’t. So, do I get to know the name of the lucky girl?”
“Not yet. I need to speak with her on the matter. She catches enough trouble just being my girlfriend. I’d like to refrain from dumping any more in her lap.”
“Good,” said Shoko with a nod. “I’m glad to see someone like you being considerate of your girlfriend. She’s very fortunate to have you, I think.”
I snorted at that. “Well, she might disagree at first.”
Shoko barked a laugh. “I see! So it’s one of those relationships?”
“Kind of. She started out being so tsun-tsun that it wasn’t even funny, but now...” I simply shrugged.
Shoko laughed again in delight. “That bad, huh?”
“Honestly, I’m not surprised myself,” came a shockingly familiar voice. “After all, Zeke is special - you either come to love him or hate him.”
I snapped around and there she was: Teletha Testarossa in her Mithril duty-officer’s uniform, and with her was a wiry looking man, slightly scruffy with a neatly maintained five o’clock shadow, hiking boots, worn-in blue jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt and red vest with a myriad of pockets. Sitting at his hip was a camera bag hanging by the strap on his shoulder.
“And you are?” asked Shoko.
“Captain Teletha Testarosa,” she said as she offered a large, padded, manila envelope. “Congratulations, Miss Asami. You have been vetted.”
Shoko blinked in consternation as she accepted the envelope and began to work at the closure.
“By who?” she asked.
“By the paramilitary organization known as Mithril.” Teltha grinned as Shoko froze and gave Telly a wide-eyed look. “You should find everything you need to know inside there. It’s keyed to your thumb print. Mr. Nereo Sibilia, here, will be your assigned body guard. In addition to being proficient at protecting VIPs, he is also a highly skilled field photographer and he is even a member of the Paparazzi. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted while I speak with Zeke in private.”
Before anything else could happen, Teletha hooked my arm with her deceptive strength and dragged me away, not stopping until we were in a dark and isolated corner of the work shop. Once there, she let go, pulling a device out of her pocket and pushing the single button on it, causing a green indicator LED to light up.
“Alright, no one will be able to hear us now,” said Teletha as she set it on the floor next to us.
“Telly, not that I didn’t want to see you again,” I began, “but what are you doing here?”
Without another word, Teletha Testarosa reached up behind my head, pulled my face into hers, and suddenly she was kissing me. It was like before, only now the pangs of regret I had sensed the last time had been replaced with hunger and fire.
“I lost you once,” she gasped as she broke off the kiss. “Never again.”
Telly, wait!” I said, stopping her before she could kiss me again. “You do understand that I’m with Rei now, right?”
“Yes, and I don’t care,” she said, her breath hot and moist against my face. “I was with you first. I fell in love with you first! There! I said it! I have been in love with you all this time! Ever since I saw you after your accident. You looked at me with those eyes that you still have to this day and they stole my heart from me. I’d heard the fairy tales before about princes and princesses and love at first sight, but I never thought that could happen to me, especially when I was only five! Every time you look at me you make me feel so vulnerable, and yet I feel as though I really can change the world... and all I would need is your permission.”
Once more she lunged into me and I couldn’t really stop her. I was simply too shocked. Worse was that I was actually getting aroused by all this! Once I realized that I firmly pushed Teltha away, but not roughly.
“Telly, I can’t do this! Not only would it break Rei’s heart, she would probably kill you!” I didn’t add in the fact that she would likely kill me as well.
“She may be a Senshi,” said Teletha with an evil gleam in her eyes, “but I am a Whispered. And while we’ve been kissing, I have already concocted several tactics, methodologies, and strategies for dealing with her and her friends should they come between you and me.”
Oh fuck, I thought, because the last time I had seen that look in her eyes, one particularly nasty bully back on the Reservation had wound up buried up to his neck in his own back yard. I just counted myself lucky that she hadn’t gone with her original plan of staking him out over an anthill. I shuddered to think at what she could do with her Whispered abilities and the resources of a submersible amphibious assault ship at her disposal.
Shit. Fuck. Distraction. NOW!
“Telly, I know you want to be with me and everything, but don’t you have some important official business to be conducting?”
Teletha glowered at me and sighed. “Dammit, Zeke, you killjoy.” Teletha then stepped away and adopted a relaxed sort of parade-rest pose. “We have recieved special orders from the very top. Urzu Squadron is to assist you in preparing for the competition with the Invaders in any way we can. You have already been excused from classes for the next two weeks and your class mates will be picking up your homework assignments for you.”
I sighed at that myself. “Not doing things by halves, are we?”
“The fate of the world is at stake, Zeke. We’d be fools not to do all that we can. As it is, the world’s militaries are all preparing as quickly as they can for an all-out war, but we’re not holding out much hope that we can offer more than a token of resistance, even if we used nuclear weapons. The UN Military Council has already decided that the best they can do is hold out long enough for the Juraian’s main force to arrive. Aside from that, all our hopes ride on you, Zeke.”
