Collaborative Fanfic 2

[Fruitbat44]

“What happened?” yelled Penny fighting to keep control of the BMW as it suddenly lurched.

“Jack jumped out!” replied Sara struggling the close the door.

“How the . . .” began Penny. “Oh shit!”

Ahead of them was an arc of light, like a rainbow in monochrome, and they were heading straight for it. Penny stood on the brakes, but it was too late; the BMW and its passengers passed through the arc and then they, and the arc, vanished.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Good work my most trusted servant,” said Azrael. “Those who have recruited are now my army of darkness and they will do my will!”

His servant, the leader of Azrael’s cult on Earth, abased themselves before him taking pleasure just from their master’s praise.

Privately though Azrael had his doubts, the escape of the Avatar and the Paladin chaffed at him horribly. Especially after his supremely confident “good is dumb” exit line. It hadn’t exactly been monologing, he told himself. But perhaps it had come too close for comfort. Then the defeat of the shadow-cops. Turning loose his followers on Earth was a move of pure desperation.

Yet it might still all come out well, despite the loss of his beloved Giuliani and those two charming young men. The cult-leaders use of a Gateway as a trap was a stroke of genius. The Avatar was out of play and as good as dead, slowed down by the wounded Jack she would never escape the hellish world she and her playmates would find themselves in. That left the weakened Paladin without her mate and with his cult closing in, her death was certain.

Azrael ignored the inner voice which added, “Just like the last time.”

Anyhow, however unfortunate the situation, it had led to a pack of Fire-demons being turned loose on a defenceless city. Talk about every cloud having a silver lining.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Penny snaked on her belly over to the ridge line and peeked over, shielding her eyes against the harsh orange-tinted sunlight. There sitting on a stretch of broken and potholed highway was a shiny-new black BMW.

She snorted her disgust when she saw two of the occupants; obviously pampered rich-kids from a Policed Zone slumming it in the Outlands. Just asking for it, thought Penny. At best they would come home naked, scarred and possibly with some memories that would leave them screaming when ever they slept, worst case; they would end up as someone’s protein. The one with the multi-coloured hair had at least the sense to bring a gun, but the other was bare-foot for Buddha’s sake! A distant memory stirred in her, and then she heard a sound close to her left.

She snapped up, whipping the straight razor from her jeans pocket. Someone would get a lesson not to sneak up on her. Then she saw who it was, another of the BMW’s occupants. A blonde girl in her late teens, bare-legged, shirt belted to look like a dress, blue eyes, pretty. The sort of girl Penny despised; one who had never known hunger or fear or the joy of spilling blood. And yet there was something in the girl’s eyes that very faintly said, “Don’t fuck with me.”

Then the shock of recognition hit.

“Hello Penny,” said Penny.

[Fruitbat44]

Aggie and Duane moved through the trees towards Aggie’s car. Aggie focused on scanning for threats, butt of the MP5 in her shoulder, turning with her as she scanned left and right. Duane was multi-tasking; desperately considering their options in combating the fire-demons and the immediate task of staying upright while carrying Katy-Ann.

“Rats” he muttered.

“What was that?”

“Once we get to your car we need to find somewhere to stay safe until Katy-Ann wakes up, I’d hoped we could hide out until the Brotherhood’s team arrived, but I don’t think we can wait, heck, I don’t think this city can wait.”

To punctuate his words a light flared in the distance followed in a few seconds by a terrible rumble. A gas station speculated Duane.

Aggie glanced back over her shoulder, “Well at least Lisa’s safe.” She smiled at Duane.

Duane smiled back. Another of Duane’s multi-tasking efforts was trying not to think about the incredible kiss he and Aggie had shared. Aggie turned away and Duane grimaced. Aggie’s response must have just been a reaction to combat stress; he dreaded how she would react once they were out of this. Concentrate on getting out of this first he told himself.

Aggie stopped. There was a beige panel van parked by her car, Duane did not like the look of this. Parking by a car and a station wagon was a perfectly reasonable action; parking up by a car, a station wagon and the corpse of a man with a crushed skull was not.

A voice spoke from within the trees, Aggie snapped up the HK, Duane noting how smoothly she did it.

The voice said, “Don’t shoot. I’m here to help you.”

Simultaneously Duane and Aggie both muttered, “Yeah, right.”

To be continued . . .

[Stratburst]

Jack jogged along the side of the road, trying not to think about what the voices in his head were saying. Actually, what they weren't saying; it was all incoherent grunts and moans.

"Would you two horndogs mind getting out of my head?" he muttered. "I'm really getting creeped out right now."

"Oops." Cassie giggled. "Sorry." The grunts and moans ceased.

First problem solved, now Jack just had to concentrate on the colossal job ahead of him: revive Katy-Ann and help her get rid of an undetermined number of infernals who were currently terrorizing the city.

