Note:  This story represents one of my riskiest posts to date.  However, because the Moderator's universe is mostly dispensible...well, just read it and see, and if it becomes too troublesome I'll remove it.  After all, that's something even Faite can do.  The character motivations in the story are fairly clear at least.

Adventures in Parodyverse - Outlaws of the New Law Part 2


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m worried about Yuki.”  Liu Xi Xian was sitting in the window of the room given to her by the Psychic Samurai.  Or actually it was less a room and more an entire three bedroom condo, which she shared with Yuki Shiro and Anna.

    Thanks to Liu Xi’s ‘remodeling skills’, the condo which was one floor below Chiaki Bushido’s penthouse had gained a spiral staircase, linking the two into a much larger amalgamated condo with a total of six bedrooms.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Why?”  Chiaki asked, sitting down on the window ledge next to her.  She asked that question as if she already knew the answer.

    Liu Xi looked at her sadly.  “Because Faite gave her some power that’s supposed to reunite the Lair Legion, but Yuki can’t even walk into the door of the Mansion without being blasted to death.”

    Chiaki smiled.  “Liu Xi, things will be easier for her than you think.”

    The Chinese elementalist was confused.  The words made perfect sense but lacked enough information.  Chiaki knew something and wasn’t telling.

    The Psychic Samurai shifted uncomfortably.  That stare from Liu Xi meant she would have to be honest or put their safe haven at risk.  “I’ve been getting information from Flapjack,”  she said.  “He seems to be central to a rapidly forming rebellion.  Yuki’s task may very well be minimal, yet pivotal.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Flapjack?”  Liu Xi asked.

    Chiaki nodded, and then smirked.  “It is often the smallest, seemingly most insignificant thing that those in power overlook, and that’s their downfall.  This time it is Flapjack.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And us,”  Liu Xi pointed out.  “As long as they don’t find us.”  She furrowed her brow and asked, “What are we doing to help anyway?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are you feeling better by the way?”  Chiaki asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

    She nodded and looked across the room at a bright, heavy necklace hanging next to her bed that seemed to glow on its own.  It took her until now to realize why Xander gave it to her, along with a small pocket-sized book filled with strange spells, months ago.  “Just don’t make me bring back another piece of Shoggoth.  I was throwing up for hours.”  She looked at Chiaki and asked, “Why didn’t I bring the whole thing?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Because if the Shoggoth is gone entirely The Moderator will do anything to find him,”  Chiaki explained.  “He will eventually kill the rest of the Shoggoth.  I’m not entirely sure...neither is Faite...but a small seed should allow it to rebuild.  We are under the radar...for now.  But not for long.”

    Those last four words drew Liu Xi’s attention to the fact that she wore a jacket.  “You’re going somewhere?”

    Chiaki nodded once.  “Akiko Masamune is dead.  I need you to do something for me, Liu Xi.  It’s very important.”


---


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Dr. Spoon?”  the former physician heard a soft voice call his name.  

    Next to him on a steel table was a woman who had passed out, breathing quickly as if she had suffered great pain before losing consciousness.  His office was a mess, cluttered with many of his former medical instruments and box after box of cheap stainless steel spoons.

    He raised a spoon, prepared to cause pain to whoever dared to interrupt him.  It was a small Asian female, who was carrying a drawn sword.  She was dressed all in black.  “What are you doing here?”  he asked, recognizing who she was.  With a sly grin he said, “The Moderator’s looking for you.  When I kill you--”

    He never finished the sentence, as his head separated from his body and tumbled to the floor.  She felt fortunate that The Moderator’s henchman seemed to spend too much time threatening and not enough time acting.

    Chiaki reached down and picked up his head by the hair, carefully inserting it in a plastic garbage bag she brought with her.  She had a clear message to send.

    She looked directly at the camera she knew was hidden in one corner of the office, letting whoever was watching know that she was aware she was being recorded.  It was a message meant not for The Moderator’s security personnel, but for CSFB!, Flapjack, Sir Mumphrey, and anyone else out there who she knew would be watching the video feed - that they were not fighting alone, and the time for action was at hand.

    The room then broke into shards like a shattered mirror, and collapsed into a heap of rubble.  When the dust cleared, both the Psychic Samurai and the tortured woman on the table were gone.


---


    The door of Kat Gillespe’s apartment crashed open violently minutes after she had been hauled outside by security agents.  Search Engineer was happily digging through her belongings, figuring out more of who she is and what she does.  He couldn’t help himself, it was his nature.    

