Rapid Deployment






    There huge explosion of sound and light in the two-story entry hall of the Lair Mansion, and it echoed through the old building with a boom.  A lone figure tumbled through the front second story window, onto the floor.  The bag she carried crashed into the stairs, and then glass and pieces of broken wood and plaster rained on top of her.  The hall quickly filled with thin smoke.


    A fire alarm began shrieking repeatedly, and there were flashing strobes.  Flapjack came running in from the Library, carrying a fire extinguisher, and blasted everything in the room with white powder before even checking to see what was there.


    â€œFlapjack, stop!”  a gentle voice urged him.


    The smoke cleared quickly, if only because the now broken windows were venting it rapidly.  The person who spoke was Anna, an android, and one of the newest additions to the Lair Mansion family.  Anna’s faint pink colored hair and eyes accented her shirt and jeans, which were both completely white.  She crunched her shoes her way through the debris, and knelt beside the figure.


    The figure who was in the midst of that maelstrom, and now covered in frozen carbon dioxide and ash, was the blonde career superhero, Lara Night.  She had just returned from her home on another Earth.  And something went terribly wrong.


    â€œWhat the hell was that?”  she groaned painfully.


    Anna had just managed to touch Lara’s arm, when there was a loud electrical ‘pop’, and a strong smell of ozone.  Anna fell unconscious immediately.


    â€œThe hell?”  Flapjack asked.  He raised the fire extinguisher again, pointing it at Lara.


    â€œNo!  No.”  Lara urged him.  “I’m not on fire.  I don’t know what’s going on!”


    The Psychic Samurai was descending the stairs.  She walked quickly through the smoke.  “Lara, meditate. Now.”


    â€œI…I don’t—“  she started to say.  But Chiaki’s unwavering gaze was certain and insistent, and Lara had learned to trust her implicitly.  She knelt on a part of the floor not covered by glass, seated herself on her feet, and closed her eyes.  She started to slow her breathing, and concentrate.


    That’s when she started to feel the tendrils of electrical energy spreading out in every direction from her.  She was way overcharged with energy, and it was looking for every possible way to escape.  This had never happened to her before; she sensed that she would have to concentrate on keeping it inside until it dissipated on its own.


    The blonde then opened her eyes.  She just caught Anna starting to awaken, and stand herself up.


    â€œGood,”  Chiaki said.  “I knew someone taught you to do that.”


    â€œA friend of mine, back home,”  Lara confirmed.  “She wanted me to have more control over my power.  Are you okay, Anna?”


    The android nodded, and slowly stood.  Her white clothing was covered in debris.  “Checking out okay.  No damage.  My body control system reset when the shock grounded through my titanium subframe.”


    Lara rose, and looked up to survey the damage.  Her dusty hair was blowing in the wind admitted by the shattered windows.  “Oh my god.  What happened?”


    â€œFlapjack, please board the windows,”  Chiaki asked him.  She was the only one who managed to stay perfectly clean through all of this.  It was just as well, since she wore a fairly expensive red sweater and boots with black jeans.


    â€œRight-O,”  Flapjack replied, and he raced off to find some plywood.  He had a highly informal relationship with Chiaki.  She refused to be called master or mistress by someone who wasn’t her student.


    â€œIt appears you came in overcharged, and way too fast.”  Chiaki summarized.  “And you seem to have missed your target, and crashed through the high window in the Main Hall.  Usually you are very precise, and you arrive drained.”


    Lara remembered just then.  “I passed through some kind of barrier on the way in.  It hyper-accelerated me.  That’s why I missed the landing.”


    Anna dusted herself off.  “A barrier?  And it hyper-accelerated you?”


    â€œYeah,”  she replied.  “It was trying to keep me out, but I was moving too fast.  It felt like being loaded into a rubber band and fired down here.”


    â€œLike skipping off planetary gravity,”  the Samurai guessed.


    â€œYes.  Exactly like that.  I tried to slow down, but…”  She looked up, and laughed.  “I guess I didn’t have enough room.”


    â€œLara, I need you to save up every ounce of power you have,”  Chiaki told her.  “Don’t use any of it if you don’t have to.”


    â€œWhy?”  the blonde asked.  “What’s going on?”