“Fucking-A,” I grumbled. “I am never gonna hear the end of this, am I?”
Teletha shrugged. “We have public relations people doing what they can, Zeke. That is part of why we have Mr. Sibilia here. With his Paparazzi credentials and having an exclusive contract as your personal press photographer, you at least will not be hounded day and night. Mr. Sibilia will make arrangements with you on a monthly basis for scheduled and spontaneous photo ops and will work hand-in-hand with Miss Asami. Additionally, you get a ten percent cut on the sale of the photographs - a gratuity for your willing participation with the Paparazzi.
“So no, you probably won’t hear the end of this, ever. But how many people can honestly say that they’ve saved the world, Zeke? How many people can honestly say that they have saved us all?” Teletha then reached out and put her hand softly to the side of my face while looking at me imploringly. “How many people can say that they have saved me?”
I looked away from her in shame. “I didn’t act quickly enough.”
“Don’t say that,” said Teletha. “What happened to me at Blood Gulch was horrible. I won’t sugarcoat it for your sake. They werehired to come after you, but I was just an added treat to them. And in the end, after they had their way with me, they simply would have killed me and tossed me aside like a piece of trash. But you stopped that from happening. In fact, you not only stopped it, but you avenged me in such a way that the Elders felt that you were the Spirit’s Justice visited upon those men in human form. And they weren’t wrong, either. Raven gave you control, and along with it the rage to fuel that force.”
“Fine, so I saved your life,” I bit off harshly. “And what if that rage wasn’t provided by Raven? What if that’s the real me deep down inside?”
Teletha reached out once more, gently grasping my face in her hands and making me look at her.
“Then I am glad that your rage only comes out so you can defend the defenseless. I may have lost my virginity that day. But I gained my beloved Black Knight as well.”
Right then, I couldn’t help myself. I just had to hold Teletha - my trusted and beloved friend, Telly - in my arms.
“Raven’s stinking breath, Telly,” I murmured into her sweet smelling hair. “Why do you have to make this so hard on me.”
Teletha didn’t respond right away.
“You really do love her, don’t you?” she asked.
I let go of Teletha and looked her in the eyes. I opened my mouth, but she stopped me.
“But you love me as well, don’t you?”
I looked away in shame, because she’d hit the nail right on the head. I cared very much about both of them, but I could only really choose one over the other! Dammit all!
Teletha actually laughed. “Oh Zeke! That is so precious that you want both of us, but I suppose I’ll have to show you the folly of trying to satisfy more than one woman. After all, I am certain that I will be more than you can handle.”
“Hey!” I snapped as I rounded on her. “No games! It’s bad enough my life is one already. And I would have thought you’d respected me more than that.”
Teletha reared back as though she’d been struck, her surprised expression quickly and briefly followed up with a look of ‘Dear God what am I doing’.
“Alright,” said Teletha contritely as she composed herself. “I apologize, Zeke. I shouldn’t be making this into a game. But what am I supposed to do?”
I sighed at that. “Talk to Rei. Don’t antagonize her, but don’t be anything less than upfront with her. She has a bit of a short fuse, but she’s a good person nonetheless. She’ll hear you out if you’re not acting out.”
“What about you?” asked Teletha, giving me a somewhat cross look. I could tell that she thought I was just trying to pass the buck, but that was only half-true.
“I already know about how you feel, Telly. I just need to figure out how I’m going to deal with this, and part of that is knowing how Rei feels about you.”
Teletha sighed as my words sank in. “Alright then. But you had better understand that what you’re asking isn’t easy.”
I shook my head. “Nothing about love is ever easy.”
Commentary Thread ===> HERE!
Anybody depending on somebody else's gods is depending on a fox not to eat chickens.-Zora Neale Hurston
That night, Phobos stood her watch from a distance. She was justified in being upset over my slip, and even though it hurt, I decided that I was going to take my medicine like a big boy. Once she and Deimos deigned to appear before me, I would make my apology then.
The following morning was quiet, as a Sunday morning ought to be. Rei regarded me frostily all through breakfast: I was officially in the dog house. As we cleared away our breakfast dishes, I decided to try my luck.
“Rei, I’m sorry about last night.”
“Are you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Nothing sucks harder than the feeling of being ostracized.”
“That’s a start,” said Rei with a nod. “Next time, keep that in mind when there’s something we might want to know about. And on that note, are there any other surprises in the pipeline we should know about?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “The timeline is a bit different from what I knew.”
Rei narrowed her eyes, but I could sense that in this case her ire was not directed at me.
“Sit,” she said curtly. “Explain.”
“Well, the timeline that I knew of had you and the girls going through this whole ordeal with the Ayakashi Sisters two years ago.”
“Really?” said Rei in puzzlement. “The only thing that happened two years ago was the whole Metallia incident, and then the Doom Tree.”