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You idiots!”  he growled as he was stooped down near a chest filled with random comic related action figures.  “What are you doing back up here?  I told you to--”  He turned pale when he realized it was a gang of retro white pinstripe suited, fedora wearing men carrying tommy guns - and one purple-haired cyborg in a leather jacket and pants.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“This the guy?”  Frankie of the Zoot Suit Gang asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah,”  Yuki replied.  “We need to make the rebellion harder to find.”

    Frankie gestured and smiled.  “Bring him down, boys.”

    Search Engineer tried to run to a window but was too late.  The volume of bullets from twenty tommy guns was too much.  They tore up the walls, crashed the windows, destroyed comic posters and memorabilia, blew up light fixtures, and littered the wooden floor with hundreds of spent shell casings.

    Then it stopped, and silence fell.  Yuki swallowed hard at the spectacle of the destroyed apartment with a bloodied costumed villain choking his last breath.  She turned sadly and stepped over the dead security people as she headed back down the stairs.  

    Yuki hoped Chiaki knew what she was doing.  As she walked away, with Frankie following, she could hear him laugh as the Moderator’s security personnel van exploded into a huge fireball.  That part was Yuki’s own personal message to what was left of the Lair Legion...they were not alone, and the time was now.


---


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m not sure I understand all of this.”  Liu Xi asked Chiaki when she brought back the Psychic Samurai, heavy garbage bag in hand.

    Chiaki gave her a tired smile.  “It’s time to move the condo again, Liu Xi.  I’m sorry to make you do this.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, no it’s fine...I just want to know why.”  She closed her eyes looking for another pocket in a hidden place as she listened.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I thought about what we were doing,”  The Psychic Samurai explained.  “Hiding in a non-existent plane.  It’s great for us, I suppose, and the few people we’re protecting.  But I am Samurai, Liu Xi, a warrior.  I can’t hide while a tyrant wins.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So you have to fight him how you can even if you die because of it?”  Liu Xi asked sadly.  She then composed herself and relented.  “I suppose I can understand.  Everyone I love and care about has either turned against me or is dead.  And I’m hiding here and cowering--”

    Chiaki placed a reassuring hand gently on Liu Xi’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes.  “This is our base.  As we find more to help us, we will add to it and grow.  But it must remain safe, so we are not scattered to the winds.  This base, Liu Xi--”  She smirked and quickly added, “as CSFB! would say, is where the Jedi will rise again.”

    Liu Xi smiled too.  Her smile quickly disappeared as she asked, “What if we’re making a mistake?  And why does it have to be us?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“If we’re making a mistake...we have Faite, and The Moderator does not - he is writing in ink, us in pencil.  Failing that...we do what we must and hope we’re forgiven.  It must be us because--”  Chiaki sighed deeply.  “--because Faite says we have two days before The Moderator gains the power to mold the Parodyverse as he pleases.  And I fear without a catalyst the others rebelling may begin too late.”


---


    Out in the hallway, just outside Liu Xi’s room, Anna the android watched quietly.  Once the conversation had ended, she silently headed back upstairs to her room in Chiaki’s penthouse.  On the way she was stopped by Yuki grabbing her arm.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Run a diagnostic, please.”  Yuki requested.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Excuse me?”  Anna asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You’re an abstract brain,”  Yuki replied.  “Like the small computer aboard my cybernetic body.  It doesn’t run regular diagnostics.  That means if someone changes something subtle with your body’s electronics...or adds something--”  That last part sounded ominous.

    Anna had what could be described in human terms as a fear reaction.  She began shaking slightly, and her eyes widened, as she instructed her control unit to run a total system diagnostic.

    An alert immediately was sent from her control unit.  She cut power to the offending device, but it was hooked directly to the battery.  “Yuki,”  she nervously spoke, her voice quaking.  “I require immediate repair.”  

    With that, she fell into Yuki’s arms as her body and mind went into emergency sleep mode, cutting power to the offending device by shutting down everything.  Fortunately Yuki’s body had the strength to handle the task easily.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh crud,”  Yuki mumbled, as she settled Anna to the floor and began looking for the toolkit she took from Al B Harper’s lab.  She stopped midway and looked at her hands, remembering Faite’s words to her.  “Is it because I touched her that she knew?”


TO BE CONTINUED?
    

