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Date Posted: 12:05:55 01/11/04 Sun
Author: J.T. Magnus
Subject: Chapter 57: "Time Will Reveal"

We're out to save the world, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good time along the way. And trust me, when you and your brother are just in blue jeans and T-shirts and your girlfriend's dressed in a an outfit that looks like it came from the pages of the Frederick's of Hollywood catalogue, looking at her can be a good time, but that was just me, there was also them. When that first paycheck comes in, the only thing you can do is celebrate, and there's few ways to do so in the area better than Jade Palace for sushi and Mongolian grill followed by Walnut Square mall. The only problem is that I forgot that those students/people that are POLITELY called assholes (And you have to be at LEAST bilingual to know what I'm calling them when I'm NOT being polite...) hang out at the food court and that you have to walk through the food court to get from the Northwest enterance that we were coming in from instead of our usual Southwest to Carmike Cinema.

Hey, just because this whole changing thing's turned me into the god of the Valrons doesn't mean I'm omnipotent OR perfect. Even I can't control where others park and what spaces are empty.

"Hey, baby," Said one of the afforementioned assholes, Josh Runyan by name, High School drop-out by action, as he stood up, "Why don't you ditch the loser?"

Jessica turned her head to blast him with a look that if she had been able to use magic would have had Death as an added effect. "Good idea," she answered before looking back at Kay and I and beginning to walk on to the Carmike.

Now let me explain something, Josh looks similar to what I did Pre-Transformation except you could tell just from his looks that he was, as Rimmer said, "a man who'd lose a battle of wits with a stuffed iguana." The problem is that he thinks he's... 'Hot Stuff,' I believe the term is, and has a sense of 'humor' that a neanderthal wouldn't find funny, the smarter neanderthals at least... Well, maybe beings with the IQs of gym teachers or lower (if that's possible) might find it funny, but I didn't. You see, I have this little problem myself, some call it jealousy, I call it being in love. Ok, ok, so I'm protective, overprotective, maybe even, but it's just... I don't want those I care about to have to carry a burden if I can carry it for them. I know that it was one of my heros, Robert A. Heinlein who said, "I'll give you an exact definition. When the happiness of another person becomes as essential to yourself as your own, then the state of love exists," now if I could just remember who said "She's gonna tear his intestines out, hang him by the small one, and flogg him to death with the large one."

Oh, wait, that was Kay Magnus to J.T. Magnus, that is, myself, spoken right about the moment when Josh grabbed Jessica by the shoulder.

Today on "When Teenage Government Agents Attack!" we learn why messing with the daughter of a biker and a U.S. Marine does not qualify as an intelligent action...

When her eyes narrowed, I couldn't help but smile, he was most definately about to enter a state of post-existance. Turbo Magnus, the Autobot, got his name from the fact that he had the ability to emit a Time/Space Warp Field around him that made him as fast as Blurr, but only for a few minutes before the stress began tearing his body apart, an ability humans can't duplicate without being shinobi. But that day I saw what I believe is the closest a non-ninja will ever come to doing so. In quite possibly the shortest measure of time that exists, she had grabbed his wrist and jinked around behind him so that his arm was at the breaking point, then took hold of his other arm to keep him from turning. Kay and I kept an eye on Josh's friends when they started to rise and walk towards us.

"When a girl says 'No', she means 'No,' understand?"

"Hey, baby..."

Jessica pulled the arm back a little more and Kay later told me that he was certain he could hear the bone strain and begin to splinter.

"I am NOT your 'Baby,' I am NO ONE's 'Baby.' Now, are we clear?"

Those who had just stood up quickly retook their seats, causing me to chuckle at the fact that as far as they knew, their 'boss' was getting beat by a girl in a pair of jeans and Mandarian jacket and she wasn't even breaking a sweat in doing so. Whoever said that humiliating your opponent is better than killing them had a good idea...

"Yeah!"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Ma'am."

"Ma'am."

"Good mutt-face..."

Kay smirked off to my left, "Ouch. She's learning."

