🚀 go-pugleaf

(continued from part one...)

                                 |||---^---|||

     "Hey, Key," Manny said, as Key flew into the room, landing in her chair
with practiced ease.  "Where's Kent?"
     "He said he'd be along in a few minutes," Key said.  "He's got a perplexing
moral dilemma to work through."
     "I hate those," Yury sighed.  "Had one just last week, when I had to choose
between wearing my leather mini or my red bikini before going out shopping."
     "Erhm," Manny, who did not want to be distracted by the thought of Yury in
either costume at that moment, said.  "Well, let's not wait."
     "Let's not," Dar said, firmly.  "Why do we wait here -- why not seek out
Ian, rather than let him maneuver to get the situation he wants in attacking
us?"
     "Because if you seek him out," the cold voice from over by the window said,
"you won't find him."  All heads turned to regard Radian, who was facing away
from them, looking out the window at the gleaming towers of Los Angeles, still
scarred from the battle to capture her.  "He always finds you."
     She regarded Chelsa, who was still asleep, kept that way by Dar's spells.
     "He will bargain for her," Akane said.  "Her life for Rad's.  He will seek
to escape with both her and Rad, but with careful planning, we can thwart him,
much like my sister twarted her."
     "Who?" Shadebeam asked, tapping her mask.
     "Oh, excuse me," Akane said.  "I meant, 'Princess Charm, a stranger I've
never met before in my life.'  How silly of me."
     "Really," Andro purred.
     "Hey, did that cat just talk?" Templar asked.
     "No," Andro answered.
     "Oh, never mind then...huh?"
     "How can you be certain of this?" Laura McCavish-Laffalot asked.  "So
far, we haven't been able to anticipate much of anything about these two."
     "Are you familiar with the myth of Isis and Osiris?" Akane asked.
     "Vaguely," Tom said.  "They were Horus's parents, weren't they?"
     "Yes," Akane said.  "But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  What was
their relationship?"  A host of hands failed to shoot up.  "They were brother
and sister, husband and wife, the Virgin Goddess and the Resurrected Black
God, united in the cosmic wheel of time and space."
     "Then, Ian and Chelsa have a similar relationship?" Yury asked.
     "Possibly," Akane said.  "But that's not the relevant point.  Isis and
Osiris are representative of a pattern that can be found in most, if not all,
of the major cosmologies, including the Christian.  It's a cycle of birth,
death, and resurrection; the beginning, the end, and the return to the
beginning."
     "You're high," Templar said, firmly.
     Akane glared at him.
     "What does this have to do with why they want Rad and Dar?" Eivandt
asked.
     "Just as Ian and Chelsa are a microcosm of the cosmic wheel, so are they
a part of a larger wheel, a wheel whose size I am only beginning to understand.
Shadebeam and I have seen the first stage, the stage of creation, Stage Isis.
We are now in the stage of death, the dormancy period, Stage Apophis.  Ian and
Chelsa seek to join with Dar and Rad to usher in the final stage, to complete
the turning of the wheel.  It is this we must prevent."
     Kaoru looked at Shadebeam.  "When did my sister get so weird?"
     "She's been like that," Shadebeam said, shrugging.
     "Well, I'm all for preventing it, too," Dar said.  "Particularly since I'll
be the one crushed under this wheel if it isn't."
     "Agreed," Manny said.  "Radian...Akane...I've got a feeling we're going to
need your help on this.  What are your terms?"
     "No terms," Akane replied.
     "What?!" Shadebeam asked.  "Hell, yes, we've got terms!  We want cash,
free passage, new motorcycles, all the beef jerky we can--"  She trailed off,
as she looked at Akane.  "Okay, no terms.  Sheesh."
     "Now, I recognize that the prospect of working with Radian again, even
on a temporary basis, may evoke strong emotions in you," Manny said.  "I won't
order anyone to take part in this."
     "I'm in," Templar said.
     "Same here," Tom added.
     "I suppose," Glum said, looking up at Radian, a myriad of questions in her
eyes.
     "I guess I'd better get a few extra things of macrame thread," Kaoru
commented.
     "Count me in," Yury chimed.
     "Me too," Key said.
     "What the fuck," Shadebeam said.  "It's not like I got a social life."
     "I'd say yes, except I don't think I could contribute much," Marian said.
     "Same here," Michael added.  "In fact, I wasn't sure I'd even get a line
this episode."
     "Looks like it's unanimous," Eivandt commented.
     "Just about," Manny said.  "Where's Mighty Guy?"