“Doom Tree?” I echoed, but then the synapses made the connection and I snapped my fingers. “Ail and Ain! Those two! Out of curiosity, Has there been any word from them?”
“They visit now and then,” said Rei with a smile. “They say that their time on Earth had left quite an impression, so they like to see it sometimes. In fact, Ami is predicting that they will show up again in about two weeks. Of course, she has it down to a science.”
I snorted in bemusement. “That girl is utterly adorkable.”
Rei snickered. “Don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll die of embarrassment on the spot.”
“Hoooiii! Zii-kun!” came Hino-sensei’s voice. “There’s a package for you!”
“Another one?” asked Rei as she got up.
“I’m just surprised that you guys get deliveries on Sundays.”
There, before the steps of the shrine itself, stood a man in the iconic livery of the Kuroneko Yamato Parcel Service. He conducted his business in a crisp and chipper fashion, and was off before I could thank him - but such is the way of the Japanese in the service-industry.
With a mental shrug, and Rei following curiously, I went back to the living quarters to open the package. The only clues I had at first were that it came from Grumps’s place in California. Though I had no idea what he sent me that required a huge four-foot long parcel.
Once I had the box open, though, I gave Rei a huge, sidelong grin, and asked, “So, you know of a place with a nice road that’s largely unused?”
#
I had to look on the Internet for what I wanted, but I found it quickly enough. And in thirty minutes... well, let’s just say that birds of a feather flock together. And skaters were no different.
The styles were different. The brands were a bit different as well. Also, there were a lot double-drop decks here. And from what I could see - lots of very technical riding, and not a lot of straight-up bombing. In fact, my Santa Cruz pintail deck was the only thing like it there. That alone garnered attention. The fact that Rei followed me there did the rest - the reputation as Queen of TA Academy was not without a following.
The weather was cold, and getting colder. So I was able to layer my good, heavy sweatshirt with my protective gear - carving gloves, elbow pads, knee pads, and helmet. No one approached me just yet, but they watched with interest.
“Are you sure about this?” asked Rei.
“I’m a bit rusty, but I’m sure. It should come back to me in no time. Besides, the real trick to this,” I said as I secured my helmet and made sure it was snug, “is knowing when to bail.”
And with that, I dropped my deck and was off.
The roads here are beautifully sloped, nicely surface, and perfectly twisty. I did a bit of short carving - short, sweeping turns - to get a feel for the road, but I found that the road was very smooth so I was starting to pick up speed very quickly. I pulled into a heel-side stand up slide, quickly pivoting my deck sideways and leaning back into my heels to slide the board. I didn’t want to do that too much or else I’d flat-spot the wheels - grinding them down in one area creating a literal flat-spot.
I pulled into the first turn, dipping myself into a Coleman Slide and dragging my slide-glove sheathed hands over the pavement. I had this road’s measure now, so I went ahead and bombed it for the next turn, slipping once again into a long and sweeping Coleman Slide and causing the natives to cheer.
That was short lived, though.
Right as I came out of the turn, a large, black saloon car braked into a power slide right in front of me. I was going too fast to bail out - my only hope was to slap my foot down on the pavement and do a foot-brake. It destroys the shoes if you do it enough, but it’s the fastest and safest way to stop. I still had too much momentum, though, and the side panels of the car came racing at me. At the last moment, I tried for a toe-side pendulum slide, putting my back to the car.
PONK!*
The shock of the impact jarred my guts... but aside from that, a brief self-check as I slowly got up revealed nothing worse than some bruising. What would have happened next might have involved me cursing out the driver for panicking like that.
Instead, a sent of strong hands picked me up, tossed me into the back seat, and the next thing I knew we were peeling out.
“Ah, not that your business is any of mine, but I do have friends that can make life difficult for you guys.”
“We’re from Public Security.”
I suddenly felt Rei’s warm and welcome fire blossom in my chest, and I looked over to the man next to me as I took off my slide gloves and fastened my seat belt.
“... My point still stands.”
Suddenly, the engine exploded, the hood covering it sent flying for parts unknown, and the car ground to a screeching halt. I had seen it coming and closed my eyes. The driver and his partner up front had not and were flash-blinded.
The next thing my seatmate knew was that my fingers were very painfully embedding in his neck, threatening to pry out his wind pipe.
“This is how we’re gonna do this. That gun you’re tickling? Pull it out nice and slow. Eject the magazine and work the action. Do it without trying to dislodge me or else I will crush your fucking larynx and you will die a slow and hideous death.”
The man glared at me, but otherwise did as I asked.
“Good. Now, open the door.”
The moment he did, I unbuckled myself and kicked the man out of the car. Suddenly, he found himself looking up Rei’s legs... and the orb of Celestial Fire she had primed and ready to go.
“Zii-kun,” said Rei, her voice a cold mockery of coyness. “You always find the most interesting playmates. Who is this slime and does he deserve to live?”