Oh, and try to ignore the fact that Cassie and Randall's lovemaking had affected him more than he would've liked to admit. Not to put too fine a point on it, but running was a lot more difficult for Jack right now. Even worse, had Cassie sounded a lot like Katy-Ann; his fantasies about her were lurid enough without him wondering how she sounded in the throes of ecstasy.

"Dude, remember: she's a Christian," he muttered to himself. "You touch her the wrong way, and Jesus will probably force-feed you your own nuts." The image didn't help.

Just around the bend of a road, he saw a flash of red. Jack hit the dirt. He slowly crawled along the ditch, trying to get a closer look at what was going on.

"Shit," he said under his breath. The infernal wasn't moving; it stood next to the burning hulk of a Highway Interceptor. It looked like a golem with cracks along its body; glowing red heat showed, like lava flows running down a volcano. Its eyes were the same fiery red. It was tall: its right elbow was level with the Ford's roof lights. The front end of the car was caved in; it must have rammed into the beast, or vice versa.

It looked around once, then brought its meaty fist down on the cruiser. Burning metal squealed from the force of the blow. It punched the car again, and again, almost amused at the way the sedan bounced each time it struck the car.

The wind shifted; Jack smelled burning meat. He bit his tongue to stop himself from gagging. He could see the silhouettes of two figures in the front seat of the car, a limp arm sizzled against the red-hot driver door.

He waited, not sure what to do. The infernal wasn't moving, but at least it hadn't spotted him yet. It didn't look terribly bright, but it didn't need to. Jack knew if it spotted him, that he'd be dead. He silently waited in the ditch, ignoring the water slowly seeping up his jeans. He waited there for what seemed like hours, wondering when the thing was going to get tired of its game.

Finally the fire demon looked around once more, then lumbered along the road towards Jack. The ground shook with its footfalls as it followed the street, the sound of melted asphalt sucking at its feet.

Jack held his breath, trying to think invisible thoughts. His brain told him the thing hadn't spotted him; it just was shambling along the road. However, every nerve in his body screamed at him to run. He could feel the heat from its body blasting his face and shoulder like . . . actually, it was hellfire. He clutched the grass so he wouldn't do something stupid, like try to run.

The infernal strode down the road, the red fissures in its body disappearing into the night. The police car still smoked, but the flames were starting to die down. Jack dared to breathe.

Once it was out of sight, Jack rose to his feet. He walked on, deliberately not looking at the burning car. Once again, the darkness enveloped him, the wan light of streetlamps the only illumination in the gloom.

Soon, he could see the bulk of Belleville High in the distance. Jack kept to the side of the road, keeping an eye out. Suddenly, he heard voices. He saw a panel van parked next to Aggie's station wagon. Then, he saw the figure, shadowed by the van, invisible to whomever he was talking to, but with his back to Jack.

“Don’t shoot. I’m here to help you.”

[Fruitbat44]

The owner of the voice stepped forward. His appearance did not inspire Aggie to any great confidence.

Medium build, dressed in a baggy black coverall and wearing a ski-mask, but he had his hands raised in the air and he seemed to be unarmed. Aggie relaxed slightly, but kept the front sight of the MP5 on his chest.

"Who are you?" called out Duane.

"Call me Gryphon. Is it okay if I lowered my hands?"

"No!" snapped Aggie. She had just noticed that Gryphon was wearing surgical gloves.

"Would it help if I told you that a little while ago an associate of mine took out your Principal?"

"It's okay Aggie," said Duane. "We can trust these people."

That reassured Aggie, and she lowered her weapon as 'Gryphon' put down his hands, but then Duane said: “Up to a point. You stay with Katy-Ann, I’ll go forward and talk to this guy.”

Aggie got down on one knee beside the Paladin. She noticed that Duane had placed Katy-Ann in the recovery position. “Darn it,” she thought. “Duane knows his stuff.”

Aggie began to scan for threats, but not forgetting Duane. He was now talking to Gryphon. Aggie could not hear what they were saying and the body language was difficult to read, but it seemed to be a mixture of antagonism tempered with mutual respect. Like Duane and Gryphon recognized each others as fellow professionals. Before this night Aggie had never thought of Duane as someone who could command that sort of respect. “Heck, before tonight I’d never thought of Duane as someone I’d want to lip-lock with.” Aggie chided herself, Duane had made a compassionate gesture and she had swarmed all over him. Sure he was hot, another thing she would never have thought applied to Duane, but would he respect a girl who just threw herself at him? Another thought crossed Aggie’s mind. One which shamed her, and yet made her grin from ear-to-ear: Penny isn’t getting him.

Gryphon put his hand up to his left ear and Aggie realized that he was wearing a covert radio under his ski-mask; he handed something to Duane, then he got into the passenger side of the van. Another figure, dressed like Gryphon only armed, ran out of the shadows and got into the back. The van and left and Duane came back to Aggie. He looked grim.

“What’s up?”