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

>
> Note:  This story represents one of my riskiest posts to date.  However, because the Moderator's universe is mostly dispensible...well, just read it and see, and if it becomes too troublesome I'll remove it.  After all, that's something even Faite can do.  The character motivations in the story are fairly clear at least.
>
> Adventures in Parodyverse - Outlaws of the New Law Part 2
>
>
> “I’m worried about Yuki.”  Liu Xi Xian was sitting in the window of the room given to her by the Psychic Samurai.  Or actually it was less a room and more an entire three bedroom condo, which she shared with Yuki Shiro and Anna.
>
> Thanks to Liu Xi’s ‘remodeling skills’, the condo which was one floor below Chiaki Bushido’s penthouse had gained a spiral staircase, linking the two into a much larger amalgamated condo with a total of six bedrooms.
>
> “Why?”  Chiaki asked, sitting down on the window ledge next to her.  She asked that question as if she already knew the answer.
>
> Liu Xi looked at her sadly.  “Because Faite gave her some power that’s supposed to reunite the Lair Legion, but Yuki can’t even walk into the door of the Mansion without being blasted to death.”
>
> Chiaki smiled.  “Liu Xi, things will be easier for her than you think.”
>
> The Chinese elementalist was confused.  The words made perfect sense but lacked enough information.  Chiaki knew something and wasn’t telling.
>
> The Psychic Samurai shifted uncomfortably.  That stare from Liu Xi meant she would have to be honest or put their safe haven at risk.  “I’ve been getting information from Flapjack,”  she said.  “He seems to be central to a rapidly forming rebellion.  Yuki’s task may very well be minimal, yet pivotal.”
>
> “Flapjack?”  Liu Xi asked.
>
> Chiaki nodded, and then smirked.  “It is often the smallest, seemingly most insignificant thing that those in power overlook, and that’s their downfall.  This time it is Flapjack.”
>
> “And us,”  Liu Xi pointed out.  “As long as they don’t find us.”  She furrowed her brow and asked, “What are we doing to help anyway?”
>
> “Are you feeling better by the way?”  Chiaki asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
>
> She nodded and looked across the room at a bright, heavy necklace hanging next to her bed that seemed to glow on its own.  It took her until now to realize why Xander gave it to her, along with a small pocket-sized book filled with strange spells, months ago.  “Just don’t make me bring back another piece of Shoggoth.  I was throwing up for hours.”  She looked at Chiaki and asked, “Why didn’t I bring the whole thing?”
>
> “Because if the Shoggoth is gone entirely The Moderator will do anything to find him,”  Chiaki explained.  “He will eventually kill the rest of the Shoggoth.  I’m not entirely sure...neither is Faite...but a small seed should allow it to rebuild.  We are under the radar...for now.  But not for long.”
>
> Those last four words drew Liu Xi’s attention to the fact that she wore a jacket.  “You’re going somewhere?”
>
> Chiaki nodded once.  “Akiko Masamune is dead.  I need you to do something for me, Liu Xi.  It’s very important.”
>
>
> ---
>
>
> “Dr. Spoon?”  the former physician heard a soft voice call his name.  
>
> Next to him on a steel table was a woman who had passed out, breathing quickly as if she had suffered great pain before losing consciousness.  His office was a mess, cluttered with many of his former medical instruments and box after box of cheap stainless steel spoons.
>
> He raised a spoon, prepared to cause pain to whoever dared to interrupt him.  It was a small Asian female, who was carrying a drawn sword.  She was dressed all in black.  “What are you doing here?”  he asked, recognizing who she was.  With a sly grin he said, “The Moderator’s looking for you.  When I kill you--”
>
> He never finished the sentence, as his head separated from his body and tumbled to the floor.  She felt fortunate that The Moderator’s henchman seemed to spend too much time threatening and not enough time acting.
>
> Chiaki reached down and picked up his head by the hair, carefully inserting it in a plastic garbage bag she brought with her.  She had a clear message to send.
>
> She looked directly at the camera she knew was hidden in one corner of the office, letting whoever was watching know that she was aware she was being recorded.  It was a message meant not for The Moderator’s security personnel, but for CSFB!, Flapjack, Sir Mumphrey, and anyone else out there who she knew would be watching the video feed - that they were not fighting alone, and the time for action was at hand.
>
> The room then broke into shards like a shattered mirror, and collapsed into a heap of rubble.  When the dust cleared, both the Psychic Samurai and the tortured woman on the table were gone.
>
>
> ---
>
>
> The door of Kat Gillespe’s apartment crashed open violently minutes after she had been hauled outside by security agents.  Search Engineer was happily digging through her belongings, figuring out more of who she is and what she does.  He couldn’t help himself, it was his nature.
>
> “You idiots!”  he growled as he was stooped down near a chest filled with random comic related action figures.  “What are you doing back up here?  I told you to--”  He turned pale when he realized it was a gang of retro white pinstripe suited, fedora wearing men carrying tommy guns - and one purple-haired cyborg in a leather jacket and pants.
