SG-1996 (4/5) Reflections Refracted

[Eric Burns]

[Start of Part Four]

     Momentum spun around, throwing a snap-kick almost too fast be seen,
knocking a goblin into a pack of its fellows fast enough to scatter them
like tenpins. One of the actual mercenaries tried to get a bead on Healer
with his submachinegun, but Momentum darting forward and bringing a knee up
under his chin while pushing the weapon down towards the floor stopped
that. The wind was all around her, of course -- when she ran a blast of
wind came in her wake, as the air forced itself out of her way -- she
didn't understand why the Dash didn't have to deal with that.
     Still, she was running fast and well. She could see why Healer had
held her back on the approach -- she was fresh as she punched three more of
the barbarian babes into violet light, too fast to be picked off or even
easily led by her enemies, turning towards the run where Mental and
Dreamweaver lay -- Dreamweaver arching and pawing at the air, desperately
trying to breath, her husband bleeding even as the brain-thing rode his
head like a slimy hat of doom--
     And near them -- Random Encounters himself, phlegmatic as he screamed
at his troops. "It's just two of them!" he shouted. "Take them, you
*idiots!*"
     "Take this!" Momentum shouted, blurring for him, the wind rushing out
of her way and forming a contrail as she rocketed forward, leaning forward
to up her speed--
     With an electrical *burst* the speedster was thrown off, landing
halfway across the room -- her body buzzing but her speed helping her
recover as she rolled back to her feet. "What the--"
     "Fool!" Random Encounters shouted. "You can't begin to penetrate my
Field of External Influence Denial! Your pathetic liberal opinions and
punches can't reach me!" His thick face contorted into a smile. "But you've
had *one* effect! You've convinced me Sensation was right!" He pulled a
long revolver out of the black robe he wore. "It's time to just *end* this."
     "Don't do it!" Healer snapped, glaring--
     "Your telepathy can't reach through the field any more than your
lackey's punch could!" Random Encounters shouted with glee. "And even if
you save one or two of these idiots? I'll kill the Mob as a whole -- with a
shot right to their *heart!*" So saying he pointed the gun right at
Dreamweaver. Momentum saw his finger squeeze, the hammer fall, the
explosion of fire in the weapon--
     "*NO!*" Momentum screamed, and threw herself *forward!* The whole
world slowed and froze as she wove around and past the enemies, frozen in
space, the world a silent blur, not even the sound or feel of the wind as
she ran, past all the enemies, past where Random Encounters was still
standing, his gun hand kicking upwards with recoil, frozen in the
millisecond -- the bullet hanging there, halfway between Random Encounters
and Dreamweaver. Momentum could see it would hit her midsection -- if not a
killshot then possibly one that would kill one or both of her unborn
children--
     Momentum's movements never stopped -- she just kept pushing forward in
the silence, like she was running through thick treacle that muffled all
sound, the frozen bullet hanging there until she leapt forward, reached for
the bullet with her outstretched arm, grabbed it, and threw it out the
window, burning her hand slightly on its heat. She hit the ground and
rolled back to her feet, keeping moving, and seeing Dreamweaver -- the girl
frozen-mid writhe, her face and hands puffy-swollen with anaphylaxis, the
swelling far worse on her right thigh, where there was a tear in the girl's
black jeans, a plastic tube off to one side--
     With horror, Momentum spun to face Random Encounters, keeping herself
between Dreamweaver and the villain. The world started back up with a rush,
letting the villain's glee turn to surprise and rage. "You sick monster!"
she screamed. "What kind of bastard spikes an *epi-pen?*"
     "How did you-- no matter." He grinned. "It's too late anyway."
     Momentum's eyes widened as she heard Dreamweaver behind her make a
gurgling sound, slapping at the floor. She spun -- the dreamqueen going
into spasms as--
     Oh dear Lord she couldn't breathe at *all* any more!
     *"No!"* Momentum screamed again, blurring to put her arms around
Samantha. She could see the girl's eyes rolling back in her head... and see
something more... like she could see her mind, her *soul* beginning to fall
back... two bright points gleaming with it and being pulled down into a
darkness with it... *the twins!* The unborn twins! Momentum *knew* it was
them -- the three beginning to fall--
     Momentum felt something in the back of her head twist and snap, and
reached *forward,* grabbing Samantha's hands -- the destroyed mansion
ballroom and everyone else having faded so that it was just the two
Mobsters and and the bright points of life of Samantha's daughters,
Momentum holding on as Samantha teetered into a dark pit, the ground
crumbling under Momentum's feet... a golden light seeming to flow from
Momentum's hands and surrounding Samantha -- somehow now in her Dreamweaver
robes but their hood thrown back, her queen's tiara on her brow....
     ((Alice!)) Samantha shouted. ((Alice! Let me go! You'll get pulled
down with me!))
     {{I'm *not letting you go, Sam!*}} Momentum's voice was fierce,
echoing around them both.
     ((You have to! You can't die with us! I won't let you die with us!
*AND DON'T CALL ME SAM!*))
     {{Picky picky,}} Momentum shouted, moving her feet on the shifting
ground, trying to find a place to brace so she could pull the dreamweaver
and her children back out, but it was so hard....
     Outside, Random Encounters's rage only grew. "What the Hell is she
doing?" he demanded, staring at Momentum, whose hands were glowing, the
light surrounding Samantha's prone body. Neither Mobster seemed to be aware
of their surroundings any more but Samantha's death throes had also calmed.
Somehow she was being kept alive despite not being able to breathe--
     Healer stared for a half second, then furrowed her brow and visualized
a *cascade* of pain and psionic warfare out from her body over the
remaining forces -- the living mercenaries screaming even as the few
remaining constructs discorporated. She didn't like causing this kind of
traumatic psychic injury, but they were out of options -- she knew that
Momentum didn't have the strength or experience to keep from being hauled
down into psionic death alongside Dreamweaver! But if she were going to
help she needed someone to pick up the fight here! Mime Man was still
trapped, and the industrial press that was forcing the brand onto Mighty
Dog had no direct controls. Phobos was down--
     It had to be Mental. And it had to be now.