I suppose I mirrored his expression, "Hell, WE could learn from HER..."

Jessica then shoved him towards his friends and walked back to join us, "Shall we continue?"

And we most certainly would have if not for the two guys leaning against the wall clapping. The two very familiar guys, one tall and blond to the point of it almost being white with a scar slashing down over his right eye, the other looking similar to me, but with a darker aura and pure red eyes. Devastator and Meggido...

"Brava, bra-va, such fire, such spirit."

The full spirit of Insanos entered me, causing my own aura to brighten as I fixed my Dark God counterpart with a glare, "What doest thou stoop to sully this place with thine spirit for, fallen one?"

"Why, simply to see how my brethern fare, Insanos, must I have a cruel motive for everything?"

Kay's aura had brightened too, but not to the point of mine, "We ever suspect you of having hidden motives for the simple fact that you always do, Megiddo."

When Devastator pushed off the wall and took a step towards Jessica, I didn't bother containing my wings, instead I flaired them out to block his progress, uncaring of who saw, "Nay, I say, nay, for as long as I shall continue to draw breath shall I fight body and soul to prevent thine lustful eyes from caressing her, thou perverted thoughts wronging her, and thine vile hands being laid upon her. I swear such upon all my power and my sacred honor."

I could already see the four transparant orbs begin to form around Kay as he began to summon. Call them what you will, Summons, Eidolons, Espers, Guardian Forces, or Aeons, their power is nearly unmatchable if you have a good compatiblity with them and know how to use their powers to your advantage. Kay and I just happened to be two of those who could not only match, but exceed them in power.

"Speak thine piece and begone, Dark Ones..."

"I wanted to see if it was true... ha ha, and I see it is, the mighty Insanos has taken a love, not just his avatar, but he himself."

"I had done so whilst thou were still of the light, 'Old Friend,'" Insanos/me said, "And debase not it's power, for thine hath been felled by the fire of determination it ignites twice before."

"And I will not again."

"Next time you want to try issuing a challenge, do so when we actually give a damn about fighting fair." Insanos/Kay snarled, "DARK FLARE!"

The Dragon God of Water and Darkness appeared simply long enough to drag Megiddo into the remains of what was once a seperate dimension for even Bahamut ZERO couldn't destroy him, that task fell to Insanos alone... Jessica rested a hand on my should and looked past me at the one she once considered calling her love... And for a moment I thought that she still desired that...

"Daniel, leave, we give you this one reprieve. When next we meet, there will be war." Jessica too, was glowing...

And a single voice issued forth from myself and Kay as the whole of Insanos spoke, "Morrigan...?"

"My love, it is good to be with you again, if but for a moment..." And the glow faded.

"You heard the lady, Dreadnok, get, before I decide to shoot you now and ask her forgiveness later..." Insanos had faded from Kay.

Devastator narrowed his eyes at me, "This isn't over." Then he turned and walked down one of the side corridors.

"Oh," I said to his back as I became no more than J.T. again, "It is, you just don't know it yet."

And I knew that I wanted answers...

"You two go on ahead, save me a seat."

That got me twin strange looks since I had been wanting to see 'Loony Toons - Back in Action' since I'd first heard of it and now I was ducking out?

I answered their unspoken question, "Got to see some Ryus about some Kamis."

In English, got to see some dragons about some gods.

"Ah. Try to hurry, huh, bro?"

"However long it takes, mein bruder..."

When they had disappeared into the Carmike, I started walking away, giving Josh a smart-ass little wave with my still-out wings, then disappeared myself in a burst of black light.

Hey, this is Dalton, land of the weird, home of the strange, I'm par for the course.

I reappeared in human form before of three of the Four Dragon Gods, Tiamat must still be tormenting Megiddo, leaving Bahamut of Wind and Light, Neo Bahamut of Earth and Metal, and the mightiest of the four, Bahamut ZERO, master of Fire and Spirit.

Notice how no one controls the Ninth Element? That's simply because Love cannot be controled.

"BE AT EASE AND RELAX, YOUNG MAGNUS."