“Lisa’s . . . not on this Earth,” said Duane. He caught Aggie’s expression. “They were tailing Penny’s car, for the Avatar’s security they said, and they lost them. They think someone set up a Gateway and Penny drove through it.”

“Dumb bitch,” muttered Aggie.

Duane sighed, “They could be anywhere or anywhen, but seeing as Cthulhu isn’t loose on the world she’s probably safe, for the moment.”

Aggie frowned. “Who are ‘they’ anyway?”

“Delta Green. I think. They’re a conspiracy that works with the government, but they’re not part of it. They’re in opposition to Cthulhu, but sometimes their methods suck. Basically they’re people who know something, but not as much as they think they do.” Duane gave a wry smile, “A little like me I suppose. Anyway they’ve given us a location to a safe house where there are supplies they think we might use. The fact that someone can set up a Gateway, apparently, very easily, well, it might open up some possibilities for us.”

“Okay, if you think it’s a good idea.”

“Oh, and one other thing,” Duane was smiling as he said it. “Jack made it out of the car before it went through.”

And there was Jack whole, smiling and very glad to see Katy-Ann. Aggie steeped up and aside to let him reach her.

“You hear any of that?” asked Duane.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “Cassie told me they were heading into a trap, just before she fixed my concussion. That explains why Penny didn’t stop for me.”

He stroked away Katy-Ann’s hair from her face with a tenderness which made Aggie feel hopeful. If love like that could exist in this world, she smiled, and then froze. Jack’s right hand was whole. When she had last seen it Jack’s hand had been brutally mutilated. Had this Cassie healed it when she had fixed his concussion? Or was person so close to Katy-Ann, really Jack, really even something human?

Katy-Ann was the Paladin, possibly the most important person in the world right now. She had to be kept safe, but Jack was the most important person to the Paladin. Aggie had a decision to make, and she might only have a micro second to make it.

Aggie brought the MP5 to her shoulder, thumb pushing the selector to full auto and her fingering curling around the trigger.

She had made her decision.

To be continued . . .

[JerrBear]

Penny barely dodged the knife that Penny sliced at her.

"My shirt is ruined!" Penny yelled, looking down at the gash in it. Her next retort was cut off as the other Penny barreled into her.

"Who. The. Fuck. Are. YOU!?" Alternate Penny screamed in Penny's face. Penny felt the edge of the girl's bowie knife against her neck. She froze, daring not to flinch.

"Obviously you," she answered, holding the girl's stare.

Alternate Penny's face twisted in rage as she stabbed the knife into the ground next to Penny's head. Penny still didn't flinch. She felt a fist smash into her temple and the world spun temporarily.

"Spoiled bitches like you make me sick," Alternate Penny sneered. "I should so you a favor and finish you off qui--"

She felt the barrel of a gun against the back of her head. Alternate Penny inwardly scolded herself for forgetting about the other girls.

"Let Penny go," the girl said calmly.

Slowly Alternate Penny got up. The girl claiming to be her now had her bowie knife, and one other one with a gun. The third girl, who looked vaguely familiar, had no weapons. Even if they were pampered rich kids, they had her outnumbered and outgunned. She dare not make a move unless it was the right one. Alternate Penny slowly raised her arms in surrender.

"What the hell happened!?" Sara asked, panic rising in her voice. Alternate Penny almost thought she had her chance until she noticed the imposter wasn't taking her eyes off of her.

"As far as I can guess," Penny began, "We were sent to another dimension."

Alternate Penny snickered. These girls were obviously off their rockers.

* * * *

[dianekikiula]

In another dimension
With voyeuristic intention
Well secluded
I see all!



... sorry, couldn't help myself.

[Fruitbat44]

“What's so funny?" Penny asked her alternate self.

"The idea of you being me," replied the Alternate Penny.

Penny mentally conceded that her other self had a point. Stylistically they were worlds apart, though the aged denims and tank-top look when combined with a punked up hairstyle and a lean muscled physique did rather have a neat sort of street vibe to it. But in the apparent ten years or so between herself and "herself" what on Earth could have made her give up on moisturizer?

"I guess it does sound crazy," continued Penny. "But if I wasn't you, how could I know about the Shadow Woods?"

"Huh?"

Penny guessed that her other self had been spared that ordeal. She tried another tack.

"Or that Rich was my . . . our first."

"So what. Everyone knows that me and Rich are like that." (Alternate Penny crossed fingers on both her raised hands.) "Maybe even pampered pets like you."

Penny reflected that even Aggie couldn't have put as much contempt into 'pampered pets' as her alternate self had just done, and then she realised exactly what Alternate Penny had just said.

" 'Are like that!' You mean you and Rich never split up?"

"Split up with Rich! Man, now I know you're screwloose."

"So what happened when my, I mean our, parents showed up at the motel?"

"I went out the back and kept on running. What's it to you? And how the fuck did you know about that?"