***

     Reflects struggled at the bottom of the pit. She kept thrashing,
trying to get purchase and failing. She felt like she had fallen into one
of her own nightmares from the Dreamquake -- all the Mob could hurt her but
she couldn't even move or touch them.
     Those nightmares had largely passed before all this. Amanda had helped
her learn the difference between the nightmares and reality. She'd shown
her that the nightmare of the Mob surrounding her, injuring and hurting her
even as she was trapped within her field and helpless to even move couldn't
possibly be real. That her friends would never do that to her. Would never
do that to *Maria--*
     No. Not Maria. *Mirror Maid.* Their friend. The one they trusted --
with their lives, their secrets, their hopes and their dreams.
     Mirror Maid was gone, and Reflects had killed the Mob.
     There was no safety left. By now one or more were dead and Reflects
couldn't even protect Sensation--
     *Sensation!* There wasn't any time to think about the Mob or anything
else. If Random Encounters were angry enough at Sensation--
     She had to get out of this pit. She had to save Sensation -- had to
*force* Random Encounters to make good on his pledge to make Sensation's
powers permanent. Nothing else mattered! How had she done this before? How
was she supposed to--
     She slid and slipped and tried to get a purchase on things. The pit
was so *smooth,* thanks to Dangerousgirl's nuclear fire. (Stupid cow always
looking down on Maria and--) Without having something she could brace
against, letting her reflective field create a feedback loop, she was
trapped...
     There wasn't anything down here now. She'd have to *make* it. She made
a fist and slapped it down onto the ground -- but it skittered to the side,
causing the silver girl to spin helplessly. She ignored that and tried
again. She couldn't even make it to her hands and knees to get an angle --
she had to make it work. She *had* to.
     The Mob had to die, and Random Encounters had to be *made* to give
Sensation his reward. There were *no* *other* *alternatives.*
     She had no friends. No loved ones. Nothing but the touch Sensation
gave her. And she would never let that go away, no matter what cost had to
be paid... or *who* had to pay it.