                                 |||---^---|||

     Mighty Guy was, at that moment, trying hard to stay awake.
     "So you see, the complex moral and social issues involved are quite
fascinating," the image of Bore-All said in one of the most boring tones
imaginable.  "Have I answered your question?"
     "Hmmm?" Kent asked, vaguely aware that his long-dead father had stopped
talking and was expecting some sort of response.  He felt thirsty, and decided
to take a sip of the Fresca.
     "Don't drink me!" Bore-All commanded him.  Kent hiccuped and set the
glass down.  "Haven't you been listening to a word I've said?"
     "Um, not really," Kent said.  "You see, I always figured you'd look more
like Marlon Brando..."
     "Son, I've spent the last thirty-one years here in the afterlife," Bore-
All said.  "I have no idea who Marlon Brando is."
     "Oh, come on, everyone knows who Marlon Brando is," a voice from off-stage
(Bore-All's stage, that is) screeched.  Bore-All cringed, and was soon shoved
out of sight.  A flattened female face entered the fizz, and frowned at
Kent.
     "Well, well, well," she said.  "Probably don't even remember your own
mother, do you?  Oh, sure, you'll swear to the heavens in Bore-All's name, but
have you even *once* picked up a single piece of litter in your mother's
name?"
     "Um, not as such, no," Kent said, suddenly growing rather uncomfortable.
     "The name's Lawsya," Lawsya said.  "I was forced to marry your father as
part of a sorority initiation prank.  Then, one of his so-called friends,
For-Skorr, gets us both drunk, and boom, you're born.  You were such a flat
baby..."
     "In case the reader has forgotten," Bore-All interjected, "Planet Helium
was about the size of Jupiter, and was comprised of various high-density
substances, which resulted in squat, high-density people such as ourselves."
     "Mother, I have a problem..." Kent started.
     "Oh, so you have a problem now," Lawsya sighed.  "Thirty-one years, and
not a single call!  That ice-cube tray can be filled and refilled, young man.
It's good for over eighteen million contacts with the Heliumite afterlife.
But have we ever heard from you?  Not once!  Not when you met that Earth
girl, not when you became a reporter, none of that stuff!  But, oh, now you
have a problem, and you need to talk to us!"
     "But..."
     "I'm talking!" Lawsya cut him off.  "Here's what you do.  You go into
that conference room and you tell them that you're in."
     "I'm in what?" Kent asked.
     "Don't argue with me, just do it!" Lawsya ordered.  "And another thing..."
     Kent, realizing this could go on for as long as it would take the ice
cube to melt, acted Mighty Quickly.  He picked up the glass and started
shaking it slightly, disrupting the fizz cloud above the rim.
     "Uh oh!" Kent exclaimed.  "I think I'm losing your signal!"
     "What do you mean, you're losing our signal?" Lawsya asked.  "This isn't
a tv show, this is a contact with the afterlife, for Needlewarp's sake!"
     "You're not coming in clearly!" Kent exclaimed, as he wandered into the
bathroom.  "I think I may lose the call very soon!"
     "Kent, about doing all that stuff in my name..." Bore-All started.
     "Hey, I'm not done talking to him!" Lawsya yelled.  Kent then
'accidentally' tipped the contents of the glass into the sink, and sighed
with relief as the liquid, along with the remains of the ice cube, slid down
the drain.  He set the glass down, looked in the mirror, and left.

                                 |||---^---|||

     Kent strode into the conference room, his orange cape billowing behind
him.
     "I'm in!" he exclaimed.
     "Great!" Manny said.  "It's unanimous, then!"
     "How did you resolve your perplexing moral dilemma?" Templar asked.
     "Simple," Kent said.  "I let mom nag me into deciding.  Say, what did I
just agree to, anyway?"
     "We'll fill you in later," Chalandra said.  "So, okay, Akane, how is he
going to contact us, then?"
     <<We have a call on line one,>> HAL interjected.  <<I have indentified the
caller as Ian, though I am not able to trace his call.>>
     "Answer's that," Shadebeam commented.
     "Is this CalForce I'm speaking to?" Ian asked.
     "That's us," Manny said.
     "I'll make it simple for you, Mr. Seconds," Ian said.  "I'll exchange Rad
for my sister.  Midnight tonight, in front of the C Building.  Don't be late or
I'll kill him and raze your building to the ground.  Toodles."  There was the
click of the call being disconnected.
     Everyone in the room was silent for several moments.
     "Midnight it is," Manny said, finally.  "Everyone get what sleep you can -
tonight's going to be a busy night."

JUST HOW BUSY WILL IT BE?
WILL IT BE BUSIER THAN THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING?
WHAT ABOUT THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS?
IS KENT LIKELY TO BE CONTACTING HIS TRUE PARENTS AGAIN ANYTIME SOON?
DID THE AUTHOR INJECT THAT EGYPTIAN STUFF INTO THE EPISODE BECAUSE HE WAS
     WORRIED THAT THINGS WERE STARTING TO MAKE SENSE?
WHAT *DOES* IT ALL MEAN, ANYWAY?

The answers hover within hailing distance in Radian & Shadebeam #49, upcoming
only on SUPERGUY!, and certain unspecified restaurant menus.
--
Gary W. Olson         swede@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu         swede@drycas.bitnet

       "Mine brain has meditated on the spinning of The Chao
        It is hovering o'er the table where the Chiefs of Staff are now
        Gathered in discussion of the dropping of The Bomb
        Her Apple Corps is strong!"
                     - The Battle Hymn of the Eristocracy (first verse)