“Because I am you,” said Penny. She stepped in closer and leaned forward. “If I wasn’t, how would I know about . . .”

What she said next was whispered and although Lisa and Sara both strained to listen they could not hear it, but whatever it was it made Alternate Penny blush into the infra-red end of the spectrum.

“Okay,” said Alternate Penny. “So what do you want?”

“To get back to our world,” said Penny. “And to see Rich.”

There was a “Fffummpt” noise from Lisa and Sara gently added, “Penny, priorities.”

“No,” said Penny. “I’m not just pining for an old boyfriend . . .”

“You’d better not be!” snarled Alternate Penny.

“ . . . it’s just I think Rich can help us. And no, I’m not going to try and take him away from you, that would just be weird.”

Alternate Penny looked slightly mollified, but Penny could not stop herself from thinking, “But if I wanted Rich back . . .”

Aloud Penny said, “Can you take us to Rich?”

“Yeah, but it’s a walk and your Beamer won’t hack it. Can your two girlfriends hack it?” She glanced at Sara’s bare feet.

“We’ve got names!” said Lisa.

“Yeah, I’m guessing you call yourselves Leesa and Sara, but can this Sara’s feet stand up to it?”

“Two hours a week kicking a rope bound post,” said Sara. “Yeah, I can hack it.”

“We’ve got to have a talk when we get back,” muttered Penny.

“One other thing,” said Alternate Penny lowering her hands. “I need my razor back. If Rich sees me showing up unarmed and with strangers, he and the gang might get a little anxious.”

Penny glanced down at the knife in her hand. From conversations with Rich she reckoned it was a Bowie knife; twelve-inch blade, clip point and the, so-called, classic brass cross-guard. The only way it resembled a razor was in its sharpness.

“Razor?” she said.

“Yeah, how do you think I keep my bikini line neat?”

It was hard to know which of Penny, Lisa and Sara winced the most, but Penny did hand back the knife.

“Okay,” said Alternate Penny slipping the knife away. “If you’ve got anything thing in the car, get it now. This is Reaver territory, it won’t be there when we get back.”

“Reavers,” said Lisa. “As the ‘Firefly’ 'verse?”

“Sort of,” said Alternate Penny. “They’re a gang-cult that takes inspiration from season three ‘Firefly.’ They’re crazy and they’re vicious. Even by Outland standards.”

“So in this world ‘Firefly’ got to three seasons?” said Lisa. “Got it’s good points.”

“This world,” snorted Alternate Penny as they began to search through the BMW. “Maybe I could believe in inter-dimensional travel and all that shit. Maybe that’d explain my wannabe there knowing about the . . . never-mind . . . but inter-dimensional travel in a Beamer, get real.”

“Would you find it easier to believe it was a deLorean?” said Lisa. Penny considered this to be a stone-age pop-cultural reference for Lisa.

Penny tried to explain, “There was a gate and we, okay, I drove through it . . .”

Penny stopped talking as a thought struck her, what if when they had come through into this world; had something come through into her world? She shrugged off the thought, nothing could be worse than a pack of Fire-demons. Could it?

[daanton]

That is, if you don't count Penny later consulting an oracle, who whereupon expounded the following revelation:

In another dimension
With voyeuristic intention
Well secluded
Dianekikiula sees all!

And Penny, being the buck-toothèd fool she would suddenly find herself, would receive it, and be thoroughly bamboozled!

But that would not happen, much to the P&A fanfic authors' chagrin, including mine own, so instead this author will add the following....


Suddenly from right behind Penny, salivating with evil intent and severe mastication, came .....

[Fruitbat44]

The first Penny knew of the danger was the sight of her alternate self bolting. Alternate Penny did not waste anytime or breathe on shouting a warning - she just ran.

Penny glanced over her shoulder and got a terrifyingly real answer to her hypothetical question. She something human sized and shaped reaching for, bits of scrap metal had mutilated its flesh and what looked like rusty razor blades were stapled to its fingers; fingers that were reaching for her. Fingers that would reach her. Stunned by the horror of it, Penny's brain just could not make her limbs move, even to save herself.

Then something blurred across her sightline and the monster was down with Sara standing over it.

It took a moment for Penny’s shocked mind to process what she had just seen; Sara had delivered a flying kick to the stunned creature's jaw.

"I did it!" screamed Sara triumphantly turning to Penny. "I did it!"

"Yeah great!" shouted Lisa. "But save it till later. Now run!"

And behind Sara there erupted a tidal wave of corrupted humanity; they ran.

Sara was leading, Penny following close, glad that she had gone for sensible shoes and Lisa was trailing, puffing, slowed by the weight of the gun and then Lisa tripped over and went sprawling.

It was one of the most sickening moments of Penny’s life, the feeling of hope that surged through her. The Reavers would get Lisa and while they were . . . dealing with her . . she and Sara could escape.