Right about then, more sedans arrived with black-suited men pouring out of them. Rei and I stepped back slowly, while I took off my pendant and handed it over to Rei for safe keeping. The black flames were quick in coming.
And suddenly, the man was pinned down by two of the black-suited agents and handcuffs affixed to his wrists. The man made no remarks - just a wide-eyed look of shock as the gravity of what had happened fell upon him with all the weight of the world.
“So,” said another Agent as he stepped around the developing morass. He spoke with perfect American English. “You’re the American known as Ezekiel Darkwood.”
“You’re only half right,” I replied with a nasty grin.
“Yes, the being known as Raven,” continued the man. “I had your BPRD dossier pulled. The one thing you have going for yourself is that, by all accounts, you do try to keep things quiet.”
I chuckled. “Oh, but fate always has different plans for us.”
The agent nodded. “Indeed. That man was one of my best men. I don’t know what came over him. You have my sincere apologies, Raven-sama, Darkwood-san. We had not intention of anything like this taking place.”
“And what exactly was supposed to happen?” snapped Rei in a testy sounding burst of Japanese while still wearing her Sailor Mars fuku.
The man gave Rei a mild look, as though he was not expecting her to understand English so well.
“We were planning on approaching Darkwood-san at a time when he was not agitated,” the Agent replied in Japanese. “You see, a situation has arisen, but the matter for the time being is classified.”
“Classified?” said Rei sharply.
“I apologize, but I have only been authorized to speak with Darkwood-san on the matter, Sailor Mars,” said the agent politely. “However, this situation should become abundantly transparent soon enough. Wait at home and keep the news turned on, you will see.”
“And what makes you think that I’m just going to scurry off to home like some obedient little housewife?” snarled Rei, the orb of Celestial Fire in her hand intensifying.
“Rei, a moment?” I asked suddenly.
Rei snapped a look at me, glowering, and then gave the Agent one last withering glare before she turned her nose at him and sauntered away so we could speak in private.
“What is it, Zeke,” she snapped testily. But then her tone became somewhat apologetic. “Or is it Raven-sama?”
“It pleases me that you have seen the error of your ways and seek to amend them,” came the Old Bird’s voice from my own mouth. “Worry not about respectful attitudes. As you can see from Zeke I do not tend to stand on ceremony. However, defy me at your own peril. Zeke may have denied me your soul, but I have other methods of making good on debts. Understood?”
Rei nodded her head, not exactly unafraid, but willing to face what was quickly becoming a new fear for her.
“Good. Now, my advice to you, my Priestess, is to let Zeke go alone for now. This is something I have set aside for him and him alone to deal with. Now, the pendant, please?”
Quickly, Rei handed it over and I fastened it around my neck once more, causing Raven’s presence to recede once more.I don’t know what I would have done without that thing.
“Is he telling the truth?” asked Rei with concern.
I sighed at that. “He can lie like a snake when he wants to, but that’s not often. Ravens are chatty creatures. They might distort things a bit, but that’s just to make it more interesting to talk about. They’d never tell a lie that could come back to bite them. At least, not consciously.”
“So he thinks he’s making your story more interesting by making me butt-out?” asked Rei. “Forgive me if I don’t find that encouraging.”
I shrugged. “I don’t blame you, but if you don’t do as he asks, then he’ll probably do something like curse you with misfortune.”
“What?”
“You know, bad luck. I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. I’ve actually made it happen before!”
“How?”
“Well, you know... let’s just say that this was before I got this pendant.”
“Ah,” replied Rei as she was enlightened.
#
Rei left, springing across rooftops so she could transform unseen. My longboard and gloves were collected and given to me as I was packed into one of the saloon cars and driven off with a police escort.
“So, now that we’re alone,” I said as I inspected the trucks on my board for damage, “you guys wanna tell me what this is about?”
There was a moment of tense silence before the lead agent spoke up.
“At around midnight, local time last night, several large objects measuring approximately four kilometers in length were detected entering stable orbits over the Earth.”
I looked over at the Agent and raised an eyebrow.
“Are you sure they aren’t Jyuraian in Origin?” I asked.
“How do you know that?” snapped the agent sharply.
“My girlfriend and intended-wife is Hino Rei, Great Grand-daughter of Prince Jyurai-Masaki Yosho.”
The agent subsided grudgingly at that. “Of course. At any rate, no, they are not Jyuraian. We have, in fact, been contacted by them. They call themselves the Invaders, and they claim to be here to take our world - by force if they must.”
I frowned thoughtfully at that. “They seem awfully polite about this. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is, Darkwood-san, that they have offered us a sporting chance - for a person of their choosing to face off against the reigning champion in their national past time: Tag.”
I was getting deja vu all over the place, but I still couldn’t place my finger on what this was. All I could do was ride this out and stay cagey.
“So why me then?” I asked.
