I can't seem to let a good idea go and heck, this is a good idea.
And being a fanfic writer, I simply could not pass up the idea I had for
ending this chapter without putting it into words.
So I did.
And now you get to read it. ::Insane laughter::
Compliments warm the heart......
Criticisim Strengthens the Soul.....
Flames Shall Be Used As Target Practice. :-)
--Komodo
"Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum." (A
little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.)
-Unknown
**************
Knight Sabers HQ, 7am.
The Sabers were a bleary eyed bunch as they gathered in the main room. They
had spent the night camped out on the floor while the computer struggled to
make sense of the data it had been given.
Well, to be more accurate, Priss and Lina had camped out on the floor. Nene
had camped out in the computer room assisting the computer in its task.
"So you have something?" Sylia asked, elegant as always. Linna ran a hand
through her hair which was messy and unruly. She had not slept well. Half of
it had been sleeping on the floor, the other half had been the dreams she
had. All had involved Kit, most of them-she felt her cheeks redden and
quickly drank her coffee to hide it.
"Just this." Nene said and tapped a button, causing a hologram to form in the
air. It was a of a man, dressed in a purple bodysuit half in shadow. One arm
was visible and they could see one of Nene's darts sticking out of the shiny
metal armband he wore. "This is off of Linna's suit recorder." Nene said,
entering what could only be described as "lecture mode."
"So?" Priss asked.
"So, I sent it to a guy I know in Paris who sent it to a guy in Cairo. Turns
out there's a legend of a guy who dresses in purple in Africa. They call him,
'The Ghost Who Walks'"
"The Phantom?" Priss asked. Everyone looked at her. Priss shrugged. "My dad
was into myths and stuff from around the world."
"Anyway." Nene said, drawing the word out. "'The Phantom' is this supposedly
immortal guy who wanders the world, fighting injustice and evil."
"And now he's in Tokyo?" Sylia asked. Nene nodded.
"Looks that way. Its hard to be sure, I mean, there's very few pictures and
fewer references. But based on this picture, it sounds like it."
"Can I have a copy?" Linna asked. "I want to show it to Kit. He told me his
family used to live in Africa, he might know something."
"Not to mention you can't wait to see him again." Nene teased.
"It's nothing like that!" Linna gasped out. "I mean, if he can help, that's
good, right?"
"Uh-huh." Nene said, crossing her arms and giving Linna a hard look.
"Go make the copy Nene." Sylia said before the younger woman could launch
into an interrogation.
"I need a shower." Priss announced to no one in particular as she too, left
the room. Within moments. It was just Sylia and Linna.
"So, his name is Kit. . ." Sylia asked as she sat down.
"Yeah." Linna said, feeling a wistful smile tug on the corner of her mouth
despite her best efforts.
"What's he like?"
"Smart, funny, he's studying genetics," she paused. "he listens to me, I
mean, really listens. He doesn't look at me like I'm a piece of meat, and I.
. . I like that."
"Makes you feel good?" Sylia asked. Linna nodded.
"It's frightening."
"Things like that usually are." Sylia said sagely. "But all you can do is
close your eyes, take the plunge and hope it all works out."
"I guess so." Linna said as she stood up. "Thanks."
"No problem." Sylia smiled. The smile fell away as Linna disappeared through
the door to the computer room.
Linna meets a man who's family lived in Africa, and at the same time, an
African myth makes an appearance in Tokyo.
Sylia didn't believe in coincidence. Her great uncle Victor had once told her
that coincidence was a crutch for those who could not walk the path of fate
unaided.
Standing, she went to make a phone call
**************
Kitty Kat Cafe, 10am.
"I'm really glad you could meet me here Kit." Linna said as she stirred some
cream into her coffee.
"So am I." Kit said. "So what's this favor you mentioned?"
"Well, you remember my friend Nene from last night?"
"Of course."
"Well, she's a police officer and she's doing some EDW on that boomer attack
at Hot Legs last night."
"Scary," Kit said. "I was on my way out when they asked us to evacuate. I
thought I was going to get trampled there for a minute." He paused. "What's
EDW?"