“Fuck that!” screamed Penny, and she turned and grabbed Lisa’s arm pulling her up.

Sara turned back too, scooting past Penny and Lisa while thrusting a hand into her pocket. It came out holding the mace spray Penny had given to her. Sara sprayed from left to right laying down a chemical curtain between them and their pursuers. It would not have worked if there had been even the slightest breeze, but orange tinted air was still and it gave them a few precious moments.

“Over here!”

They glanced up. Ahead was Alternate Penny, standing arms folded, apparently unconcerned, against a background of decayed buildings. They ran to her the pursers close behind them and gaining.

Penny was first to reach Alternate Penny and to see why she was unconcerned. She was standing on the far side of a deep, sheer sided concrete trench twelve feet across. A moat? Thought Penny. A narrow plank bridge spanned it.

Penny sprinted over feeling it sway under her, then Lisa, then Sara and then one of their pursuers – another of the nightmarish Reavers. Lisa stepped up smartly, the shotgun held at waist height, a grim and purposeful expression on her face.

What happened next took them by surprise.

In clear and unaccented English the Reaver squealed, “Shit! She’s got a gun!” and threw up its hands in a gesture of surrender while frantically trying to back pedal, it ground to a halt a few feet away, turned and then scampered back over the bridge.

From the far side of the moat Penny could see that what had seemed like a vast horde while they had been running consisted of less than a dozen individuals; anyone of whom could have ripped her to shreds. They made some vile gestures at their former prey and then scattered. Moments later they were all gone.

“By-the-way,” said Penny to Alternate Penny. “Thanks for the warning.”

Alternate Penny shrugged. “You’d learn fast, or you wouldn’t. Now come on and give me a hand with the bridge.”

As they man-handled it Lisa said to Penny, “Thanks for stopping for me. I really appreciated that.”

Penny smiled, “It was nothing, I’m sure you’d have done the same for me.”

Privately Penny winced, if they had Jack with them they would not have made it carrying him and even if they had left him the seconds they spent making that terrible decision would cost them their escape, but more to her shame was the thought that if Lisa had not been the Avatar, whose death would effectively ended the world, would she have stopped for her?


To be continued . . .

[Stratburst]

From the darkness came a muffled, "What the–"

Jack spun around, facing the darkness, his snarl possessing a strange, reptilian quality. His hands had suddenly grown claws.

Aggie's finger tightened on the trigger. Jack's head exploded in a shower of gore and bullets.

Duane gasped, diving for cover. Jack's headless corpse, twitching uncontrollably, collapsed to the street, blood pouring onto the asphalt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Duane screamed at Aggie. "Do you know how much noise you just made?"

"Look!" she said, pulling Katy-Ann's unconscious body away with her free hand. "Is blood supposed to be black?"

"Shit," he said, looking down at the twitching body. "And it's not supposed to be that acidic, either." He pointed at the smoke rising from the street where the blood was flowing. Jack's corpse was more gaunt, less human. His skin was a dark green.

"Doppelgänger," Duane said. "Okay, a pox off your family." He was pale.

"What is it?" Aggie asked.

"It's a Norse or Aryan demon," he replied. "It finds a human and mimics it, often after killing the person it's based itself on." He bit his lip. "This means Jack might be dead."

"But it wasn't perfect," Aggie protested, after a stunned silence. "Its hands weren't –"

"Is the shooting finished?" called a familiar voice from the opposite side of the street.

"Fucker!" Duane snarled, grabbing the other MP-4 and cocking it. "Get your ass out here. Now!"

Jack limped from the shadows. He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were clear. He was cradling his left hand.

"Show me your hand," Aggie called out.

"Good call," Duane said in a prison-yard whisper.

Jack raised his left hand. One of the fingers was missing. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why are you giving me the 3rd degree here?"

"Shut up and answer the questions," Aggie said, her dark eyes flat. "Did you just come from Rich's place?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jack protested. "He left town last Spring, took off with Penny. What's this all about?"

"It looks like him," Aggie whispered. "But how can we be sure?"

"I dunno," Duane said. "Why don't you come closer, where we can see you?" he called out, motioning with his machine pistol.

Jack limped closer. Duane and Aggie could see the scorch marks on his clothes. "Jeez," he said. "First Cassie's having sex with her husband in my head, and now the closest people I have to friends look like they're about to kill me. Could this night get any worse?"

Duane visibly came to a decision. "Sorry about that," he said. "You'd understand if you knew that this thing," he pointed to the rapidly dissolving creature lying on the asphalt, "was impersonating you."

"What?"

Aggie nodded. "It was a doppel . . . deppel –"

"Doppelgänger," Duane said. "Very bad mojo."

"Jesus H. Christ," Jack said. "Has all Hell broken loose tonight?"

"Apparently so," Duane replied. "We have to get out of here before the cops show. They're going to be hunting for us now."