    The Samurai and the Android looked at each other.  Then Anna picked up the exposition.  “I hear reports that any powers or machines that require an inter-dimensional source are failing.  Dramatically.”


     “Is the Lair Legion in trouble?”  Lara asked worriedly.


    After a short pause, Chiaki nodded, and answered very honestly.  “Yes.”


    â€œI have to—“


    â€œYou must remain here,”  Chiaki insisted.  “Conserve your power.  You can store it, so it cannot be taken from you.”


    â€œFor when things get bad, Lara,”  Anna added.


    â€œAnd they will,”  Chaiki continued.  “This thing that’s happening, it’s not likely to be a natural force.  I feel it’s caused by someone, or something.”


    â€œAnd if I’m full up on power, I might be the only chance.  I see.”  Lara nodded.  “I can also recharge from electrical fields around me.  As long as the power’s on, I can refill.”


    Chiaki changed her advice.  “Then do not use more power than you can maintain equilibrium with.  You may be called upon to use your full reserve.  Perhaps soon.”


    â€œWait,”  Lara asked.  “You’re psychic.  Can’t you tell when or if I’ll need to?”


    Chiaki shook her head, and sighed sadly.  “I am being inundated with possibilities right now, Lara.  I’m afraid I can’t help you more.  I’m busy looking for possibilities where our friends might die.”


    The two of them paused to watch Flapjack drag a wheelbarrow filled with plywood planks, and hammer, and a broom into the Hall.


    Then Lara agreed, “Keep at it, Chiaki.  I’ll stay out of trouble until I’m needed.”


    â€œThank you,”  she replied with a bow.  “I knew you would understand.”


    With that, Lara picked up her bag out of the rubble, and noted that the bag was a little burned.  She carefully stepped around the broken glass and wood pieces, and headed up the staircase, past Chiaki, to the second floor where her usual quarters were.


    Once she was in a room that wasn’t completely destroyed, she checked herself over.  Her clothing looked dusty, and her hair was a mess, complete with tiny fragments of plaster.  She sighed…how could she have missed so badly?  How could she have nearly destroyed the Lair Mansion like that?  And what was with that barrier?


    Questions for another time, though, because first she had to get herself cleaned up,  She grabbed knob for the door to the bathroom that Liu Xi added on to her room, and then hesitated.  The bathroom was in the space between the walls.  Who knew what would be there now, if she opened the door.  But when she opened it, there was only a bathroom there.


    â€œWhat’s going on?”  she whispered to herself.  She remembered that her bathroom must be okay because the Mansion itself, and everything in it, were under the protection of the Celestians.  Cautiously, she took off her boots, and stepped onto the bathroom’s tile floor.


    As she finally finished cleaning up, and picked out new clothes - fortunately those weren’t burned - she remembered her earlier thought:  The Mansion itself, and everything in it, were under the protection of the Celestians.  That’s how she managed to make it to the Lair Mansion at all.  Who knows where she would have ended up if she didn’t tumble through the Mansion’s front windows.


    Lara gently touched the wooden frame of the doorway as she left the bathroom.  She wished she could thank them personally for probably saving her life.


    Just as soon as she was sitting on the bed, putting on her boots, she heard a firm tap at the door.  There was only one person who knocked like that - firmly but quietly.  “Come in, Chiaki.”


    The Psychic Samurai opened the door, and entered, closing it behind her.  She was curiously carrying two bamboo swords.  One of them, she tossed to Lara.


    Lara quickly caught the sword.


    â€œGood reflexes,”  the Samurai told her.


    â€œWhat’s going on with this?”  Lara asked.  “Are you going to teach me to swordfight?”


    â€œNo,”  Chiaki replied.  “I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself.  If you are to conserve your power, you should learn as many forms as possible.”


    Lara nodded in agreement.  “Is there enough room in here?”


    â€œNo,”  Chiaki replied ominously, raising her sword.


    The blonde dodged the first sweep, and began to understand what Chiaki was doing.  Lara was facing a severely over-matched opponent in a too-small room.  The point was not to play it safe.  The point was to both not be defeated, and also not to let the room be destroyed in the fight.


    While distracted by her thoughts, she was almost hit by the second sweep.  She held out her palm, and pushed Chiaki with an unseen force.


    â€œNo.”  Chiaki scolded her angrily.