The agent shrugged. “They never said. They only claimed that you were amongst the few viable contenders residing in Japan.”
“Residing in Japan?” I parroted back.
“Indeed. Perhaps once you meet Mr. Invader you’ll better understand why he was so selective.”
That would have been the start of a lull in the conversation, but right then there was a pronounced vibration in the vehicle. It took me a moment to place it, but the Agent blurted it out before I could.
“Earthquake! Stop the car!”
The driver had already been reacting and the car was stopped no sooner than the words had left the Agent’s mouth. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash outside and the vehicle bounced violently, flinging me against my seat belt painfully and slamming me back into my plush seat.
“... Owwww,” I groaned.
It doesn’t matter who you are, folks. Car accidents fucking hurt.
A sudden memory came crawling to the forefront of my mind and then an irrational sense of claustrophobia overcame me. In barely a couple of seconds, I had practically ripped the seat belt off and shot out through the door like a startled cat, gasping for air as my heart hammered in my chest.
No fire.
No smell of burning flesh.
Although the engine compartment of the car was a smoldering ruin.
And standing up on top of that was something that just about made me fall over in surprise.
A gorgeous girl with a perfect hourglass figure. However, she was no Audrey Hepburn - this girl was voluptuous without being over-endowed in the slightest. And this was plain to see because of her outfit - a tiger-striped bikini that was made of actual fur, and a matching set of tiger-furred knee-high gogo boots.
But that was not the most surprising thing about her at all.
It was her hair! A huge, voluminous fall of barely-tamed hair that shone with a beautiful, rainbow-metallic iridescence that tended towards a deep forest-green hue. It was easy to miss the pair of smallish, stubby, yellow horns that barely peaked out from her mane.
She grinned at me with a cute, round face and baby-blue eyes as she said, in a adorably energetic and almost saccharine tone,
“Hiya! I’m the Invader, Lum, yeah! Are you my opponent, the American named Ezekiel Darkwood, huh?”
“Wha?” I said. Lum gave me an impatient look. She then took out something from behind her (hammerspace!?) and looked at it, at me, at it, and then at me again before she smiled broadly.
“You are him, yeah!” she beamed. “How’re you doing, huh?”
“Wait, you’re the one I have to go up against?” I asked.
“Yuppers!” announced Lum cheerefully.
“But... I thought your people wanted to conquer mine.”
Lum gave me a slightly annoyed look. “Well I don’t like being all evil and mean to people that don’t deserve it, nuh-uh! In fact, I read up all about you! You’ve had a pretty tough time, yeah? So I wanna be extra-nice to you, even if we gotta be on opposite sides. Don’t’cha think that’s better? Huh?”
I stopped and thought about it. It would be nice to play a more friendly game with someone who wasn’t out to eviscerate me just for existing like those blasted Droids that keep showing up. Granted the stakes of the game were pretty high, but Lum seemed like an alright person.
“What if I lose?” I asked.
Lum sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “There’s not much I can do about it. Daddy’s the one that makes the rules. I can at least make sure that you and your friends get treated fairly. That is, if you really are a nice person. I think that you’ll be okay, though.”
“But if you could change things, you would?”
Lum nodded her head vigorously. “Yeah-yeah! So many people get hurt because Daddy can’t keep all the other Warlords in line like he wants them to be, ya know? You see, Daddy is a nice person, too. He would never got Mama to marry him, don’tcha see?” And here she winked playfully at me. “Daddy tries his best to make things better, but he doesn’t really have a lot of power because of how our government is setup. The real power is in the Warlords themselves. Daddy just helps keep them organized so we don’t fight each other too much. Neat, huh?”
“Errr yeah, I guess.”
“So, why don’t we get going, yeah?” asked Lum as she finally jumped off the car.
“Ah, there’s a problem with that. You just trashed our ride.”
“Huh?” she replied in puzzlement as she turned to look where I was pointing. Suddenly, she flinched as though she just got whacked across the head. She then turned to me, a sickly smile on her face. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to not tell my daddy about this, maybe?”
“Sorry cute stuff,” I replied. “The Japanese Government I am certainly not. I can’t even vote here!”
Lum huffed in annoyance and I raised an eyebrow. It was startling that even when she was annoyed she was still cute.
Eventually, the replacement sedan came and we rode together in relative silence. Oddly enough, I could actually smell Lum inside the vehicle. Fortunately, though, it was not unpleasant. It was mint, cool and green, with just a touch of what must have been her own natural scent, and, oddly enough, ozone.
I don’t understand why but I caught myself looking at her several times. It was hard to resist! She was beautiful, for sure, but I knew in my heart that I had fallen in love with Rei. Why couldn’t I keep my eyes off this alien girl!?