***

     Dangerousgirl squinted as she ran into the library -- she technically
didn't need to, since she could stare at an atomic fireball without
blinking, but she was very polite in her own way and therefore squinted at
the bright golden light.
     Said bright golden light was coming from the field holding Roger and
Melody -- almost all the purple was gone save for a few Kirby Dots bouncing
around here or there, and the two were writhing and screaming in even more
pain. Roger's form was beginning to break up, and Dangerousgirl could even
see what looked like sparks of Melody's soul being torn from her body.
     "What's happening?!" Hellfire demanded, flying in after Dangerousgirl.
     "They're being obliterated! We have to destroy that playing card!"
     "Right!" Hellfire shot a blast of hellish flame right at the card--
     It splayed off the field with no effect other than to set several
books on fire. Right at the moment, that seemed secondary.
     "They said only organic materials could penetrate the field!"
Dangerousgirl yelled.
     "I have no organic form!" Hellfire shouted back.
     "I do!" Dangerousgirl ran for the card.
     "*NO!*" screamed Roger, his voice echoing with a thousand shards of
pure agonizing desiccation. "*It's too late! It's too dangerous! Let us go,
Dani! Don't--*"
     "SHUT UP!" Dangerousgirl shouted. "I'M DOING THIS!" She reached for
the card, but her hand was forced back by the worst electric shock
imaginable -- since it seemed to affect her soul. It was an entirely
different *sort* of pain than the one Sensation had inflicted on her--
     It didn't matter. She focused and tried again. Driven back. *Again.*
No good."
     Screaming a primal scream, Dangerousgirl stomped her foot as hard as
she could to focus on something other than the jolt and *thrust* her hand
into the maelstrom. As it wasn't attuned to her, it tore at her flesh and
soul in ways Melody hadn't suffered, but she forced her hand forward
through it all. She felt the card crumple into her fist. With another
primal scream she let the tiniest fraction of her power out--
     With an *explosion* of light the field burst into fragments, Melody
and Roger being thrown back, the stone and orb crumbling into dust.
Dangerousgirl sank to her knees, her arm a gnarled blackened stump with
only the slightest dust to show there had ever been a card in her hand.
     "*Oh my God,*" Roger said, voice echoing even as his spirit resolved
back into its full self. "*Dani!*"
     Dangerousgirl looked at Roger, pain twisting her beautiful face. "We
are *going on a picnic!*" She hissed. "*Just the two of us!* And you are
going to *cook me chicken!* No backsies! No being obliterated to get out of
it! *Do you hear me?*"
     Roger blinked, ghostly tears in his eyes. "*I wouldn't dare disappoint
you, fair lady,*" he said.
     "Good! *Get me some bactine!*"
     "That won't be enough," Melody said, shaky but apparently okay as she
knelt. "The destructive force burned you from the soul up through your bone
marrow to the outside."
     "Is your uniform holding?" Hellfire asked. "The radiation--"
     "It's fine," Dangerousgirl said. "And I don't need two hands. I can
make do." She was trying hard not to show her agony.
     "Roger!" Hellfire shouted. "You... *heal* her!"
     "I -- I *can't!*" the ghost shouted. "I needed my golem body to affect
the world with magic! Now I'm just on the spectral plane!"
     "Melody -- you have to--"
     "I don't *know* any healing magic!" Melody shouted, tears in her eyes.
"I only studied the dark arts!"
     "There has to be *some way!*" Hellfire shouted.
     Melody blinked, and looked at Roger. "Possess me!"
     Roger blinked too. "*What?* I'm not a possessing spirit!"
     "I know -- but you're used to inhabiting a golem and we're aligned and
attuned! You were in this body for months! So get back in it -- then you
can heal Dangerousgirl!"
     "But you're in there! I don't know what will happen! It might drive
you out -- and back to Hell!"
     Melody's eyes turned hard. "I don't care," she said. "Dangerousgirl
saved us! Do this." She half-smiled. "Besides. You were a pretty good me
for a while, right?"
     "...most girls just have to worry about their boyfriends getting into
some chick's pants...." Dangerousgirl muttered. "...mine? Climbs in their
skin. Typic--AHUGH.... typical...."
     Roger winced at Dangerousgirl's pain. "All right. Thank you Melody."
     "Thank *you,* Roger. And if I am driven out... *find my son.*"
     "I will. *Promise.*" He dove forward, right for the girl--
     The two intersected, and a shimmering golden bloom surrounded them,
opening into a glorious purple rose, the clothing stripping away from
Melody's silhouette even as new fabric surrounded her, her hair tossing and
Roger's ineffable nature merging into them both.
     "...wow...." Dangerousgirl whispered.
     "...we had the budget for a Pretty Cure transformation sequence?"
Hellfire said, raptly. "...I should have asked for a raise...."
     The woman slowly drifted to the ground, black boots with modest heel
covered by grey mourning suit pants. Her upper half was covered by a
gentleman's vest -- purple satin in the front, golden in the back... and
nothing else. It was at once modest and yet way over the top all at once --
the kind of thing Zatanna was going for but rarely reached. Her hair was
still dark brown but now had purple highlights, and her irises were purple
flecked with gold.
     "...Roger?" Dangerousgirl asked, her pain forgotten for a moment.
     "Yup," Roger/Melody said, their voices echoing in harmony. "And
Melody. We're both here. Right now, we're one. It's actually pretty cool."
She reached down and touched the blackened stump that was Dangerousgirl's
arm, magic swirling around it, restoring the burnt soul and remaking flesh
all at once, leaving her hand unmarked save for a small purple rose tattoo
peeking out from under her uniform at the wrist's underside.
     "...amazing," Hellfire said.
     "And tiring," Roger/Melody said. "I don't... think I have too much
healing left in me. Not after everything that thing did. After *Maria--*"
     "Don't think about her," Hellfire said. "We still have to save the
others."
     "And stop Random Encounters once and for all," Roger/Melody said.
     "That'll be hard," Hellfire shot back. "He can keep using those dice
of his to call reinforcements! And we know they're protected from--"
     "I can neutralize the protection," Roger/Melody said. "I've spent
*months* researching those dice! If I can hit them with my spell before
they hit a table or floor--"
     "Right!" Dangerousgirl said. "One other thing first."
     "What's that?" Roger/Melody asked.
     "Something we haven't gotten around to -- and I'm not going to take
any more chances at missing it." She paused. "That really is you, right,
Roger?"
     "Yeah," Roger/Melody said. "Well, both of us. We're both--"
     "Good enough." Dangerousgirl grabbed Roger/Melody, closing her eyes
and pulling the merged mage into a kiss. Roger/Melody was startled for a
second, then seemed to melt into it, holding Dangerousgirl close.
     "...okay, this is just blatant pandering," Hellfire said. "Let's move
on, shall we?"

