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> Part 1
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> Adventures in Parodyverse - Past Preperation, Part 2
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> Lara Night and Jay Boaz quickly switched tasks.  Upon reaching the end of the underground path they were exploring beneath Hell’s Bathroom - a solid stone brick wall - they were all prepared to turn around and head back.  But a hunch changed Jay’s mind.
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> The blonde switched to the task of being a light source, sparking a neat arc inside her partially closed hand to use as a bright spotlight.  Meanwhile, Jay switched to a miner’s hard hat.
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> “There’s something on the other side of this wall.”  he said.
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> “The Fatal Toilet?”  Lara asked.  “Or another building?”
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> “No.”  Jay replied louder, his voice becoming more urgent.  
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> He used the miner’s power his hat gave him, and he punched the wall as hard as he could.  His fist hit like a stick of dynamite, and pieces of stone flew.  The light in the cavern suddenly disappeared when Lara had to switch to a shield to protect herself.
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> There were two gentle red glowing points coming from a dark hole in the wall.  They became quickly brighter, and there was a distant, high pitched whine.
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> Lara reached out with her other hand, wrapping a second invisible energy shield around Jay - just in time, as the air around both of them violently combusted in a bright red flash.
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> A few rocks tumbled out of the hole, pushed by an unseen force.  Then a small black boot emerged.  Out of the hole climbed someone Lara immediately recognized, dressed in a nearly skin-tight black body suit, offsetting her dark blue hair and eyes.
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> “Anna?  How did you get in there?”  she called after the android.
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> As the area lit up again, Anna looked embarrassed and mortified.  “I’m sorry.”  she said quickly.  “I didn’t know it was you.  I just remembered to fight back when he...when he came back.”
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> “He?”  Jay asked.  “Anna, please...tell us what happened.”
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> Anna took a deep breath and began.  “I’ve been on Earth for weeks.”  she explained.  “I was returned here by Yo.  But before I reached the Lair Mansion I was intercepted...by Marvellous Marv.”
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> “Him again?”  Jay asked angrily.  “That does it...this time I’m bringing him down.”
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> “Jay, you can’t.”  Lara pointed out.  “He’s running for mayor...that means anything you do to him...you need lots of solid evidence.”
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> “I have Anna.”  he replied angrily.  But then he started to understand what Lara was talking about, and he sighed and shook his head.  “Who’s a fugitive from government custody.  You’re right...I guess I can’t prove he’s broken any laws.”
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> Without speaking a word, Lara gently reached across his shoulders and squeezed his opposite arm with her free hand.
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> “It makes you very angry, doesn’t it?”  Anna asked calmly.
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> Lara quickly summarized, “Marvellous Marv once subjected Jay to a lot of humiliation and got away with it.  He aways seems to get away with it.”
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> “Doesn’t it make you angry?”  Jay asked the android.  “He did seal you up in a wall for weeks.”
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> “He also used some sort of magic to shut me down.”  Anna added.  “It took me almost the entire first week to reset myself.  After that I went to sleep to conserve energy.  Yes, it does make angry...that’s why I shot at you by accident.”
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> “How did Yo send you home, anyway?”  Lara asked.  “And why did you end up in Hell’s Bathroom?”
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> Anna replied quickly, “I asked if I could return home.  Yo said, ‘I am to be thinking you can go home.’  I blinked, and I was in Hell’s Bathroom.  I suppose Yo was thinking about it.”
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> “Do you know why Marv intercepted you?”  Lara asked.
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> “He said...he foresaw that you would rescue me.”  Anna said.  “Apparently he meant to use me as bait.”
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> “Bait for what?”  Lara asked.
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> Anna shook her head sadly.
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> Just then, Lara jumped back when she realized her shoes were getting wet.  There was a thin layer of water on the ground, flowing, and rising quickly.  “Oh.  I see.  Clever...because now I can’t use lightning to blast our way out.”
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> “I still can--”  Jay felt behind him and realized that his backpack full of hats was gone.  He looked at Anna.
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> “It disappeared.”  the android explained.  “He seems to have underestimated one of us, at least.  He didn’t expect me to be conscious.”
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> Anna turned so she was facing away from Lara and Jay, to keep them safe.  She looked upward...
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> ...and there was a blast with such force that it shook the cavern, and caused an avalanche of stone and dirt.  Anna’s preparation worked, however - none of it came near either of her two friends, though the noise made it seem like it might.
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> From a newly created hole in the ceiling, light cascaded in from twelve feet up.
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> “Nice one, Anna.”  she said.  She looked at Jay and added, “I can still fly.”
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> “And I can jump that high.”  Anna offered Jay a hand gingerly.  “You carried me in flight once.  It’s time I returned the favor.”
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> ---
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> Anna looked defeated and embarrassed when she emerged from the hole, gently dropping Jay behind her.  
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> The hole she blasted from below turned out to be in the middle of Zero Street, just before it turned a corner and led to the Fatal Toilet.  Fortunately, Hell’s Bathroom wasn’t known for heavy car or pedestrian traffic, so no one was hurt.
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> “Don’t worry about it, Anna.”  Jay tried to reassure her.  “It’s your first collateral damage incident.  It happens.  We’re insured for it, in fact.”
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> He then looked down and saw his backpack lying on the pavement, halfway between where he stood, and where a limousine was parked.  Marvellous Marv was leaned against it in a dark suit, looking at a jeweled pocket watch.
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> “Hmm.  You escaped.”  was all he said.  He then opened the back door and climbed in.
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> “Would you like me to stop him?”  Anna asked, her eyes glowing a dim red.  “I’m fairly sure I can accurately disable the car--”
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> “No...it’s not worth it.”  Jay said with a frown.  “He’s running for mayor.  All it will do is make trouble for the Lair Legion.”
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> Lara smiled at him, and gently nudged him.  “You really are a good team leader.”
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> TO BE CONTINUED?
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> -- 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
>