"Electronic Detective Work." Linna said. "She's a computer specialist with
the AD police."
"Ah."
"Anyway, some tourist with a camera got some video of a guy in a purple
bodysuit fleeing the scene after the Knight Sabers showed up and destroyed
the rouge. When they ran it through Interpol, they came up with an African
Legend called the Phantom." A trace of wariness flickered across Kit's face.
"The Phantom," he mused, raising his mug to his lips and sipping it. "now
there's one I haven't heard in a while."
"So you know it?"
"I've heard several versions," he replied as he picked up a pastry. "They all
tell the same basic story. The most common one is of a young boy who was
shipwrecked off the coast of the Africa and washed ashore by the tide. He was
found, nursed back to health, then forged into a weapon by a small tribe.
They gave him the secret to immortality and sent him forth into the world to
battle injustice and evil, which at that point was slavery."
"Go on," Linna said.
"A lot of the sightings were made by slavers and pirates. The descriptions
all vary, but they all mention a purple costume and a mask."
"You mentioned that were several versions of the legend." Linna said, "what
do they say?"
"Well, there's one that say's he's the ghost of a slaver, atoning for his
evil ways. Another one also claims he's a slaver, cursed by the shaman of a
small tribe to fight evil to make up for the evil he committed. Then there's
the one of the warrior, and then there's the spirit guardian. But all of them
mention a small tribe."
"What did the tribe call themselves?"
"Nobody knows, none of the legends I've ever heard mention it. It's entirely
possible it didn't have a name."
"Oh," Linna said, her tone subdued.
"Not that it would matter if it did," Kit continued. "A lot cities in Africa
today are where the tribal lands once were and many tribes scattered, or
merged with others, or were just plain wiped out during the late seventeen
and early eighteen hundreds when the slave trade was in full bloom."
"Wow."
"Yeah," Kit said, dunking his pastry in his coffee, "we sure knew how to be
crappy to one another back then."
The rest of the meal passed in silence.
**************
Knight Sabers HQ, 1pm
Sylia studied the family history of Kit Walker. No brothers or sisters, one
aunt, parents dead. She turned to another screen. Credit report, financial
history. Excellent credit, receives monthly stipend from trust fund held by
Spirit Cargo Transport Inc.
Not for the first time, Sylia admired the power of the computer and what you
could do with it. She was by no means the hacker Nene was, but she did know
how to get information.
She flipped back to the family history. The Walker family genealogy was quite
clearly documented. Birth certificates, school records, everything.
She frowned. Perhaps she was looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps the
Phantom was not a single individual, but more of an entity, traveling from
host body to host body to do its work.
The frown grew deeper. No, there was a rational, scientific explanation for
the Phantom's so called immortality and it was staring her right in the face.
So why couldn't she see it?
**************
Juuban Theater, 7pm
Linna and Kit, hand in hand without really realizing it, and both more then
slightly drunk, walked out of the small restaurant.
"I never knew that they made sake that strong." Kit said.
"Uh-huh." Linna said and attempted to focus on her shoes which had become
strangely fascinating.
"So where to now?" Kit asked. His head was reeling. He was three sheets to
the wind, holding hands with a beautiful woman and having more fun then he
ever thought possible.
"Karaoke." Linna declared. "I want to hear you sing."
"Sing?"
"Sing." She said, and quite firmly. "I'll sing to."
"Then we will sing." Kit said, and they set off to find a Karaoke bar.
**************
People wake up in different ways. Some go from sleep to awake instantly,
others take their time. Sometimes its a nightmare, or the need to use the
facilities. With this fact in mind, the universe (which possesses a sense of
humor that only cosmic entities can comprehend) woke Linna and Kit in two
different, but connected ways the next morning
When Linna woke up, she noticed several things in the following order;
It was morning.
She had a hangover.
She was in a hotel room.
She was in a bed.
She was naked.
Kit was in the same bed.
He was naked.
Yawning, Linna stretched and noticed something else. Around the third finger
of her left hand was a band of finely wrought gold.
Linna, being the level headed person that she was, screamed.
That woke Kit up.