***

     Thomas Edison opened his eyes. Every square inch of his body hurt. His
throat hurt. His skin hurt. His muscles hurt. His *bones* hurt. Parts of
Thomas Edison that he never believed *could* hurt *did* hurt.
     It took a moment of painful disorientation before he remembered.
Remembered using the powers that felt so sweet and gave him control over
the women who always spurned him. Remembered smashing down on the back of
the brown haired girl's head as he tried to beat her to death. Remembered
everything Reflects had done for him and would continue to do for him.
Remembered the burning pyre that was Hellfire as her flames swept over him.
     Remembered that he wasn't just Thomas Edison any more. No more jokes.
No more 'well, I guess you better find a Tesla to steal a life from.' No
more disappointment in the eyes of his family. No more ignored by the women
he *deserved.*
     He was Sensation. And before he'd been taken out by Hellfire he'd
successfully proven he could bring *Dangerousgirl* to heel with his powers,
not just a tactile junkie like Reflects.
     But he *hurt.* What had that woman done to him?
     He forced himself up to his knees -- he was still out on the lawn,
scorch marks and furrows around him. Off in the distance he could see where
the speedsters of Doctor Watt's army had been chained up. The mansion was
in front of--
     He convulsed, throwing up. He looked down at the bile on the grass --
it was... red? But not the color of blood. Something else? He didn't....
     He watched the grass shudder and die, the liquid sizzling as it soaked
into the sod.
     What the Hell was happening to him?
     Sensation looked at his hand. At his skin. At first he thought he just
had a first or second degree burn from Hellfire's attack, but... no. His
skin....
     His skin was turning red. Like red leather.
     Like the devil.
     What the Hell was *happening?* to him?
     He got up, his voice ragged as he moaned. He had damaged his vocal
cords screaming -- but that seemed like nothing. He had to get to Random
Encounters. Get a booster, or some kind of treatment -- or *something.*
Whatever this was, it wasn't right!
     He ran towards the hole in the wall, and tried to ignore his pain.