    â€œYou said I could use as much power as I could recover.  That’s almost none.”


    Chiaki shook her head.  “Not for this excersise.”


    â€œRight.  Sorry.”  Lara stood firm again, and this time swung the sword at Chiaki.  


    The Samurai ducked beneath it, even though it seemed like there wasn’t enough room to do so.  She then whipped around, grabbed Lara’s arm, and used the leverage to flip over her head, and pull the blonde to the floor behind her.


    â€œOw.”  Lara complained.  She sat up, and smiled.  “Oh wow.  You have got to teach me that.”


    â€œReady to learn now, eh?”  Chiaki poked fun.


    â€œYeah,”  Lara agreed.  “I have to use my powers to do that.”


    Chiaki took a step back, and bowed.  Lara knew to do the same in return.


    The Samurai told her, “You have the reflexes and flexibility.  Before this day is over, I will make you a formidable fighter.”  She tossed her bamboo sword down.  “No powers.  No swords.”


    Lara nodded.  “Okay.  No powers.”


    â€œDo you promise?  You will keep your charge full?”


    â€œI will.”  The blonde nodded again.  “I promise.”


    â€œGood.”


    From that one word on, Chiaki attacked Lara with renewed zeal.  She charged Lara, threw two slow punches, which she ducked around, and then flipped her completely head over heels.


    Within seconds, they had sparred for three rounds.  Lara was starting to become exhausted.  She was breathing hard.


    â€œSlow your breathing,”  Chiaki told her.


    â€œThis is really fast,”  Lara complained.


    â€œFights are fast.  People with residual super-powers while the barrier is in place will be really fast.”


    To illustrate her point, she picked up both bamboo swords, and hit Lara with one, and then the other, knocking her down.


    â€œAnd they will lie,”  she said.  “They will break their word, and they will use weapons.  But you must hold firm on yours, and keep your charge.  Because the fate of the Lair Legion…maybe the world…or the universe…depends on it.”


    She hit Lara once more while she was on the ground, and then pulled a pistol from behind her belt.


    Lara grabbed the pistol between her boots, and pulled it to the side, then grabbed Chiaki’s boot with her hand, knocking her down as well.


    Chiaki panted, lying on the floor, and then laughed.  “That was very good.  I am out of surprises.”


    â€œI had some training back home,”  the blonde told her.  “A friend of mine, who was equally concerned that I was helpless once my charge ran out.”


    Lara finally sat up.  “You beat me pretty badly before you ran out of surprises.”


    â€œI’m not a hundred percent today,”  Chiaki whispered.  Instead of standing, she sat up, hugging her own legs.


    The blonde’s smile disappeared.  “Are you okay?  I know you try to be tough, but I feel like you’re not well.”


    â€œAs I said earlier,”  the Samurai replied, “I am being inundated with images.  It’s coming faster and faster.  I feel like I am losing my grip on reality.”


    â€œCan you shut it off?”  Lara asked.


    Chiaki shook her head.  “No.  Do you know how I tell if it’s a vision or real?  Sense of smell.  Visions do not have a smell.  Reality always does.  If I need to clear my head, I smell something very strong.”


    She reached down into her pants pocket, and pulled out a small plastic tube of peppermints.  She pulled the cap off, and inhaled deeply.  Her exhale was more much slow, as if she enjoyed the freedom the scent gave her.


    Lara took her opposite hand, and squeezed it hard.  “Hold it together, okay?  I’m sure the Lair Legion will figure out this barrier, and your gift will be back to normal in no time.”


    She felt Chiaki squeeze her hand really hard, and her smile vanished completely.  Lara saw, mirrored in Chiaki’s eyes, a terror like she had never seen before in the Samurai’s eyes.  This was someone who wasn’t afraid of anything, and now she was pale, and positively haunted.


    â€œYou will stay alive, Lara.”  Chiaki said, still clinging to her hand.


    Lara started to ask what she meant, but those words weren’t heard.  There was a lot of wind, and a roaring noise, and a bright light filled the room, washing everything out with an intense white light.  Lara felt as if she were being pulled toward it, and away from Chiaki.


    â€œWhere you must go, I cannot follow!”  Chiaki yelled.


    Then her strong arm and fingers finally released Lara, and the blonde found herself drifting away from the Samurai.  Her eyes widened with fear.  She didn’t know what was happening.  The thundering roar was getting louder.