Soon enough, we drove through the security gates at Yokosuka Naval Station and I at last had a distraction. Distant memories of my past life were awoken and the familiar sights began to wash over me. We drove past the Mountain, the peak of which was where the offices of Seventh Fleet were kept, past the new steam plant and the Fleet Rec Center, past the dock operations center with the last of the Naval Tugs owned and operated by the USN, past the berth of the USS Blue Ridge LCC 20 (The phrase ‘Let’s Continuous Clean for Twenty Hours!’ popped into my head at that!), and then a sudden left turn into one of the massive buildings in which Ship Repair Facilities worked their arcane arts at keeping these machines of war afloat.
We came to a stop and we were ushered out and through the massive workshop, which was eerily silent. Of course, we learned why as we turned a corner and I was suddenly confronted with the visage of Mr. Invader.
The man was, in just two words, sprockin’ HUGE.
He was like a mountain, sitting on a work bench and still tall enough for the second-level railings to be at eye-level with him. He could probably go toe-to-toe with Optimus Prime, and still maybe have steam left over to take on Megatron.
“DADDY!” cried out Lum happily as she jumped up, took FLIGHT! and glomped her father as best as she could.
“Ah! There’s my little girl!” Mr. Invader then regarded us all. “Thank you for bringing my wayward daughter back to me. I hope that she wasn’t too much trouble for you.”
I shrugged. “She only wrecked one car.”
“YOU SNITCH!” cried out Lum and suddenly I felt an intense desire to not be where I was standing.
Of course, I acted on it, and not a moment too soon as Lum did a very good impression of a Sith Lord casting lightning.
“That’s enough, now dear,” said Mr. Invader, a stern look on his face as he put a massive paw on her shoulder.
“Don’t feel too bad,” I said. “A friend of mine fried one before we met earlier today.” I didn’t mention that she was my girlfriend, as that would have tied Sailor Mars to Hino Rei... if they didn’t know about her already.
“HAH!” cried out Mr. Invader. “Interesting friends you have, kid.”
I shrugged again. “Mr. Invader, my entire life has been an exercise of the Ancient Chinese meaning of that word.”
“Oh, that old curse?” asked Mr. Invader. “‘May you live in interesting times’? Heh-heh, that one’s always been one of my favorites. And you seem to be in for interesting times, too! Seeing as you’ve managed to anger my little girl, here. Not that I mind, really.”
“DADDY!” cried out Lum, scandalized.
“Lum, you’ve grown too soft with all the boys that fawn over you. Especially that Rei character. How he ever got you to accept a marriage proposal is beyond me.”
“But I broke it off right away, ya know!” cried out Lum.
“Regardless, you’ve become spoiled where other men are concerned. And I’m glad this kid has the sense to throw something other than roses at your feet.”
“So, I take it this doesn’t happen very often?” I asked.
Mr. Invader barked out a laugh. “I wish! Every time a boy sees her it’s the same thing!”
“Well, I do admit, she is beautiful.” Lum’s glares softened somewhat at that. “But my grandmother always told me that there’s more to a woman than just a pretty face. There were some terrible girls in my school that bore that out.”
“Meanie,” snapped Lum and she stuck her tongue out at me. I almost laughed at how utterly adorable she was.
“Hmm,” murmured Mr. Invader thoughtfully. “Well, regardless, we need to get down to business here. I take it things have already been explained to you, kid?”
“Yes, Mr. Invader. I’ve been told that I’m to face off against Lum in a game of tag for the fate of my world.”
“You got it. Just to be safe, though, I’ll explain the rules. The game will last for one week, and the whole time you will be It. The only way for you to win is to grab Lum by her horns.”
“Why so long?” I asked.
Mr. Invader grinned. “My daughter is very difficult to catch.”
I didn’t have anything to say about that, so I just shrugged, causing Mr. Invader to laugh.
“I’ll tell you what, kid. Since you’re being such a great sport about all this, I’ll let you pick the venue. Any place you want, we’ll hold the game there.”
My eyebrows shot up at that. “Anywhere I want?”
“Anywhere!” confirmed the Oni jovially.
I thought about it for a moment, and then I remembered what it was like back home on the reservation.
I then smiled wickedly. “How about Monument Valley?”
#
There was a press conference, moderated heavily by a public relations person from the American Embassy. I stayed to answer all the questions that made it through moderation. Of course, the reason being that I wanted there to be little chance that someone would wish to ambush me.I discussed this matter with the PR person, and they confided in me that it would be best if I selected a reporter from a local press club to be my exclusive reporter - a little bit like how, in the comics, Lois Lane always got Superman’s exclusives.
Over the course of the press conference, one reporter came out on top as having the most questions that the moderators felt were relevant, and she was flagged out for me. While everyone else was packing it in, someone went and whispered in her ear, and shortly thereafter she and I were sitting down together, sipping at bottled waters.
Shoko Asami was an attractive woman who did not look at all like the twenty-nine years the dossier said she was. Her long, feathered hair was lightened to a medium ash blonde, and her eyes seemed to be caught somewhere between violet and blue, making me wonder if she had some Jyuraian in her as well. She wore a sea foam green blouse with a mandarin collar, and a teal-colored calf-length straight skirt, finished off with a set of stylish black high-heeled calf-height boots.
