Thunderbird. The Sandcrawler. Banshee. The Unidentified Man. Rama Avatar. Brute Force. RoboSquirrel.
The seven Vanguardians neared the soft-dock chamber of the awaiting interstellar ship. The stars covered their surroundings, as space grew into infinity on every side of the transluscent walls. They walked quietly, only their footsteps and various hissing noises from coolant pumps rising and falling within hearing. Much like the astronauts in the The Right Stuff, they marched forward, steady, and probably in slow motion for dramatic effect.
Even RoboSquirrel had that 'get tough' expression across his robotically-rodent features.
Grissom and Phil strode almost in-step, next to each other. The telepath had been quiet since arriving in this future. As if something was on his mind. As if something were.....
....wrong....
Grissom glanced at him sideways. He could tell something was on his mind. Something was eating at his concentration. Smith was usually spry and wide-eyed at first glance...as if he were always absorbing volumes of invisible information all at once. But, this time.....ever since they arrived here....ever since they found that bizarre hallway into space/time.....ever since they first entered the cave system under the new island....
He was quiet.
"You feel it to....don't you?" Grissom asked.
Phil jerked his eyes towards him, a look of utter guilt washing over him.
"What....what am I feeling, Griss?" he asked, his voice hushed. He paused, squinting his eyes, as if trying to focus. "What....why do I feel like this?"
"You tell me....what do you feel?"
Smith paused, glancing up at the dock-tube, as it seemed to continue to go on.....forever....
"...like I've done something....something bad.....something wrong...." he insisted. "....like my mind is trying.....trying to tell me something that I should be listening to...."
Montag stared at him, then looked back down the docking ramp.
"What is it I'm feeling?" Smith asked again.
"Maybe....confusion?" Montag replied with a sigh. "Maybe....disorientation?"
"What?" Phil asked, blinking a bit.
Why couldn't he focus?
Ed, who had been walking ahead of them, stopped in his tracks, turning to the two men.
"Confusion?" he asked, almost haunted by the word. "You feel it, too?"
"Yes..." Phil nodded, also stopping.
"As do I..." Rama spoke up.
In fact, everyone halted, turning to look at each other.
"...like we're not thinking straight?" Brianna asked.
"Hey, you're talking outside The Force's area of ex-treme-teeze!" Bruteforce said, cocking an eyebrow, and starting to flex his muscles.
"BF..." Montag shook his head. "....we're serious..."
"Oh...well..." BF replied, his expression growing solemn. "...I mean, I have a headache....does that count?"
Montag thought on this a moment, finally looking up at Bruteforce.
"Tell me....what do you remember before you hooked up with us here?"
BF frowned with a shrug.
"I don't know....I headed to the bar....see if I could pick up some bucks-for-hire..." he replied. "...then....here I am..."
"So....did you?" Montag asked.
"Did I what?" BF frowned again.
"Get hired." Grissom stated flatly.
Bruteforce began nodding, his eyes looking away.
"Oh, yeah...yeah...I....I..." he began, his words falling off, as confusion covered his face. ".....wait....did I?"
Everyone looked around at each other.
"RoboSquirrel does not comprehend line of questioning."
Grissom looked over at the floating robot.
"You...weird metal thing...." he pointed at the Squirrel. "...you have memory chips, don't you?"
"RoboSquirrel contains neuro-faults that collect records of seventeen-thousand sensory catalogs simultaneously for storage."
"Okay...." Grissom shrugged. "....and how many of these 'sensory catalogues' are recording right now?"
RoboSquirrel hummed and purred, as its brain worked out the answer.
"One."
Rama looked over at the creature, staring at it.
"Explain the fault in your sensors." he said.
RoboSquirrel whirled and purred a bit more.
"RoboSquirrel is uncertain." it responded. "Deviation of sensory norms begin at unknown chronological point."
"Last location before sensors fell out?"
"Location: island north of La Perdita."
"Something is....wrong..." Ed stated with a sigh.
"Yeah..." Montag nodded, looking down the hall again. "...maybe because we've been walking down this hallway for about an hour-and-a-half?"