"Why?" Aggie protested. "Those weren't real cops we killed back there!"

"No difference," Duane said. "Whether they were real cops or not, the other cops think they were. That makes us cop killers. We have to find a place to hide."

"Agreed," Jack said. "How's Katy-Ann?" He limped towards her, brushing her red hair back from her face. It looked like some colour had reappeared in her cheeks, but she didn't stir.

Aggie found herself letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She was so sure that Jack's touch would have woken the red-head from her strange coma. She looked up, saw a similar look in Duane's dark eyes.

"You too, huh?" he said softly. Aggie coloured.

"We need to get out of here," Duane said again. All three of them heard the sound of sirens. "Can you carry Katy-Ann?" Duane asked Jack.

"Sure," he said, lifting her in his arms. "Where do we go?"

"Why don't we take my car?" Aggie said. "We'll be less conspicuous that way."

"Good idea." They walked across to the silver Toyota Prius, Aggie opening the doors with the remote. Jack slid Katy-Ann into the rear seat, positioning himself so that her head rested on his lap. Aggie fought down an irrational surge of jealousy; she wished someone could hold her as tenderly as Jack held Katy-Ann.

"Dump the guns?" Aggie asked Duane as he ran around to the other side of the car.

He shook his head. "We might need them."

"Against those fire demons?"

"There's more than just fire demons out there," he said. "You never know."

"Okay." Aggie slid her MP-4 into the well behind the driver's seat, making sure to put the safety on first. She then hopped into the car, turning the key. Duane was already in the front passenger seat, his machine pistol somehow hidden.

Aggie, driving carefully, pulled out, driving away from the bloody scene. Behind them, the roof of Belleville High still smouldered, the jagged hole in the roof barely visible in the night.

"So, our mission, which we have no choice but to accept," Aggie said dryly. "Figure out a way to wake up Katy-Ann, avoid getting killed by cops, people pretending to be cops, or just nasty people in general, and get rid of an unknown number of fire demons. Did I leave anything out?"

"That's a pretty good assessment," Jack chuckled. He yawned. "Some sleep might be nice, too."

"I doubt we'll get that," Duane said, his voice gravelly with exhaustion. "We have way too much to do." He thought for a moment, shaking his head. "Man, could this night get any –"

Aggie put her right hand across his mouth. "Don't say it!"

(to be continued . . .)

[daanton]

But it was too late, either for them or for this fanfic contributor who's being constantly ignored, even for trying to contribute something, anything, worthwhile.

For right behind them (all three of them) came---


TO BE CONTINUED

[JerrBear]

"I really wished I hadn't said that!" Duane yelled as he turned back around.

Jack cussed when he looked behind him. Aggie kept on driving, not bothering to turn around. "What is it now?" she asked.

"As far as I can tell," Duane began, "They look like mutated, rabid-foaming-at-the-mouth, demonic, German Giant Bunnies!"

Aggie sighed, "How many!?"

"Eight," Jack said, "They're following us fast."

* * * *

"Freeze," a voice said, holding a shotgun up against Alternate Penny's head.

Penny, Sara, and Lisa also froze. They couldn't see who she was, but the voice sounded familiar, very familiar.

"Knock it off, Karen!" Alternate Penny chuckled.

"Karen!?" All three girls exclaimed in unison.

Karen walked out from behind the crumbling wall and stepped out into the open. She looked different. The woman was built like an amateur female body builder, was wearing an eye patch, and her hair was in dread locks. "Where have you been, Pen?" she asked Alternate Penny.

"Babysitting. Where's Rich and Aggie?"

Karen rested the shotgun against her shoulder. "Rich is resting in camp, Aggie is--"

"Aggie is here!?" Lisa interrupted.

Karen looked at the girl, "How do you know Aggie?"

"They claim to be from an alternate world," Alternate Penny said.

"Why is she here?" Penny sneered.

"She's here because she's saved my life multiple times," Alternate Penny answered.

"And vice-versa," Karen added, "If it weren't for Penny and Rich, I'd be long dead! I was lucky enough to get away with one eye gone."

"There needs to be some explaining," Penny demanded.

Alternate Penny sighed, "When we get to camp, now c'mon!"

_* * * *

[Fruitbat44]

Jack took a deep breath, “Well on the bright side at least they’re not Giant Waffen SS Killer-penguins.”

Duane froze, from what Aggie could see of his face he looked as if he had found his soul-mate. “S.P.I.” he breathed. “Sword-and-Sorcery, I didn‘t think anyone actually played it these days.”

Jack disappointed him, “Nahh, sorry, I just know it from the spoof reviews on owl-and-weasel.dot.net.”

Duane’s face fell, “That’s okay, I guess I really am the only one who cares about it.”

“You own a set?”

“Yeah, mono-colour cover but it’s all there, Waffen SS et al.”

“Well maybe after all this we could give it a try . . .”