“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be,” said the reporter with a mildly teasing smile.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “And you look pretty damn good for being old enough to be my aunt.”
Shoko glowered at me for the back-handed compliment.
“Touche, Mr. Darkwood. You certainly have guts calling that out to my face, even if I was teasing you just now.”
“Miss Asami, if you tease me you had better be ready to get as good as you're giving. Besides, since I’ve had several someones go out of their way to try and kill me, the only woman’s ire I worry about anymore is my girlfriend’s.”
“Ah, so you do have a girlfriend then?” she asked, her eyes lighting up a bit.
“Yes, and that’s on record, too! The last thing I need is marriage proposals by the hundreds.”
Shoko smiled knowingly. “You do realize that’s not going to stop them all, right?”
I sighed at that. “Yes, I know. What bugs me the most is that most of those will be fathers or mothers trying to get me to marry into their family by foisting a daughter at me who’s way outside my age bracket.”
“I don’t think you’ll get too many of those,” said Shoko blithely, “but I won’t deny that people like that exist, as much as I wish they didn’t. So, do I get to know the name of the lucky girl?”
“Not yet. I need to speak with her on the matter. She catches enough trouble just being my girlfriend. I’d like to refrain from dumping any more in her lap.”
“Good,” said Shoko with a nod. “I’m glad to see someone like you being considerate of your girlfriend. She’s very fortunate to have you, I think.”
I snorted at that. “Well, she might disagree at first.”
Shoko barked a laugh. “I see! So it’s one of those relationships?”
“Kind of. She started out being so tsun-tsun that it wasn’t even funny, but now...” I simply shrugged.
Shoko laughed again in delight. “That bad, huh?”
“Honestly, I’m not surprised myself,” came a shockingly familiar voice. “After all, Zeke is special - you either come to love him or hate him.”
I snapped around and there she was: Teletha Testarossa in her Mithril duty-officer’s uniform, and with her was a wiry looking man, slightly scruffy with a neatly maintained five o’clock shadow, hiking boots, worn-in blue jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt and red vest with a myriad of pockets. Sitting at his hip was a camera bag hanging by the strap on his shoulder.
“And you are?” asked Shoko.
“Captain Teletha Testarosa,” she said as she offered a large, padded, manila envelope. “Congratulations, Miss Asami. You have been vetted.”
Shoko blinked in consternation as she accepted the envelope and began to work at the closure.
“By who?” she asked.
“By the paramilitary organization known as Mithril.” Teltha grinned as Shoko froze and gave Telly a wide-eyed look. “You should find everything you need to know inside there. It’s keyed to your thumb print. Mr. Nereo Sibilia, here, will be your assigned body guard. In addition to being proficient at protecting VIPs, he is also a highly skilled field photographer and he is even a member of the Paparazzi. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted while I speak with Zeke in private.”
Before anything else could happen, Teletha hooked my arm with her deceptive strength and dragged me away, not stopping until we were in a dark and isolated corner of the work shop. Once there, she let go, pulling a device out of her pocket and pushing the single button on it, causing a green indicator LED to light up.
“Alright, no one will be able to hear us now,” said Teletha as she set it on the floor next to us.
“Telly, not that I didn’t want to see you again,” I began, “but what are you doing here?”
Without another word, Teletha Testarosa reached up behind my head, pulled my face into hers, and suddenly she was kissing me. It was like before, only now the pangs of regret I had sensed the last time had been replaced with hunger and fire.
“I lost you once,” she gasped as she broke off the kiss. “Never again.”
Telly, wait!” I said, stopping her before she could kiss me again. “You do understand that I’m with Rei now, right?”
“Yes, and I don’t care,” she said, her breath hot and moist against my face. “I was with you first. I fell in love with you first! There! I said it! I have been in love with you all this time! Ever since I saw you after your accident. You looked at me with those eyes that you still have to this day and they stole my heart from me. I’d heard the fairy tales before about princes and princesses and love at first sight, but I never thought that could happen to me, especially when I was only five! Every time you look at me you make me feel so vulnerable, and yet I feel as though I really can change the world... and all I would need is your permission.”
Once more she lunged into me and I couldn’t really stop her. I was simply too shocked. Worse was that I was actually getting aroused by all this! Once I realized that I firmly pushed Teltha away, but not roughly.
“Telly, I can’t do this! Not only would it break Rei’s heart, she would probably kill you!” I didn’t add in the fact that she would likely kill me as well.
“She may be a Senshi,” said Teletha with an evil gleam in her eyes, “but I am a Whispered. And while we’ve been kissing, I have already concocted several tactics, methodologies, and strategies for dealing with her and her friends should they come between you and me.”