"Relax!?!" I whirled on one of those that when normal I considered one of my patron deities, "ZERO, I'm relaxing when I know what the hell happened back there and not a MICRON before!"

It was Bahamut who spoke next, "ZERO, let me handle this one..."

ZERO nodded his assent and he and Neo faded into the darkness while Bahamut walked down from the raised area where he had stood to stand on the same level as me. He put his claw on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, "J.T.... When you thought you had created Insanos and the Valron race, you were actually tapping into Insanos and what he had done in his existance, sharing his soul and power without realizing it. This had never happened before and not long after the Reality Barrier collapsed, he took the chance to see... what made you so different from others that you could possess a god. What he didn't know was that he would become you and you him to the point that a character you created who had taken a life of his own would be given life through the combined powers of author and deity..."

"Kay... That weakness I felt after casting Illusion, that was when Insanos merged himself into me, wasn't it?"

"Yes. But Kay prayed wrong that December day, it was not by the Ellimist that your love was brought to your world. What you didn't know of, and what Insanos didn't expect, was that his lover, a goddess of war named Morrigan, would undertake the same process and merge with the one you were meant to be with in order to reunite her with Insanos."

"Wait," I interrupted, "You're telling me that, yes, Jessica WAS supposed to be brought to this dimension, but not in the manner that she was, that I've been merged with a god and that his girlfriend decided to share my destined Imzadi's existance so that she could be with the boyfriend she was seperated from by his wild stunt?"

"Well... Yes, you could put it that way."

"I do believe I've 'gone insane... but the memory remains...'"

"Until the mall, Morrigan had kept herself hidden, out of respect for yourself and Jessica, but with Daniel's presence, Jessica's life and well-being was in danger, so she revealed herself to you."

"Scalebelly, you're sounding like Jessica doesn't know she's a goddess, a real one, not just one in my eyes."

"She doesn't. Their merger is not to the point that your's is, you accessed Insanos and he you, pulling you two together to the point where you are one. In their case, Morrigan inhabits Jessica's body, but not her mind and soul as Insanos does you."

"Why?"

"You possessed Insanos in a way for a time, He possessed you for a time, and that caused you and he to become one. Morrigan has possessed Jessica for a time, but they remain two seperate beings and shall until Jessica possesses Morrigan. As to that, only Jessica has control over that..."

I massaged my temples as I processed this information, "Let me get this straight too, Insanos is me and I'm him because I used his power and he used my body and that made us one being..."

"Correct."

"And Morrigan and Jessica are still seperate beings because while Morrigan's using Jessica's body, Jessica hasn't used Morrigan's power..."

"Correct."

"'What do you know, it DOES speak understandable English.'"

"What?"

"Just a quote from a story series I like. Just one more little question," I asked nicely, which should have warned him, I am NOT a 'Nice' person, "WHY THE HELL COULDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS EARLIER!?!"

"Honestly? We didn't know, we still don't know, this is just a wild guess..."

I gave an incoherent roar, turned, disappeared from there and reappeared in the mall in another burst of black light, stalked over the the wall beside Sbarro, an Italian/Pizza place, and facefaulted against the wall HARD.

"Hard day?" Garron Broom, a former classmate of mine who had changed schools and worked at Sbarro, asked, obviously having witnessed the two confrontations earlier and my present assault on the wall.

"You have NO idea..." But hell no, I was NOT gonna try to explain it to him, his job was nothing like mine.

His:
Only job: Fix and serve Italian food and pizzas.

Mine:
Part-time job: Deliver boxes of frozen meals and occasionally hot meal trays to senior citizens.
Other part-time job: Creative engineer for an internet G.I. Joe parts reproduction store's site.
Full-time job: Government agent, head of the Reality Preservation Task Force, and general all around kicker of any asses that don't belong in and threaten this reality.

Nah, I REALLY didn't think he'd be able to find a comparison...