***

     Tim wished he was asleep. If he had to die, better to die in the dream.
     How many decades had he been in this world, all alone except for
glimpses of others at far distances? How long had he lived in a wasteland
without magic? How long had he lived without his friends the Teen Team? He
no longer remembered. He was usually pretty good about that, but when the
wall had collapsed on him, a jagged metal rod had slammed into his abdomen,
pinning him and putting his body into shock. He couldn't summon the
strength to lift it off himself telekinetically... and he couldn't
understand why he'd even bother. This wasn't living. It was *existing.* And
since he never got any older, it would only end this way anyway.
     He shivered, seeing the cats circling him. He couldn't bring himself
to be angry, though. Or even to shoo them away. How many had he eaten over
the decades? It was only fair they get their chance, right?
     He missed the dream. He'd had it a lot -- a dream where a beautiful
princess had become a queen and become his wife -- had announced her
pregnancy. A dream where his eternal youth was shared with friends -- Burt,
Charlie, Christina, Rip, Transit, Darrin, Lauren, Roger, Melody, Mason,
Maria... so many, and so many others... and always Samantha, and her sister
Amanda and Amanda's husband Ray, and his parents who he'd just reconnected
with....
     But it wasn't real. None of it was real. Well, maybe when he died he'd
see them all again. Or maybe he'd just end up in Hell<tm>. Or maybe there
was nothing after death, to equal the nothing his life had amounted to. It
didn't matter.
     He was alone.
     He remember waking up just before the wall collapsed -- his own damn
fault. After all these years concrete was crumbling all over what used to
be Austin. He'd been dreaming about being home in their mansion with all
their friends, and then there was Maria -- shining, beautiful Maria...
wearing something odd -- a corset and boots and... it was strange but Maria
always wore provocative costumes, changing them often. And she walked over
to him, and then she laughed and told him how ridiculous it was that he
thought all this was real -- and shouldn't he wake back up and get to work
or the cats would get him--
     And then she'd thrown a four legged brain at him even as the terror
filled his psyche and blocked his connection to Samantha -- not that it had
been real -- and there he was and the wall was collapsing.
     He was so sick of life. No reason to fight. No reason to try. The cats
were getting closer, and they looked so hungry.
     Samantha had looked so beautiful in the dream. He wished she was
something more than a half-remembered friend from decades before. He wished
she was his wife, and pregnant with his children. He wished for so much--
     There was a *crack,* like the world itself was splitting. Tim blinked,
the cats scattering-- what--
     In the dream... he had been rescued when Daydream Believer, later
called Dreamweaver, had appeared to rescue him. This time it looked the
same, but the woman was taller, her blonde hair darker, her robes not robes
but a red and white jumpsuit. She looked like--
     }{*Tim!*}{ Healer sent. }{You have to fight your way out of this! I
don't have time--}{
     "Go away," he croaked. "You're not real."
     }{I'm sorry I can't be gentle!}{ Healer sent. }{Samantha's about to
die, Charlie's about to die, Burt's about to die, and none of them can save
themselves! You can! I'm going to help your wife, but if you don't free
yourself I'm going to be murdered while I do it! *This isn't real!* And
better beings than *this* have trapped you in nightmare before!}{
     Tim blinked. Samantha about to--
     He felt it then. Felt his link. Felt Samantha's panic -- her
difficulty breathing... *her allergy!*
     Face screwed up, Tim shuddered... and the rock *burst* off of him, the
dream shattering as well -- all illusion, the Intellect Devourer skittering
back off him as he threw himself forward, stabbing pain in his gut--
     Tim saw the spike -- the one *Maria* had driven into him right after
she shook his sense of the real and threw a Brain Thing at him. It yanked
himself out of his gut, spun around, and drove itself into the Intellect
Devourer, which then melted into violet light.
     He looked around, yanking linen napkins out of the closet to his hand
and shoving them in his injury -- a *very* short term solution. He saw
Healer cradling Momentum, who was holding Samantha -- golden light seemed
to be connecting Samantha and Momentum, and though he could see his wife
was swollen horribly and not breathing, she was also not in distress and he
could feel her lifeforce was strong--
     But across the room... he saw the fragments of Phobos's armor -- saw
Burt trapped in one of his own constructs, an invisible box getting smaller
and smaller and *smaller,* and Charlie--
     Held down by a press, a branding iron of heliumite searing him.
"...s-save the others," Charlie managed to say to Tim--
     Mental thrust his hand towards Charlie, and the machine above him
*screamed* as it suddenly encountered resistance. There were bursts and
buckles and steam-vents until the press and the iron were both forced *up*
off the large dog. Charlie, weak as he was, scabbled forward with his
forepaws -- his hindquarter's not responding, the smell of burnt fur in the
air, getting clear--
     Tim let the press *smash* into the ground, burying the heliumite. He
stared at the brand. A logo. "MIGHTY DOG DOG FOOD," seared black into the
Dog of Petrified Wood's fur and flesh.
     "Good job, old chum," Mighty Dog rasped. "Best Friend forever." He
looked happy, before turning his head to glare--
     Mental did as well. "You sick *bastard!*" he spat at Random
Encounters. "We should *kill* you!"
     "You won't get the chance, *Tim!* So you're awake, huh? So much the
better! You can watch me kill Healer, Momentum and Daydream Believer! But
first -- I think we should just watch Mime Man *die* from his own powers,
don't you?"
     "Mighty Dog! Break him out of his construct!" Mental shouted.
     "I... I can't," Mighty Dog rasped, voice still squeaky from Heliumite
poisoning. "My Mighty powers are only beginning to return!"
     "That's right!" Random Encounters shouted. "You may have saved
yourselves... but you won't save the *day!*"