Aggie almost lost control of the car. Guys, she thought. Duane might be hotter, and cooler, than she ever thought possible and Jack might willing to go through hell for the woman he loved, and their lives and the fate of the world were in the balance; but given the opportunity they would both start talking about . . . toys. Was it any surprise if she sometime wondered that she might prefer girls?

“Guys!” yelled Aggie in exasperation. She stepped on the breaks, hard, bringing the car to grinding halt. “Lets try a little reality.”

She baled out fast grabbing the MP5 as she went. Aggie brought the MP5 up to her shoulder, she fired a three round burst at the leading mutated, rabid-foaming-at-the-mouth, demonic, German Giant Rabbit. (It was easy to shoot at a rabbit than a bunny.) Aggie had hoped the monster would drop like a stone and had feared it would just keep on coming, but she had not expected it to vent gas from the entry wounds accompanied by a loud farting noise and then fly into the air like a Fourth-of-July rocket where it burst with the pop of a toy balloon.

Aggie was so stunned, she lowered the sub-machine gun and the next Hell-Rabbit, bounded towards her, almost playfully batting the trunk of the Prius and sending it spinning like a child’s toy, from inside it Aggie could her Duane and Jack scream in terror, then the creature was upon her. Aggie fired from the hip riddling the Hell-Rabbit with a stream of nine-millimetre parabellum. The next one reached for her. Aggie swung towards it and the gun clicked empty.

Aggie swore, what had happened to Bob and Elmer was about to happen to her - like hell it was! She dropped the MP5 and drew the P14 from the shoulder rig popping the Hell-Rabbit with a text book double-tap.

Then Duane was out of the Prius with his MP5, in his own words he could not shoot for shit, but when shooting at targets the size of the Hell-Rabbits that did not really matter. It gave Aggie time to reload and then the Hell-Rabbits were gone, hopefully all destroyed, but maybe one or two had fled in the chaos.

Jack got out of the car white-faced with fear and anger, “Why the fuck did you stop? We almost got killed because you wanted to play soldier.”

“No,” said Duane quietly. “They would have out paced us if Aggie hadn’t - played soldier.”

Jack took deep breathe, “Okay, I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay Jack,” said Aggie. “It’s just that - what is that smell?”

Surrounding them all was foul miasma which was strangely familiar, like . . .

“Over ripe sauerkraut,” said Duane. “Yep, definite German demonic giant bunnies.”

“How’s Katy-Ann?” asked Aggie as the walked back to the car.

“No change,” said Jack. “Geez - look at the that.”

The rear end of the Prius was crumpled like a wet papier-mâché model which had been punched.

Aggie shook her head, “You would have thought that some German bunny, no matter how big could have done something like that.”

“Well,” said Duane. “Lesson to be learned, just because something’s cute or silly, it can still be deadly.”




To be continued . . .

[Stratburst]

Aggie gripped the steering wheel, while she drove through the darkened streets. The wheel felt stiff and sluggish in her hands; something was wrong with the Prius.

"Is it just me, or has this night gone on way too long?" she wondered aloud.

"It's not just you," Duane said from the seat beside her. He pointed at the clock, which read 8:35. "Something is seriously wrong."

"You mean, other than fire demons running around town and Katy-Ann in a coma?" Jack asked from the back seat, Katy-Ann's head in his lap. He absently stroked her red hair.

"It should be sunrise by now, but there's nothing," Duane said, looking out the window. "How is she?"

"No different," Jack replied. "I'm not sure what's going on. Maybe we should get her to a hospital."

"Bad idea," Duane said quickly. "There's too much weird shit going around."

"What about somebody's family doctor?" Aggie asked.

"Why not just kiss her?" Duane said. "Ow!" he yelped when Aggie's fist hit his bicep. "It works in the fairy tales!"

"Boys!" she growled. "Try to think with your brains for once!"

Jack looked down at Katy-Ann. Her face was still and pale in the dim light. His fingers brushed past her hair, sliding across her cheek, brushing her lips. Without realizing it, he lifted her up, bringing her upper body towards him.

Her lips were cool on his. His hand cupped the back of her head, keeping her mouth on his. Feeling daring, he slid his tongue between her lips, brushing her teeth.

Nothing. Feeling obscurely guilty, Jack lowered her again. He caught sight of Aggie, looking at him through the rearview mirror. Her dark eyes were warm with sympathy.

"Nothing." Jack's voice was husky with disappointment.

"It was worth a try," Aggie said, trying to smile.

"Look out!" Aggie slammed on the brakes.

A black Ford Crown Victoria swerved in front of them, tires squealing, blue and red lights flashing from the front grille. Another car, identical to the first, whipped behind them, trapping the Prius. Jack fought to keep Katy-Ann's body from sliding into the front well.

"Shit! What do we do?" Aggie's face was pale.

"Keep calm," Duane said, his voice quavering. "Is the other gun under the front seat?" he asked Jack. The brown-haired boy nodded in reply.