Except for the fact that we both risk life and sanity on a daily basis, but again, this is Dalton, par for the course and all. I pulled my head off from the wall, brushed the small cement chips out of my forehead, and started for the Carmike. The only thing on my mind right then was Jessica. I had to go to her. I had be with her and tell her that everything was and would be all right. I had to hold her and know that she was as there for me as I was for her. I had to felt her warm breath, smooth skin, and soft hair against me. I needed HER to tell ME that everything would be all right.

Because I wasn't just scared, I have fears often, this time I was actually worried...

Jessica came into existance the first time as the girl of my dreams...

She came into existance in this reality for what reason I have my suspicions, but do not know for certain...

What would happen to the Jessica I had come to love in our own right if she and Morrigan merged?

This all crossed my mind as I was walking from the Food Court towards the Carmike. But, as I passed Freidman's Jewelers I had a multi-flash epiphany:

If you went by Heinlein's definition: her happiness and comfort had crossed my mind before my own, it being even more essential to my well being.

To be blunt: I loved that woman. Life is short and we were putting our lives on the line and spending our lives during this war together. I've said myself, "Peace is just a shorter word for 'Reloading,'" but I wanted to spend it with her as well. Right then I stopped and I teleported to Cartersville, specifically Cartersville Jewelry Exchange, there was something I needed to get and they could make it in the rough hour and a half there was...

**==

J.T. had come into the movie late and as soon as it ended had disappeared. I love that man, but I hate it when he does that...

**==

I paid the man the cost of the ring and extra for the speed, it didn't hurt my finances none, I had a steady job, a year's worth of back pay from doing the job before it became my job in my pocket, and was used to surviving on bare essentials. I had seen it in the flashes I had that day I was recovering in Bethesda: White Lustrium (which, for those that don't know, is a gold/steel alloy), a diamond in the center, with a Topaz on one side with a Bloodstone (I felt that the Bloodstone, dark green and red, fit Jessica better than the Aquamarine) beside it, opposite the Topaz was an Amethyst with Quartz mounted beside it opposite the Bloodstone.

The colors represented the two of us. Bloodstone for the month she was born in with Amethyst being the elemental color of the ninth element. Topaz for the month I was born in and Quartz being a clear stone which is as close as there was to the silver of Spirit.

It was ironic what the stones represented...

Diamond: A symbol of everlasting love believed to enhance the powers contained in other gemstones.
Topaz: A symbol of friendship and the capacity to love, believed to sooth both physical and emotional pain
while promoting individuality, self-confidence, and creativity.
Bloodstone: A symbol of courage.
Amethyst: Symbolizes protection and the power to overcome difficulty, believed to strengthen a relationship.
Quartz: An amplifer of Spirit Energy.

Now that I'm back in the mall after two consecutive Warpagas (Teleport 3 or Warp if you prefer), I just have to find her in the post-movie crowd...

That and find something to restore my Magic Energy...

**==

He disappears simply by being quiet, as impossible as it sounds. It works though, everyone's so used to him talking, or singing, or just making noise in some manner that we don't register his presence until he speaks, like that day...

**==

I chose to just handle it the old fashioned way, I leaned against the wall between Afterhours and Candyland and watched the crowd and waited for her. The ring was in my pocket waiting to be on her hand. I don't know how long it was, mainly because I was watching my Confidence lay the smackdown of the century down on my Paranoia, but I raised my head to see her and Kay walk past.

"I'm not that bad of company, am I?"

I had to bring my arm up to protect my face when Jessica whirled about, swinging.

"Dammit, J.T., don't DO that, you startled me." She complained as she caught herself, "I might have hit you."

I couldn't help but think of Reason Number Twenty Of Why Guys Like Girls: 'The way they expect it to hurt when they hit you.'