***

     ((Alice!)) Dreamweaver screamed. ((Let us go! You have to save
everyone else! You can't--))
     {{I'm not *leaving* *you!*}} Alice screamed back, holding on, pushing,
trying to find solid ground so--
     *No!* The earth beneath her feet broke free, and Dreamweaver, Momentum
and the two fragile thought-sparks of Dreamweaver's children *fell!* Down
into the pit! Down into oblivion--
     Arms clad in red and white *wrapped* themselves around Momentum's
midsection, and *hauled* her and Dreamweaver back up. }{*No one's leaving
anyone!*}{ Healer's voice rang out, clear and pure and true.
     {{Healer?}} Momentum asked, even as she felt the woman pulling her
towards more solid ground. {{What are you--}}
     }{Don't stop what you're doing!}{ Healer shouted. }{Hold onto
Dreamweaver and the twins! Do whatever you have to to keep them out of the
pit! I'm anchoring you! I won't let you fall -- don't let *them* fall!}{
     {{Right!}} Momentum said -- the golden light glowing even more
brightly. {{I've got them! How did you get here?}}
     }{Took the long way -- don't worry about it. I brought a friend.}{
     {{Huh?}}
     //*Samantha?*\\ Mental thought across his link to Dreamweaver. //Can
you hear me?!\\
     \\*Yes!*// she answered. \\Oh *thank* you -- Tim! What's happening?//
     //Mighty Dog was nearly killed but I got him. Mime Man's being
crushed! Phobos is down -- I don't know where Roger or Hellfire are. It's
*Random Encounters!*\\
     \\I know! I saw him -- and *Maria!*// She practically spat the name
out telepathically. \\She showed up, screamed that you were dreaming, hit
you with some brain slug and stabbed you -- my drink must have been laced
with allergens and when I used my epipen it got a thousand times *worse!*
*She* did this to us!//
     //I know. No sign of her though... damn it -- we have to save Burt!\\
     {{Healer -- can't you go rescue him or stop Random Encounters?}}
Momentum asked.
     }{No -- you need to focus on keeping Dreamweaver alive. I need to
anchor you. Mental needs to protect *us.*}{ She laughed without mirth.
}{I'm afraid I'm in your head again.}{
     {{If you keep Sam and I out of that pit? Make yourself at *home.*}}
     \\Don't call me *Sam,*// Dreamweaver demanded.
     }{Trust me, Dreamweaver,}{ Healer answered. }{That trick *never*
works.}{

