Adventures in Parodyverse: Exploration Part 3


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We should make a hole to the bay and flood the tunnel.”  Liu Xi Xian suggested after she spoke to Visionary and Anna.  “I can push water out from the intersection.  The lizard will be carried out by the current.  It will only take a few seconds, like flushing a toilet.”

    Liu Xi was dressed in a red untucked tee-shirt with some sort of local band logo on it, with dark blue jeans and sneakers with no socks.  She wore pearl earrings - usually when she wore any kind of jewelry, there was a story to it.

    Her long black hair ran about halfway down her back these days - she varied it in length, but had been growing it lately.  She kept it trimmed, though, to keep it from getting tangled and so she could see.  As she spoke to Visionary, her head was tilted slightly to the left, and her hair on her right side was pushed behind her ear.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Won’t it drown?”  Anna asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, it will be carried out right away when I pour water in.”  Liu Xi noted.  “Lizards can swim.  It will only be underwater for a few seconds.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where are those earrings from?”  Visionary asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  The Chinese girl giggled.  “Danny Lyle gave them to me after we escaped from the Void Scholar.  He said it was a little memento of the time we spent together.”

    She noted the change in expression on Visionary’s and Anna’s faces, so with an irritable expression, she quickly added, “We’re friends, it was a nice gift.”

    Visionary shrugged and decided not to push the issue further, so he changed the subject.  “Should we really be sending this lizard out into the wild?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It will just join all the other weird creatures in the bay.”  Liu Xi shrugged.  “In the tunnel though it will eventually get hurt because of the small spaces, or starve, and then we’ll have to get rid of the body.”

    The Regular was smiling at Liu Xi as she spoke.  Once she finished, he said, “I’m so glad we invited you to the Lair Legion.”  He looked at Anna and asked, “Aren’t you?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I am.”  Anna replied, though she wasn’t really sure where he was going with that comment.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sounds like a great plan, Liu Xi,”  Vizh said.  “Let’s do it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  Liu Xi confidently walked downstairs, toward the room with the vending machine.  She was smiling as she went.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What was that about?”  Anna asked.

    Visionary whispered his reply.  “I overheard her a few times worrying that she would never be good enough, never measure up to the Lair Legion.  It can’t hurt to boost her confidence a little.”

    The android smiled.  “That’s very sweet.”  She took Visionary’s arm and led him downstairs as well.


---


    Visionary stared wistfully at the vending machine as the group strolled past it.  The processed treats within made him hungry, even more so since he felt like he might be missing his last meal.  Not that he didn’t trust the two girls, but he couldn’t help worrying if he was the official cannon fodder.

    But then he proved himself to be more than that as they went through the metal door and down the wide concrete stairway to the huge pump.  He glanced at the sign warning about high voltage, and then he had a thought.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Um, Anna?”  Visionary tried to get her attention.  “Won’t this pump die trying to flush the water Liu Xi creates out of here?”

    Anna wheeled around quickly and looked at the pump.  As if to emphasize Visionary’s point, the machine picked that moment to spin up with a noisy, echoing whine.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I suppose so,”  the android noted.  She approached the locked gate in front of the pump, and pulled it open, ignoring the shattering padlock.  Once in the caged area, she spotted two large bar switches and pulled them both down.  The pump rattled to a stop.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The water from under the island will fill this place in about an hour, so we have to move fast, and get this pump running again.”  Anna warned.

    Liu Xi had already continued down the dark hall with a flashlight, so Anna and Visionary rushed to catch up.

    Just when the young elementalist was about to ask where this lizard was, the question was answered for her.  There was a distant roar from the far end of the left tunnel.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Poor thing,”  Liu Xi commented in a whisper.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Poor thing?  What about my shirt?”  Visionary whined.

    Liu Xi ignored him.  Instead, she stood with both hands in front of her, palms facing forward toward the end of that left tunnel.  “First thing...open to the ocean.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Won’t that flood the tunnel?”  Visionary asked.

    Suddenly, the tunnel was very windy.  The wind rushed in from the tunnel behind them, and continued gusting until their hair and clothing whipped around.  Light poured in from the far end.

    They heard heavy, wet footsteps moving quickly as the fearful lizard started coming right at them.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Liu Xi!”  Visionary yelled as loud as he could, expecting his words to be lost to the wind.  But instead the wind stopped, and there was dead calm, so he was yelling into silence.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What?”  Liu Xi asked in an irritable manner in response to Visionary’s sudden loud volume.

    The wind stopped because there was a wall of water blocking the tunnel in front of them.  The wall was darkening, as the huge slug of water formed a wave moving toward the other end, carrying the lizard far to the other end, where the hole had been created.

    It only took a few seconds.  After that, the tunnel darkened completely again, and a remaining thin film of water fell to the concrete floor with a splat.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s it?”  Visionary asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s it,”  Liu Xi confirmed.  “Why were you yelling?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I...heard the lizard coming and--”

    The Chinese girl interrupted him with a laugh.  “You worry too much.  If I’m going to be part of this team you have to trust me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We should go outside and make sure the lizard is okay,”  Anna said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t think we’d be able to find it,”  the Regular replied.  “It would take us too long to get to the coast of the island.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I guess we just have faith, then.”  Anna sighed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Anna, you’re so sensitive.”  Liu Xi commented.  When Anna looked at her questioningly, Liu Xi clarified.  “That’s going to serve you very well.”

    Anna laughed.  “Thank you.  Excuse me, I’m going to switch the pump back on.”

    As Anna walked back behind the pump’s cage, Visionary walked out of the tunnel and into the pump room’s tall archway.  He turned to look at Liu Xi.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I didn’t mean to yell,”  he said.  “I have full faith in you, really.  You’ve become a wonderful asset to the team.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Did you just say I have a wonderful ass?”  Liu Xi joked.  

    She laughed when Visionary couldn’t answer immediately.  Then she hugged him.  “Thank you, really, Vizh.  I’ve been worried since I joined about whether I belong here.  Your compliment means a lot.”

    Visionary still stared at her blankly.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The asset to the team one,”  Liu Xi clarified.  “Not the ass one.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.  You’re welcome,”  he said.

    Just then, a thin trail of water rolled across the floor and across Visionary’s shoes.  He turned to look at the android working on the pump.  “Anna?  I think we’re flooding or something.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I know,”  Anna responded.  “I turned the power on but it’s not starting.  I’m trying to figure it out.  Oh wait, I think I got it.”

    The pump suddenly spun up with an audible whine, and rumbled to life.  Adding to its usual racket was the rush of water through the pipes, indicating the pump was working a lot harder than usual to clear out the excess water.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It does that when it’s raining hard too.”  Liu Xi said to no one in particular.

    Visionary and Anna looked at her, slack-jawed.  They both thought they were the first ones to come down there.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What?”  Liu Xi asked.  “I came down here a few times, there’s not much else to do while living in the Lair Mansion but explore.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“But you never met the lizard?”  Anna asked.

    The Chinese girl explained, “I only came to this room.  The tunnel is too dark, and the last time someone wandered under the mansion alone, they disappeared.  Exploring too far is dangerous, and I’m tired of being captured by extra-dimensional beings.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So am I.”  Visionary commented.  “Well, I guess we solved this problem quite nicely.  Good job Anna, Liu Xi.  And also Chiaki, wherever she wandered off to.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I think I’ll have some ice cream to celebrate,”  Liu Xi decided as she headed up the steep staircase.

    Anna headed upstairs last, behind Visionary.  She took one more look down into the large pump room before she closed the metal door.

    From somewhere down the hall, and deep into the right hand tunnel, there was a distant and faint growl.    



-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 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