Everyone went silent, as the realization dawned upon them. They looked back and forth, up and down the hallway. Able to see both ends. Why was it taking them so long to get down it?
Phil's head jerked, as reality seemed to flicker a bit. Everyone became pensive, headaches settling on them as well...
"...what's happening...?" Bri asked, fragments of light beginning to dance along the glass.
"You mean....what's not happening..." Montag replied. "As in......reality...."
Bri turned to answer, when Rama suddenly jerked his view straight up, pointing with an alarming manner....
"By the GODS!!" he exclaimed.
Everyone jerked their attention to the starfield outside the transluscent docking tube. There....rolling through space like a mammoth mountain range gone beserk....a giant meteor headed straight for the moon....
"Vanguardians!" the voice of Quantos yelled from down the hallway. "We are in danger! We need your help!"
Ed looked down the docking tube, but no one was there.
"No..." he said.
Everyone looked at him questioningly.
"....no....you do not need our help..." Ciccioto continued. "....why should you?"
He and Rama made eye contact. Then, a familiar understanding of two warriors gave birth to them unsheathing their weapons....
"..aaaigh..." Phil grunted, clutching his head.
The two warriors turned, and, with unified swings, tore through the transluscent metal-polyglass.
And that's when nothing really happened.
They were in space. Surrounded by stars. And, nothing was happening. Even as they continued to hack away the walls, there was no loss of pressure or atmosphere. No torrents of wind, or loss of oxygen.
Space simply spread out before them....
{{{{{{It's danger, you see}}}}}}
...the voice came from all over....
{{{{{{Danger that binds you}}}}}}
Bri's eyes widened, as an enormous rabbit bounded across the starry night before her.
"...my name is Dakota Nutmeg..." it's squeaky voice emanated. "...would you like some green tea, while I hump your leg?..."
{{{{{{Danger that gives you purpose}}}}}}}
"What's....going....on?!!" Rama yelled, clamping his ears, as a high-pitched squeel began to cut through the strange silence.
{{{{{{Without danger, you cannot be together}}}}}}}
"...reality...crumbling..." Grissom gasped, as the madness began to set in to everyone's senses.
Bruteforce clamped his ears like the rest, turning to see the meteor getting closer and closer....
it is made of cocaine a zombified husk of one of his female fans stated, floating before his eyes.
He wanted to scream in horror, but, couldn't get the sound to come.
Cum' ere' an' giv'us some Machiavellian Pimpluv deary an 18th century British prostitute exclaimed to Grissom, her face covered in the boils of the plague.
Montag winced at the sight, a small snake hissing as it curled her shoulders.
{{{{{And I was so hoping that this danger would be enough}}}}}}
The voice....the voice....Ed knew the voice. It finally dawned upon him. Finally settling into understanding.
He rared back his head...opened his mouth....
"Arrgh!!" Phil cried out in pain.
....and screamed one name....
"MMMMEEEERRRRLLLLIIIIIIINNNNN!!!!!"
Blood-thunder and weeping-light.
Tacks of scorn and slaps of humidity.
Bitter cold daggers of breathless abandon..
And, the Vanguardians.....................................
..........................................................woke up.
Grissom's eyes snapped open with a sudden gasp, the sting of damp grains of sand biting into his face.
He struggled with the wall he was against. It was a moment before he realized that the wall was, in fact, the ground.
Pushing himself up, he could hear the rest of the crew, grunting and straining next to him. A dim light held them all, surrounded by metallic walls, and rocky crevaces.
"...wha..." Bri asked, taking a sitting position, looking around.
Ed struggled as well, finally turning over onto his back. He felt a small stinging sensation against his temple. Reaching up, he could feel a small node digging into his temple.
"What the hell..." he murmured, jerking at it. It came out with a pinch, a small bit of blood on the end.
"Is everyone okay?" Rama asked, the first to find his feet.
"Phil's unconscious..." Montag replied, checking the crumpled telepath.
"The squirrel isn't moving..." BruteForce said, looking at the inert metallic creature on the ground.