>
> “This the guy?”  Frankie of the Zoot Suit Gang asked.
>
> “Yeah,”  Yuki replied.  “We need to make the rebellion harder to find.”
>
> Frankie gestured and smiled.  “Bring him down, boys.”
>
> Search Engineer tried to run to a window but was too late.  The volume of bullets from twenty tommy guns was too much.  They tore up the walls, crashed the windows, destroyed comic posters and memorabilia, blew up light fixtures, and littered the wooden floor with hundreds of spent shell casings.
>
> Then it stopped, and silence fell.  Yuki swallowed hard at the spectacle of the destroyed apartment with a bloodied costumed villain choking his last breath.  She turned sadly and stepped over the dead security people as she headed back down the stairs.  
>
> Yuki hoped Chiaki knew what she was doing.  As she walked away, with Frankie following, she could hear him laugh as the Moderator’s security personnel van exploded into a huge fireball.  That part was Yuki’s own personal message to what was left of the Lair Legion...they were not alone, and the time was now.
>
>
> ---
>
>
> “I’m not sure I understand all of this.”  Liu Xi asked Chiaki when she brought back the Psychic Samurai, heavy garbage bag in hand.
>
> Chiaki gave her a tired smile.  “It’s time to move the condo again, Liu Xi.  I’m sorry to make you do this.”
>
> “No, no it’s fine...I just want to know why.”  She closed her eyes looking for another pocket in a hidden place as she listened.
>
> “I thought about what we were doing,”  The Psychic Samurai explained.  “Hiding in a non-existent plane.  It’s great for us, I suppose, and the few people we’re protecting.  But I am Samurai, Liu Xi, a warrior.  I can’t hide while a tyrant wins.”
>
> “So you have to fight him how you can even if you die because of it?”  Liu Xi asked sadly.  She then composed herself and relented.  “I suppose I can understand.  Everyone I love and care about has either turned against me or is dead.  And I’m hiding here and cowering--”
>
> Chiaki placed a reassuring hand gently on Liu Xi’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes.  “This is our base.  As we find more to help us, we will add to it and grow.  But it must remain safe, so we are not scattered to the winds.  This base, Liu Xi--”  She smirked and quickly added, “as CSFB! would say, is where the Jedi will rise again.”
>
> Liu Xi smiled too.  Her smile quickly disappeared as she asked, “What if we’re making a mistake?  And why does it have to be us?”
>
> “If we’re making a mistake...we have Faite, and The Moderator does not - he is writing in ink, us in pencil.  Failing that...we do what we must and hope we’re forgiven.  It must be us because--”  Chiaki sighed deeply.  “--because Faite says we have two days before The Moderator gains the power to mold the Parodyverse as he pleases.  And I fear without a catalyst the others rebelling may begin too late.”
>
>
> ---
>
>
> Out in the hallway, just outside Liu Xi’s room, Anna the android watched quietly.  Once the conversation had ended, she silently headed back upstairs to her room in Chiaki’s penthouse.  On the way she was stopped by Yuki grabbing her arm.
>
> “Run a diagnostic, please.”  Yuki requested.
>
> “Excuse me?”  Anna asked.
>
> “You’re an abstract brain,”  Yuki replied.  “Like the small computer aboard my cybernetic body.  It doesn’t run regular diagnostics.  That means if someone changes something subtle with your body’s electronics...or adds something--”  That last part sounded ominous.
>
> Anna had what could be described in human terms as a fear reaction.  She began shaking slightly, and her eyes widened, as she instructed her control unit to run a total system diagnostic.
>
> An alert immediately was sent from her control unit.  She cut power to the offending device, but it was hooked directly to the battery.  “Yuki,”  she nervously spoke, her voice quaking.  “I require immediate repair.”  
>
> With that, she fell into Yuki’s arms as her body and mind went into emergency sleep mode, cutting power to the offending device by shutting down everything.  Fortunately Yuki’s body had the strength to handle the task easily.
>
> “Oh crud,”  Yuki mumbled, as she settled Anna to the floor and began looking for the toolkit she took from Al B Harper’s lab.  She stopped midway and looked at her hands, remembering Faite’s words to her.  “Is it because I touched her that she knew?”
>
>
> TO BE CONTINUED?
>
>
> -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
> --    reprinted without permission.  
> -- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
> --  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
> --  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin
>
>

I'm sure that footage isn't going to enamor the resistance in the eyes of the public, but then I suppose this isn't a long-term battle for the hearts and minds of the Parodyverse. Still, it's good to see your gang get out more... it wouldn't do to go stir crazy.

The point wasn't to appeal to the public - after all, Chiaki is already on the most wanted list. She's trying to draw the rest of the hidden resistance to act, or at least let them know she's out there.

...when people ask me why my characters hardly ever get seriously hurt. Well they do now.