***

     There was one thing Reflects had managed to feel throughout her silver
torment: tired.
     It was almost insult to injury, really. She couldn't feel a person's
touch, or taste hot cocoa, or stay in a bed without sliding across the
sheets like quicksilver on glass, but she could get tired. She could feel
fatigue. Maybe not the physical fatigue of lactic acid buildup in her
muscles, but the soul numbing fatigue that came from *enduring.* That she'd
had no problem feeling.
     And that's what she was feeling now. Still bobbing in the bottom of
Dangerousgirl's pit, her thrashing having done little more than spin her
around and leave her rocking back and forth, she felt *exhaustion,* deep
down inside herself.
     It wasn't fair. None of this was fair! Everyone else got to have happy
endings but not her -- oh no. She finally found something real and then her
so called *friends--*
     Maria tore her mind from those thoughts. There was a dark place in
those thoughts she didn't want to think about. She just had to find a way
-- get back out. End the Mob, save--
     She heard a ragged scream of terror and pain, and despite the damage
to his vocal cords she knew it was Sensation. They were *torturing* him!
     She *had* to *escape!* She brought her hand down *hard* once more,
on-edge this time like a chop--
     Maria couldn't feel the impact, but she could sense the ripple of
feedback as her unstoppable hand hit a surface *just so,* rippling back and
forth--
     Dangerousgirl's power had fused the silicon in the dirt and rock into
a thick, smooth surface -- glasslike, if not actual glass. Hit *just* *so*
glass could shatter.
     And did.
     Maria began desperately jockeying for position -- for leverage -- she
needed to brace on that break so she could kick herself up and out of the
pit. She *had* to! She had to save Sensation! She had to kill the Mob! She
had to--
     She....
     Maria ignored the exhaustion she felt and kept trying. She *had* to.
It was as simple as that.