"Get those things out of their heads." Ed stated, Rama pulling him to his feet.
"...are you....well?"
Everyone jerked at the voice behind them, Rama and Ed pulling their weapons instinctively.
"I...I mean you no harm..." the figure said standing behind them.
He was covered in the tattered remains of a red shirt, and blue jeans. A thick head of black hair and beard sat bushled over his features, hiding much of his face.
And, a set of light purple eyes washed over them...
"Who are you?" Ed frowned. "What's happening?"
The man thought for a moment, finally shaking his head.
"I'm afraid....that I cannot help you with either question..." he finally replied in a submissive voice. "...I found you....like this..."
Ed looked around, as the man tried to explain, realizing that they were back in the cave system on the island.
"...you were all....asleep..." he continued. "...I attempted to pull the metal device from his head..."
He pointed at Phil.
"...I felt certain that this could not be something you volunteered for...."
{{{{Greetings you bastards}}}}}} the voice of Jack Merlin broke over the room, as everyone turned to see a small screen light up, with the man's glaring face dominant.
"...Merlin...." Ed snarled.
{{{{{If you are seeing this recording, then it is a good and bad thing. The good is that you were, indeed, stupid enough to walk into my trap. I mean....come on....a metal room in the bowels of the island? With a button that says 'Open'? You walked into it like amatuers.}}}}}}
Grissom folded his arms, grimacing at the image of the face before them.
{{{{{{It is, however, bad if you are seeing this, as that means that my little neuro-darts must have failed to keep you in your eternal suspension.}}}}}} Merlin shrugged, leaning back in what looks like a chair. {{{{{{Well, that's how it goes with technology. Just look at the Nibru.}}}}}}
BruteForce looked back and forth at everyone's stunned stare. He and the stranger wondering who the man on the screen was....
{{{{{{{I suppose you want to know why I am telling you all of this.}}}}}}
...the figure leaned in close to the screen, a smile coming across his face....
...and Edulcore became uneasy...
{{{{{{Simple. I want you to know who it was that attacked you. I want you to know that it was me. I was the one who did this to you. I was the one that so brazenly made the first move. I wanted you to know it, even as I know that you cannot do a thing about it in return....}}}}}}}
Ed ignored him, looking around. Something was unsettling him. Explaining his actions? This was not Merlin's style at all....
....or was it?
{{{{{{{{{......trapped on that pitiful island. I knew you would try and venture out somehow. I was ready. You see? There is no escape. The world is watching you, dogs. The world wants you to step over the line....they want you to come after me....}}}}}}
Ed's eyes lit up....a sudden realization coming over him....
{{{{{{......and I want you to come after me too......}}}}}}}
...he was trying to keep them here....
"GET OUT OF HERE!! NOW!!!" Ed roared, grabbing the stranger, and jerking him towards the doorway.
The Vanguardians....although caught unaware....immediately snapped to attention, vaulting for the door.
"BF!! THE DOOR!!" Ed yelled, Grissom running behind him with Phil over his shoulder.
BruteForce's lip curled up, and slammed his size-seventeen into the metal doorway, blowing it off its' metallic hinges and gears.
Everyone ran through the cave, Merlin's voice following with an echo of pure malice...
{{{{{{Come get me Vanguard!! I dare you!!}}}}}}
The team cleared the cave opening, a sudden explosion blowing them further out, and across the beach.
The island shook briefly, as plumes of dust and dirt rolled from the entrance, each of the Vanguardians hitting the ground hard.
They all lay there briefly, catching their breath.
"Is everyone okay?" Rama asked.
"I'm...here..." Brianna nodded, sitting up.
"The BFster is fine...." BruteForce sounded off. He looked down in his enormous cupped hands, to see the still-inert RoboSquirrel. "...the rodent is in one piece...."
"...my god...." Grissom sighed.
"What?" Bri asked.
He looked at her.
"Merlin was that close this time...." he said, squeezing his fingers together.
"....but, we're okay...." she replied.
"And that's going to be his fatal mistake!" Ed barked with rage....