    â€œDo not be afraid!”  Chiaki yelled after her.  “You are my best student, Lara.  You are strong.”


    Lara tried to yell back two words that she hoped Chiaki would hear.  The Samurai didn’t hear; but she knew.


    And then Lara was gone.  There was nothing but silence in the room.


    â€œYou’re welcome,”  Chiaki whispered in response to those two words.  “May the strength of the Gods be with you.”


    Faite entered the room just then, and marveled at the mess the room was in.  The bed was stripped of its blankets and sheets, and they were crumpled into a corner.  Everything that was on tables now lay along the wall, on the floor.


    â€œI guess I just missed her,”  Faite commented sadly.  She turned to Chiaki, and said, “I now know what is happening.”


    After witnessing so many horrible visions, Chiaki was far less patient with Faite than usual.  She tried one last attempt to sway the cosmic being turned human teenager.  “Faite, I know you are Keeper of Balance, and do not like to interfere—“


    â€œI am interfering,”  Faite replied almost angrily.  Then much quieter, “It’s why the robots haven’t all died at once.  Why you still have your gift.  Why the gateways to the other realms still are open.  It’s…adapting, though, Chiaki.  It is breaking through every exception I cause.  But I’m slowing it down.”


    â€œThere is an intelligence behind it,”  Chiaki concluded.  “If it’s adapting, there has to be.”


    Faite nodded.  “I’m not leaving.  We know its nature now.”


    â€œNo…Faite…You might be more effective from one of the other realms.”


    Faite shook her head.  “The other realms are only borrowing time.  They will be engulfed as well, in time, and when they are…most of them will die out without their arcane arts.  The Office Holders will lose everything they hold dear.  No, this is where I make my stand.”


    Chiaki sighed deeply.  “We might just end up powerless together.”


    â€œWe won’t be powerless,”  Faite tapped the side of her head.  “I’ll still have thousands of years of knowledge up here.  You conquered the entire criminal underworld in Paradopolis once with just your voice.  Without killing a single soul.”


    â€œI did, didn’t I?”  Chiaki laughed.  “I suppose, then, whoever is trying to render us all powerless will be in for quite a surprise, if they believe we’ll be helpless.”


    â€œThey’ll be in for quite a surprise regardless,”  Faite noted with a wink.


    â€œYou prepared something, didn’t you?”  the Samurai asked.  “A fallback measure?”


    â€œMaaaybe,”  Faite replied.  “I don’t want to tell anyone what, though.  Just in case whoever is doing this can pick up our thoughts.  If the Lair Legion and the Hooded Hood figure this out in time, maybe no one will ever know what it is.”


    â€œOne can only hope,”  Chiaki sighed.  “Meanwhile, if even the other realms are at risk, we have to get the message out, before we lose our gifts.”


    â€œLet’s tell them,”  Faite suggested.  “There are sensitives all over the universe.  They might not hear us, and they aren’t always trusted in their own societies.  But we can try.”


    â€œI’ve never…’transmitted’ before.”  Chiaki responded.


    â€œFunny thing about an arcane barrier,”  Faite told her.  “It makes a great signal reflector.”


    The teen sat cross-legged on the floor, and Chiaki kneeled in front of her.  She grabbed the Samurai’s hand, and locked their palms together.


    When Chiaki re-opened her eyes, the two of them were floating in space, but she could still feel the floor beneath her, and the warmth of the air inside the Lair Mansion.  They were beside something that looked like a giant ring of tendrils made of blue-white smoke floating through the void.  It seemed to be moving outward away from them, and it was getting thinner as it went.


    â€œIs this real?”  Chiaki asked.


    â€œShh.  Concentrate on warning the sensitives,”  Faite replied.


    The Samurai closed her eyes again, and concentrated.  She felt tens, then dozens, then millions of minds out there.  Faite was quite an amplifier.  She tried to deliver a warning, and hoped they were able to hear.


    And just like that, they were back in the Lair Mansion room.


    â€œIs this what your power is like?”  Chiaki asked.  “It’s breathtaking.  If you don’t lose it, I would love to see more.”


    Faite stood, and dusted herself off.  “You will,”  she predicted.




-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2016 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.