"Okay,"Duane said. "Our cover story is our friend had an epileptic fit, and we're trying to get her to a hospital. Everybody got that?"

Aggie exhaled, puffing out her cheeks. "I got a bad feeling about this."

Duane grimaced when he saw the two cops leap from the cruiser, guns already in their hands. "You're telling me."

(To be continued . . .)

[Fruitbat44]

Duane swallowed, trying to keep calm. As one of his mentors had told him; fear could sharpen your reflexes, but it could dull your mind.

If they were more of the Hell-cops they would have no chance of bluffing their way out. He caught sight of one of the cop's handguns, a Beretta 92 - not one of the pseudo-Glocks the Hell-cops had used.

One of the cops approached Duane's side. Her partner bracketing the Prius from the other side, the other two covering it from the rear.

"Okay," thought Duane. "So they won't kill us in the name of Azreal, but if they figure us to be a bunch of cop-killers they can put sixty rounds into this car in under three seconds."

The thought was not particular comforting.

The cop shone her flashlight into the car.

"Identify yourselves!" she barked.

"We're on our way to hospital, our friend . . ."

"I want your names!" The cop practically thrust her Beretta into Duane's face - the hammer was down, but on a double-action auto that did not mean much - he could feel Aggie start to tense.

Duane gave the cop their names.

And then things got better.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nick L'Amour glanced over at Gyrphon beside him. Gyrphon put down his night glasses. Far ahead of them the battered Prius was closed around by the other cars, illuminated by their blue-and-red flashers.

"Looks like those pesky kids have got their escort," he smiled. He turned to Nick. "Okay George, take us out of here."

Nick found his grip on the steering wheel tightening. "I want to make sure that she . . . they get to safe house before we break off."

Greg leaned in from the back of the van. "George, don't worry. Your little girl can handle herself. She's a killer." Greg grinned in a not very pleasant fashion. "Your wife would be proud."

Nick's knuckles went white.

"Greg," said Gyrphon calmly. "Please, no comments non-relevant to operational requirements. George, Operation Sunburst was supposed to seal The Rift, but it hasn't. There are now Non-conventional Thermal Entities loose in this world, and given the absence of a sunrise, that may be the least of our worries. We had hoped to withdraw and let the Brotherhood deal with the N.T.E.s but that is no longer an option. Let the escort take care of your daughter, and the others. We've got work to do."

Nick took one last look at the blue-and-red lights. He hated leaving Aggie like this, but Gryphon was right; they had work to do. Nick sometimes felt that his whole life had been spent doing things he hated, but that had to be done.

Nick turned the van around and headed into the darkness, away from the lights and away from his daughter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sara walked at the back of the group, Lisa and Karen were in the middle comparing pop culture in alternate realities, and Penny and Penny were in the lead talking about heaven only knew; occasionally a muffled, "No way! Really?" would float back towards her.

They were following the line of the moat. On the nearside were buildings, low-rise apartment blocks by the look of them. Most abandoned, some burned out and few which looked as of they had been bombed. However some were occupied; glazed windows, air conditioners humming, plants growing in window boxes and notices which ranged from the odd "We don't eat protein!" to the ominous "Trespassers will be eviscerated."

On the farside of the moat was a pot-holed roadway. Beyond that was a wilderness of twisted ruins and stunted vegetation, and in the distance, on the horizon, a structure which suggested a mediaeval walled city.

The air was dust dry and the orange tinged sunlight was harsh.

"It's like being in an episode of CSI: Miami," remarked Lisa.

Sara smiled and then Alternate Penny called out, "Guns down, everyone smile and look non-threatening."

Seconds later a huge, multi-wheeled armoured car sped past. "To Protect and Serve" was emblazoned on its side.

Sara reflected on something that her mother had once told her; every society gets the police it deserves.

They walked on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



The cop holstered her pistol and called out to her partners that it was all okay. She then crouched down so that she was on Duane's level.

"Sorry about that," she said. Her voice had taken on a softer tone and her eyes, which had appeared almost black when she had been shouting now, appeared as a warmer brown. "But we had to be careful. We're here to escort you to the safe house, or provide transport if the cars undriveable. Say, what happened to it?"

Duane told her.

She snorted back a laugh, "Any other night I'd run you in DWI, but tonight I'll take it as read."

"Who are you guys?" asked Aggie.

"Think of me as Officer Friendly." Her nametag said 'Leick.'

"Huh?" said Aggie.

Duane explained, "Delta Green will use people who, while not part of it, are none the less friendly towards its goals."

Officer Leick smiled, "So they refer to us as fri-"

She never finished the sentence. A shape rose up behind her and with vicious sawing motion cut across her throat. The light dropped out of her eyes and Duane felt something hot and salty and stinging splash across his face like an obscene parody of a porno movie.

Things were back to getting worse.



(To be continued . . .)