Oh fuck, I thought, because the last time I had seen that look in her eyes, one particularly nasty bully back on the Reservation had wound up buried up to his neck in his own back yard. I just counted myself lucky that she hadn’t gone with her original plan of staking him out over an anthill. I shuddered to think at what she could do with her Whispered abilities and the resources of a submersible amphibious assault ship at her disposal.
Shit. Fuck. Distraction. NOW!
“Telly, I know you want to be with me and everything, but don’t you have some important official business to be conducting?”
Teletha glowered at me and sighed. “Dammit, Zeke, you killjoy.” Teletha then stepped away and adopted a relaxed sort of parade-rest pose. “We have recieved special orders from the very top. Urzu Squadron is to assist you in preparing for the competition with the Invaders in any way we can. You have already been excused from classes for the next two weeks and your class mates will be picking up your homework assignments for you.”
I sighed at that myself. “Not doing things by halves, are we?”
“The fate of the world is at stake, Zeke. We’d be fools not to do all that we can. As it is, the world’s militaries are all preparing as quickly as they can for an all-out war, but we’re not holding out much hope that we can offer more than a token of resistance, even if we used nuclear weapons. The UN Military Council has already decided that the best they can do is hold out long enough for the Juraian’s main force to arrive. Aside from that, all our hopes ride on you, Zeke.”
“Fucking-A,” I grumbled. “I am never gonna hear the end of this, am I?”
Teletha shrugged. “We have public relations people doing what they can, Zeke. That is part of why we have Mr. Sibilia here. With his Paparazzi credentials and having an exclusive contract as your personal press photographer, you at least will not be hounded day and night. Mr. Sibilia will make arrangements with you on a monthly basis for scheduled and spontaneous photo ops and will work hand-in-hand with Miss Asami. Additionally, you get a ten percent cut on the sale of the photographs - a gratuity for your willing participation with the Paparazzi.
“So no, you probably won’t hear the end of this, ever. But how many people can honestly say that they’ve saved the world, Zeke? How many people can honestly say that they have saved us all?” Teletha then reached out and put her hand softly to the side of my face while looking at me imploringly. “How many people can say that they have saved me?”
I looked away from her in shame. “I didn’t act quickly enough.”
“Don’t say that,” said Teletha. “What happened to me at Blood Gulch was horrible. I won’t sugarcoat it for your sake. They werehired to come after you, but I was just an added treat to them. And in the end, after they had their way with me, they simply would have killed me and tossed me aside like a piece of trash. But you stopped that from happening. In fact, you not only stopped it, but you avenged me in such a way that the Elders felt that you were the Spirit’s Justice visited upon those men in human form. And they weren’t wrong, either. Raven gave you control, and along with it the rage to fuel that force.”
“Fine, so I saved your life,” I bit off harshly. “And what if that rage wasn’t provided by Raven? What if that’s the real me deep down inside?”
Teletha reached out once more, gently grasping my face in her hands and making me look at her.
“Then I am glad that your rage only comes out so you can defend the defenseless. I may have lost my virginity that day. But I gained my beloved Black Knight as well.”
Right then, I couldn’t help myself. I just had to hold Teletha - my trusted and beloved friend, Telly - in my arms.
“Raven’s stinking breath, Telly,” I murmured into her sweet smelling hair. “Why do you have to make this so hard on me.”
Teletha didn’t respond right away.
“You really do love her, don’t you?” she asked.
I let go of Teletha and looked her in the eyes. I opened my mouth, but she stopped me.
“But you love me as well, don’t you?”
I looked away in shame, because she’d hit the nail right on the head. I cared very much about both of them, but I could only really choose one over the other! Dammit all!
Teletha actually laughed. “Oh Zeke! That is so precious that you want both of us, but I suppose I’ll have to show you the folly of trying to satisfy more than one woman. After all, I am certain that I will be more than you can handle.”
“Hey!” I snapped as I rounded on her. “No games! It’s bad enough my life is one already. And I would have thought you’d respected me more than that.”
Teletha reared back as though she’d been struck, her surprised expression quickly and briefly followed up with a look of ‘Dear God what am I doing’.
“Alright,” said Teletha contritely as she composed herself. “I apologize, Zeke. I shouldn’t be making this into a game. But what am I supposed to do?”
I sighed at that. “Talk to Rei. Don’t antagonize her, but don’t be anything less than upfront with her. She has a bit of a short fuse, but she’s a good person nonetheless. She’ll hear you out if you’re not acting out.”
“What about you?” asked Teletha, giving me a somewhat cross look. I could tell that she thought I was just trying to pass the buck, but that was only half-true.
“I already know about how you feel, Telly. I just need to figure out how I’m going to deal with this, and part of that is knowing how Rei feels about you.”
Teletha sighed as my words sank in. “Alright then. But you had better understand that what you’re asking isn’t easy.”
I shook my head. “Nothing about love is ever easy.”
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