***

     Random Encounters laughed his meaty laugh as shards of furniture and
chunks of masonry torn up from the fighting smashed into his Field of
External Denial. Mighty Dog could still barely move, but the beast managed
twin blasts of his Mighty Hot Vision -- managing to hit the field but
naturally not able to penetrate it. Healer, Momentum and Dreamweaver were
all immobile, desperately trying to keep the teen heroine alive. Mime Man
was close to death. Phobos was no longer an issue. And there had been no
sign of Nobody or Hellfire. Despite everything, he was going to *win.*
     //Charlie!\\ Mental sent to his partner. //If there's *any* chance --
Burt....\\ Mental kept up his barrage but could feel Mime Man's mind --
feel the pain as the box closed in... so hard to breath, so hard to fold
himself up into so small a space, bones on the edge of cracking....
     ((It's not your fault,)) Mime Man thought to Mental. ((No matter what
happ--*RHAH!* No matter what happens, I am so proud of you, Timothy--))
     //We're getting you out of there!\\ Mental thought savagely. He looked
around -- could *he* breach the field? With what? Chunks of the hydraulic
machine -- that might free the Heliumite and poison Charlie again!
     "Don't you see, Mental?" Random Encounters said with glee. "It's over!
It's finally over! You lose and I *win--*"
     The doors towards the library *exploded* into fiery shards as
Hellfire, wreathed only in the flames that gave her her name, swept into
the room and up high. Behind her, Dangerousgirl and Roger/Melody ran in as
well. "It's *never* over!" Roger/Melody shouted in their blended voice.
"You're going *down!*"
     "*Dangerousgirl!*" Mental shouted, rocking slightly -- his injury
*hurt,* but he had to ignore it. "We need to break Mime Man out of his
enclosure!"
     Dangerousgirl blinked. "Right!" she shouted. She was hurt too, but she
spun and saw -- she'd practiced with Mime Man at the Academy on those days
he helped teach Practicals. She knew the form his invisible constructs took
-- and she knew the 'trapped in a box' bit! She couldn't risk burning or
killing him--
     She lept, fist curling back, orange/red energy forming around it, and
*slammed* it into the corner of the box. There was a *burst,* hurling the
One Woman China Syndrome back into the wall hard enough to knock her out or
at least leave her dazed--
     But Mime Man rolled to his feet, shaking off the pain and blurring his
hands into sign language that--
     Well, let's just say it wasn't ASL and Random Encounters knew exactly
what he was saying.
     "No!" the thick opponent shouted. "*NO!*" He brought his revolver back
up, pointing it at the three prone heroines -- at least he could *end*
them, with Momentum in no position to catch another bullet--
     A blast of pure photonic energy slashed out, passing through the field
like all other light, searing into the pistol and slagging it, the bullets
misfiring in their chamber.
     "*Yes!*" Mental shouted.
     Random Encounters screamed, stumbling back, dropping the ruined gun.
"You think you've won -- but none of you are in any shape for a real fight
-- and there's *always* another random encounter!" With his left hand he
flicked his dice -- amethyst polyhedral dice, a four-sider, three six
siders, two eight siders, a twelve sider, a twenty sider and two others
clearly meant to be percentile dice, and even an ultra-rare twenty-four
sided die -- straight out, gleaming and glowing violet as they arced
towards the floor, ready to summon a veritable army of monsters and
unexpected occurances--
     Roger/Melody swept foreward, doing a dramatic spin which culminated in
a handful of golden dust glittering forth, sweeping over the dice and
absorbing their violet light as they went. In the same moment Mental felt
his telekinesis grip and push the dice off-course. He couldn't get a solid
grip but he could still shove them right towards Mime Man, who was miming
an invisible bowl that caught the dice, angling them around--
     Hellfire channelled her purest, most intense fire at the dice. Mighty
Dog added all the power he could through his Mighty Hot Vision. Mental kept
the dice from sliding out of the way in the bowl. Roger/Melody cast a
streaming purple destruction spell, which merged with a second blast of
photonic light, all converging and feeding back onto the small cut-gem
stones--
     With an *explosion* of violet light and a concussive wave that the
heroes had to brace against, the dice shattered into dust that was itself
consumed by the released magic. Random Encounters's own scream of rage and
despair was swallowed up in the death throes of the artifacts that had
given him his power!
     "End of the road, Random Encounters!" Mental shouted -- the leader not
really being in any shape for a defiant shout. The others roared as well.
"Surrender *now!*"
     "No! *No!*"
     "And for God's sake, use a tic tac or something," Hellfire snapped.
"I'm surprised my power isn't setting your breath on fire!"

***

     Up on the top floor, the Dash continued to spin and attack, the cube
long gone, the green slime bits of grit, the black pudding dispersed, the
gray ooze melting, the trapper unkept, the mimic chestless, the ochre jelly
unset, the shriekers silenced, the violet fungus scoured, the gibbering
mouther fat-lipped, the otyughs smashed, the shambling mounds unshambled.
     With a howl of destructive fury, a mammoth tendriculos smashed its way
out of Tim and Samantha's bedroom, charging her, its horrific mouths gaping
wide as it tore towards the Fastest Girl You've Met.
     "Ohcomeonyouhavetobekiddingmetheresnowayalltheseare-
randomencountersandforGodssakethisisthetopfloorwhatssupposed-
tobewaitingdownstairsafreakingterrasqueandisthefiendfolioeven-
kosherforthisallrightslimyyouwantsomecomeGETSOME!" The Dash *sprang*
forward, fist curling back--
     With a shudder and shriek, the monster vanished into dissipating
violet and white light, the remnants of the other creatures doing so as
well -- not to mention the various other random traps that had been sprung
in the fight....
     The Dash took a long nanosecond, looking around at the suddenly empty
-- if largely destroyed -- hallway.
     "Huh," she said, far too quickly to be heard, and blurred forward.
She'd spent too long up here. Time to see if they needed her downstairs.

[End of Part Four]
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