Then my Paranoia got in a low blow and I froze. My mind was rebelling at taking this risk, it could destroy us and any future we might have, it could destroy me utterly... Either Walnut Square was taking lessons from Hamilton Place and piping in music or my mind was pulling one of it's usual weird stunts on me, because I heard Rushlow's biggest hit, which utterly fit the situation

~~An' it's killin' me to know you,
Without havin' a chance to hold you.
An' all I wanna do is show you,
How I really feel inside.
You can run to me,
You can laugh at me,
Or you can walk right out that door.
But I can't be your friend anymore.~~

"'I can’t believe this! Suitorit, suitor number one here has done nothing but pine over you all day, trying to figure out a way to win you back and when this public opportunity to literally do that arose. He pulled his shit together, risked life and limb and faced the odds to give it his best shot. I’m tried of this whole thing. You’re both retarded for each other.' Would you just spit it out already, Bro?" My 'brother', the human icebreaker...

Jessica started snickering...

"What's so funny?"

"It's you. You've got that look on your face that says you're thinking about Kay and giving him one of those silly little titles you're obsessed with."

She knows me too well...
"And now you're thinking that I know you too well."

I gave her a mock-glare and sighed, "Jessica, could I speak to you for a moment?" I nodded towards the woods behind the mall, "Outside?"

That last word got me a slight strange look, but, "Okay."

I lingered a moment to take my keys out of my pocket and hand them to Kay, "Take Ironhide and go home."

I didn't need to give him a look impressing the importance of what I was about to do and what I was asking him to do. I never let anyone but myself behind the controls of Ironhide and I was letting him then.

That said it all.

**==

"So what did you want to talk about and why here?"

I didn't respond at first, instead I pressed my hand against a side of a tree that was dead, half of it vaporized. One of many like it. Then took a deep breath and began: "Almost a year ago, this clearing was a battlefield. We had only just underwent these transformations and weren't prepared when a monster attacked us. Half a dozen fighters and mages went down in the first few minutes, simply because we were not to the point where we fully accepted our powers, able to use them, yes, but not use them as they were given to us to be used. A girl who fought alongside me that day told me to use my powers and I did. I destroyed the monster... and this place, simply because I hadn't learned to control myself. I fired a super-powered fusion cannon when there were so many other, so many more focused methods that could have been used. Six months later that same girl broke my heart, but it started that day, I was just too... untamed to see it. And I payed the price for my irrestraint, same as this place. And in the months between that battle and your arrival, I personally fought a Barney/Godzilla hybrid, monkey clones, and was possessed by a dead Saya-jin, just that I can remember off the top of my head. Then you arrived, and in the past month we've fought a Marlboro, Cobra Command, been turned into a government agency, gone to one of my family's gatherings, and even just today, we had to deal with one of my classmates from school hitting on you, Devastator, Insanos' dark counterpart, and you being possessed by Insanos' lover." I took another deep breath and turned to face her, "All of this is nothing compared to what will come. I love you, Jessica. With all my heart and soul, I love you."

I could see that between my rambling and the cold night, Jessica was beginning to get annoyed, so I gave a quick prayer to all nine love deities and finished it up, "And I came to a realization today, I was wrong when I said I shouldn't propose until this is over, we're both soldiers, it's never over."

"Dammit, Magnus, if you're gonna ask me, ask me!"

I knelt, drew the ring from my pocket, and held it out to her, "Jessica Kella Parker, will you do me the greatest honor and marry me?"

Jessica took the ring and slipped it on her finger, "If I wasn't willing, I wouldn't have told you to ask me."

"Guess this means I need to start calling you, 'Sis.'"

We both whirled on the speaker, "KAY!"

"Woah, in stereo even."

"WHAT!?"

Kay pulled my cell phone from his pocket, "Just got a call from an assassin acquaintance of ours: Mrs. Apeface went missing at Wal-Mart."

All three of us sighed since we knew what that meant. Kay lead the way as we ran to Ironhide, igniting our Dragonfire Transformations on the way.

"No way in hell," I told him, snatching the keys from him before he could get into the driver's seat. I slid into place and asked, "Everybody in?"

"We're in."

Pulling out my Desert Eagle, I checked the action, then reholstered it, "'Mount up.'"

While my fiancee and brother checked their own weapons, I laid rubber out of the parking lot on the way to meet up with the Death Giver...

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